Questions & Answers about الشباك ورا الكرسي.
How do you pronounce الشباك ورا الكرسي in Levantine Arabic?
A common Levantine pronunciation is:
ish-shubbāk wara l-kursi
or sometimes esh-shubbāk wara l-kursi
A rough English-friendly guide:
- ish/esh = short i/e sound
- shubbāk = shub-bak
- wara = wa-ra
- l-kursi = el-kur-see or just l-kur-see in connected speech
So the whole sentence sounds roughly like:
ish-shubbāk wara l-kursi
The exact vowel in the article can vary by region, so hearing ish- or esh- is both normal.
What does each word mean?
Word by word:
- الشباك = the window
- ورا = behind
- الكرسي = the chair
So the structure is literally:
the-window behind the-chair
Why is there no word for is in the sentence?
In Arabic, especially in present-tense sentences like this one, the verb to be is usually not said.
So instead of saying:
The window is behind the chair
Arabic simply says:
The window behind the chair