Breakdown of هل سعر السيارة ممتاز؟
الal
the
هلhal
is / are (question marker)
سيارةsayyâra
car
ممتازmumtâz
excellent
سعرsi'r
price
Questions & Answers about هل سعر السيارة ممتاز؟
Why doesn't سعر have الـ (the) at the beginning, since the translation says "the car's price"?
This is the golden rule of the possessive phrase (Idafa). The first word (the thing being owned) never takes الـ. It automatically becomes a specific "the" word because the second word, السيارة (the car), has الـ attached to it.
How do we link "price" and "car" to show possession without a word for "of" or "'s"?
In Arabic, you just place the two nouns side by side. The owned item comes first (سعر), followed immediately by the owner (السيارة). This two-noun chain is the Idafa construction, literally meaning "price (of) the car."
Why is the adjective ممتاز (excellent) masculine when السيارة (the car) is feminine?
Because ممتاز is describing the price (سعر), not the car (السيارة). Since سعر is a masculine noun, the adjective describing it must also be masculine. We are asking if the price is excellent, not the car itself.
Does هل mean "is" in this sentence?
It translates to "Is" here, but هل doesn't literally mean "is". It is simply a question particle put at the beginning of a sentence to ask a "yes/no" question. Remember, Arabic doesn't actually use words for "is" or "are" in present-tense sentences!
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