Breakdown of هل هذا هاتفك؟
هلhal
is / are (question marker)
هذاhâdhâ
this (m)
كka
your / you (object)
هاتفhâtif
phone
Questions & Answers about هل هذا هاتفك؟
How do I know if "your phone" is addressed to a man or a woman here?
The attached pronoun for "your" changes based on who you are talking to, but it looks identical in this written sentence! If you are speaking to a male, it is pronounced هاتفكَ (hatifuka). If speaking to a female, it is pronounced هاتفكِ (hatifuki). Since they share the exact same spelling هاتفك, you have to rely on context to know the pronunciation when the small short-vowel marks are missing.
Why do we use the masculine word هذا if I am asking a woman?
The word هذا (this) always matches the gender of the object being pointed at, never the person you are talking to. Because هاتف (phone) is a masculine word, you must use the masculine هذا, even if the attached owner pronoun (ـك) is female.
Where is the word for "is" in this sentence?
Arabic does not use "is" or "are" in simple present tense sentences like this. You just put the subject هذا (this) and the thing it is هاتفك (your phone) right next to each other to mean "this is your phone".
What is the exact purpose of هل at the beginning of the sentence?
The word هل is a question marker. You place it at the very beginning of a regular statement to turn it into a yes/no question. It does not have a direct English translation, but it functions just like putting "is" or "do" at the start of an English question.
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