Questions & Answers about هذا البرنامج سهل علي، لكنه غير سهل على صديقي.
Why does the sentence start with هذا البرنامج?
هذا means this, and البرنامج means the program.
Together, هذا البرنامج means this program.
Arabic often begins a sentence like this when it is making a statement about something. This is a nominal sentence, where you first mention the topic, then say something about it.
Why is it هذا and not هذه?
Because البرنامج is a masculine noun in Arabic.
- هذا = this (for masculine singular)
- هذه = this (for feminine singular)
So:
- هذا البرنامج = this program
- هذه السيارة = this car
Even if the thing is not biologically male, Arabic nouns still have grammatical gender.
Where is the word is in the sentence?
Arabic usually does not use a separate word for is / am / are in the present tense.
So:
- هذا البرنامج سهل literally looks like this program easy
- but it means this program is easy
This is completely normal in Arabic.
If you want past or future, Arabic does use other words: