الولاعة جنب الفحم.

The lighter is next to the charcoal.

Breakdown of الولاعة جنب الفحم.

• جنب: next to
• ولاعة: the lighter
• فحم: the charcoal

Questions & Answers about الولاعة جنب الفحم.

Why is there no word for is in this sentence?

In Levantine Arabic, the present-tense verb to be is usually omitted.

So الولاعة جنب الفحم is literally:

• the lighter
• next to the charcoal

But it naturally means The lighter is next to the charcoal.

This is a very common Arabic sentence pattern, called a nominal sentence.

What does جنب mean here?

جنب means next to, beside, or by.

In this sentence, it gives the location of the lighter:

• الولاعة = the lighter
• جنب الفحم = next to the charcoal

You can think of جنب here as functioning like a preposition in English.

Why do both الولاعة and الفحم start with ال?

الـ is the Arabic definite article, equivalent to the in English.

So:

• ولاعة = a lighter
• الولاعة = the lighter

and

• فحم = charcoal
• الفحم = the charcoal

In this sentence, both nouns are definite, so both take الـ.