Questions & Answers about من هذه الأخت؟
Why do we use من here instead of another question word like ما?
من means "who" and is used specifically to ask about people. If you were asking "what" about an object, animal, or idea, you would use ما instead.
The English translation says "is", but where is that word in the Arabic sentence?
Arabic does not have a word for "is" or "are" in present tense sentences. You simply put the words together, so "Who this the-sister?" naturally means "Who is this sister?".
Why does الأخت (sister) have ال (the) at the beginning?
In Arabic, to say "this [noun]", you must put ال (the) on the noun. So "this sister" is literally "this the-sister" (هذه الأخت). If you took off the ال, the phrase هذه أخت would change meaning to "This is a sister".
Why do we use هذه for "this" instead of هذا?
Because a sister is female. Arabic words for "this" change depending on gender. هذه is for feminine words, while هذا is used for masculine words.