# I think they sang in Spanish



## jmt356

Suggestion:
اظن ان غنوا باللغة الاسبانية
or
اظن غنوا باللغة الاسبانية


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## Linolenic

the sentence should be 
"أظنهم غنوا باللغة الإسبانية"
or
"أظن أنهم غنوا باللغة الإسبانية"


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## Tensor78

jmt356 said:


> Suggestion:
> اظن ان غنوا باللغة الاسبانية
> or
> اظن غنوا باللغة الاسبانية



You're missing the third person plural (presumably male) pronoun. The conjunction " 'anna " takes the subject of the coming clause in the accusative immediately after it. Here, you would affix "hum" to it.


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## jmt356

Isn’t Arabic like Spanish in that it does not require a subject. For example, can’t I say اكل or do I need to say انا اكل?

Also, is 'anna spelled أَنَّ?


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## Tensor78

jmt356 said:


> is 'anna spelled أَنَّ?



Yes.



jmt356 said:


> Isn’t Arabic like Spanish in that it does not require a subject. For example, can’t I say اكل or do I need to say انا اكل?



That's right. But, 'anna is from a group of conjunctive particles that requires the subject of the coming clause to immediately follow in the accusative. You don't have an option. If the subject is a pronoun, that enclitic pronoun is affixed to the conjunctive itself. 

The only exception is if the subject is indefinite and the predicate is a prepositional phrase. Then, the prepositional phrase comes first and the subject follows. 

This is all MSA. Dialects may be different.


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## آمين

I understand this:

"أظن أنهم غنوا باللغة الإسبانية"

But not this:

"أظنهم غنوا باللغة الإسبانية"

Why does the first verb need an object pronoun?


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## fdb

By the way, in English the past tense of "sing" is "sang", not "sung".


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## SofiaB

fdb said:


> By the way, in English the past tense of "sing" is "sang", not "sung".


Must be a typo,using the past participle but it is good to alert the learners.


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## Abu Talha

آمين said:


> I understand this:
> 
> "أظن أنهم غنوا باللغة الإسبانية"
> 
> But not this:
> 
> "أظنهم غنوا باللغة الإسبانية"
> 
> Why does the first verb need an object pronoun?


Verbs like ظن, رأى, حسِب often used for "I think that" take two objects and frequently "that" is omitted so you can say أظنهم instead of أظن أنهم.


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## آمين

Abu Talha said:


> Verbs like ظن, رأى, حسِب often used for "I think that" take two objects and frequently "that" is omitted so you can say أظنهم instead of أظن أنهم.



Thank you - I am glad I asked. That has cleared lots of things up!

HOWEVER

I was always under the impression that ظن means "He though that" and there is no need for an extra Anna.


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## Abu Talha

آمين said:


> I was always under the impression that ظن means "He though that" and there is no need for an extra Anna.


I'm not sure of the translation to English, but I do know that أظن أنهم فعلوا كذا and أظنهم فعلوا كذا are both used. Maybe a native speaker will give some insight on the difference.


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## jmt356

Tensor78 said:


> 'anna is from a group of conjunctive particles that requires the subject of the coming clause to immediately follow in the accusative. You don't have an option. If the subject is a pronoun, that enclitic pronoun is affixed to the conjunctive itself.



If أنَّ must be followed by the pronoun corresponding to the subject of the clause following it, then shouldn’t the phrase:
هل تستطيعين أن تترجمي هذا المقطع؟
instead be:
هل تستطيعين أنِك تترجمي هذا المقطع؟


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## Linolenic

أنْ is different from أنَّ 
أنْ is called أن المصدرية and the verb with أن can be replaced by a مصدر
أن تترجم = ترجمة
close to "to translate" and "translating" in English


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## Tensor78

jmt356 said:


> If أنَّ must be followed by the pronoun corresponding to the subject of the clause following it, then shouldn’t the phrase:
> هل تستطيعين أن تترجمي هذا المقطع؟
> instead be:
> هل تستطيعين أنِك تترجمي هذا المقطع؟



'an is not in the set of verb like conjunctives that 'anna is in. So, the second sentence is incorrect. 

'an and 'anna are both translated as "that", but 'an is used differently. It evokes the subjunctive after it, while 'anna does not.


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## jmt356

I do not believe انَ is spelled أَنَّ; I believe it is spelled إِنَّ (كسرة below the ء, not فتحة). ان, in contrast, is spelled أَنْ. Am I right?

If a verb with أن can be replaced by the verb’s مصدر, then couldn’t I say instead of هل تستطيعين أنْ تترجمي هذا المقطع:
هل تستطيعين ترجمة هذا المقطع؟

Also, I don’t think I said “sung” in the title. I believe I said “sang.”


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## Linolenic

jmt356 said:


> If a verb with أن can be replaced by the verb’s مصدر, then couldn’t I say instead of هل تستطيعين أنْ تترجمي هذا المقطع:
> هل تستطيعين ترجمة هذا المقطع؟


هل تستطيعين ترجمة هذا المقطع is totally correct!


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## clevermizo

jmt356 said:


> I do not believe انَ is spelled أَنَّ; I believe it is spelled إِنَّ (كسرة below the ء, not فتحة). ان, in contrast, is spelled أَنْ. Am I right?
> 
> If a verb with أن can be replaced by the verb’s مصدر, then couldn’t I say instead of هل تستطيعين أنْ تترجمي هذا المقطع:
> هل تستطيعين ترجمة هذا المقطع؟
> 
> Also, I don’t think I said “sung” in the title. I believe I said “sang.”



There are three words that seem to being confused. أنْ، أنَّ and إنَّ. These are different words. In the original sentence in the thread, the word should be أنَّ anna.

In هل تستطيعين أن تترجمي هذا, the word is أنْ. This can be replaced by the مصدر so yes your second version is correct.

Also, the title _did_ say 'sung' and we the moderators corrected it to sang.

There have been previous threads I believe about the differences in usage between these conjunctions, so I suggest searching through them. If not, feel free to open threads discussing these words.


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## jmt356

Can I say: 
اظن انَّ الاولاد غنوا باللغة الاسبانية
Or would I have to say: 
اظن انَّهم الاولاد غنوا باللغة الاسبانية


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## cherine

The first one is correct.
The second is not correct because you mention both the noun الأولاد and the pronoun refering to it ـهم one next to the other *and* the pronoun preceding the noun to which it refers. It's like saying in English: I think that *they* *the boys* sang.

So, it's either أظن أنّ الأولاد غنوا or أظن أنهم غنوا .


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