Breakdown of في فصلنا عشرون طالبا وطالبة.
وwa
and
فيfî
in / about, regarding
طالبtâlib
student
ناnâ
our / us (object) / we (subject suffix on past verb)
عشرون'ishrûna
twenty
طالبةtâliba
student
فصلfasl
classroom; (school) term
Questions & Answers about في فصلنا عشرون طالبا وطالبة.
Why is there no word for 'there are' at the beginning of the sentence?
Arabic does not have a direct translation for the phrase 'there is' or 'there are'. Instead, to express existence, sentences often start with a prepositional phrase like في فصلنا (in our classroom) followed directly by the subject.
Why is the word for twenty عشرون instead of عشرين?
Numbers like 20, 30, and up to 90 change their endings based on their grammatical role. Here, twenty is the subject of the sentence, so it takes the nominative case ending ـون. If it were the object of an action, it would be عشرين.
Why is the word for student طالبا singular if there are twenty of them?
In Arabic grammar, any number from 11 to 99 must be followed by a singular noun. Even though the meaning is plural, the rule requires you to literally say twenty student.
Why does طالبا have an extra alif letter at the end?
Why does the sentence say طالبا وطالبة (a male student and a female student) to mean boys and girls?
Because the number twenty requires a singular noun, you cannot use a plural word to mean a mixed group here. To specify that the twenty students include both boys and girls, you link the masculine singular and feminine singular nouns with و (and).
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