القطة اليفة.

As written, it most naturally looks like a noun phrase, meaning the tame cat.

That is because in Arabic, when an adjective directly describes a definite noun, both the noun and the adjective usually take ال.

• القطة الأليفة = the tame cat

If you want a full sentence meaning The cat is tame, the more natural form is:

• القطة أليفة

So this is a very common thing learners ask about, and it is an important distinction.

In Arabic, the present tense often does not use a separate word for is / am / are.

So:

• القطة أليفة literally looks like the cat tame
• but it means The cat is tame

This is normal in both Standard Arabic and Levantine-style structure.

In past or future meanings, Arabic does use other forms, but in simple present descriptions, the copula is usually omitted.

In Arabic, adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.

So instead of:

• tame cat

Arabic says:

• cat tame

That is why you see:

• قطة أليفة
• literally: cat tame

This is one of the most basic word-order differences from English.

The ending ة is called taa marbuuTa, and it often marks a word as feminine.

Here:

• قطة is feminine
• أليفة is also feminine

The adjective has to match the noun, so if the noun is feminine, the adjective is feminine too.

That is why you get:

• قطة أليفة and not قطة أليف

In Levantine pronunciation, this ending is usually heard as -a or -e, depending on the region and style.

Arabic adjectives agree with the noun they describe in several ways, especially:

• gender
• number
• definiteness

So if the noun is feminine, the adjective must be feminine.

If the noun is definite with ال, the adjective is also usually definite with ال when it is part of the same noun phrase.

That is why:

• القطة الأليفة = the tame cat

But:

• القطة أليفة = The cat is tame

This agreement system is much stronger than in English.

The standard spelling is:

• أليفة

with a hamza on the أ.

So if you are writing carefully, especially as a learner, it is better to write:

• القطة أليفة
• or القطة الأليفة

You may sometimes see hamzas omitted in casual writing online, but the standard form is أليفة.

A common Levantine-style pronunciation for القطة أليفة would be something like:

• il-ʔiTTa aliife
• or l-ʔiTTa aliife

A few useful notes:

• ق in many urban Levantine accents is often pronounced as a glottal stop ʔ
• ط is a strong t
• final ة is usually pronounced -a or -e

So قطة often sounds more like ʔiTTa in speech than like the formal qiTTa.

Regional pronunciation varies, so you may also hear slightly different vowels.

It is understood, but in everyday Levantine speech many people very commonly say:

• بِسّة or بَسّة

So in very natural spoken Levantine, you may hear:

• البِسّة أليفة

That said, قطة is absolutely understandable and is closer to the standard written word, so learners will often meet it early.

أليفة usually means something like:

• tame
• domesticated
• used to people
• gentle / not wild

So it describes an animal that is comfortable around humans.

It does not necessarily mean exactly the same thing as:

• cute
• sweet
• affectionate

A cat can be أليفة because it is tame and domesticated, even if it is not especially cuddly.

Here, the ال is pronounced clearly.

That is because both ق and أ belong to the group traditionally called moon letters, so the ل sound of ال does not disappear.

So in careful pronunciation:

• القطة keeps the l sound of ال
• الأليفة also keeps the l sound

This is different from words beginning with so-called sun letters, where the ل is not pronounced separately.