مخلب القطة صغير.

In Arabic, the verb to be is usually not written in the present tense.

So:

• مخلب القطة صغير literally looks like the claw of the cat small but means The cat’s claw is small or The claw of the cat is small.

This is a very normal Arabic sentence pattern: noun + adjective/predicate.

If you wanted the past tense, you would use a form of كان:

• كان مخلب القطة صغيرًا = The cat’s claw was small

مخلب means claw or talon.

It is a singular masculine noun. In this sentence, it is the thing being described as small.

So the structure is:

• مخلب = claw
• القطة = the cat
• صغير = small

Together: the cat’s claw is small.

Because this sentence uses an iḍāfa construction, which is how Arabic often expresses possession, like X of Y or Y’s X.

Here:

• مخلب القطة = the claw of the cat = the cat’s claw

In an iḍāfa:

1. The first noun usually does not take الـ
2. The second noun can be definite, and that makes the whole phrase definite

So:

• مخلب قطة = a cat’s claw / the claw of a cat
• مخلب القطة = the cat’s claw

That is one of the key rules of the iḍāfa construction.

In مخلب القطة:

• مخلب is the first term of the iḍāfa
• the first term does not take الـ
• the second term determines whether the whole phrase is definite or indefinite

Since القطة is definite (the cat), the whole phrase مخلب القطة is also definite: the cat’s claw.

So even without الـ on مخلب, the whole noun phrase is still definite.

Yes. مخلب القطة is a single noun phrase.

It works as one complete subject:

• مخلب القطة = the cat’s claw
• صغير = small

So the sentence is:

• [subject] مخلب القطة
• [predicate] صغير

This is why you should not think of القطة as the separate subject. The subject is the whole phrase مخلب القطة.

Because صغير here is the predicate, not an adjective inside the noun phrase.

Compare:

1. مخلب القطة صغير
   = The cat’s claw is small
   Here صغير is the predicate, so it is normally indefinite.

2. مخلب القطة الصغير
   = the small claw of the cat / the cat’s small claw
   Here الصغير is an adjective describing مخلب inside the noun phrase, so it must match it in definiteness.

This is a very important distinction.

Because it agrees with مخلب, not with القطة.

The noun being described is مخلب (claw), and مخلب is grammatically masculine.

So:

• مخلب ... صغير = correct
• مخلب ... صغيرة = incorrect in this sentence

Even though القطة is feminine, it is not the word being described by صغير.

Because the adjective describes the claw, not the cat.

Arabic adjectives agree with the noun they modify. Here:

• مخلب = the noun being described
• صغير = the describing word

So the agreement is with مخلب:

• masculine singular noun → masculine singular adjective

If you wanted to say The cat is small, then the adjective would match القطة:

• القطة صغيرة

This is a nominal sentence (جملة اسمية), meaning a sentence that begins with a noun rather than a verb.

Its two main parts are:

• المبتدأ (topic/subject): مخلب القطة
• الخبر (predicate): صغير

So the basic pattern is:

• noun phrase + predicate

This is one of the most common sentence types in Arabic.

In normal straightforward Arabic, مخلب القطة صغير is the natural order.

Putting صغير first is not the standard neutral way to say it. Arabic can sometimes change word order for style, emphasis, or poetic effect, but for a learner, the safest form is:

• مخلب القطة صغير

So if you simply want to say The cat’s claw is small, use that order.

القطة is pronounced roughly al-qiṭṭa.

A few useful points:

• ق is a deep q sound, not an English k
• ط is an emphatic t
• ة at the end is tāʾ marbūṭa

When pausing at the end of a word, ة is usually pronounced like -a So القطة sounds like al-qiṭṭa.

But in connected grammar, especially when case endings are pronounced, it historically behaves like a t sound.

Yes, in full formal Arabic with case endings, the sentence would be:

• مِخْلَبُ القِطَّةِ صَغِيرٌ

With the endings:

• مخلبُ = nominative, because it is the subject
• القطةِ = genitive, because it is the second term in an iḍāfa
• صغيرٌ = nominative, because it is the predicate

In normal everyday reading and speech, especially in learning materials, these short vowel endings are often omitted:

• مخلب القطة صغير

In fully vowelled formal Arabic, it would normally be:

• صغيرٌ

The ـٌ is tanwīn and marks it as indefinite nominative.

But in most ordinary Arabic writing, short vowels and tanwīn are simply not written. So you usually see:

• صغير

That does not mean the grammar has changed. It just means the endings are not being shown in the spelling.

You would say:

• مخلب القطة الصغير

Here الصغير is an adjective modifying مخلب, not the predicate of a sentence.

So compare carefully:

• مخلب القطة صغير = The cat’s claw is small
• مخلب القطة الصغير = the cat’s small claw

This difference—predicate vs adjective—is very important in Arabic.

You could say:

• مخلبُ قطةٍ صغيرٌ
  or without endings:
• مخلب قطة صغير

Here both nouns are indefinite:

• مخلب قطة = a cat’s claw / the claw of a cat

That makes the whole iḍāfa indefinite, unlike مخلب القطة, which is definite.

Very often, yes. Arabic commonly uses the iḍāfa structure, which is literally like claw of the cat:

• مخلب القطة = the claw of the cat = the cat’s claw

English often prefers 's, while Arabic usually expresses this relationship by placing the two nouns next to each other.

So whenever you see:

• noun + noun

it is often worth asking whether it is an iḍāfa meaning X of Y or Y’s X.