Breakdown of أليست الجلسة الافتتاحية ملهمة؟ بلى.
الal
the
أليسalaysa
isn't …? (negative question)
بلىbalâ
yes (answering a negative question)
جلسةjalsa
Questions & Answers about أليست الجلسة الافتتاحية ملهمة؟ بلى.
Why is the answer بلى used here instead of نعم for 'Yes'?
In Arabic, when you want to answer affirmatively to a negative question (like this one starting with أليست), you must use بلى. If you answered with نعم here, you would actually be agreeing with the negative premise, meaning 'Yes, you are right, it is NOT inspiring'.
What grammatical case does the word ملهمة take in this sentence?
How is the word ملهمة derived?
It is the active participle of the Form IV verb أَلْهَمَ (to inspire). In Form IV, the active participle is made by adding the prefix مُـ and putting an 'i' vowel before the last root letter, creating مُلهِم. The ـة at the end makes it feminine to agree with the subject, الجلسة.
Why does الافتتاحية have the definite article ال while ملهمة does not?
الافتتاحية is an adjective directly modifying the definite subject الجلسة (the session), so it must match its definiteness. However, ملهمة is the predicate (the core information being stated about the session). In Arabic equational sentences, predicates are almost always indefinite, which is why it lacks the definite article.