Breakdown of هل هذا الطعام لذيذ؟
الal
the
هلhal
is / are (question marker)
هذاhâdhâ
this (m)
طعامta'âm
food
لذيذlazîz
delicious
Questions & Answers about هل هذا الطعام لذيذ؟
Where is the word for 'is' in this sentence?
In Arabic, there is no word for 'is' or 'are' in present tense sentences. You just put the subject (هذا الطعام, meaning 'this food') and the describing word (لذيذ, meaning 'delicious') next to each other.
What is the purpose of هل at the beginning of the sentence?
هل is a special word used to ask 'yes' or 'no' questions. It does not have a direct translation in English, but placing it at the start of a statement turns it into a question, similar to starting with 'Is...' or 'Do...'.
Why does 'food' have the word 'the' (ال) attached to it if the translation says 'this food'?
In Arabic, to say 'this [noun]', the noun must be definite, meaning it needs the prefix ال (the). If you took the prefix away and wrote هذا طعام, the meaning would change to 'This is food' instead of 'this food'.
Why doesn't لذيذ (delicious) also have ال (the) at the beginning?
Because it is the new information you are giving about the food. If you added ال to make it هذا الطعام اللذيذ, the words would just mean 'this delicious food' instead of being a complete sentence. Keeping لذيذ without ال gives us 'This food [is] delicious.'
Why is the 'L' sound missing when native speakers pronounce الطعام?
The letter 'Taa' (ط) at the start of the word is what Arabic learners call a 'sun letter'. When a word starts with a sun letter, the 'L' sound in the prefix ال (al) blends right into it. It is pronounced 'at-ta'am' instead of 'al-ta'am'.
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