حماية الغابة مهمة.

Protecting the forest is important.

Breakdown of حماية الغابة مهمة.

• مهم: important
• غابة: forest
• حماية: protection

Questions & Answers about حماية الغابة مهمة.

Why is there no Arabic word for is in this sentence?

Because this is a nominal sentence in the present tense. In Arabic, the verb to be is usually not stated in the present.

So:

حماية الغابة مهمة
literally follows the pattern:

Protecting the forest — important

but the natural English meaning is:

Protecting the forest is important.

If you wanted past or future, Arabic would use a verb such as كان.

What kind of word is حماية here? Is it a verb?

حماية is not a verb here. It is a noun, specifically a verbal noun (called a maṣdar).

It comes from the verb حمى / يحمي = to protect.

So حماية can mean:

• protection
• protecting

That is why the sentence can be understood as either:

• The protection of the forest is important
• Protecting the forest is important

Why is الغابة placed right after حماية? Where is the word for of?