هذا المبنى بعيد عن الجامعة، لكن شقتي فيه أكبر من شقتي القديمة.

This building is far from the university, but my apartment in it is bigger than my old apartment.

Breakdown of هذا المبنى بعيد عن الجامعة، لكن شقتي فيه أكبر من شقتي القديمة.

• هذا: this
• في: in
• ي: my
• قديم: old

Questions & Answers about هذا المبنى بعيد عن الجامعة، لكن شقتي فيه أكبر من شقتي القديمة.

Why is there no word for is in this sentence?

In present-tense Arabic, you usually do not say a separate word for is / are in sentences like this. Arabic often uses a nominal sentence instead.

So:

• هذا المبنى بعيد عن الجامعة = This building is far from the university
• شقتي فيه أكبر من شقتي القديمة = My apartment in it is bigger than my old apartment

The idea of is is understood automatically.

If you wanted was, Arabic would normally use كان.

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Why is it هذا المبنى and not هذه المبنى?

Because المبنى is a masculine singular noun, so it takes the masculine singular demonstrative هذا.

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

So:

• هذا المبنى = this building

Even though some inanimate nouns can feel arbitrary in gender, you still have to learn each noun’s grammatical gender.

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What is المبنى, and why does it end in ى?

المبنى means the building.

Its final ى is called . It is pronounced like a long sound, so is pronounced roughly .