يَخْتَصِمَانِthey two argue

Example sentences

• فَأَخَذَتَا يَخْتَصِمَانِ فِي الصَّبِيِّ الْبَاقِيِّ

  They then began to argue over the remaining child.

  يَخْتَصِمَانِ — they two argue. A present-tense verb wearing the dual ending, so its two subjects, the women, are marked right in the verb shape. It follows the 'began to' verb and supplies the actual content of what they began, namely quarrelling. The reciprocal sense, two parties arguing against each other, is built into this verb's pattern.

  From: Stories of Prophetic Judgments →