البحر كبير والنهر جميل.al-bahru kabîrun wa-n-nahru jamîlun
The sea is big and the river is beautiful.
Breakdown of البحر كبير والنهر جميل.
الal
the
وwa
and
جميلjamîl
beautiful
نهرnahr
river
كبيرkabîr
big
بحرbahr
sea
Questions & Answers about البحر كبير والنهر جميل.
Why is the 'l' sound pronounced in البحر but not in النهر?
This is because of Sun and Moon letters. The letter ب in البحر is a Moon letter, so the ل (l) in the prefix ال (the) is pronounced clearly as 'al-bahr'. However, the letter ن in النهر is a Sun letter. Sun letters assimilate the 'l' sound, so instead of saying 'al-nahr', you double the ن sound and say 'an-nahr'.
How do you pronounce the combination والنهر?
The prefix و (wa) means 'and'. When it attaches to a word starting with ال followed by a Sun letter like ن, the 'a' sound in ال is skipped, and the 'l' is assimilated by the Sun letter. This means you jump straight from the 'wa' sound to the doubled Sun letter, pronouncing it 'wan-nahr'.
Where is the word for 'is' in this sentence?
Arabic does not use a verb for 'is' or 'are' in simple present-tense sentences. You simply place the subject and the describing word side by side. For example, البحر كبير literally means 'the sea big', which translates smoothly to 'the sea is big'.
Why doesn't the word for 'and' have a space after it?
In Arabic, the word for 'and' is the single letter و (wa). Single-letter words in Arabic cannot stand alone with spaces around them; they must be attached directly to the beginning of the word that follows them, which is why it is written as والنهر.
Why don't the adjectives كبير (big) and جميل (beautiful) have ال (the) attached to them?
If you added ال to the adjectives, it would change the grammar entirely. البحر الكبير would mean 'the big sea' (a phrase) instead of 'the sea is big' (a full sentence). By leaving the adjective indefinite (without ال), you signal to the listener that you are making a complete statement about the subject.
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