"هٰذا باب ثَقيل."

Translation: This is a heavy door.

[Scipio_V]

"This is a door" = "هذا باب"
"This door is" = "هذا الباب".
Correct me if I am wrong. The definite article must be used in order to specify a subject here.

[Zehras36]

"This door is heavy" is what I wrote, but the answer is "This is a heavy door" ...what's the difference and how do I know which is which?

[Scipio_V]

It actually is different. In English we don't use a case system, so it isn't obvious. But in the Arabic sentence, 'door' is the object. In your English sentence, 'door' is the subject. In English it doesn't matter, but in Arabic it technically does. 'this door is heavy' would be 'هذا الباب ثقيل'. Notice that door has the definite article el-. This connects it to 'this' and tells us that the door is still part of the subject in the sentence. Without the definite article, the subject is merely 'هذا' and we understand the door to be part of the object. I hope this helps.

[katerina84m]

Thats good to see, i just left a comment about this, but your response answers it

[ZxhYO]

Very well explained. Thank you

[KatieC993112]

Thank you. Good explanation, but I believe you should substitute "predicate" or "complement" for "object".

[katerina84m]

I tend to translate this "this door is heavy." Is that wrong? If so, why?

[MohsinNaQvi007]

'This door is heavy' should be correct.

[8dexgqAn]

whether you say 'this door is heavy' or 'this is a heavy door' grammatically and for the meaning, it is exactly the same. You should not refuse that answer.