Answer-Key Conflict on Non-Human Plural Agreement
You are re-checking the grammar section of an SSC Arabic preliminary paper after 63 scripts have been marked. Item 12 reads «الحدائقُ ____ في الربيع» with options (أ) جميل (ب) جميلة (ج) جميلون (د) جميلات. The circulated key marks (د) جميلات, and a colleague defends it by saying that «الحدائق» is feminine plural, so the adjective must be feminine plural too. In the same section, Item 14 reads «الطلابُ ____ في الصف» with options (أ) مجتهد (ب) مجتهدة (ج) مجتهدون (د) مجتهدات, keyed (ج). Twenty-two candidates chose (ب) for Item 12; eleven chose (ج). The textbook lesson on agreement states that a non-human plural takes a feminine singular adjective, but the rule is not printed in bold and the exercise does not contrast human and non-human plurals. Marking is one mark per item with no negative marking. Results must be submitted to the board portal tomorrow.
1. Determine the correct key for Item 12 and explain the contrast with Item 14.
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Item 12 should be keyed (ب) جميلة. «الحدائق» is a non-human broken plural of حديقة, and in standard Arabic a non-human plural is treated as a feminine singular for agreement: «الحدائق جميلة». Option (د) جميلات is a feminine plural adjective, which belongs with human feminine plurals such as «الطالبات مجتهدات», not with non-human plurals. The colleague has overgeneralised the word 'feminine' from the noun's gender to the adjective's number. Item 14 is correct as keyed: «الطلاب» is a human masculine plural, so the masculine plural adjective «مجتهدون» is required. Putting the two items side by side makes the rule visible: human plural agrees in number and gender; non-human plural takes feminine singular.
2. Decide how to treat the 22 candidates who chose (ب) and the 11 who chose (ج), and what re-marking is required.
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Award the mark to the 22 who chose (ب), because they selected the linguistically correct form and were penalised only by a faulty key. Do not award the 11 who chose (ج): «جميلون» is masculine plural, wrong on both gender and the non-human rule, so their error is independent of the key. Re-mark not only the 22 but all 63 scripts item by item, since some candidates may have chosen (ب) and then erased it, or may have been marked inconsistently by the two markers. Adjust the total for every affected script, record old and new totals, and note that no negative marking applies so no candidate loses marks in the correction. Escalate the errata to the head examiner before portal submission.
3. Draft the one-paragraph circular to markers that prevents the same error recurring in the board paper.
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State the rule first, then the contrast, then the action. Suggested text: 'For adjective and verb agreement, a non-human plural is treated as feminine singular: الحدائق جميلة, الكتب جديدة, الأشجار عالية. Human plurals agree in gender and number: الطلاب مجتهدون, الطالبات مجتهدات. Item 12 of the preliminary paper was keyed incorrectly; the correct answer is (ب). Markers must apply this rule to all agreement items and refer any doubtful case to the moderator before completing the bundle.' Add the textbook page reference and require markers to initial the circular, so the correction is documented rather than circulated orally.