ما المشكلة في المكتب اليوم؟

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Breakdown of ما المشكلة في المكتب اليوم؟

• اليوم: today
• مكتب: office
• ما: what

Questions & Answers about ما المشكلة في المكتب اليوم؟

How do you pronounce ما المشكلة في المكتب اليوم؟ in Modern Standard Arabic?

A careful MSA-style pronunciation (with the ال fully pronounced because it’s a “moon letter” here) is:

• mā al-mushkilatu fī al-maktabi al-yawma?

In normal reading, the initial a of al- often drops after a preceding word (because الـ has hamzat al-waṣl), so you may hear:

• mā l-mushkilatu fī l-maktabi l-yawma?

Many speakers also drop most case endings in everyday speech, sounding closer to:

• mā l-mushkila fī l-maktab il-yawm?

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Why is there no verb for “is” (as in “What is the problem…?”)?

In Arabic, the present-tense verb to be is usually not expressed in nominal sentences. So ما المشكلة…؟ literally works as “What (is) the problem…?” without an explicit is.

If you want to make it extra explicit/formal, you can add هي:

• ما هي المشكلة في المكتب اليوم؟ = “What is the problem in the office today?”

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What is the grammar/structure of this sentence?

It’s a nominal question:

• ما = interrogative pronoun (What…?) functioning as the subject (مبتدأ) in meaning/position
• = the :