Breakdown of هل أنتم فريق رياضي؟
هلhal
is / are (question marker)
فريقfarîq
team
أنتمantum
you all
رياضيriyâdiyy
athletic / athlete
Questions & Answers about هل أنتم فريق رياضي؟
Why do we use أنتم instead of أنتَ?
أنتم is the plural "you" in Arabic. You use it when speaking to a group of three or more people (either all men or a mixed group). Since the question asks "Are you all...", we need this plural pronoun.
Since أنتم means "you all", why is the word for team, فريق, singular?
Just like in English, a group of multiple people can form one single team. So the pronoun أنتم is plural to address the people, but the noun فريق remains singular because there is only one team.
Does the adjective رياضي agree with the plural "you" or with the word "team"?
It agrees with فريق (team). In Arabic, adjectives must match the noun they describe. Because فريق is a singular masculine noun, the adjective describing it, رياضي, must also be singular and masculine.
Where is the verb "are" in this sentence?
Arabic does not use the verb "to be" (am, is, are) in the present tense. You simply put the pronoun أنتم (you all) right next to the noun phrase فريق رياضي (an athletic team) to create the meaning "you all are an athletic team".
What is the purpose of هل at the beginning of the sentence?