"Arwa has a cat."
Translation:عِنْد أَرْوى قِطّة.
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Actually, 3inda عند is not a verb but something that we call a "preposition" in English. "3inda" literally means "beside" or "at". So, "3inda 2arwaa qiTT(un)" literally means "beside Arwa a cat". For "Arwa has a cat", we cannot say "2arwaa 3inda qiTT(in)" which literally means "Arwa at a cat", but we should say "3inda 2arwaa qiTT(un)".
However, it is true that Arabic can have both the "Verb + Subject" or "Subject + Verb" structures as we already know that Arabic is more flexible than English. And, yes, it should be explained :))
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I've come to understand that to learn Arabic I have to try not to look at it as English Language. Everything is different here. I mean look at this Verb ~ Subject ~ Object
LisannevH,
3inda "عند" here means لدي. So, "Arwa has a cat" | أروى لديها قطّة.
If we use "ل", the closer meanings will be:
(1). "a cat/the cat is belong to Arwa" if " لِ" means ownership "المِلْك"
or
(2). "a cat/the cat is for Arwa" if "لِ" means 2ilaa "إِلى".
(My explanation refers to the "MukhtaSSar Mughni Al Labib" مختصر مغني اللبيب book - an advanced source a bit. Please correct me if I am wrong, am still learning both English and Arabic. I accept any feedback).