Breakdown of هل شرفتكم مفتوحة الآن؟
هلhal
is / are (question marker)
الآنal-ân
now
مفتوحmaftûhun
open
كمkum
your (pl.) / you (pl., object)
شرفةshurfa
balcony
Questions & Answers about هل شرفتكم مفتوحة الآن؟
How do we form "your balcony" for a group of people here?
We use the attached plural possessive pronoun كم. When attached to the end of a noun, it means "your" when talking to three or more people (specifically a masculine or mixed-gender group).
Why does the word for balcony look like شرفت instead of شرفة?
The base word for balcony is شرفة, which ends with the feminine letter taa marbuuTa (ة). A major spelling rule in Arabic is that when you attach any suffix (like the pronoun كم) to a word ending in ة, that letter must "open up" and be written as a regular taa (ت). That is why it becomes شرفتكم.
Why is the word for "open" feminine (مفتوحة) if the pronoun كم is for a masculine or mixed group?
Adjectives always describe the noun itself, not the owner of the noun. The adjective مفتوحة (open) is describing the balcony (شرفة), which is a feminine word. Even though the balcony belongs to a group of people, the balcony itself remains feminine, so the adjective must match it.
Does the word هل mean "is" in this sentence?
Not exactly. Arabic does not use words like "is" or "are" in present tense sentences. The word هل is simply a question particle that turns a statement into a yes/no question. If you remove هل, the sentence شرفتكم مفتوحة الآن perfectly translates to "Your balcony is open now."
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