لا الاشارة ثابتة ولا السرعة كويسة.

Neither is the signal stable nor is the speed good.

Breakdown of لا الاشارة ثابتة ولا السرعة كويسة.

• كويس: good
• لا...ولا: neither...nor
• الاشارة: the signal
• السرعة: the speed

Questions & Answers about لا الاشارة ثابتة ولا السرعة كويسة.

Why is there no word for is in this sentence?

In Egyptian Arabic, the present-tense to be is usually not stated.

So:

• الاشارة ثابتة = the signal is stable
• السرعة كويسة = the speed is good

Arabic just puts the subject and description next to each other. English needs is, but Egyptian Arabic usually does not in the present.

If you wanted past tense, then you would use a verb, for example:

• الاشارة كانت ثابتة = the signal was stable

What does لا ... ولا ... mean here?

This pattern means something like neither ... nor ... or not ... and not ....

So:

• لا الاشارة ثابتة ولا السرعة كويسة

means:

• Neither the signal is stable nor the speed is good
• more naturally in English: The signal isn’t stable, and the speed isn’t good either

In everyday Egyptian Arabic, this structure is a common way to link two negative ideas.

Why is it ثابتة and not ثابت?

Because الاشارة is grammatically feminine.

In Arabic, adjectives agree with the noun they describe in gender and definiteness.

• اشارة = signal, feminine
• so the adjective becomes feminine too: