4. In the hotel
Click on the ear to play sound.
Grammar: The definite article One of the things many should have noticed before embarking on learning the Arabic language, is the frequent use of prefixes like "Al" or "El". "Al" and "El" are the same two letters "a" and "l" put together, which indicate the definite article for a noun. But what is considered definite and what is not, is often different from many Western languages. Briefly one could make this as a rule: If it is not particularly important to stress the indefinite form, the definite article should be used. But this is only a valid rule at your present stage in learning Arabic.
ayna l-funduq salām?
Where is the Hotel Salam?
hal ladayka ghurfa?
Have you got vacant rooms?
min aiyyati l-darja hādhā l-funduq?
Of which class is the hotel?
hal 'al-ghurfa maca l-hammām?
Is there a bathroom coming with the room?
hal 'al-ghurfa maca l-hātif?
Is there a telephone in the room?
hal tilīfizyūn fī l-funduq?
Is there a TV-set in the hotel?
kam sacri l-layla
What's the price for one night?
uktub min fadlik
Please write
lā 'afham
I don't understand
'afham
I understand
ghālī
Expensive!
sa'askun hunā li muddati th-thalāthati l-layl?t
I'm going to stay here for three nights
'awwalān, urīd manzaru l-ghurfa, min fadlik
First, I want to see the room, please
shukran. al-ghurfa mumtāz
Thank you. The room is very nice
When a noun is indefinite, no prefixes or suffixes are added, you simply use the core form of the noun.
Just to complicate things a bit here: In Arabic there are a group of "sun letters", letters which standing first in a noun, eat the "l" of the definite article. These are the following letters: