Breakdown of هو أفضل المبرمجين.
الal
the
هوhuwa
he / his / him (attached)
أفضلafdal
best / better
مبرمجmubarmij
programmer
Questions & Answers about هو أفضل المبرمجين.
Why does the word for programmers end in ـين instead of ـون?
In this sentence, المبرمجين is in the genitive case. Regular masculine plurals use the ـون ending for the nominative case (such as when they are the subject of a sentence), but they change to ـين for the accusative and genitive cases. Here, it is the second part of an Idafa (genitive phrase), meaning 'of the programmers', so it must take the genitive case.
Why doesn't the word أفضل (best) have the prefix الـ (the) attached to it?
The phrase أفضل المبرمجين forms an Idafa (a genitive construction), literally translating to 'best of the programmers.' In Arabic, the first word of an Idafa never takes the definite article الـ. The entire phrase is understood as definite because the second word, المبرمجين, has الـ.
What kind of word is أفضل?
It is a superlative. In Arabic, comparatives (better, taller) and superlatives (best, tallest) are usually built using the أفعل sound pattern. When a word on this pattern is followed by a definite plural noun in an Idafa, like أفضل المبرمجين, it translates to 'the best of'.
Where is the word 'is' in this sentence?
Arabic does not use a present tense verb for 'to be' in simple descriptive sentences. The pronoun هو (he) sits right next to the phrase أفضل المبرمجين (the best of the programmers), and the word 'is' is naturally implied between them.