Breakdown of هل هذا الحساب بدون الشطيرة؟
هلhal
is / are (question marker)
هذاhâdhâ
this (m)
حسابhisâb
bill
بدونbidûni
without
شطيرةshatîra
sandwich
Questions & Answers about هل هذا الحساب بدون الشطيرة؟
Why does هذا الحساب translate to 'this bill' instead of 'this is a bill'?
When you put the word for 'this' (هذا) right before a noun that starts with 'the' (الـ), they link together to mean 'this [noun]'. So, هذا الحساب means 'this bill'. If the noun didn't have 'the' attached to it, like هذا حساب, then it would mean 'this is a bill'.
Since we are learning about the numbers 1 and 2, how would I change this to say 'without ONE sandwich'?
To emphasize exactly one sandwich, you add the word for 'one' after the noun as an adjective. Since شطيرة is a feminine noun, you must use the feminine word for one: واحدة. You would say بدون شطيرةٍ واحدةٍ (without one sandwich). Notice we dropped 'the' (الـ) because we are talking about 'a' single sandwich, not 'the' specific sandwich.
Does the word بدون (without) change the pronunciation of the word after it?
Yes! بدون acts like a preposition in Arabic. Prepositions cause the noun immediately following them to take a short 'i' sound (a kasra) at the end, which is called the genitive case. So the final word is pronounced الشطيرةِ (al-shatirati) instead of ending with a 'u' sound.
Why is هل used here instead of an Arabic word for 'is'?
Arabic does not use a present-tense verb for 'to be' (like 'is' or 'are'). Instead, to ask a basic yes-or-no question, you simply put the question particle هل at the very beginning of the statement. It acts like a flag telling the listener that a yes/no question is coming.
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