هل أمي جاهزة للزيارة الآن؟

my

Breakdown of هل أمي جاهزة للزيارة الآن؟

• الآن: now
• هل: (yes/no question marker)
• أم: mother

Questions & Answers about هل أمي جاهزة للزيارة الآن؟

What does هل do at the beginning of the sentence?

هل is a yes/no question particle. It turns the statement أمي جاهزة للزيارة الآن into a question.

So:

• أمي جاهزة للزيارة الآن = My mother is ready for the visit now.
• هل أمي جاهزة للزيارة الآن؟ = Is my mother ready for the visit now?

In Modern Standard Arabic, هل is a very common way to form this kind of question.

Why is there no word for is in the sentence?

In Arabic, the verb to be is usually not expressed in the present tense.

So Arabic often says something that looks literally like:

• أمي جاهزة = My mother ready

but it means:

• My mother is ready

This is normal in Arabic nominal sentences.

If you wanted a different time, then Arabic would use a verb:

• كانت أمي جاهزة = My mother was ready
• ستكون أمي جاهزة = My mother will be ready

Why is جاهزة feminine?

Because it describes أمي, and أمي refers to mother, which is feminine.

Arabic adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in gender and number. So:

• masculine singular: جاهز
• feminine singular: جاهزة