Questions & Answers about أولئك الفنانون مشهورون.
Why do we use أولئك here for 'those' instead of تلك?
أولئك is the specific word for 'those' when referring to plural humans, like artists. If you were pointing to plural non-humans, like 'those books' or 'those cars', you would use the feminine singular تلك instead.
Why does الفنانون have the 'al-' prefix while مشهورون does not?
To say 'those artists' as a connected subject, the noun must be definite, so we add ال to make الفنانون. If we left it out and said أولئك فنانون, it would change the meaning entirely to 'Those are artists.' Since مشهورون is the predicate delivering the new information ('are famous'), it stays indefinite.
Why do both الفنانون and مشهورون end in ون?
This ون ending shows they are regular masculine plurals in the default subject (nominative) case. The predicate (مشهورون) must match the subject (الفنانون) in both gender (masculine) and number (plural).
How is the first part of أولئك pronounced? Is the و silent?
Yes, the و (waw) is completely silent. You pronounce the word 'u-laa-i-ka'. Notice there is also a hidden long 'a' sound after the letter lam (ل) that isn't written out as a full letter, which is a special spelling rule you just have to memorize for this word.