Breakdown of هذه لافتة مهمة في الشارع.
فيfî
in / about, regarding
هذهhâdhihi
this (f)
شارعshâri'
street
مهمmuhimm
important
لافتةlâfita
sign
Questions & Answers about هذه لافتة مهمة في الشارع.
Can I use لا to say "This is not an important sign"?
No. Your current lesson covers using لا to negate present tense verbs. Because this is a sentence without a verb (a nominal sentence), you cannot use لا. Instead, you would use a form of the verb "laysa" to say "is not". Here, you would use ليست because the sign is feminine.
Where is the word for "is" in this sentence?
Arabic does not use a "to be" verb in the present tense. By putting the pointing word هذه (this) directly before the indefinite noun لافتة (a sign), the "is" is naturally understood by the listener.
Why are we using هذه instead of هذا for "this"?
هذه is the feminine form of "this". Since the noun it refers to, لافتة (sign), is feminine, the pointing word must also be feminine to match.
Why do both لافتة and مهمة end with the same round letter?
In Arabic, adjectives must match the noun they describe in gender. The word for sign, لافتة, is feminine because it ends with the tied-t or Ta' Marbuta. Therefore, the adjective for important, مهمة, must also take that same feminine ending.
When speaking, do I pronounce the "l" sound in الشارع?
No. The word الشارع starts with the letter sheen, which is a "sun letter". This means the "l" sound in "al-" is skipped, and you double the sheen sound instead. When reading the phrase في الشارع, it blends together to sound like "fish-shaari'".
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