Question 1

Why does the sentence use هذا for the chair but هذه for the table if they both mean "this"?

Accepted Answer

In Arabic, nouns have a gender (masculine or feminine), and the word for "this" must match the noun's gender. كرسي (chair) is masculine, so we use هذا. طاولة (table) is feminine, so we use هذه.

Question 2

How can I tell that طاولة (table) is feminine?

Accepted Answer

You can tell by looking at the last letter. It ends in a Ta' Marbuta (ة), which looks like a tied-up circle with two dots. This is the most common sign that a word is feminine in Arabic.

Question 3

Where are the words for "is" and "a" in "Is this a chair?"?

Accepted Answer

Arabic doesn't use a word for "is" (the verb "to be") in the present tense, and it doesn't have a word for "a" or "an". So, هذا كرسي literally translates to "this [is a] chair".

Question 4

Does هل mean "is"?

Accepted Answer

Not exactly. هل is a question word used at the beginning of a sentence to turn a statement into a yes-or-no question. Since Arabic doesn't use "is" here, هل simply does the job of signaling that you are asking a question.

هل هذا كرسي؟ لا، هذه طاولة.

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