Breakdown of هل أنت بخير الآن؟
هلhal
is / are (question marker)
الآنal-ân
now
أنتanta
you (singular)
بخيرbikhayrin
fine / well
Questions & Answers about هل أنت بخير الآن؟
Why is there no word for "are" in this Arabic sentence?
In Arabic, present tense "to be" verbs (like "am", "is", and "are") are simply left out. You just put the subject (أنت meaning "you") right next to the description (بخير meaning "well"). This is called a nominal sentence.
I learned that "good" is "khayr". Why does it have a بـ attached to the front in this sentence?
The prefix بـ (bi) is a preposition that usually means "with" or "in". So بخير (bi-khayr) literally translates to "in goodness" or "with good". This is the standard Arabic way to say someone is doing well or feeling fine.
How do I know if this sentence is addressed to a man or a woman?
In written Arabic without short vowel marks, the spelling أنت is exactly the same for both! If you are speaking to a man, you pronounce it anta. If you are speaking to a woman, you pronounce it anti. The rest of the sentence stays exactly the same.
What is the wavy line above the letter inside the word الآن (now)?
That symbol is called a maddah (آ). It tells you to pronounce the sound like a long, stretched-out "aa" (as in "father"). It replaces what would otherwise be a glottal stop followed by a long vowel, making the word sound like "al-aaan".