الخبرة مهمة.

Professional experience is important.

Breakdown of الخبرة مهمة.

• مهم: important
• خبرة: the professional experience; expertise

Questions & Answers about الخبرة مهمة.

How do I pronounce الخبرة مهمة in Levantine Arabic?

A common Levantine pronunciation is:

il-khibre mhimme

You may also hear small regional differences, such as el-khibra mhimmeh.

A few pronunciation notes:

• خ = a throaty kh sound, like the ch in German Bach or Scottish loch
• ال is usually pronounced il- or el- in Levantine, not al- as in careful MSA
• مهمة often becomes mhimme in everyday Levantine speech, with the short u dropped

So the sentence sounds more natural in Levantine speech than a letter-by-letter MSA-style reading.

Why is there no word for is in this sentence?

Because in Arabic, the verb to be is usually omitted in the present tense.

So:

• الخبرة مهمة = Experience is important

There is no separate present-tense word for is.

But in other tenses, Arabic does use a verb:

• كانت الخبرة مهمة = The experience was important
• رح تكون الخبرة مهمة = The experience will be important

This kind of sentence, with no present-tense is, is extremely common in Arabic.

Why is الخبرة definite, but مهمة is not?