Breakdown of هو فقير وهي غنية.
وwa
and
هوhuwa
he / his / him (attached)
هيhiya
she / her (attached)
غنيghaniyy
rich
فقيرfaqîr
poor
Questions & Answers about هو فقير وهي غنية.
Why isn't there a word for "is" in this sentence?
In Arabic, simple sentences like "He is poor" don't use a verb for "is" or "are" in the present tense. These are called nominal sentences. You just put the subject (هو, meaning "he") right next to the describing word (فقير, meaning "poor").
Why don't the adjectives فقير and غنية have the prefix for "the" (ال) attached to them?
Because they are the new information we are giving about the subject (called predicative adjectives). If you wanted to say "the poor man", you would add ال to both words. But to build a sentence meaning "He is poor", the describing word must stay indefinite (without ال). This lack of ال is actually what gives us the "is" meaning!
Why does the word for "rich" (غنية) end with a taa marbuta (ة)?
Adjectives must match the gender of the person or thing they describe. Since the second half of the sentence is about a female (هي, meaning "she"), the adjective gets the feminine ending ة to become غنية. If we were saying "he is rich", it would just be غني.
Why is the word for "and" (و) attached directly to هي without a space?
In Arabic, the word for "and" (و) is a one-letter particle that always connects directly to the beginning of the word that follows it. You will never see it floating on its own with spaces on both sides. So, "and she" is written as a single block: وهي.
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