Nominal Sentences and "Is"
In Arabic, there is no present tense word for "is" or "are". To say "The door is open," you simply place the subject right before the describing adjective to form a nominal sentence.
In the previous lesson, you learned that an adjective matching a noun's definiteness forms a descriptive phrase, such as الباب المفتوح (the open door).
To make a complete sentence, you intentionally break this agreement. The subject usually remains definite (starts with ال), but the describing adjective — the predicate — must remain indefinite (no ال). This mismatch in definiteness acts just like the English word "is".
| The door is open. | الباب مفتوح.al-bâbu maftûhun |
| The restaurant is closed. | المطعم مغلق.al-mat'am mughlaq |
Gender Agreement in Predicates
Even though predicative adjectives do not take the definite article ال, they must still perfectly agree with their subject in gender. If the subject is feminine, the adjective still takes the feminine suffix ة.
| The boy is happy. | الولد سعيد.al-waladu sa'îdun. |
| The girl is sad. | البنت حزينة.al-bintu hazînah |
This rule applies to all subjects, including when you use pronouns.
| He is poor and she is rich. | هو فقير وهي غنية.huwa faqîrun wa hiya ghaniyyatun. |
Asking Questions
To turn these statements into yes/no questions, simply place the question word هل at the beginning of the sentence. The rules for the subject and the predicative adjective do not change.
| Is this door closed? | هل هذا الباب مغلق؟hal hâdhâ al-bâbu mughlaqun? |
| Are you sad? | هل أنت حزين؟hal anta hazîn? |
