16 Grammar: the definite article “al-” ال

The definite article (the) in Arabic is “al”   ال .  It is placed before a noun or adjective which you want to make definite.

Thus if bayt بيت is “house,” al-bayt  البيت means “the house.”

Arabic has no indefinite article.  Indefiniteness is marked by the absence of the “al-“ ال before a noun or adjective.

Adding the al- is not the only reason for a word to be definite.  Proper names such as place names and pronouns (I, you, he she etc.) are considered definite gramatically.  There are, in addition, other grammatical structures (such as the construct possessive/iDaafa, which you will learn about shortly) which also can make a noun without an “al-” definite.