Questions & Answers about البحر أزرق جدا اليوم.
Why is the word for blue أزرق (azraq) instead of having a regular adjective ending?
Colors in Arabic follow a special pattern. For masculine nouns like البحر (the sea), colors use the pattern أفعل (af'al), making blue أزرق. If we were describing a feminine noun, we would use the feminine pattern فعلاء (fa'laa'), which would be زرقاء (zarqaa').
Why doesn't أزرق (blue) have 'al-' (the) attached to it, since it's describing البحر (the sea)?
Because أزرق is the predicate of the sentence (The sea is blue). In Arabic, if you want to say 'the blue sea', both words must match and take 'al-', making it البحر الأزرق. Leaving 'al-' off the adjective creates the 'is' meaning.
Why does جدا (very) come after the adjective instead of before it?
In Arabic, the word جدا (jiddan) almost always comes directly after the adjective it describes. So 'very blue' translates literally to 'blue very' (أزرق جدا).
What are the two little lines at the end of جدا?
That is 'tanween fatha', which adds an 'an' sound to the end of the word (pronounced 'jiddan'). This ending is very commonly used on adverbs in Arabic, similar to how it is used in شكرا (shukran) for 'thank you'.
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