Breakdown of الشارع غير مزدحم الآن.
الal
the
الآنal-ân
now
شارعshâri'
street
مزدحمmuzdaḥim
crowded
غيرghayr
not, un- (before an adjective); other than
Questions & Answers about الشارع غير مزدحم الآن.
Why use غير (ghayr) here instead of ليس (laysa) to mean 'not'?
In Arabic, ليس is a verb used to negate sentences, while غير is a noun that directly negates the adjective following it, similar to the prefixes 'non-' or 'un-' in English. While you could perfectly well say الشارع ليس مزدحما (using ليس), saying غير مزدحم (literally 'non-crowded') is a very common and natural alternative.
How does the word غير affect the grammar of مزدحم?
Grammatically, غير and the word being negated form an Idaafa (a possessive phrase). Because of this rule, the second word, مزدحم, must be in the genitive case. If you are reading with full formal vowels, the phrase is pronounced ghayru muzdahimin.
Why doesn't the descriptive phrase غير مزدحم take the definite article ال to match الشارع?
This is a nominal sentence (a sentence without a verb like 'is'). In these sentences, the subject is typically definite (like الشارع), and the predicate (the part giving new information) must be indefinite. If you added ال to make it الشارع غير المزدحم, it would turn into a descriptive phrase meaning 'the uncrowded street' rather than a complete sentence.
What is the squiggly symbol over the Alif in the word الآن?
That symbol is called a madda. It tells you to pronounce a glottal stop (a catch in your throat) followed by a long 'aa' vowel sound. Instead of writing an Alif with a hamza next to a regular long Alif, Arabic combines them into one Alif with a madda. The word is pronounced 'al-'aan'.
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