Questions & Answers about هذه سيارة قديمة.
Why use هذه (this) instead of هذا?
سيارة (car) ends with a taa marbuta (the ة at the end), which usually means it is a feminine noun. In Arabic, words like 'this' must match the gender of the noun, so we use the feminine هذه instead of the masculine هذا.
Where is the word for 'is' in this sentence?
Arabic doesn't use a word for 'is' or 'are' in simple present tense sentences. Just putting هذه (this) right before سيارة (a car) naturally creates the meaning 'This is a car'.
Why does the word for 'old' (قديمة) come after 'car' (سيارة)?
In Arabic, adjectives always follow the noun they describe. So instead of saying 'old car', you literally say 'car old' (سيارة قديمة).
Why does قديمة (old) also end with a ة?
Adjectives have to match the gender of the noun they are describing. Because سيارة is feminine, we take the masculine word for old (قديم) and add the feminine ending ة to make it قديمة.
How do we know it translates to 'an old car' rather than 'the old car'?
Arabic has no direct word for 'a' or 'an'. However, because neither سيارة nor قديمة starts with ال (the Arabic prefix for 'the'), they are indefinite. This tells us it means 'an old car'.
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