Word
إذا كانت البطارية ضعيفة، أشحن الهاتف حتى أستعمله في المساء.
Meaning
If the battery is weak, I charge the phone so that I can use it in the evening.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Lesson
Breakdown of إذا كانت البطارية ضعيفة، أشحن الهاتف حتى أستعمله في المساء.
في
in
المساء
evening
الهاتف
phone
يكون
to be
Questions & Answers about إذا كانت البطارية ضعيفة، أشحن الهاتف حتى أستعمله في المساء.
What does إذا mean here, and why wasn’t إن used instead?
إذا introduces a condition: if / when.
In sentences like this, إذا often suggests a condition that is:
- real or expected
- recurring or general
- connected to the future
So إذا كانت البطارية ضعيفة is like if/when the battery is weak.
By contrast, إن also means if, but it is often felt to be more neutral or less expected. In this sentence, إذا sounds natural because a weak battery is a realistic, ordinary situation.
Why is it كانت even though the sentence is not talking about the past?
This is a very common Arabic pattern.
After إذا, Arabic often uses a past-tense form to talk about a condition whose meaning is actually:
- present
- future
- habitual
So إذا كانت البطارية ضعيفة does not mean if the battery was weak here. It means if the battery is weak or if the battery becomes weak.
This is normal Arabic usage, not a mistake.
Why is the verb كانت feminine?
Because البطارية is a feminine noun.
Arabic verbs agree with their subject in gender, so:
- = for masculine