Breakdown of الكلب جائع لكنه لا يأكل الخبز.
كلبkalb
dog
هhu
his / him (object) / it (dummy pronoun after لأن)
أكلakala
to eat
خبزkhubz
bread
لاlâ
not (with present verb)
جائعjâ'i'
hungry
لكنlâkin
but
Questions & Answers about الكلب جائع لكنه لا يأكل الخبز.
How does the word for "but" work in this sentence, and what is the extra piece at the end of it?
The word for "but" here is لكن (lakinna). In Arabic, this word usually needs an attached pronoun to show who or what is doing the action in the second half of the sentence. Because we are talking about الكلب (the dog), which is a masculine noun, we attach the masculine pronoun ـه (he/it) to make لكنه (but it).
Where is the word for "is" in the phrase "The dog is hungry"?
Arabic does not use a word for "is" or "are" in the present tense. To say "The dog is hungry," you simply place the definite noun الكلب (the dog) right next to the describing word جائع (hungry).
Why do we use لا to say "does not" here instead of ليس?
You use لا (laa) immediately before present tense verbs, like يأكل (eat), to mean "does not" or "do not." You would use ليس (laysa) to negate sentences that do not have a regular action verb, such as if you wanted to say "The dog is not hungry."
Why does the word for bread (الخبز) have "al-" (the) attached to it if the English translation just says "bread"?
In Arabic, when you talk about a general category or substance as the object of an action (like eating bread or drinking water), you typically add the definite article الـ (the). English drops "the" when talking about things in general, but Arabic keeps it!
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