بعض الناس هنا، والآخرون في البيت.

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Breakdown of بعض الناس هنا، والآخرون في البيت.

• هنا: here
• البيت: home/house
• بعض: some

Questions & Answers about بعض الناس هنا، والآخرون في البيت.

Why is there no word for are in this sentence?

In present-tense Arabic, the verb to be is usually not written or spoken in sentences like this.

So:

• بعض الناس هنا literally looks like some people here
• but it means some people are here

And:

• الآخرون في البيت literally looks like the others in the house
• but it means the others are at home / in the house

This is called a nominal sentence in Arabic. The present-tense is / are / am is normally understood automatically.

What does بعض mean here, and how does it work grammatically?

بعض means some or more literally part of.

In this sentence, بعض الناس means some people.

Grammatically, بعض is followed by another noun in an iḍāfa structure, so:

• بعض الناس
• literally: some of the people
• natural English: some people

The word after بعض is in the genitive case, so in fully vowelled MSA this would be:

• بعضُ الناسِ

Here:

• بعضُ = the subject of the clause
• الناسِ = linked to it in iḍāfa