مكبر الصوت قريب من المسرح.

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Breakdown of مكبر الصوت قريب من المسرح.

• قريب: close
• مسرح: the stage; theater
• مكبر صوت: the loudspeaker

Questions & Answers about مكبر الصوت قريب من المسرح.

What does مكبر الصوت mean literally, and why is it two words?

It literally means amplifier of the sound, which is the normal Arabic way to say loudspeaker.

This is an iḍāfa construction, often called a noun-noun phrase:

• مكبر = amplifier
• الصوت = the sound

Together, they function as one unit: the loudspeaker.

A very important point: in an iḍāfa, the first noun usually does not take ال. So even though the whole phrase is definite, you get:

• مكبر الصوت = the loudspeaker

not المكبر الصوت.

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Why is there no word for is in the sentence?

Because Arabic usually leaves out the present-tense to be in sentences like this.

So:

• مكبر الصوت قريب من المسرح literally looks like:
• The loudspeaker near the stage

but it means:

• The loudspeaker is near the stage

This is completely normal in both Standard Arabic and spoken Levantine.

If you wanted was, then Arabic would use a verb, such as كان.

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Why is قريب after the noun phrase?

Because the sentence is built as a nominal sentence: