Breakdown of هل المهندس مشغول أيضا؟
هلhal
is / are (question marker)
مشغولmashghûl
busy
أيضاaydan
also
مهندسmuhandis
engineer
Questions & Answers about هل المهندس مشغول أيضا؟
How does the word هل make this a question?
هل (hal) is a particle used to ask Yes/No questions. You just put it at the very beginning of a normal statement without changing the word order. If you take هل away, you are left with المهندس مشغول أيضا which is simply the statement 'The engineer is also busy.'
Where is the word for 'is' in this Arabic sentence?
In Arabic, there is no word for 'is' or 'are' in the present tense. You create an 'is' relationship simply by putting a definite noun (like المهندس, 'the engineer') right before an indefinite adjective (like مشغول, 'busy'). The 'is' is naturally understood between them.
How would this question change if we were asking about a female engineer?
You would need to make both the noun and the adjective feminine by adding the feminine ending, called a taa marbuta (ة), to them. The question would become هل المهندسة مشغولة أيضا؟. The question word هل and the word for 'also' (أيضا) do not change based on gender.
Why does the word أيضا end with an alif and two little slashes?
Those two slashes are a pronunciation mark called 'tanween' that makes an 'an' sound, which is why the word is pronounced 'aydan'. For adverbs like أيضا (also) and شكرا (thank you), this 'an' ending is a fixed part of the word's standard spelling and pronunciation.
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