العمل يتوقف الآن.

now

Breakdown of العمل يتوقف الآن.

• العمل: work
• يتوقف: to stop

Questions & Answers about العمل يتوقف الآن.

How is this sentence pronounced with short vowels?

In careful MSA pronunciation, it is:

الْعَمَلُ يَتَوَقَّفُ الآنَ
al-ʿamalu yatawaqqafu al-ʾāna

In normal pause, speakers often do not pronounce the final short case endings, so it may sound closer to:

al-ʿamal yatawaqqaf al-ʾān

The symbol ʿ represents the Arabic letter ع, and ʾ represents hamza.

Why is the ل in الـ pronounced in العمل and الآن?

Because ع and أ/ء are moon letters, not sun letters.

So:

• العمل is pronounced al-ʿamal, not aʿ-ʿamal
• الآن is pronounced al-ʾān, not aʾ-ʾān

The ل of الـ only assimilates before sun letters such as ت، د، س، ش، ن and others.

Why does العمل have الـ? Does it mean the work?

Yes, الـ is the definite article, so العمل literally means the work.

But in Arabic, a definite noun can also be used in a more general or abstract sense, depending on context. So العمل may refer to:

• a specific piece of work
• work in a general sense
• labor/activity as a concept

The context tells you which sense is intended.