خاتم الزواج جديد.

Because this is a nominal sentence in Arabic. In the present tense, Arabic usually does not use a separate word for is / am / are.

So:

• خاتم الزواج جديد = The wedding ring is new

If you wanted was, then Arabic would use a verb such as كان:

• كان خاتم الزواج جديدًا = The wedding ring was new

Because خاتم الزواج is an iḍāfa construction, often called a construct phrase.

In an iḍāfa:

• the first noun normally does not take الـ
• the second noun can be definite or indefinite
• the whole phrase gets its definiteness from the second noun

So:

• خاتم زواج = a wedding ring
• خاتم الزواج = the wedding ring

That is why الخاتم الزواج is not correct here.

It is an iḍāfa: خاتم + الزواج

Literally, it is something like:

• ring of the marriage

But in natural English, that becomes:

• wedding ring

The first noun (خاتم) is the thing being possessed or specified. The second noun (الزواج) tells you what kind of ring it is.

So this pattern is very common in Arabic:

• كتاب الطالب = the student’s book
• باب البيت = the door of the house
• خاتم الزواج = the wedding ring

In Arabic iḍāfa, the definiteness of the whole phrase depends on the second noun.

Here, the second noun is:

• الزواج = the marriage / marriage with الـ

Because الزواج is definite, the whole phrase خاتم الزواج is also definite.

So although خاتم itself has no الـ, the phrase still means:

• the wedding ring

not just

• a wedding ring

Because it agrees with خاتم, which is:

• masculine
• singular

In Arabic, adjectives agree with the noun they describe in:

• gender
• number
• definiteness
• case (in fully vocalized formal Arabic)

So:

• خاتم جديد = a new ring
• الخاتم جديد or خاتم الزواج جديد = the ring is new / the wedding ring is new

Since خاتم is masculine singular, the adjective is جديد.

If the noun were feminine, you would usually see جديدة instead.

This is a very common and important question.

Here جديد is the predicate of the sentence, not an attributive adjective inside the noun phrase.

Compare these two:

• خاتم الزواج جديد = The wedding ring is new
• خاتم الزواج الجديد = the new wedding ring

In the first sentence, جديد is telling you something about the subject, so it is a predicate adjective and does not take الـ.

In the second phrase, الجديد is directly modifying خاتم الزواج inside the noun phrase, so it matches the definiteness and takes الـ.

This distinction is very important in Arabic.

They mean different things:

• خاتم الزواج جديد = The wedding ring is new
• خاتم الزواج الجديد = the new wedding ring

So:

1. جديد without الـ after a complete noun phrase often acts as the predicate:
   The wedding ring is new.

2. الجديد with الـ becomes part of the noun phrase itself:
   the new wedding ring

This is one of the most useful distinctions for learners to notice.

In fully vocalized Modern Standard Arabic, it would typically be:

• خاتمُ الزواجِ جديدٌ

Breakdown:

• خاتمُ = subject, so it takes ـُ here
• الزواجِ = second term of the iḍāfa, so it takes ـِ
• جديدٌ = predicate, here with ـٌ

In everyday reading and in most unvocalized Arabic text, these endings are usually not written, so you normally just see:

• خاتم الزواج جديد

It is pronounced az-zawāj, not al-zawāj.

That is because ز is a sun letter, so the ل in الـ assimilates to the next consonant in pronunciation.

So:

• written: الزواج
• pronounced: az-zawāj

The whole sentence is approximately:

• khātam az-zawāj jadīd

Because in the iḍāfa خاتم الزواج, the head noun is خاتم.

The phrase means:

• ring of marriage
• naturally: wedding ring

So the main noun is ring, and marriage is only specifying what kind of ring it is.

Therefore جديد describes the ring:

• The wedding ring is new

not the marriage.

If you wanted to say the marriage is new, you would say something like:

• الزواج جديد

Yes, Arabic can change word order for style or emphasis, although the basic learner-friendly form is:

• خاتم الزواج جديد

You may also see:

• جديدٌ خاتمُ الزواجِ

But that is less neutral and more marked in style.

For most learners, the standard and safest version is:

• خاتم الزواج جديد

In this word, yes, it is commonly pronounced khātam and means ring.

So:

• خاتم = ring
• خاتم الزواج = wedding ring

A learner should also notice that the first sound خ is not like English k or h. It is a throaty sound, often transliterated kh.

Not in this form.

Because خاتم الزواج is an iḍāfa whose second noun is definite (الزواج), the whole phrase is definite. So the natural meaning is:

• The wedding ring is new

If you wanted an indefinite phrase like a wedding ring, you would need an indefinite iḍāfa, such as:

• خاتم زواج = a wedding ring

So:

• خاتم الزواج جديد = The wedding ring is new
• خاتم زواج جديد could mean a new wedding ring depending on context