Breakdown of هذا سر بيننا.
هذاhâdhâ
this (m)
ناnâ
our / us (object) / we (subject suffix on past verb)
بينbayna
between
سرsirr
secret
Questions & Answers about هذا سر بيننا.
Why is there no word for "is" in this sentence?
In Arabic, sentences that say what something is in the present tense don't use a verb for "is" or "are." We just put the subject (هذا, this) and the information about it (سر, a secret) side by side. This is called a nominal sentence.
How does the word بيننا break down?
It is made of the preposition بين (between) and the attached pronoun ـنا (us). In Arabic, pronoun objects attach directly to the end of prepositions like this.
Why do we use هذا instead of هذه here?
The word for secret, سر, is a masculine noun. Words like "this" must match the gender of the noun they are pointing to, so we use the masculine هذا instead of the feminine هذه.
Why does سر mean "a secret" without a word for "a"?
Arabic doesn't have a word for "a" or "an." If a noun does not have the definite article ال (al-) attached to it, it is usually indefinite. As a very important rule to remember, if we added the article and wrote هذا السر, it would change the meaning from a full sentence into just the phrase "this secret".