Breakdown of أما الحجم فهو صغير، وأما البطارية فهي كبيرة.
الal
the
وwa
and
كبيرkabîr
big
هوhuwa
he / his / him (attached)
Questions & Answers about أما الحجم فهو صغير، وأما البطارية فهي كبيرة.
Why is there a فـ attached to هو and هي in this sentence?
This is the core rule of the أمّا ... فـ (as for... then) structure. Whenever you start a clause with أمّا to introduce a topic, the second part of the phrase (the comment or the 'what about it') must begin with the prefix فـ to link them together.
Why do we use the pronouns هو and هي here instead of just attaching the فـ directly to the adjectives (like فصغير)?
After أمّا and its topic, the part following the فـ needs to be a complete sentence. Because Arabic doesn't use the word 'is', we often insert the independent pronoun (هو for the masculine الحجم and هي for the feminine البطارية) to act as the subject of that new part. It translates literally to 'As for the size, then it is small.'
Notice how the sentence says وأما البطارية in the second half. Is it necessary to repeat أما?
Repeating أمّا (with the conjunction و attached) is the most natural way in Arabic to create a strong, balanced contrast between two things. It perfectly mirrors the English structure 'As for X... and as for Y...'.
Why does the spelling of the adjectives change from صغير to كبيرة?