How it works. A cognate accusative (al-mafʿūl al-muṭlaq) is when you put a verb and its own verbal noun in the same sentence — the verbal noun goes in the accusative case. Arabic uses it to intensify the verb or to describe how the action was done.
The two common uses:
In our line, rājiʿ khiṭṭataka murājaʿatan daqīqatan (راجِع خطتك مُراجَعَةً دَقيقَةً) follows the second pattern: the masdar murājaʿa ("a reviewing", same root as the verb rājiʿ) + the adjective daqīqa ("careful") together translate into the single English adverb "carefully". Notice both are accusative (final -an).
Another example in this passage:
How it works. The conditional particle in (إن — "if") triggers a special verb mood: the jussive (al-majzūm). It happens twice in the sentence — once on the condition verb, once on the result verb. So:
إنْ + jussive verb (condition) + jussive verb (result)
What jussive endings look like:
Two more examples in this passage:
الإجابَة النَّموذَجِيَّة
أَجابَ يوسُف بِتَرَدُّدٍ واضِحٍ، فَاعتَرَفَ أنَّ طُموحَهُ قد تَغَيَّرَ مَرَّاتٍ كَثيرَةً مع تَقَدُّمِهِ في الدِّراسَةِ. فَقد أَرادَ أن يَكونَ طَبيبًا حينَ كانَ في العاشِرَةِ، ثُمَّ مُهَندِسَ طَيَرانٍ حينَ دَخَلَ المَرحَلَةَ الثّانَوِيَّةَ. أمّا اليَومَ، فَلا يَزالُ مُتَرَدِّدًا — يَميلُ إلى التَّصميمِ، غَيرَ أنَّ أَهلَهُ يُفَضِّلونَ مِهنَةً أَكثَرَ استِقرارًا. وفي اعتِرافِهِ هذا تَظهَرُ أَزمَةُ الاختِيارِ الَّتي يَعيشُها كَثيرٌ من المُراهِقينَ في سِنِّهِ.
الشَّواهد: الأسطُر ٥–٦
الإجابَة النَّموذَجِيَّة
اعتَبَرَت الدُّكتورَةُ هالَة أنَّ تَرَدُّدَ يوسُف لَيسَ استِثناءً نادِرًا، بَل هو القاعِدَةُ السّائِدَةُ بَينَ المُراهِقينَ. فَقد ذَكَرَت أنَّ الشَّابَّ يُغَيِّرُ اختِيارَهُ المِهَنِيَّ سَبعَ مَرّاتٍ في المُتَوَسِّطِ قَبلَ أن يَستَقِرَّ على قَرارٍ نِهائِيٍّ. ولِذلِكَ فَلا داعِيَ لِلقَلَقِ إن لم يَعرِف الشَّابُّ طَريقَهُ في الخامِسَةَ عَشرَةَ من عُمُرِهِ، لِأنَّهُ ما زالَ في مَرحَلَةِ التَّعَرُّفِ على نَفسِهِ واكتِشافِ ميولِهِ.
الشَّواهد: الأسطُر ٨–٩
الإجابَة النَّموذَجِيَّة
نَصَحَت الدُّكتورَةُ الشَّبابَ بِأن يُخَطِّطوا لِمُستَقبَلِهِم — ولَو في صَفحَةٍ صَغيرَةٍ — كُلَّ سِتَّةِ أشهُرٍ، وَأَكَّدَت أنَّ مَن خَطَّطَ استَيقَظَ في الغَدِ وهُو يَعرِفُ إلى أَينَ يَذهَبُ. أمّا مَن أَهمَلَ التَّخطيطَ، فَإنَّهُ يَستَيقِظُ يَومًا لِيَجِدَ أنَّ المِهنَةَ قد اختارَتهُ عِوَضًا عن أن يَختارَها هو. وَدَعَتهُم أيضًا إلى مُراجَعَةِ خِطَّتِهِم مُراجَعَةً دَقيقَةً كُلَّما ظَهَرَ اهتِمامٌ جَديدٌ، حَتّى تَبقى الخِطَّةُ حَيَّةً لا جامِدَةً.
الشَّواهد: الأسطُر ١١–١٣
الإجابَة النَّموذَجِيَّة
رَأَت الدُّكتورَةُ أنَّ أَبرَزَ خَطَأٍ يَقَعُ فيهِ الشَّبابُ هو التَّقليدُ: أن يَختارَ الطّالِبُ مِهنَةً لِأنَّ صَديقَهُ اختارَها، أو لِأنَّ والِدَهُ تَمَنّاها لَهُ. واعتَبَرَتهُ خَطَأً لِأنَّ المِهنَةَ الَّتي لا تُشبِهُ صاحِبَها — أي الَّتي لا تُلائِمُ ميولَهُ وقُدُراتِهِ — تَنتَهي حَتمًا إلى نَدامَةٍ طَويلَةٍ. فَالإنسانُ يَقضي في عَمَلِهِ نِصفَ عُمُرِهِ، فإن لم يُحِبَّ ما يَعمَلُ، أَضاعَ نِصفَ عُمُرِهِ.
الشَّواهد: الأسطُر ١٥–١٦
The article's two pivots. The writer opens with a single big question — what do you want to be when you grow up? — and closes with a single short answer in two words: know yourself first, then choose your goal. In between, two voices do all the work: Yūsuf the student (paragraph 2) and Dr Hala the counsellor (paragraphs 3–5).
Look at how the writer arranges the two voices. What does putting Yūsuf first and Dr Hala second achieve? Why might the article have been weaker if the order were reversed?
Top-band answers explain what the order of voices does to the reader:
This kind of question appears as Paper 1 Questions 4 & 8 in the GCSE — worth 10 marks each (20 of the 49 reading marks). Analysing the order of elements (not just their presence) is a top-band move.
Dr Hala says the biggest mistake young people make in choosing a career is imitation — picking the path a friend chose, or the path a parent wishes for them.
Have you ever felt pressure to pick a subject, a course or a career because someone else wanted you to? How did you handle it? Or do you think family advice should usually be followed, even when it doesn't match your own interests?
Try writing two short Arabic sentences in answer: one starting with إن أَخَذتَ بِنَصيحَةِ والِدَيكَ (if you take your parents' advice) + a jussive result; one starting with أَنا أَختارُ مِهنَتي اختِيارًا (I choose my profession a choosing of …) and adding an adjective. The first uses in + jussive (Grammar Note 2); the second uses the cognate accusative (Grammar Note 1).
40–55 minutes for a self-study learner. Can be split into two sessions (read text + vocab + translation in session 1; grammar + questions + craft in session 2).
The learner should already know the present-tense indicative endings (yaktubu, yaktubūna) so they can SEE the contrast when the jussive form drops them. Lesson 1's grammar note on lam + jussive is the direct prerequisite — the conditional in + jussive is the same mood, used in a different role.
The text is written in the same house style as the Pearson Sample Assessment Materials Text 2. Anonymous-byline modern MSA article, ~315 words, with embedded direct speech from two named people (a student and an expert). The two grammar notes target structures examiners flag year after year: the cognate accusative (complex structure, regularly tested in Q11–14) and conditional in + jussive (basic structure, the tanjaḥū / tanjaḥūn trap is in the examiner report every year).
Lesson 3 (also Topic 1, Youth Matters) shifts to the question of how young people spend their free time, with a practical-advice article. Grammar focus moves to the specification (al-tamyīz) and reinforces the passive voice from Lesson 1.