What Is This In Arabic, Examples And How To Say It

In this lesson, we will learn how to say and use this in Arabic. We will also learn how to write and use this demonstrative noun for both masculine and feminine forms. Continue reading to know its plural form in Arabic as well as how to construct simple sentences using this and what is this in Arabic.

What Is This In Arabic?

The Arabic words for what is this is pronounced maa Hadha and written as مَا هَـٰذَا؟ for male and maa Hadhihi (ما هذه) for female. The answer for مَا هَـٰذَا should start with هَـٰذَا for masculine and هذه for feminine.

Examples

• What is this   =  مَا هَـٰذَا؟
• This is a dog.   =  هَـٰذَا كَلْبٌ

How To Say This In Arabic

The Arabic word for this is pronounced as Hadha and written as هَـٰذَا. Hādha is pronounced هَاذَا but is written without the first alif. The feminine form for this in Arabic language is pronounced as Hadhihi and written هذه. In Arabic, هَذَا is widely used in  to refer to a person, an animal, or a nearby object.

The video below will be a guide to help you learn how to pronounce these words correctly.

What Is The Difference Between هذا And هذه?

The difference between هذا and هذه is that هذا is the masculine form of demonstrating or pointing nearby object, person or animal. While هذه is the feminine form and is used for female animals, objects as well as demonstrating broken plurals in Arabic.

The dual form of هَذِهِ is هَاتَان in the nominative and هَاتَيْن in the accusative and genitive. The plural form of the feminine demonstrative nouns is the same as that of the masculine.

These in Arabic

The Arabic word for these is pronounced Ha’ulaa’i and written هَؤُلآءِ. It is a plural form in arabic demonstrative pronouns that is common to both genders and that is solely used for humans. 

Otherwise, the feminine singular هَذِهِ – is enough to refer to the collective of plural non-human nouns and broken plurals.

There are no connecting verbs in the Arabic language which is equal to the English “is” and “are” which are referred to as Capula in English grammar.

Therefore remember when using the term (هذا) that, in most cases, you will not need to add anything between “this” and the noun you are identifying in Arabic.

Additional, there is no word in Arabic corresponding to “a” in English as in: “This is a book”. The n-sound, i.e. the /tanwīn/ (doubled vowel sign) at the end of the Arabic noun (examples: kitābu-n, baitu-n, masĴidu-n) is the Arabic indefinite article corresponding to the English “a/an”.

Examples Of This In Arabic With Common Nouns

Lets see a few examples to make it a bit clearer:

Masculine

• This is a book  = هَـٰذَا كِتَابٌ
• This is a mosque  =  هَـٰذَا مَسْجِدٌ
• This is a door   =  هَـٰذَا بَابٌ
• This is a house   =   هَـٰذَا بَيْتٌ
• This is a boy   =  هذا ولد
• This is a pen   =  هَـٰذَا قَلَمٌ
• This is a chair   =   هَـٰذَا كُرْسِىٌّ
• This is a key   =  هَـٰذَا مِفْتَاحٌ
• This is a bed   =  هَـٰذَا سَرِيرٌ
• This is a desk   =   هَـٰذَا مَكْتَبٌ

Feminine

• This is a girl   =  هذه فتاة
• This is a bag   =   هذه حقيبة
• This is a window   =   هذه نافذة
• This is a broom   =   هذه مكنسة
• This is an apple   =   هذه تفاحة
• This is a bottle   =   هذه زجاجة
• This an iron   =   هذه مكواة

However, when using (هذا) with a proper noun that denotes other than a personal name, care must be taken to use it is a manner which will fulfill the requirements of a complete sentence. 

Thus “This pen…” = in Arabic is written (هذا القلم).

Note that there is different from the first examples. Alif and laam have been added to the word preceding Hadha. So, there would be a sentence fragment, and would not carry a meaning that whoever you are speaking to can understand.

Unless of course you are answering a question about a pen. For example: 

Someone ask: Which pen do you want?  (أي قلم تريد؟) The answer would be: This pen. (هذا القلم) [identifying the specific pen he wants.]

How To know That The Noun Is Feminine?

Names such as Fatimah, Aishah, and Khadija will all be identified with the word (هذه). For example, This is Fatimah = (هذه فاطمة) This is Aishah = (هذه عائشة).

However, if the word is not clearly used to describe a female, than there are certain signs in Arabic that will denote for you the proper usage of (هذه) with that word, such as:

• The word ending in (ــة ، ة) such as: car = (سيارة) printer = (طابعة) government = (حكومة).
• The word ending in (ـاء) such as the words: sky = (سـماء) air = (هواء) cover = (غطاء).

Other words are known to be feminine by usage, one needs to build their vocabulary in order to distinguish the masculine from the feminine.

This Is The In Arabic

When using the word (هذا) one might want to exclaim “This is the boy!” or point out “This is the pen.” Here a pronoun (هو) for male or هي for female needs to be added. 

This pronoun allows the sentence to move from one of a sentence fragment to one of a complete sentence. Examples: 

• This is the boy!   = هذا هو الولد
• Compare to  “This boy…” = هذا الولد 

• This is the pen.  = هذا هو القلم 
• Compare to = “This pen…” = هذا القلم

Is This In Arabic

The Arabic phrase for is this is written as أَهَـٰذَا…..؟ and pronounced ahadha for masculine or أَهَـٰذه…..؟ pronounced as ahadhihi for feminine.

For example أَهَـٰذَا بَيْتٌ؟ which means “Is this a house?” Is this a key?  أَهَـٰذَا مِفْتَاحٌ؟

Who is this In Arabic?

Who is this in Arabic is written as مَنْ هَـٰذَا؟ and pronounced as man Hadha for a male and من هذه (man Hadhihi) for a female. The answer for مَنْ هَـٰذَا؟ should start with هَـٰذَا for masculine and هذه for feminine.

Examples

• Who is this   =  مَنْ هَـٰذَا؟
• This is a doctor.   =  هَـٰذَا طَبِيبٌ.

To summarise, the areas we have covered are:

• The Demonstrative Pronoun – هَـٰذَا ‘This is…’
• The particle أَ  as in أَهَـٰذَا…؟ i.e. ‘Is This a…?’
• The word مَا  which means ‘what’ as in مَا هَـٰذَا؟  – ‘What is this?’
• The word مَنْ  which means ‘who’ as in مَنْ هَـٰذَا؟ – ‘Who is this?’

Several new words – these have to be memorised as vocabulary is very important to learn the Arabic language. The following table shows the new words that we learnt so far in this lesson: