The passive that became active
A 10-mark translation question asks for Urdu renderings of five Arabic sentences, 2 marks each. One candidate writes: أُكِلَ الطَّعَامُ → 'اس نے کھانا کھایا'; لَمْ يَحْضُرْ أَحَدٌ → 'کوئی نہیں آئے گا'; يُعَامِلُ الْمُعَلِّمُ تَلَامِيذَهُ بِرِفْقٍ → 'استاد اپنے شاگردوں کے ساتھ نرمی کرتا ہے'; لَا تَتَكَلَّمْ بِصَوْتٍ عَالٍ → 'بلند آواز سے مت بولنا'; سَيَكْتُبُ الطَّالِبُ الدَّرْسَ → 'طالب علم سبق لکھے گا'. The teacher sees that the first two change voice or tense, the third is acceptable though not literal, the fourth uses an infinitive where Urdu prefers a prohibitive, and the fifth is correct. The school uses a 10-mark grid but allows no half marks; the teacher must decide whether to penalize meaning, grammar, or style.
1. Mark the first two translations out of 2 each and state the exact error.
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Sentence 1 - 1/2. أُكِلَ الطَّعَامُ is passive: 'the food was eaten'. The candidate's 'اس نے کھانا کھایا' is active and introduces an agent ('اس') that is not in the Arabic. Award 1 mark for the lexical content (کھانا کھایا) but deduct the structure mark: voice has changed and the agent is invented. Full credit requires 'کھانا کھایا گیا'.
Sentence 2 - 1/2. لَمْ يَحْضُرْ أَحَدٌ is past negated: 'no one attended/was present'. Her 'کوئی نہیں آئے گا' is future. Award 1 mark for the negative + indefinite subject, deduct 1 for tense. لَمْ + jussive is past; future negation would be لَنْ يَحْضُرَ or لَا سَيَحْضُرُ. Pattern: both errors are structure errors, not vocabulary errors; record them separately so the student knows what to revise.
2. How would you teach passive vs active using these two sentences in 10 minutes, without a long grammar lecture?
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10-minute contrast drill.
- Minimal pair (3 min): Write أَكَلَ ('he ate') and أُكِلَ ('was eaten'). Read both; ask 'Who is the doer in the second?' Answer: not stated. Show the vowel change and the Urdu pattern 'کھایا گیا'.
- Card drill (4 min): كَتَبَ → كُتِبَ; ضَرَبَ → ضُرِبَ; سَمِعَ → سُمِعَ. Students say the passive and the Urdu passive.
- Timeline (3 min): Draw past/future line. Place لَمْ يَحْضُرْ أَحَدٌ on the past side; place لَنْ يَحْضُرَ أَحَدٌ on the future side. Ask which word marks each.
Why this works: it contrasts forms the candidate already knows and avoids a lecture on all passive patterns. End with one exit ticket: translate كُتِبَ الدَّرْسُ and لَمْ يَكْتُبْ أَحَدٌ.
3. The fourth translation uses an infinitive 'مت بولنا'. Is that acceptable, and how would you award the 2 marks?
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Yes, 'مت بولنا' is understandable but not the natural prohibitive. Arabic لَا تَتَكَلَّمْ is a negative imperative, second person masculine singular: 'do not speak'. Urdu prefers 'مت بول' or 'بولنا مت'; 'مت بولنا' is an infinitive/gerund and weakens the direct address.
Award: 1/2 if the marking grid separates meaning from form. Give the meaning mark (prohibition is clear) and withhold the form mark (imperative not rendered). If the key treats 'مت بولنا' as an accepted colloquial equivalent, award 2/2, but apply that decision to every script - consistency matters more than the individual preference. Feedback: rewrite as 'بلند آواز سے مت بول' and ask the student to identify the person and mood of the Arabic verb.