عربي Arabic 1
By Levi Clancy for Student Reader on
updated
The table below summarizes what you will be expected to learn in Arabic, level 1.
| Topic | Material | |
|---|---|---|
| Arabic script | ||
| the definite article, ال | ||
| the feminine article, ة | ||
| Names and titles | ||
| Demonyms | ||
| Kinship | ||
| Occupations | ||
Pronouns
| المصري | الشامي | الفُصحى | English |
| أَنا | I | ||
| إنتَ | إنتَ | أَنتَ | you (m) |
| إنتي | إنتي | أَنتِ | you (f) |
| هُوَ | he | ||
| هِيَ | she | ||
| إنتو | نِحنا | نَحْنُ | we |
| أنتُم | y'all | ||
| هُمَّ | هِنّ | هُم | they |
Demonstratives
| المصري | الشامي | الفُصحى | English |
هذا
هذا البيت
this is the house.
"It" and "is"
There is no "is" in Arabic.
A is/am/are B is just A B in Arabic, with B conjugated to match A.
There is no non-human pronoun "it" in Arabic.
Instead, use هُوَ (he) and هِيَ (she) to refer to male or female nouns.
There is no non-human pronoun "they" in Arabic.
هو and هي are used to refer to non-human groups (including animals). The non-human things are referred to as a singular group. Only use هم and أنتم when referring to groups of people.
Verbs
Main verbs vs non-main verbs: the ب prefix.
| المصري | الشامي | الفُصحى | English |
| يِتْكَلَّم عَن | يِحكي عَن | يَتَكَلَّم عَن | he speaks/talks (about) |
| لِيَّ | لي! | لي | with (people) |
| عَندي لِيَّ | عَندي إلي | عِندي لي | I have (things) I use (things) with (things) |
| بادرِس | بِدرُس | أَدرُس | I study |
| ساكِن \ ساكنة | ساكِن \ ساكنة | أَسكُن | I live |
| يَحفَظ | يِحفَظ | يَحفَظ | he memorizes |
| ياكُل | ياكُل | يَأكُل | he eats |
| فاكِر / فاكْرة ج: فاكْرين | بِتذَكَّر | أَتَذَكَّر | I remember |
| اَسافِر | (اسافِر (عَ | (أُسافِر (إلى | I travel (to) |
| يِسمَع | يِسمَع | (يَستَمِع (إلى | he listens (to) |
الفُصحى: لي
الشامي: !لي
المصري: لِيَّ
الفُصحى: عَندي
الشامي: !عَندي
المصري: عِندي
Nouns
| المصري | الشامي | الفُصحى | English |
| الأَدب | literature | ||
| الأُمم المتحدة | United Nations | ||
| الناس | people | ||
Adjectives
| المصري | الشامي | الفُصحى | English |
| وَحيد/ وَحيدة | only/lonely |
Prepositions
| المصري | الشامي | الفُصحى | English |
| مِن | from | ||
| مع | with (m) | ||
| معه | with him | ||
| معها | with her | ||
| قَرِب | near | ||
| عَن | about (as in talk about) | ||
| كَمان | كَمان | أَيضاً | also |
| ب | في | في | in (space) |
| في | في | في | in (time) |
في and ب
In الفُصحى formal and المصري Egyptian Arabic, في means in with respect to space and time. In الشامي Levantine Arabic, في is used for time and ب is used spatially. (Egyptian Arabic uses ب to refer to time in بالنهار in the daytime and at night.) However, note that ب is not its own word but serves as a prefix.
| المصري | الشامي | الفُصحى | English |
| بالنهار | بالنهار | في النهار | in the daytime |
| بالليل | بالليل | في الليل | at night |
| بالوالاية كليفورنيا | في الوالاية كليفورنيا | في الوالاية كليفورنيا | in California |
Adverbs
| المصري | الشامي | الفُصحى | English |
| دايماً | دايماً | دائماً | always |
| ايـضـاً | also | ||
| فـعـلاً | actually | ||
| جـداً | very | ||
| كـثـيـراً | much | ||
| جـيداً | well/good | ||
| احـيانـاً | sometimes | ||
Conjugation
Verb and preposition conjugation
| المصري | الشامي | الفُصحى | |
| نِسكن | نِسكن | نَسكن | نحن |
| تِسكنوا | تِسكنوا | تَسكنون | أنتم |
| يِسكنوا | يِسكنوا | يَسكنون | هم |
Note that in الشامي and المصري verb conjugation, the ا alif is silent in the final وا suffix (when conjugating أنتم and هم).
Noun and adjective conjugation
| كتاب | book |
| كتابهُ | his book |
| كتابها | her book |
Question particles
Question particles go at the beginning of the sentence.
However, in the Egyptian dialect they can go at the end. In any case, when a question particle and a preposition are paired up, the preposition always comes first.
Questions usually have a rising intonation,
while statements usually have a falling or flat intonation.
However, different regions and people might have different intonations and it is best to simply listen carefully and pick up on local customs. In some cases, as in English, simply saying a statement with a rising intonation is enough to turn it into a question.
| المصري | الشامي | الفُصحى | English |
| ايه ... ؟ | شو ... ؟ | ما ... ؟ | what ... ? (questions without a verb) |
| ما هذا ... ؟ | what is this ... ? | ||
| ايه ... ؟ | شو ... ؟ | ماذا ... ؟ | what ... ? (questions with a verb) |
| مين ... ؟ | مين ... ؟ | مَن ... ؟ | who ... ? |
| مع مين ... ؟ | مع مين ... ؟ | مَعَ مَن ... ؟ | with whom ... ? |
| أَيّ ... ؟ | which ... ? | ||
| في أيّ ... ؟ | بِأَيّ ... ؟ | في أيّ ... ؟ | in which ... ? |
| فين ... ؟ | وين ... ؟ | أينَ ... ؟ | where ... ? |
| مِنين ... ؟ | مِن وين ... ؟ | مِن أينَ ... ؟ | from where ... ? |
| إِزّايّ ... ؟ | كيف ... ؟ | كَيفَ ... ؟ | how ... ? |
| ... هل | affix to beginning of sentence to make it yes or no query. | ||
| كام؟ | كَم؟ | how many? |
ماذا
ماذا يشرب؟
what's he drinking?
Plurals
مُفرَد (singular) is abbreviated م
جَمع (plural) is abbreviated ج
Because Arabic has so many irregular plurals, it is best to memorize the singular and plural at once when learning new words. Masculine plurals encompass both genders in all but the most formal written Arabic. For example, طلاب (students) could mean a male, female or mixed group of students.
The ين and ون suffix.
The ين and ون suffix is used in many different instances. There are fine grammatical rules dictating when ون or ين are used in formal Arabic, but in spoken Arabic ون is never used (ين takes its place).
| Human masculine nouns | Human masculine means, for example جار or موظف. In formal Arabic, plural masculine nouns end in either ون or ين. But in everyday Arabic, only ين is used. |
|---|---|
| Nouns and adjectives beginning with مُ or مَ | Nouns and adjectives beginning with مُ or مَ always take the ين suffix in their plural form: examples include مَشغولين, متخصص, مبسوط, and مترجم. Exceptions to this rule are place names that incidentally begin with مَ or مُ, such as مكتب and مكتبة. |
| نسبة nisba | Most نسبة nisba adjectives take the ين form when conjugated in the plural. There are rare exceptions, including أمريكي (singular) and أمريكان (plural); أميركي (s) and أميركان (pl); and عربي (s) and عرب (pl). |
| Adjectives ending with ان | Examples include تعبان (s) and تعبين (pl). |
An inanimate plural noun (whether masculine or feminine) is followed by a single feminine adjective.
Broken plurals
| جمع | مفرد |
| أَولاد | وَلَد boy |
| أَصْحاب | صاحِب owner |
| أَسْماء | اِسم name |
| أَعْمال | عَمَل job |
| أَشْغال | شُغل job |
| أشياء | شيء thing |
| أَخْبار | خَبَر news |
| جمع | مفرد |
| تُيوت | بَيت house |
| دُروس | دَرس lesson |
| صُفوف | صَفّ classroom |
| فُصول | فَصل class/year (students) |
| بُنوك | بَنك bank |
| فُلوس | فِلس money |
| جمع | مفرد |
| أَبْواب | باب door |
| أَخْوال | خال maternal uncle |
| إِخْوة | أَخ brother |
| طُلاّب | طالِب student (m) |
| رِجال | رَجُل man |
| جيران | جار neighbor (m) |
Dialogue
| المصري | الشامي | الفُصحى | English |
| ,,, ألتَرجمة مِن ... !لى | translation from ... to ,,, | ||
| فِعلاً | really!, truly | ||
| صَحيح؟ | really?!, for real?! | ||
| والله | واللهِ | really?! | |
| نَفس | the same (must go with a definite noun) | ||
| سَيَّد \ سَيَّدة | friend | ||
| ...مَشغول بِ ...مَشغولة بِ | busy with ... | ||
| !مَبروك | congratulations! | ||
| الله يبرِك فيك الله يِبارِك فيكي | الله يبارِك فيك الله يبرِك لك | بارَكَ الله فيك | response to !مَبروك |
| في الحَقيقة | بِالحَقيقة | في الحَقيقة | actually, in reality |
| جَواب ج) جَوابات) | مَكتوب ج) مَكاتيب) | رِسالة ج) رَسالئِل) | letter |
| صورة ج) صِوَر) | صورة ج) صُوَر) | picture | |
| باعرَف | بَعرِف | أَعرِف | I know |
Add لا or ما before a verb to make it negative.
| المصري | الشامي | الفُصحى | English |
| ما | ما | لا | verb-negation particle |
أو equals "or"
و أنا أيضاً and me also
مِن أينَ أنت؟
from where are you?
(مِن أينَ = from where)
أنا مِن لبنان
مَن أنت؟
who are you?
أنا محمد
I'm Mohammed.