Breakdown of السوق الكبير على هذا الشارع.
الal
the
كبيرkabîr
big
هذاhâdhâ
this (m)
على'ala
on / of (evidence of) / to (lie to someone) / for (difficult for someone)
شارعshâri'
street
سوقsûq
market
Questions & Answers about السوق الكبير على هذا الشارع.
Why do we use على here instead of في (in)?
على means "on" or "upon." Just like in English, we say a building or place is "on" a street, not "in" a street. We use على here to describe the market's location along the street.
Why does the word for "big" (الكبير) have "al-" (the) attached to it?
In Arabic, adjectives must match their nouns. Since السوق (the market) has ال (the) to make it definite, the adjective كبير (big) must also take ال. Together, السوق الكبير literally means "the market the big."
Where is the word for "is" in this sentence?
Arabic doesn't use a word for "is" or "are" in the present tense. You simply put the subject (السوق الكبير, the big market) next to the information about it (على هذا الشارع, on this street) to form a complete sentence.
Why does the word الشارع (street) have "al-" (the) right after هذا (this)?
When you want to say "this street" as a single phrase, you must add ال (the) to the noun. If you leave it off and say هذا شارع, the meaning changes completely to "This is a street."
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