Breakdown of هذا الطالب إنجليزي.
الal
the
طالبtâlib
student
هذاhâdhâ
this (m)
إنجليزيinjilîzî
English (nationality)
Questions & Answers about هذا الطالب إنجليزي.
Where is the word for 'is' in this sentence?
In Arabic, simple 'is' sentences in the present tense don't actually use a verb. The sentence literally reads 'This student English'. The 'is' is understood by simply putting the subject and its description together.
Why does the Arabic sentence say 'this the student' (هذا الطالب) instead of just 'this student'?
In Arabic, to say 'this student', the noun must have the word for 'the' (ال) attached to it. If you drop the 'the' and just write هذا طالب, it changes the meaning completely into a full sentence: 'This is a student.'
How do we know إنجليزي means 'English' as a person's nationality?
The ending ي (which makes an 'ee' sound) is added to places or nouns to create an adjective describing where someone is from. This is called a 'nisba' adjective. It turns the base concept into the adjective إنجليزي (English) to describe the student.
Why isn't the word for 'English' capitalized in Arabic?
Unlike English, the Arabic alphabet does not have capital and lowercase letters. Words for nationalities and languages like إنجليزي are written exactly like any other word, without any special capitalization.
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