Breakdown of هن طالبات في الجامعة.
الal
the
فيfî
in / about, regarding
جامعةjâmi'a
university
طالبةtâliba
student
هنhunna
they (f. pl.) / them / their (f. pl., attached)
Questions & Answers about هن طالبات في الجامعة.
Why use هن (hunna) for "they" instead of the more common هم (hum)?
In Arabic, there is a specific pronoun for "they" when you are talking only about females: هن (hunna). Because طالبات means female students, you must use the feminine "they". If the group of students were all male or a mix of males and females, you would use هم (hum).
I don't see a word for "are" here. How does the sentence work without it?
Arabic does not use a verb for "is" or "are" in simple present-tense sentences. You simply state the subject, هن (they), directly followed by the information about them, طالبات (students). This structure is known as a nominal sentence.
How is the plural word طالبات (students) formed?
The singular word for a female student is طالبة (ṭāliba). To make it plural, you drop the feminine ending ة (taa marbuuTa) and replace it with ـات (-aat). This is the standard way to make feminine words plural in Arabic.
The translation says "at the university," but doesn't في (fī) usually mean "in"?
Yes, في literally means "in," but Arabic prepositions don't always match English ones perfectly. Arabic naturally uses في for institutions and places where English prefers "at," so you are literally saying they are "in the university."
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