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### 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".

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### 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.

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This rule applies to all subjects, including when you use pronouns.

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### 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.

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Predicative adjectives

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

interrogative

noun

numeral

particle

prefix

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

The definite article and locatives (الـ)

Basic noun gender (ة)

Sun and moon letters

Singular subject pronouns (أنا، أنت، هو، هي)

Indefinite nouns and nominal sentences (ـٌ)

Demonstrative pronouns for 'this' (هذا / هذه)

Separate prepositions (في، من، إلى، على)

Attributive adjectives

Yes/No questions (هل، أ)

Basic questions (من، ما، أين)

Singular possessive pronouns (ـي، ـك، ـه، ـها)

Plural subject pronouns (نحن، أنتم، هم)

Plural possessive pronouns (ـنا، ـكم، ـهم)

Noun possession

Attached prepositions (بـ، لـ، كـ)

Pronouns with prepositions

Having and possessing (عند، لـ، مع)

Regular plural nouns (ـون، ـين، ـات)

Broken plurals

Dual nouns (ـان / ـين)

Plural and distant demonstratives (هؤلاء، ذلك، تلك)

Non-human plural agreement

Present tense singular verbs

Verbal sentences (VSO)

Present tense plural verbs

Topicalized sentences (SVO)

The indefinite accusative case (ـاً)

Verb object pronouns (-ني، -ك، -ه)

Present tense negation (لا)

Question words with verbs (متى، كيف...)

Adverbs of time and place

The future tense (سـ / سوف)

Intentions and desires (أن)

Negating states and possession (ليس)

Past tense singular suffixes

Past tense plural suffixes

Negating past events (ما)

Singular commands

Numbers 1 to 10

Number agreement for 1 and 2 (واحد، اثنان)

Asking how many (كم)

Numbers 3 to 10 (ثلاثة إلى عشرة)

Ordinal numbers 1 to 10 (الأول، الثاني)

Basic conjunctions (فـ، أو، لكن)

Ordering at a café (واحد، اثنان)

Food and drink with conjunctions (و، ف، أو، لكن)

There is and there are (هناك / ليس هناك)

Direct address (يا)

Giving reasons (لأنّ)

Relative pronouns (الذي / التي)

Quantifiers (كل / بعض)

The past tense of 'to be' (كان)

Past possession

Numbers 11 to 19 and tens to 80

Telling time (الساعة)

This book vs this is a book (هذا الكتاب، هذا كتاب)

Greetings (مرحبا، السلام عليكم)

How are you? and goodbye (كيف حالك، مع السلامة)

Nationalities (مصري، مصرية)

Roots and patterns (كتب، كتاب، مكتب)

Politeness (من فضلك، آسف)

Complex possession chains

Colors and traits (أفعل / فعلاء)

Plural colors and traits (فُعْل)

Comparative adjectives (أفعل من)

Superlative adjectives (أفعل)

Adverbs of manner (ـاً)

The nominative case (ـُ)

The genitive case (ـِ)

The accusative case (ـَ)

Dual noun cases (ـان / ـين)

Masculine plurals and 'the best of' (أفضل النجارين)

Emphasizing sentences (إنّ)

Connecting clauses (أنّ)

Reporting speech (قال إنّ)

Expressing contrast (لكنّ)

Comparison and probability (كأنّ, لعلّ)

Distant plural pointing (أولئك)

Plural relative pronouns (الذين, اللواتي)

Past habits (كان + present)

Ongoing actions (ما زال)

Masculine plurals online (مبرمجون، مؤثرون)

Perfective past (قد)

Probability (قد)

The subjunctive mood (أن)

Expressing purpose (لـ)

Question	Answer
door	بابbâbun
open	مفتوحmaftûhun
The door is open.	الباب مفتوح.al-bâbu maftûhun
closed	مغلقmoghlaq
The restaurant is closed.	المطعم مغلق.al-mat'am mughlaq
Is this door closed?	هل هذا الباب مغلق؟hal hâdhâ al-bâbu mughlaqun?
No, the door is open now.	لا، الباب مفتوح الآن.lā, al-bābu maftūḥun al-âna.
happy	سعيدsa'îd
The boy is happy.	الولد سعيد.al-waladu sa'îdun.
sad	حزينhazîn
The girl is sad.	البنت حزينة.al-bintu hazînah
Are you sad?	هل أنت حزين؟hal anta hazîn?
No, I am happy.	لا، أنا سعيد.lâ, anâ saîd.
rich	غنيghaniyy
The man is rich.	الرجل غني.ar-rajulu ghaniyy
poor	فقيرfaqîr
The woman is poor.	المرأة فقيرة.al-mar'atu faqiratun.
He is poor and she is rich.	هو فقير وهي غنية.huwa faqîrun wa hiya ghaniyyatun.
fast	سريعsarî'
The car is fast.	السيارة سريعة.as-sayyâratu sarî3ah.
slow	بطيءbatee'
The computer is slow.	الحاسوب بطيء.al-hâsûbu batî'un.
Is the cat fast?	هل القط سريع؟hal al-qittu sarî'un?
No, the cat is slow.	لا، القط بطيء.lâ, al-qittu batî'
hot / warm (cordial)	حارhârr
The food is hot.	الطعام حار.at-ta'âmu hârr
The sun is hot.	الشمس حارة.ash-shamsu hârrah
good / well	جيدjayyid
The food is good.	الطعام جيد.at-ta'âmu jayyidun
Is the book good?	هل الكتاب جيد؟hali l-kitâbu jayyidun?
correct / true	صحيحsaheeh
That is correct.	هذا صحيح.hâdhâ sahîh.
Is the story true?	هل القصة صحيحة؟hal al-qissatu sahîhah?

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