# صار جريمةً إهانةُ الرئيس



## Interprete

Hello,

I'm wondering about the following sentence:
صار جريمةً إهانةُ رئيس الجمهورية أو الطعن في أعماله والتحريض على كراهية النظام

Is صار masculine singular here, because there are masculine subjects and a feminine one?
If the only subject had been إهانة would the verb then be conjugated صارت?

Thanks.


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## Sasu San

Many people make grammar mistakes even in Arabic
I believe it is صارت because it relates* to جريمة *


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## cherine

The sentence means صارت إهانةُ الرئيس جريمةً . But when the اسم صار is separated from it like this, the masculine can be used. It is not a mistake, as far as I know.
But let's wait for more opinions.


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## Matat

There is no mistake here. صار is one of the sisters of كان, so جريمة is the predicate (خبر صار) and إهانة  is the subject (اسم صار). The verb matches the subject, but since إهانة is a non-human feminine noun, it is fine for the verb to be masculine or feminine.



Interprete said:


> Is صار masculine singular here, because there are masculine subjects and a feminine one?
> If the only subject had been إهانة would the verb then be conjugated صارت?


No. Even if you take out the other subjects and just leave إهانة as the only subject, صار would be fine.



cherine said:


> The sentence means صارت إهانةُ الرئيس جريمةً . But when the اسم صار is separated from it like this, the masculine can be used. It is not a mistake, as far as I know.


Even in this sentence, صار is fine (i.e. صار إهانةُ الرئيس جريمةً). If the subject was a sound feminine human noun, then the verb would need to be feminine unless the verb and subject were separated from each other by another word.


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## Interprete

EDIT: simultaneous posts

Thanks Matat, I didn't know this rule.


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## Mahaodeh

I don't know, but I agree with Cherine; using صار sounds odd and incorrect to me. Even as أخوات كان, I would have used كانت in this context.


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## jack_1313

Mahaodeh said:


> I don't know, but I agree with Cherine; using صار sounds odd and incorrect to me. Even as أخوات كان, I would have used كانت in this context.



That would create a different meaning though, right? كانت جريمة would mean that it was a crime, whereas صارت means that it became a crime.


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## Mahaodeh

I understand, what I meant is that أخوات كان are not gender neutral, and I would have changed the gender according to what I'm referring to.


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## Mahaodeh

cherine said:


> But when the اسم صار is separated from it like this, the masculine can be used.



But in this case I don't believe it is separated. اسم صار is إهانة and جريمة is خبر صار; right? Because the مبتدأ وخبر sentence is: إهانةُ الرئيس جريمةٌ, and when you add إن it would be: إن إهانةَ الرئيس جريمةٌ


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## analeeh

As far as I am aware, in modern Arabic (i.e. the kind you're presumably learning to produce, especially if we're talking about presidents) the distinction between 'real' feminine nouns (referring to women) and nouns which are feminine by convention is no longer observed. Given most if not all native speakers seem to reject the form صار اهانة الرئيس as ungrammatical, the only explanation is the one Cherine gives, which I am also familiar with.


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## Mahaodeh

Maybe in some dialects, but in the dialects I speak, they generally still observe it. Maybe that's why I find it odd in MSA.


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## analeeh

I think you misunderstood me.


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## Mahaodeh

I'm sorry if I did, can you explain?


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## analeeh

What I mean is that Matat's argument, which is that because this is a noun that does not refer to a woman it does not have to take feminine agreement, does not apply in modern Arabic and if you go around applying it you will get sentences that natives consider wrong for exactly the reason you gave above (that the noun is feminine and thus takes feminine agreement). So I'm agreeing with you!

The only context in which the verb can be masculine is if the subject is further away. Even this is not familiar to some natives but it is at least pretty common in modern writing, as in صار جريمةً اهانة الرئيس.


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## Matat

Mahaodeh said:


> I don't know, but I agree with Cherine; using صار sounds odd and incorrect to me. Even as أخوات كان, I would have used كانت in this context.





Mahaodeh said:


> I understand, what I meant is that أخوات كان are not gender neutral, and I would have changed the gender according to what I'm referring to.


If the noun is non-human, the masculine verb can be used, regardless whether the subject and verb are separated by a word or not.
فَانظُرْ كَيْفَ *كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ* الظَّالِمِينَ
Quran 28:40



analeeh said:


> As far as I am aware, in modern Arabic (i.e. the kind you're presumably learning to produce, especially if we're talking about presidents) the distinction between 'real' feminine nouns (referring to women) and nouns which are feminine by convention is no longer observed.


Perhaps, but there is a difference between recommending against using a certain construction versus calling it ungrammatical and wrong. If I was an Arabic teacher and I saw a student put صار إهانة الرئيس...ـ, I would definitely put a note telling him that he should use صارت instead, but I also wouldn't tell the student that he was wrong and take points off of his assignment for it.


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## Mahaodeh

Matat said:


> فَانظُرْ كَيْفَ *كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ* الظَّالِمِينَ



You have made your point . I was mistaken.


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