Demonstrative pronouns:
This
| English | Arabic |
|---|---|
| This boy | هَذَا الولدُ |
| This pen | هذا القلمُ |
| This car | هذه السيارةُ |
'This'
The Arabic equivalent for the English 'this' is هَذا. It is usually followed by a definite noun, to which it agrees in gender and number.
Just as 'this' in English, هذا is used to refer to a person/object that is near. It is itself definite and can be used as the first part of a nominal sentence as we will later learn.
Not pronounced as written
Though it is written as هَذا, it is actually pronounced as هاذا, with the short vowel on the هـ to be considered as a long one.
Feminine form: هذه
Whereas in English this is used with all genders, in Arabic هذا is used with masculine only, and for the feminine the feminine form هذِهِ is used. Again, it is not pronounced as written and the short vowels on both هـ are to be considered long vowels, causing it to be pronounced as هاذِهي
Final vowel does not change
The final "vowel" of each form is fixed and does not get changed if preceded for example by a preposition. Instead, it is the following noun that is affected by whatever precedes هذا/هذه.
| English | Arabic |
|---|---|
| For this boy | لهذا الولدِ |
| In this car | في هذه السيارةِ |
| I bought this car | اشتريتُ هذه السيارةَ |
In a nominal sentence
هذا/هذه and its accompanying definite noun together can form the first part of a nominal sentence.
| English | Arabic |
|---|---|
| This boy is intelligent | هذا الولدُ ذكيٌّ |
| This girl is beautiful | هذه البنتُ جميلةٌ |
As stated earlier, هذا is definite in itself, and can thus be used as the first part of a nominal sentence. Since the second part of a nominal sentence is indefinite, it will be followed by an indefinite noun, contrary to what is seen in the examples given so far.
| English | Arabic |
|---|---|
| This is a pen | هذا قلمٌ |
| This is a ruler | هذِهِ مِسْطَرةٌ |
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Related pages
Other topics availabe on this site:
Arabic alphabet
— Indefinite nouns
— Definite nouns
— Nominal sentences
Adjectives
— Feminine
— Singular pronouns
— Dual nouns
— Dual pronouns
Basic declension of nouns
— Demonstrative: This
— Demonstrative: That
Plural
— Plural pronouns
— Preposition
— There is/are
— To have
Possessive case
— Broken Plural
— Possessive Adjectives