Questions & Answers about صديقتي كانت مريضة هذا الأسبوع، لكنها اليوم أفضل وصحتها أفضل.
Why is صديقتي used here, and what does the -ي ending mean?
صديقتي means my female friend.
The base word is صديقة, which means female friend. The ending -ي is an attached pronoun meaning my.
So:
- صديقة = female friend
- صديقتي = my female friend
A useful detail: when a noun ends in ـة, that ending usually becomes ت before a suffix is added. So:
صديقة + ي → صديقتي
If you were talking about a male friend, you would say صديقي.
Why are both كانت and مريضة feminine?
Because the subject, صديقتي, is feminine.
In Arabic, verbs and adjectives often agree with the noun they refer to in gender. Since the friend is female:
- كانت = she was
- مريضة = sick in the feminine form
If the friend were male, you would say:
- كان instead of كانت
- مريض instead of مريضة
So the feminine forms here are required by the subject.
Why do we need كانت here at all?
Because Arabic uses to express in the past.