طعام هذا المطعم أغلى من طعام السوق، لكن هذا المطعم أفضل.

The food at this restaurant is more expensive than the food at the market, but this restaurant is better.

Breakdown of طعام هذا المطعم أغلى من طعام السوق، لكن هذا المطعم أفضل.

• هذا: this
• لكن: but
• مطعم: restaurant
• طعام: food

Questions & Answers about طعام هذا المطعم أغلى من طعام السوق، لكن هذا المطعم أفضل.

Why does هذا come after the noun in هذا المطعم instead of before it, like this restaurant in English?

In Arabic, the normal order is:

noun + demonstrative

So:

• هذا المطعم = this restaurant
• literally: restaurant this

This is the usual pattern in Modern Standard Arabic when a demonstrative like هذا (this) modifies a definite noun.

A few similar examples:

• هذا الكتاب = this book
• هذه المدينة = this city

So even though it feels reversed from English, it is completely normal Arabic word order.

Why is it هذا المطعم and not just هذا مطعم?

Because when a demonstrative modifies a noun in MSA, the noun is usually definite. That means it normally takes الـ.

So:

• هذا المطعم = this restaurant
• هذا السوق = this market

Using هذا مطعم would usually not be the standard way to say this restaurant in MSA.

Arabic treats this as pointing to a specific, known thing, so the noun is definite.

Why is طعام هذا المطعم used instead of a word meaning the restaurant’s food?