Breakdown of يملك الإسكافي هذا الدكان منذ عشرين سنة.
الal
the
هذاhâdhâ
this (m)
سنةsana
year
عشرون'ishrûna
twenty
دكانdukkân
shop
منذmundhu
since / for
إسكافيiskâfî
cobbler
ملكmalaka
to own, to possess
Questions & Answers about يملك الإسكافي هذا الدكان منذ عشرين سنة.
Why is the present tense verb يملك used when the English translation says 'has owned'?
In Arabic, when an action started in the past but is still continuing in the present, we use the present tense verb along with a time word like منذ (since/for). So, يملك literally means 'he owns,' but paired with منذ, it naturally translates to 'he has owned.'
How do we know منذ means 'for' here instead of 'since'?
The word منذ can mean either 'since' (a starting point) or 'for' (a duration). Because it is followed by a measurable length of time (عشرين سنة meaning 'twenty years'), it translates as 'for.' If it were followed by a specific year, like منذ ٢٠٠٤ (since 2004), it would translate to 'since.'
Why is the number 'twenty' written as عشرين instead of عشرون?
The word منذ acts as a preposition here, which puts the following word into the genitive case. The 'tens' numbers (20 through 90) change their endings based on grammatical case, behaving just like regular masculine plurals. Because it follows a preposition, the default nominative form عشرون changes to the genitive form عشرين.
Why is سنة singular when the English translation says 'years'?
In Arabic, numbers from 11 to 99 are a special category and must be followed by a singular noun in the accusative case. That is why we use the singular سنة (year) instead of the plural سنوات (years).
Learn يملك الإسكافي هذا الدكان منذ عشرين سنة and more in Arabic
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free