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Questions & Answers about هل المرآة هنا؟
How can I tell that the word for "mirror" is feminine?
Look at the end of the word المرآة (the mirror). It ends with a Taa' Marboota (ة), which is the most common marker for feminine nouns in Arabic.
What is the wavy line over the Alif in المرآة?
That symbol is called a Madda (آ). It tells you to pronounce a glottal stop (a small catch in the throat) immediately followed by a long "aa" sound. So, the word is pronounced "al-mir'aah".
If هل means "is" here, can I use it for "is" in normal statements too?
Actually, هل doesn't exactly mean "is". It is a special question word used only at the beginning of a sentence to create a "yes/no" question. In Arabic, the verb "to be" (is/are) is simply left out of present-tense sentences. The literal translation is just "[Yes/no question word] the-mirror here?".
How do I pronounce the Taa' Marboota (ة) at the end of المرآة? Does it make a "t" sound?
In conversational Arabic, you will just hear it as a soft "ah" sound ("al-mir'ah"). The hidden "t" sound of the Taa' Marboota is typically only pronounced when the word is grammatically linked to the word right after it in a phrase, which isn't happening here.