Breakdown of عندي اجتماع يوم الأحد.
يi
my / me (after a preposition)
عند'inda
at / to have
اجتماعijtimâ'
meeting
يومyawm
day
Questions & Answers about عندي اجتماع يوم الأحد.
Why is there no verb for "I have" in this sentence?
Arabic does not have a direct verb for "to have." Instead, we use the preposition عند (at/with) plus the attached pronoun ي (me). So عندي literally means "at me [is]", which translates perfectly to "I have."
The English translation says "on Sunday," but there is no word for "on" in the Arabic sentence. Why?
In Arabic, when you state the time or day an event happens, you often just use the noun directly without a preposition like في (in/on). Saying يوم الأحد directly acts as a time marker meaning "on Sunday."
Why does Sunday (الأحد) have the word "the" (ال) attached to it, but يوم (day) doesn't?
This is an Idafa (possession) structure, which literally translates to "the day of Sunday." In an Idafa, the first word (يوم) never takes ال, while the second word (الأحد) usually does.
Could I change the word order and say اجتماع عندي instead?
No, because اجتماع (a meeting) is indefinite (it doesn't have "the"). In Arabic, when you use a phrase like عندي to say "I have," the indefinite thing you have must come after it.