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أين مركز الشرطة؟

أين مركز الشرطة؟ayna markazu ash-shurtati
Where is the police center?
From Lesson 74:The genitive case (ـِ)·Arabic (Modern Standard)

Breakdown of أين مركز الشرطة؟

أينayna
where
الal
the
شرطةshurta
police
مركزmarkaz
center

Questions & Answers about أين مركز الشرطة؟

Why isn't there a word for "of" between مركز and الشرطة?
This combination is called an Idafa, which is the standard Arabic structure for showing possession or relationship. Instead of using a separate word for "of," Arabic simply places the two nouns right next to each other. So مركز الشرطة translates directly to "center [of] the police."
The English translation says "the police center," so why doesn't مركز have الـ (the) attached to it?
In an Idafa structure, the first word (here, مركز) is strictly forbidden from having the definite article الـ. It becomes definite automatically because it is linked to the second word, الشرطة (the police), which does have الـ.
How does the Genitive case apply to الشرطة in this sentence?
In every Idafa phrase, the second word is always in the Genitive case (مجرور). Because of this rule, if you pronounce the full grammatical endings, الشرطة takes a Kasra (a short "i" vowel sound) at the end, making it pronounced as "ash-shurTati".
What vowel ending does مركز take, since it's also part of the Idafa?
Unlike the second word, the first word in an Idafa changes its case depending on its job in the sentence. Here, مركز is the subject being asked about, so it is in the Nominative case. It takes a single Damma (a short "u" sound) at the end, making it "markazu".

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