How to Say "This Is" in Arabic

هذا

hadha

In Arabic, "this is" is expressed as هذا (hadha).

Which one should you use?

While هذا is used for "this", the term ذلك is used to mean "that" for masculine objects and تلك is used for "that" for feminine objects.

In Egyptian Arabic, دا/دي can be used to mean "this is".

The form هذا is only for singular subjects. For plural human subjects, use هؤلاء (ha'ula') instead of هذا.

hadha

In many Arabic dialects, the verb 'to be' is completely invisible when saying 'this is'. Unlike English, which requires 'is', Arabic simply places the subject and the predicate next to each other.
The word هذا is actually a combination of two distinct parts: the attention-grabbing particle هَا and the demonstrative 'this' ذَا.
While هذا is standard for 'this is' in Modern Standard Arabic, a traveler in Cairo will almost exclusively hear دا for masculine objects. Using the formal version in a street market might make you sound like a news anchor.

هذا كل ما لدي
This is all I have.
This example is useful for showing how to express possession with هذا.
Tatoeba #7859115 by Ahmed_Waleed, translation #3393274 by CK
هذا أصغر من ذاك.
This is smaller than that.
This sentence shows how to use هذا for comparison.
Tatoeba #395308 by Samer, translation #55961 by CK
إنه أغلى من هذا.
This is more expensive than that.
This sentence demonstrates using هذا when comparing prices.
Tatoeba #1569109 by Amastan, translation #55960 by CM
هذا هو الكتاب
This is the book.
201 more sentences on Tatoeba

Omar and Maryam are looking at a photo.

عمر Omar

هذا أخي الصغير.
Hadha akhi al-saghir.
This is my little brother.
مريم Maryam

إنه لطيف جداً.
Innahu latif jiddan.
He is very cute.
عمر Omar

هذا هو في الحديقة.
Hadha huwa fi al-hadiqa.
This is him in the garden.
مريم Maryam

الصورة جميلة يا عمر.
Al-sura jamila ya Omar.
The photo is beautiful, Omar.

Sources

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