Questions & Answers about هاي الغرفة متوفرة الليلة.
What does هاي mean here?
هاي means this and it is the feminine singular form in Levantine Arabic.
Because غرفة (room) is a feminine noun, you use هاي:
- هاي الغرفة = this room
For a masculine noun, you would normally use هاد:
- هاد الكتاب = this book
In different parts of the Levant, you may also hear other forms such as هيدي instead of هاي.
Why is غرفة treated as feminine?
In Arabic, every noun is grammatically either masculine or feminine. غرفة is a feminine noun.
A very common sign of feminine nouns is the ending ـة in writing. In Levantine pronunciation, that ending is often pronounced -e rather than -a, so غرفة is usually pronounced something like ghurfe.
Because غرفة is feminine, words that describe it also have to be feminine.
Why is it متوفرة and not متوفر?
Because adjectives in Arabic usually agree with the noun they describe in gender and number.
- غرفة is feminine singular
- so the adjective must also be feminine singular: