Ahlan, Arabic lovers! Have you been to Lebanon? What cities did you visit? Have you heard of Tripoli; the Lebanese famous old city? Let’s listen to this news report about the city and what its people are doing to attract more tourists and then try to answer some comprehension questions.
10) Translate the following sentence into English:
” قديماً، استقبلت المدينة الفاتحين من الغرب و الشرق ، و سيتعرف السياح على ثقافة و عادات هذه المدينة المليئة بالحياة فى شوارعها و أزقتها الضيقة التى تحمل عبق التاريخ.”
Well, I was born near the city of Rasheed or Rosetta, Egypt. Yes, the city where the Rosetta Stone was discovered. It is a small city on the north of Egypt where the Nile meets the Mediterranean. I am a Teacher of EFL.
Comments:
Andy:
Thank you as always, Fisal.
Can you explain why in all of the questions (except one) that start with ما the subject follows immediately after the word ما, but in the question ما هى الأهمية التاريخية للمدينة؟ the word ما is followed by هى ? For example, why isn’t it ما هو اسم المدينة ? This kind of question form always troubles me!
Fisal:
@Andy Ahlan, Andy. You are always welcome. Actually, dropping the pronouns هو/هى is more accurate as long as the subject is there just immediately after the question word. I put the pronoun just as a habit for more clarification of the question. Though the pronouns seem redundant, they explain more and give affirmation to what is meant.
Best
Comments:
Andy:
Thank you as always, Fisal.
Can you explain why in all of the questions (except one) that start with ما the subject follows immediately after the word ما, but in the question ما هى الأهمية التاريخية للمدينة؟ the word ما is followed by هى ? For example, why isn’t it ما هو اسم المدينة ? This kind of question form always troubles me!
Fisal:
@Andy Ahlan, Andy. You are always welcome. Actually, dropping the pronouns هو/هى is more accurate as long as the subject is there just immediately after the question word. I put the pronoun just as a habit for more clarification of the question. Though the pronouns seem redundant, they explain more and give affirmation to what is meant.
Best
Andy:
Thanks, Fisal. That’s nice and clear.
Fisal:
@Andy My Pleasure always, Andy 🙂