Breakdown of هل المدير متعب؟ كلا، هو سعيد.
الal
the
هلhal
is / are (question marker)
هوhuwa
he / his / him (attached)
سعيدsa'îd
happy
مديرmudîr
manager
متعبmuta'ab
tired
كلاkallâ
no (not at all)
Questions & Answers about هل المدير متعب؟ كلا، هو سعيد.
How does هل turn this sentence into a question?
هل is a question particle that simply sits at the very beginning of a regular statement to turn it into a yes/no question. If you take away هل, you are left with المدير متعب which is a complete sentence meaning 'The manager is tired.' It does not change the grammar of the words after it.
Could I use the other yes/no question particle, أ, instead of هل here?
You technically can, but هل is much easier and more common before words that start with ال (the). If you use أ before المدير, the two sounds merge and change the spelling. Sticking with هل here is the safest and most natural choice!
I usually see لا for 'no'. What does كلا mean?
كلا is another word for 'no', but it is a bit more emphatic or formal than a simple لا. It carries a feeling of 'certainly not' or 'absolutely not'. You can use either one to answer a yes/no question.
Why isn't there an Arabic word for 'is' in either the question or the answer?
Arabic does not use a 'to be' verb (is, am, are) in present-tense sentences like these. A subject and a descriptive word placed together, like هو سعيد (literally 'he happy'), automatically create the meaning 'he is happy'.
How would this whole sentence change if the manager were female?
You would add the feminine ending (taa marbuuta) to the noun and both adjectives, and change the pronoun 'he' to 'she'. It would become: هل المديرة متعبة؟ كلا، هي سعيدة.
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