هذا مكان هادئ.

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

So:

• هذا مكان هادئ = This is a quiet place

There is no separate present-tense is. This is completely normal in Arabic.

If you wanted a past or future meaning, then Arabic would use a verb:

• كان هذا مكانًا هادئًا = This was a quiet place

هذا means this and is a demonstrative pronoun.

In this sentence, Arabic is structured like:

• هذا = this
• مكان هادئ = a quiet place

So the whole sentence is literally something like:

• This [is] a quiet place

Starting with هذا is natural because the speaker is pointing something out.

Because مكان is a masculine noun in Arabic.

Arabic demonstratives must match the gender of the noun:

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

Since مكان is masculine, you say:

• هذا مكان هادئ

If the noun were feminine, you would use هذه instead.

In Arabic, nouns have grammatical gender, and you often just have to learn it with the word.

مكان is grammatically masculine. It does not have the common feminine ending ـة, and it is treated as masculine in agreement.

That is why it goes with:

• هذا not هذه
• a masculine adjective like هادئ

In Arabic, adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.

So:

• مكان هادئ = a quiet place

Literally, Arabic says:

• place quiet

This is the normal adjective position in Arabic.

Because the phrase means a quiet place, not the quiet place.

In Arabic, if a noun is indefinite, its adjective is also indefinite.

So:

• مكان هادئ = a quiet place
• المكان الهادئ = the quiet place

The noun and adjective must match in definiteness:

• indefinite noun + indefinite adjective
• definite noun + definite adjective

The word هادئ is spelled with a final hamza: ء.

This is just part of the word’s correct spelling. The adjective comes from a root related to calmness and stillness, and its standard form is هادئ.

In pronunciation, the final hamza is a real consonant sound, so هادئ is not pronounced as if it simply ended in -i. It ends with a slight glottal stop.

A rough pronunciation is:

• haa-di-ʔ

A careful pronunciation is roughly:

• haa-di-ʔ

Breakdown:

• ها = haa
• دِ = di
• final ء = a glottal stop, like a brief catch in the throat

So it is not just haadi. The final hamza is pronounced.

In fully vowelled formal Arabic, you could write:

• هذا مكانٌ هادئٌ

Here:

• هذا does not take tanwīn
• مكانٌ ends with ـٌ because it is indefinite and in the nominative here
• هادئٌ also ends with ـٌ because it is an indefinite adjective matching مكان

In normal everyday writing, these short vowels are usually omitted, so you commonly see:

• هذا مكان هادئ

It is a nominal sentence.

A simple way to understand it is:

• هذا = the topic, this
• مكان هادئ = what is being said about it, a quiet place

More traditionally, you can think of:

• هذا as the subject of the sentence
• مكان as the predicate
• هادئ as an adjective describing مكان

So the structure is very typical of basic Arabic description sentences.

Yes, but it means something slightly different.

• هذا مكان هادئ = This is a quiet place
• هذا المكان هادئ = This place is quiet

In the second sentence:

• هذا المكان = this place
• هادئ = quiet

So both are correct, but the structure and emphasis are different.

Only partly.

Word-for-word, it looks like:

• هذا = this
• مكان = place
• هادئ = quiet

So literally: This place quiet

But natural English needs is:

• This is a quiet place

This is a very common difference between Arabic and English.