Breakdown of هل بحثت عن القلم؟
الal
the
هلhal
is / are (question marker)
قلمqalam
pen
بحث عنbaHatha 'an
to search for
Questions & Answers about هل بحثت عن القلم؟
How do I know who 'searched' in this sentence since the pronoun 'you' isn't there?
In Arabic, past tense verbs include the person doing the action as a suffix at the end of the word. Here, the letter ت at the end of بحثت tells us the subject. You don't need to add the separate pronoun أنت (you) because the verb already has it built in!
Without short vowels, how do I know if بحثت means 'I searched', 'you (masculine) searched', or 'you (feminine) searched'?
You have to rely on context! The spelling بحثت is exactly the same for all three. If you are asking a man, you pronounce the ending with an 'a' sound (baḥathta). If asking a woman, it gets an 'i' sound (baḥathti). If you were stating 'I searched', it would have a 'u' sound (baḥathtu).
Why is the word عن used here? Doesn't that usually mean 'about'?
Yes, عن often means 'about', but in Arabic, certain verbs always pair with specific prepositions. The verb بحث (to search) almost always pairs with عن to mean 'to search for'. It is a great habit to memorize the verb and its preposition together as a set: بحث عن (to search for).
In English we say 'Did you search' instead of 'searched'. Does the question word هل change the verb tense in Arabic?