Learn Arabic (Modern Standard): ليس هناك ضوضاء هنا، ولكن هناك زحام كبير. - There is no noise here, but there is a big crowd.

هناك by itself means 'there is' or 'there are'. To make it negative, we add the word ليس in front of it. ليس is a special word used to negate sentences that don't have a regular action verb. Together, ليس هناك simply means 'there is not' or 'there are not'.

The words هناك and هنا look very similar. How do I tell them apart?

They are closely related! هنا means the location 'here'. If you add a ك to the end, it becomes هناك, which literally means the location 'there'. However, Arabic also uses هناك to mean 'there is' or 'there are', just like we do in English. This sentence uses both: ليس هناك means 'there is not', and هنا means the location 'here'.

Why is the word و attached to لكن (but)?

The word لكن means 'but'. In Arabic, speakers very often attach the prefix و (which means 'and') to it, creating ولكن. Even though it literally translates to 'and but', you can just translate it as 'but'. It is used to connect sentences smoothly.

Why does زحام كبير (a big crowd) not have the word ال (the) attached to it?