Questions & Answers about هذا بحر بارد.
Why does this mean "This is a cold sea" and not "This cold sea"?
In Arabic, the word for "is" is generally understood when a definite word (like the pronoun هذا, meaning "this") is followed by an indefinite word (like بحر, meaning "a sea"). If you wanted to say "This cold sea" as a phrase rather than a full sentence, the noun would need "the" attached to it: هذا البحر البارد.
Why doesn't the adjective بارد have الـ (al-) attached to it?
Adjectives in Arabic must match their noun in definiteness. Since بحر (a sea) is indefinite (it doesn't have الـ), the adjective بارد (cold) must also be indefinite. If we were talking about "the cold sea," both words would need الـ to match.
How does the adjective show it matches the noun's gender here?
بحر (sea) is a masculine noun. We can usually tell because it doesn't end in the typical feminine letter taa marbuta (ـة). Because the noun is masculine, the adjective بارد (cold) stays in its default masculine form. If we were describing a feminine word, the adjective would add the feminine ending: باردة.
Why is هذا used at the beginning instead of هذه?
هذا is the masculine word for "this," and it must match the gender of the noun it points to. Since بحر is masculine, we use هذا. If you were pointing to a feminine noun, you would use the feminine version, هذه, instead.
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