هذه العبارة واضحة.

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

So هذه العبارة واضحة literally looks like:

• this phrase clear

but it means:

• This phrase is clear.

This kind of sentence is called a nominal sentence in Arabic.

If you wanted a past or future meaning, Arabic would use a verb, for example:

• كانت هذه العبارة واضحة = This phrase was clear.

هذه means this for a feminine singular noun.

Arabic demonstratives must agree with the noun’s gender:

• هذا = this, for masculine singular
• هذه = this, for feminine singular

Since العبارة is feminine, Arabic uses هذه.

This is a very common question.

In standard Arabic, when a demonstrative like هذا / هذه comes before a noun, that noun is usually definite, so it normally takes الـ:

• هذه العبارة = this phrase
• هذا الكتاب = this book

So Arabic structure here is closer to:

• this the-phrase

That sounds strange in English, but it is normal in Arabic.

العبارة is a feminine noun. One big clue is the ending ة (called taa marbuuTa), which very often marks feminine nouns.

So:

• عبارة = phrase / expression / statement
• it is grammatically feminine
• therefore it takes feminine agreement, like هذه and واضحة

Not every noun ending in ة is feminine in meaning, but grammatically it usually behaves as feminine.

Because adjectives in Arabic agree with the noun they describe in:

• gender
• number
• usually definiteness when they are directly modifying a noun

Here the noun العبارة is feminine singular, so the adjective must also be feminine singular:

• masculine: واضح
• feminine: واضحة

So:

• العبارة واضحة = the phrase is clear

Because here واضحة is the predicate of the sentence, not an adjective inside a noun phrase.

There is an important difference:

• هذه العبارة واضحة = This phrase is clear.
• هذه العبارة الواضحة = This clear phrase.

In the first sentence, واضحة is saying something about the phrase, so it works like clear in The phrase is clear. It is not made definite with الـ.

In the second example, الواضحة is directly attached to العبارة as a descriptive adjective inside one noun phrase: the clear phrase.

The sentence is a nominal sentence.

A simple way to analyze it is:

• هذه العبارة = the subject/topic, this phrase
• واضحة = the predicate/comment, clear

So the pattern is:

• demonstrative + noun + predicate adjective

This is very common in Arabic.

Yes. It means:

• The phrase is clear.

Adding هذه makes it more specific:

• العبارة واضحة = The phrase is clear.
• هذه العبارة واضحة = This phrase is clear.

So هذه simply adds the meaning of this.

In fully vocalized formal Arabic, it would be:

هٰذِهِ العِبَارَةُ وَاضِحَةٌ

The important endings are:

• العِبَارَةُ = nominative
• وَاضِحَةٌ = nominative

That is because both the subject and the predicate of this nominal sentence are in the nominative.

In everyday reading and speech, many speakers do not pronounce these final case endings, so you will often hear something closer to:

• hādhihi al-ʿibāra wāḍiḥa

The letter ة is called taa marbuuTa.

Its pronunciation depends on context:

• At the end of a phrase or in pause, it usually sounds like -a or -ah.
• When grammatical endings are fully pronounced, it sounds like t before that ending.

So you may hear:

• in pause: العبارة واضحة → al-ʿibāra wāḍiḥa
• in careful full pronunciation: العِبَارَةُ وَاضِحَةٌ → al-ʿibāratu wāḍiḥatun

That is why learners sometimes see ة and are unsure whether to say t or not.

The letter ع is one of the sounds English speakers often find difficult.

In العبارة, it is the first consonant of the main word عبارة. It is a deep throat sound that does not exist in normal English pronunciation.

A few tips:

• Do not replace it with a full English a sound.
• Do not treat it exactly like a glottal stop.
• Listen to native pronunciation and imitate the throat constriction.

If you cannot produce it perfectly at first, that is normal. It takes practice.

العبارة can mean several related things depending on context, such as:

• phrase
• expression
• wording
• statement

So in this sentence, a translation like This phrase is clear is natural, but in another context it could also be:

• This wording is clear
• This expression is clear

The exact English choice depends on what kind of text or speech you are talking about.