"اَلْبَيْت بَيْت."
Translation:The house is a house.
25 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
The house is a house. The dog is a dog. Is this common in arabic? What does it really mean?
The whole reason is to show the grammatical rule in Arabic. Of course it's not common. It's used to show that a definite noun followed by an indefinite noun or adjective will be an "(noun) is a/n (noun/adjective)". If it was definite followed by definite it would be "the (adjective) (noun)". For instance "ilbayt kabeer" is "the house is big". "ilbayt ilkabeer" is "the big house".
I don't think it's common in Arabic. It's our Duo trying to make some laughter!
@Bahalam - its also laying the foundation of Arabic grammar which most smart alecs miss.
The closest English equivalent I can think of is when you move to a new house and say "now that's what I call a house", implying your previous house wasn't really a house/an inferior house.
Un is a (singular). Kitaabun = a book
Al at the beginning means "the". Al-Kitaab = the book
In English, we don't say "a the book" or "the a book".
We either say "a book" or "the book", likewise in Arabic.
If you see, ال in the beginning of the word, then you are not reading that word with -an/un sounds. If you don't see, then read with an/un. I know like that my friend.
1782
That can become a bit intricate.
To keep it simple for now, you -un for indefinite nouns and -u for definite nouns (when you add the definite article or define by a genitive clause).
If you want to know it more exactly (not covered yet in this lesson), this rule only applies to triptote nouns, which covers many nouns. However, there are also diptotes, which have -u in both definite and indefinite form.
so why not just say the building is a house or something we do not have to puzzle over.
@gsp - because there is no "building" in the Arabic sentence. It simply means "The house is a house." This is to show us how Arabic grammar works. ال = "The"; and without ال, "a"; i.e. the word is indefinite (a house). BTW, it is quite natural to be puzzled when learning a new language, so let's not get worried about it. Hope it helps.
When would you want to say "the house a house"? And why would you want to say it?
Give us an example scenario for the use of this 'sentence'!
Would be great if Duo could tell you why the house is a house. That is, explain that the sentence is there to teach us about grammar. How are we supposed to know what to do with that sentence unless it is explained?
I thought everyone was here to learn grammar. And we were here because Duo was teaching grammar.
At least I'm here for it. Not sure about others.
