Questions & Answers about الفواكه بالبقالة طازة اليوم، فاشتريت كيلو برتقال كمان.
Why is there no word for is/are in الفواكه بالبقالة طازة اليوم?
In Levantine Arabic, the verb to be is usually not expressed in the present tense.
So:
- الفواكه بالبقالة طازة اليوم = The fruit at the grocery store is fresh today
There is no separate word for is here. This is very normal in Arabic.
If you wanted past tense, then a form of كان would appear, for example:
- الفواكه كانت طازة = The fruit was fresh
Why does الفواكه take the adjective طازة instead of a plural adjective?
Because in Arabic, non-human plurals are very often treated grammatically like feminine singular nouns.
So even though الفواكه means fruits or fruit, the adjective commonly appears in the feminine singular form:
- الفواكه طازة = The fruit is fresh / The fruits are fresh
This is completely normal in both spoken Levantine and standard Arabic patterns.
That is also why you often see things like:
- الكتب جديدة = The books are new
- السيارات سريعة = The cars are fast
For non-human plurals, feminine singular agreement is extremely common.
What does mean exactly?