هذا الطبق نظيف، لكن هذه الملعقة متسخة.

This plate is clean, but this spoon is dirty.

Breakdown of هذا الطبق نظيف، لكن هذه الملعقة متسخة.

• هذا: this
• هذه: this
• لكن: but
• طبق: plate

Questions & Answers about هذا الطبق نظيف، لكن هذه الملعقة متسخة.

Why is it هذا الطبق but هذه الملعقة?

Because الطبق is a masculine noun, while الملعقة is a feminine noun.

In Modern Standard Arabic, the demonstrative this changes depending on gender:

• هذا = this for masculine nouns
• هذه = this for feminine nouns

So:

• هذا الطبق = this plate
• هذه الملعقة = this spoon

A very common clue for feminine nouns is the ending ـة (taa marbuuTa), as in ملعقة.

Why does نظيف look different from متسخة?

Because adjectives in Arabic must agree with the nouns they describe in gender and definiteness.

Here:

• الطبق is masculine, so the adjective is masculine: نظيف
• الملعقة is feminine, so the adjective is feminine: متسخة

So the pattern is:

• masculine: نظيف = clean
• feminine: متسخة = dirty

This is a very important rule in Arabic: adjectives match the noun.

Why is there no word for is in the sentence?