Breakdown of تصل شرطة المرور بسبب الحادث المروري.
Questions & Answers about تصل شرطة المرور بسبب الحادث المروري.
Why does the sentence start with the verb تصل instead of the subject?
Because Arabic very often uses verb–subject–object/complement order, especially in straightforward statements.
So:
- تصل شرطة المرور ...
= Arrives the traffic police ...
Natural English: The traffic police arrive ...
You could also say:
- شرطة المرور تصل ...
This is also correct, but it feels a bit different in emphasis. Starting with the verb is very normal in Modern Standard Arabic.
Why is the verb تصل feminine singular?
Because شرطة is a feminine singular noun in Arabic, even though in English police feels plural.
So Arabic is treating شرطة المرور as the traffic police force / traffic police as one unit.
That is why the verb is:
- تصل = she arrives / it arrives / arrives in form, but here it means the traffic police arrive
Not:
- يصل
- يصلون
The grammar follows the noun شرطة, which is feminine singular.
What exactly is شرطة المرور grammatically?
It is an iḍāfa construction, often called a genitive/construct phrase.
Literally:
- شرطة = police
- المرور = traffic
Together:
- شرطة المرور = traffic police
- literally: the police of traffic
Important things about iḍāfa:
- The first noun usually does not take ال
- The second noun can make the whole phrase definite
So even though شرطة has no ال, the whole phrase شرطة المرور is definite because المرور is definite.
Why does المرور have الـ in شرطة المرور?
Because it is the second part of the iḍāfa phrase.
In Arabic, in an iḍāfa like this:
- first noun = possessed thing or main noun
- second noun = the thing it is connected to
So:
- شرطة المرور = traffic police
The second noun المرور is definite, and that makes the whole phrase definite.
This is why Arabic does not say:
- الشرطة المرور ❌
In an iḍāfa, the first noun normally does not take الـ.
What does بسبب mean, and how does it work?
بسبب means because of, due to, or as a result of.
So:
- بسبب الحادث المروري = because of the traffic accident
Grammatically, بسبب is followed by a noun in the genitive case.
In fully vowelled Arabic, that would be shown on الحادث. In normal writing, the short vowel is usually not written, but the grammar is still there underneath.
Why is it الحادث المروري and not المروري الحادث?
Because in Arabic, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.
So:
- الحادث = the accident
- المروري = traffic-related
Together:
- الحادث المروري = the traffic accident
This is the normal Arabic order:
- noun + adjective
not:
- adjective + noun
Why does the adjective المروري also have الـ?
Because Arabic adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in several ways, including definiteness.
Since الحادث is definite:
- الحادث = the accident
the adjective must also be definite:
- المروري = the traffic-related
So Arabic says:
- الحادث المروري = the traffic accident
If the noun were indefinite, the adjective would also be indefinite.
Is تصل present tense or future tense here?
Formally, تصل is in the imperfect form, which can express:
- present
- near future
- habitual action
- sometimes a narrative present
Without extra words, it often translates as arrives / are arriving / arrive depending on context.
So here it could mean something like:
- The traffic police arrive because of the traffic accident
- The traffic police are arriving because of the traffic accident
If you wanted to make the future clearer, you could use:
- ستصل شرطة المرور ... = The traffic police will arrive ...
What is the difference between تصل and وصلت?
They are different tenses:
- تصل = imperfect
arrives / is arriving - وصلت = perfect
arrived
So:
- تصل شرطة المرور بسبب الحادث المروري = The traffic police arrive / are arriving because of the traffic accident
But:
- وصلت شرطة المرور بسبب الحادث المروري = The traffic police arrived because of the traffic accident
Why is المروري used here instead of repeating المرور?
Because المروري is an adjective meaning traffic-related.
Compare:
شرطة المرور = traffic police
Here المرور is a noun inside an iḍāfa phrase.الحادث المروري = traffic accident
Here المروري is an adjective describing الحادث.
So Arabic uses two related forms:
- المرور = traffic
- المروري = traffic-related
This is very common in Arabic: one idea may appear once as a noun and elsewhere as an adjective.
If the sentence were fully vowelled, what would it look like?
A fully vowelled version would be:
- تَصِلُ شُرْطَةُ الْمُرُورِ بِسَبَبِ الْحَادِثِ الْمُرُورِيِّ
This shows the grammatical endings more clearly:
- تَصِلُ = the verb
- شُرْطَةُ = subject, so it takes ـُ
- الْمُرُورِ = second noun in iḍāfa, genitive
- بِسَبَبِ = preposition-like expression
- الْحَادِثِ = genitive after بسبب
- الْمُرُورِيِّ = adjective matching الحادث in case, gender, number, and definiteness
In normal Arabic writing, these short vowels are usually omitted.
Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor
Start learning ArabicMaster Arabic — from تصل شرطة المرور بسبب الحادث المروري to fluency
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
- ✓Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
- ✓Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
- ✓ AI tutor to answer your grammar questions