Questions & Answers about ما معنى هذه الجملة؟
Why is ما used for "what" here instead of ماذا?
We use ما because this is a nominal (verbless) sentence and the word immediately following it is a noun (معنى). You generally use ماذا when asking "what" directly before a verb.
Why doesn't the word معنى have the definite article ال (al-) if we translate it as "the meaning"?
It is part of an idafa (possessive construction) representing "the meaning of...". In Arabic, the first word in an idafa never takes ال, even though we say "the" in English.
Why does الجملة (sentence) have ال (al-) attached to it if the translation is "this sentence"?
To say "this [noun]" in Arabic, you put the demonstrative pronoun (هذه) before the definite version of the noun. If you left off the ال, the phrase هذه جملة would become a full sentence meaning "This is a sentence," rather than the phrase "this sentence."
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