Breakdown of هل محرك السيارة جديد؟
الal
the
هلhal
is / are (question marker)
سيارةsayyâra
car
جديدjadeed
new
محركmuharrik
engine
Questions & Answers about هل محرك السيارة جديد؟
Why doesn't محرك (engine) have the word for "the" (الـ) attached to it, even though we translate it as "the car's engine"?
This is the core rule of the Arabic possessive structure (Idafa). When you say "the [thing] of [something]", the first word never takes الـ (the). It becomes definite automatically just by being attached to the second word. So, محرك السيارة literally means "engine (of) the car".
The word for car, السيارة, is feminine. Why is the adjective for "new" (جديد) masculine instead of feminine (جديدة)?
Because جديد (new) is describing the engine (محرك), which is masculine, not the car! In a possessive phrase like محرك السيارة, the adjective at the end describes the first word (the thing being owned). Since the engine is what is new, the adjective must be masculine to match it.
Where is the word for "is" in this sentence?
Arabic doesn't use a word for "is" or "are" in present-tense sentences. You just put the subject (محرك السيارة, the car's engine) and the description (جديد, new) next to each other.
What exactly does the word هل do here?
هل is a question word used to create yes/no questions. It doesn't have a direct translation in English, but it acts like placing "Is", "Are", or "Do" at the start of a sentence. It simply turns the statement "the car's engine is new" into "Is the car's engine new?".
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