Learn Hardcore Arabic (Modern Standard): هل أنت هنا اليوم؟

هل is a question particle used mainly for yes/no questions in Modern Standard Arabic. It does not have a direct English equivalent; it simply marks the sentence as a question.
You can often drop it in speech or informal writing and rely on intonation: أنت هنا اليوم؟ still works as a yes/no question.

Why is there no verb meaning to be in this sentence?

In Arabic, present-tense sentences often omit the verb to be. This is a normal nominal sentence pattern:

أنت (subject) + هنا (predicate/adverb of place) + اليوم (time)
If you needed past or future, Arabic typically uses a verb like كان (was) or سيكون (will be).

Is أنت required, or can it be omitted?

It depends on what you want to emphasize:

هل أنت هنا اليوم؟ is explicit and clear: Are you here today?
You could omit أنت only if the subject is already known from context, but in MSA it’s common to keep it for clarity.
In many real situations, speakers shorten it to هل أنت هنا؟ or أنت هنا اليوم؟ rather than dropping أنت completely.

Does أنت refer to a man or a woman here?