هاي كانت مباراة حقيقية.

This was a real match.

Breakdown of هاي كانت مباراة حقيقية.

• هاي: this
• كان: to be
• مباراة: match
• حقيقي: real; genuine

Questions & Answers about هاي كانت مباراة حقيقية.

What does هاي mean here?

هاي is the Levantine colloquial word for this when referring to a feminine noun.

Here, the noun is مباراة (match/game), which is grammatically feminine, so هاي matches it.

A rough comparison:

• هاي = this (feminine, Levantine)
• Standard Arabic equivalent: هذه

In everyday speech, Levantine speakers often use هاي very naturally.

Why is كانت used instead of كان?

Because مباراة is feminine.

كان / كانت means was, and in Arabic the past-tense verb agrees with the subject in gender:

• كان = he/it was, masculine
• كانت = she/it was, feminine

Since مباراة is a feminine noun, you say:

• كانت مباراة...
• not كان مباراة...

How do I know that مباراة is feminine?

A big clue is the ending ة (taa marbuuTa) in مباراة. Very often, nouns ending in ة are grammatically feminine.

Because مباراة is feminine, other words connected to it also become feminine, such as:

• instead of