Learn Arabic (Modern Standard): البحر كبير والنهر جميل. - The sea is big and the river is beautiful.

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.