الكون كبير.

A careful Modern Standard Arabic pronunciation is:

• al-kawnu kabīrun

In everyday reading, when short case endings are not pronounced, you will often hear:

• al-kawn kabīr

A few notes:

• الكون = al-kawn
• كبير = kabīr
• The aw in kawn sounds like the ow in cow
• The ee in kabīr is a long vowel

Also, the l in ال is pronounced here, because ك is a moon letter, not a sun letter.

Because in Arabic, the verb to be is usually not expressed in the present tense.

So:

• الكون كبير = The universe is big

There is no separate word for is.

This is a very common Arabic pattern called a nominal sentence. It often works like:

• noun + adjective
• literally: the universe big
• natural English: the universe is big

But in the past or future, Arabic does use forms of كان:

• كان الكون كبيرًا = The universe was big
• سيكون الكون كبيرًا = The universe will be big

Because the sentence is structured as:

• الكون = the subject: the universe
• كبير = the predicate: big

In this kind of sentence, the subject is often definite, while the predicate adjective is usually indefinite.

So:

• الكون كبير = The universe is big

If you made both words definite:

• الكون الكبير

that would usually no longer mean The universe is big. It would mean:

• the big universe

So the lack of ال on كبير helps show that it is the predicate, not an adjective attached to the noun.

This is a very important distinction.

1. الكون كبير

   • a full sentence
   • means The universe is big

2. الكون الكبير

   • a noun phrase, not a full sentence by itself
   • means the big universe

Why?

• In الكون كبير, كبير is the predicate: it tells you something about الكون
• In الكون الكبير, الكبير is an adjective describing الكون, and it must match it in definiteness

So:

• definite noun + indefinite adjective/predicate = sentence
• definite noun + definite adjective = noun phrase

Because الكون is a masculine singular noun, and the adjective/predicate matches it in gender and number.

So:

• الكون كبير = masculine singular
• If the noun were feminine singular, you would use كبيرة

For example:

• الشمس كبيرة = The sun is big

So كبير matches الكون.

In fully vowelled, formal MSA, the sentence is:

• الكونُ كبيرٌ

This is read:

• al-kawnu kabīrun

Why these endings?

• الكونُ has ـُ because it is the subject of the nominal sentence
• كبيرٌ also has ـٌ because it is the predicate and is in the nominative case too

However, in normal Arabic writing, these short vowels are usually not written, so you just see:

• الكون كبير

And in many real-life situations, speakers do not pronounce the full case endings either.

Yes—in fully vowelled text, you would.

The fully marked form is:

• كبيرٌ

That final ـٌ is tanwīn.

But most Arabic writing leaves out short vowels and tanwīn, so you normally just see:

• كبير

This does not mean the tanwīn is wrong or missing grammatically. It is simply unwritten in ordinary spelling.

So:

• fully vowelled: الكونُ كبيرٌ
• normal writing: الكون كبير

Here it is pronounced al-.

So:

• الكون = al-kawn

That is because ك is a moon letter. With moon letters, the l of ال is pronounced clearly.

Compare that with a sun letter, where the l assimilates:

• الشمس is pronounced ash-shams, not al-shams

But with الكون, you do say the l:

• al-kawn

It is an adjective in form, but in this sentence it functions as the predicate.

So grammatically:

• الكون = subject
• كبير = predicate adjective

In English, we also use adjectives this way:

• The universe is big

Here, big is an adjective, but it is also the predicate of the sentence.

So in Arabic, كبير is still an adjective, but its job in this sentence is to say something about the subject.

Yes. Arabic adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.

For example:

• كون كبير = a big universe
• الكون الكبير = the big universe

That is different from English, where adjectives usually come before the noun.

But remember: in الكون كبير, the second word is not just a regular descriptive adjective inside a noun phrase. It is the predicate of a sentence.

So although it still comes after the noun, the structure is:

• subject + predicate
• not simply noun + adjective phrase