ARABIC GRAMMAR
1- ARABIC ALPHABET
NOTE: To know how to pronounce a letter or a word or a phrase in the language, try using google translate by copying and pasting the text and clicking on the sound button to listen how it is pronounced.
Arabic starts from right to left instead of left to right like in english and every other language.
Video to pronounce the letters, Credits to @muslimah4lifee for the video
**أ، ب، ت، ث، ج، ح، خ، د، ذ، ر، ز، س، ش، ص، ض، ط، ظ، ع، غ، ف، ق، ك، ل، م، ن، ه، و، ي**
أ: Alif (Makes the aa sound)
ب: Baa (Makes the b sound)
ت: Taa (Makes the t sound)
ث: Thaa (Makes the sound of a snake)
ج: Jeem (Makes the J sound)
ح: Ha (Makes the h sound but makes it sound like you are taking a breath)
خ: Khaa (Makes the kh sound)
د: Dal (Makes the d sound)
ذ: Thal (Makes the th sound)
ر: Ra (Makes the r sound)
ز: Zaiy (Makes the z sound)
س: Seen (Makes the s sound)
ش: Sheen (Makes the sh sound)
ص: Saad (Makes the s sound but sounds less like an s)
ض: Thaad (Makes the th sound but sounds more like a th)
ط: Taah (Makes the t sound but makes it sound like you are choking)
ظ: Thaah (Makes the th sound but sounds like th the most)
ع: Ayn (Makes the a sound but makes it sound like you are choking on something)
غ: Ghayn (Makes the sound of someone drowning)
ف: Faa (Makes the f sound)
ق: Kaa (Makes the k sound but makes it sound like you are choking)
ك: Kaa (Makes the k sound)
ل: Laam (Makes the l sound)
م: Meem (Makes the m sound)
ن: Noon (Makes the n sound)
ه: Haa (Makes the haa sound)
و: Wow (Makes the oo sound if it is at the end or the middle of a word and makes the woo sound if it is at the beginning of it)
ي: Yaa (Makes the y sound)
Many letters change how they look depending on where it is in the word.
(The first letters of the words are the same letters on the left.)
نشيد ن
باب ب
جمل ج
حمل ح
سند س
شامي ش
نام ن
يلعب ي
هرب ه
مرض م
عين ع
غبي غ
خمر خ
لمع ل
كرم ك
قلق ق
فتح ف
ثمار ث
يسر ي
صلاة ص
ضلال ض
طالب ط
ظلل ظ
(The middle letters of the words are the same letters on the left.)
نشيد ش
جمل م
سند ن
لها ه
يلعب ع
مليك ي
ملل ل
مفتح ف
مقنع ق
نسيت س
يغلب غ
مخبز خ
مجمل ج
محمل ح
مخبز ب
مخترع ت
يضل ض
مصعد ص
مطلب ط
مظلم ظ
مكرم ك
معين ع
We use the regular form of a letter when it is the last letter of a word.
The letter ه has a specific form when it is the last letter.
نشيد د
مريض ض
له ه
Certain letters always have the regular form, no matter where they are in a word.
The letter that comes after one of these letters will use the initial letter form.
The letters are: ر ز و ؤ ا أ د ذ
رأس
موز
دابة
دلع
There is an extra letter in arabic called hamza and this is the letter: ء It makes a glottal stop, it can sometimes be on top of the ا like this أ The aliff has a second form and it is this: ى Words sometimes have this form of aliff in it instead of the first form ا This form can also have a hamza ئ The hamza is also on top of the letter و this is how it looks with it: ؤ
بئر ئ
لؤلؤ ؤ
If the letter has any of the following letters before it: ر ز و ؤ ا د ذ, we use the isolated form of the letter instead of the final form (Click link for context, not a virus dont worry)
2- DIACRITICS
A diacritc is something that is above or below a letter or somewhere around it and it makes a change to the letter; especially a sound change:
تَ تُ تِ
تً تٌ تٍ
This diacritic َ makes the a sound (ب [b] -> بَ [ba]) (It is called al fat-ha) When any word has tanween fat-ha, we add the letter alif after the letter that has the diacritic, except if the word ends with ة or
This diacritic ُ makes the o sound (ب [b] -> بُ [bo]) (It is called al dhama)
This diacritic ِ makes the e sound (ب [b] -> بِ [be}) (It is called al kasra)
This diacritic ً makes the an sound (ب [b] -> بً [ban] (It is called tanween al fat'ha)
This diacritic ٌ makes the on sound (ب [b] -> بٌ [bon] (It is called tanween al dhama) T
his diacritic ٍ makes the en sound (ب [b] -> بٍ [ben] (It is called tanween al kasra)
These diacritcs have a lot of rules and a lot of uses. They are above a lot of the letters of a word (but i will not be adding them for the rest of the lessons unless necessary since i am too lazy)
2- WORD ORDER
1 Basic S + V S + V أنا أنام. anā anāmu. I sleep
2 Direct object S + V + DO S + V + DO أنا أقرأ الكتاب. anā aqraʾu al-kitāba
3 Indirect object S + V + لـ + IO + DO S + V + li- + IO + DO أنا أعطيه كتابًا. anā uʿṭīhi kitāban
4 Beneficiary S + V + لـ + Person + DO S + V + li- + Person + DO أنا أشتري له كتابًا. anā ashtarī lahu kitāban
5 IO pronoun S + V + IO-pronoun + DO S + V + IO-pronoun + DO أنا أعطيه كتابًا. anā uʿṭīhi kitāban
6 Adjective N + Adj N + Adj هذا الكتاب كبير. hādhā al-kitābu kabīrun
7 Adverb S + V + Adv S + V + Adv هو يقرأ بسرعة. huwa yaqraʾu bisurʿatin
8 DO + adverb S + V + DO + Adv S + V + DO + Adv أنا أقرأ هذا الكتاب بسرعة. anā aqraʾu hādhā al-kitāba bisurʿatin
9 Time S + Time + V S + Time + V أنا أعمل اليوم. anā aʿmalu al-yawma
10 Place S + V + في + Place S + V + fī + Place هو يعيش هناك. huwa yaʿīshu hunāka
11 Prepositional phrase N + في/على + Location N + fī/ʿalā + Location الكتاب على الطاولة. al-kitābu ʿalā aṭ-ṭāwilati
12 DO + location S + V + DO + في/على + Location S + V + DO + fī/ʿalā + Location أضع الكتاب على الطاولة. aḍaʿu al-kitāba ʿalā aṭ-ṭāwilati
13 Determiner + noun Det + N Det + N هذا الكتاب جديد. hādhā al-kitābu jadīdun
14 Det + adjective + noun Det + N + Adj Det + N + Adj هذا الكتاب الكبير جديد. hādhā al-kitābu al-kabīru jadīdun
15 Numeral + noun Num + N Num + N كتابان جديدان. kitābāni jadīdāni
16 Conjunction Clause + و + Clause Clause + wa + Clause أنا أقرأ الكتاب، وهو يكتب رسالة. anā aqraʾu al-kitāba, wa-huwa yaktubu risālatan
17 Conjunction + sequence Clause + ثم + Clause Clause + thumma + Clause أنا أقرأ الكتاب، ثم هو يكتب رسالة. anā aqraʾu al-kitāba, thumma huwa yaktubu risālatan
18 Present passive DO + يُـ + V DO + yu- + V يُقرأ الكتاب. yuqraʾu al-kitābu
19 Passive + agent DO + يُـ + V + مِن قِبَل + Agent DO + yu- + V + min qibal + Agent يُقرأ الكتاب من قِبَلِه. yuqraʾu al-kitābu min qibalihi
20 Passive + IO DO + يُعطى + لـ + IO DO + yuʿṭā + li- + IO يُعطى الكتاب له. yuʿṭā al-kitābu lahu
21 Passive + IO + agent DO + V-passive + لـ + IO + مِن قِبَل + Agent DO + V-passive + li- + IO + min qibal + Agent يُعطى الكتاب للطالب من قِبَلِ المعلم. yuʿṭā al-kitābu liṭ-ṭālibi min qibali al-muʿallimi
22 Passive + time DO + Time + passive V DO + Time + passive V يُقرأ الكتاب اليوم. yuqraʾu al-kitābu al-yawma
23 Passive + location DO + passive V + في/على + Location DO + passive V + fī/ʿalā + Location وُضع الكتاب على الطاولة. wuḍiʿa al-kitābu ʿalā aṭ-ṭāwilati
24 Passive + agent + time DO + Time + passive V + مِن قِبَل + Agent DO + Time + passive V + min qibal + Agent يُقرأ الكتاب اليوم من قِبَلِه. yuqraʾu al-kitābu al-yawma min qibalihi
25 Passive + IO + agent + time DO + Time + passive V + لـ + IO + مِن قِبَل + Agent DO + Time + passive V + li- + IO + min qibal + Agent أُعطي الكتاب اليوم للطالب من قِبَلِ المعلم. uʿṭiya al-kitābu al-yawma liṭ-ṭālibi min qibali al-muʿallimi
26 Perfect passive DO + passive past V DO + passive past V قُرئ الكتاب. quriʾa al-kitābu
27 Perfect + agent DO + passive past V + مِن قِبَل + Agent DO + passive past V + min qibal + Agent قُرئ الكتاب من قِبَلِه. quriʾa al-kitābu min qibalihi
28 Future passive DO + سـ + passive V DO + sa- + passive V سيُقرأ الكتاب. sa-yuqraʾu al-kitābu
29 Future passive + agent DO + سـ + passive V + مِن قِبَل + Agent DO + sa- + passive V + min qibal + Agent سيُقرأ الكتاب من قِبَلِه. sa-yuqraʾu al-kitābu min qibalihi
30 Modal passive يجب أن + passive V yajibu an + passive V يجب أن يُقرأ الكتاب. yajibu an yuqraʾa al-kitābu
31 Negative S + لا + V S + lā + V أنا لا أقرأ هذا الكتاب. anā lā aqraʾu hādhā al-kitāba
32 Negative passive DO + لا + passive V DO + lā + passive V الكتاب لا يُقرأ. al-kitābu lā yuqraʾu
33 Yes/no question هل + S + V + DO؟ hal + S + V + DO? هل تقرأ هذا الكتاب؟ hal taqraʾu hādhā al-kitāba?
34 Passive question هل + DO + passive V؟ hal + DO + passive V? هل يُقرأ الكتاب؟ hal yuqraʾu al-kitābu?
35 Agent question مَن + V + DO؟ man + V + DO? من يقرأ الكتاب؟ man yaqraʾu al-kitāba?
36 IO question S + V + لـ + مَن + DO؟ S + V + li- + man + DO? لمن تعطي هذا الكتاب؟ liman tuʿṭī hādhā al-kitāba?
37 Imperative Imperative V + DO Imperative V + DO اقرأ هذا الكتاب! iqraʾ hādhā al-kitāba!
38 Imperative + IO Imperative V + لـ + IO + DO Imperative V + li- + IO + DO أعطه هذا الكتاب! aʿṭihi hādhā al-kitāba!
39 Passive imperative يجب أن + passive V yajibu an + passive V يجب أن يُقرأ الكتاب. yajibu an yuqraʾa al-kitābu
40 Infinitive أن + V an + V أن أقرأ الكتاب an aqraʾa al-kitāba
41 Infinitive + DO أن + V + DO an + V + DO أن أقرأ هذا الكتاب an aqraʾa hādhā al-kitāba
42 Passive infinitive أن + passive V an + passive V أن يُقرأ الكتاب an yuqraʾa al-kitābu
43 Purpose S + لـِـ + V S + li- + V آكل لألعب. ākulu li-alʿaba
44 Relative clause Relative clause + الذي/التي + N Relative clause + alladhī/allatī + N الكتاب الذي قرأته ممتع. al-kitābu alladhī qaraʾtuhu mumtiʿun
45 Passive relative N + الذي + passive clause N + alladhī + passive clause الكتاب الذي قُرئ ممتع. al-kitābu alladhī quriʾa mumtiʿun
46 Conditional إذا + Clause، فـ + Clause idhā + Clause, fa- + Clause إذا كان لدي وقت، فسأقرأ. idhā kāna ladayya waqtun, fa-sa-aqraʾu
47 Conditional + passive إذا + DO + passive V، فـ + Clause idhā + DO + passive V, fa- + Clause إذا قُرئ هذا الكتاب، فسيتعلم شيئًا. idhā quriʾa hādhā al-kitābu, fa-sa-yataʿallamu shayʾan
48 Reported speech S + قال + إنّ + Clause S + qāla + inna + Clause قال إنه يقرأ الكتاب. qāla innahu yaqraʾu al-kitāba
49 Reported question S + سأل + Person + هل + Clause S + saʾala + Person + hal + Clause سألني هل أقرأ الكتاب. saʾalanī hal aqraʾu al-kitāba
50 Reported command S + طلب من + Person + أن + V S + ṭalaba min + Person + an + V طلب مني أن أقرأ الكتاب. ṭalaba minnī an aqraʾa al-kitāba
INDIRECT OBJECT:
IO noun S + V + IO + DO أُعطي الطالبَ كتابًا. uʿṭī aṭ-ṭāliba kitāban
IO with لِـ S + V + لِـ [le] + IO + DO أشتري للطالبِ كتابًا. ashtarī liṭ-ṭālibi kitāban (we use two ل if it is definite)
IO pronoun S + V + IO-suffix + DO أُعطيه كتابًا. uʿṭīhi kitāban
IO with لِـ pronoun S + V + لِـ + pronoun + DO أشتري له كتابًا. ashtarī lahu kitāban
GENITIVE:
After preposition Prep + GEN في البيتِ fī al-bayti in the house
Iḍāfa N + GEN كتابُ الطالبِ kitābu aṭ-ṭālibi the student's book (we add the kasra diacritic for the genitive noun)
Indefinite iḍāfa N + GEN كتابُ طالبٍ kitābu ṭālibin a student's book
Possessive suffix N + suffix كتابه kitābuhu his book
INDEPENDENT:
لِـ + possessive pronoun suffix
English Arabic Transliteration
mine لي lī
yours (m.) لكَ laka
yours (f.) لكِ laki
his له lahu
hers لها lahā
ours لنا lanā
yours (plural) لكم lakum
theirs لهم lahum
The book is mine. الكتاب لي. al-kitābu lī
The book is yours. الكتاب لكَ. al-kitābu laka
The book is his. الكتاب له. al-kitābu lahu
The book is hers. الكتاب لها. al-kitābu lahā
The book is ours. الكتاب لنا. al-kitābu lanā
The book is theirs. الكتاب لهم. al-kitābu lahum
The book is for a man الكتابُ لرجلٌ al kitabu lirajulon
The book is for the man الكتابُ للرجلُ al kitabu lilrajulo
WAS GOING TO:
1. Was going to / intended to
Formation
S + كان + أن + V
English Arabic Transliteration
I was going to go. كنتُ سأذهب. kuntu sa-adhhabu
You were going to go. (m.) كنتَ ستذهب. kunta sataḏhabu
You were going to go. (f.) كنتِ ستذهبين. kunti sataḏhabīna
He was going to go. كان سيذهب. kāna sayaḏhabu
She was going to go. كانت ستذهب. kānat sataḏhabu
We were going to go. كنا سنذهب. kunnā sanaḏhabu
They were going to go. كانوا سيذهبون. kānū sayaḏhabūna
The most natural pattern for “was going to” is actually:
كان + سـ + present verb
For example:
كان سيذهب.
kāna sayaḏhabu
= He was going to go.
كان = was
سـ = will / going to
يذهب = he goes
Together: “he was going to go.”
2. Full “was going to” table
Person Formation Arabic Transliteration English
I كان + سـ + V كنتُ سأذهب kuntu sa-aḏhabu I was going to go
you m. كان + سـ + V كنتَ ستذهب kunta sataḏhabu you were going to go
you f. كان + سـ + V كنتِ ستذهبين kunti sataḏhabīna you were going to go
he كان + سـ + V كان سيذهب kāna sayaḏhabu he was going to go
she كان + سـ + V كانت ستذهب kānat sataḏhabu she was going to go
we كان + سـ + V كنا سنذهب kunnā sanaḏhabu we were going to go
you pl. كان + سـ + V كنتم ستذهبون kuntum sataḏhabūna you were going to go
they m. كان + سـ + V كانوا سيذهبون kānū sayaḏhabūna they were going to go
they f. كان + سـ + V كنّ سيذهبن kunna sayadhhabna they were going to go
3. “Was planning to”
For a stronger meaning of “was planning to,” Arabic can use:
كان يخطط لـِ + verbal noun
or more naturally:
كان يخطط أن + verb
Example:
كنتُ أخطط للذهاب.
kuntu ukhaṭṭiṭu li-dh-dhahābi
= I was planning to go.
كنتُ = I was
أخطط = I plan / am planning
للذهاب = to going
4. “Was intending to”
You can also use كان ينوي أن + verb.
كنتُ أنوي أن أذهب.
kuntu anwī an adh-haba
= I was intending to go.
Pattern:
S + كان + ينوي + أن + V
English Arabic Transliteration
I was intending to go. كنتُ أنوي أن أذهب. kuntu anwī an adh-haba
He was intending to go. كان ينوي أن يذهب. kāna yanwī an yaḏhaba
She was intending to go. كانت تنوي أن تذهب. kānat tanwī an taḏhaba
5. “Was about to”
Be careful: “was going to” can also mean “was about to.”
Arabic commonly uses:
كان على وشك أن + V
كنتُ على وشك أن أذهب.
kuntu ʿalā washki an adh-haba
= I was about to go.
This is different from ordinary planned intention:
English Arabic Transliteration
I was going to go. كنتُ سأذهب. kuntu sa-aḏhabu
I was planning to go. كنتُ أخطط للذهاب. kuntu ukhaṭṭiṭu li-dh-dhahābi
I intended to go. كنتُ أنوي أن أذهب. kuntu anwī an adh-haba
I was about to go. كنتُ على وشك أن أذهب. kuntu ʿalā washki an adh-haba
3- PRONOUNS
You (Male) -> انتَ [Anta]
You (Female) -> انتِ [Anti]
You (Male Plural) -> انتم [Antum]
You (Female Plural) -> انتن [Antun]
You (Two People) -> انتما [Antumaa]
I -> أنا [Ana]
She -> هي [Heeya]
He -> هو [Hoowa]
They (Male) -> هم [Hoom]
They (Female) -> هن [Hoon]
They (Two People) -> هما [Hoomaa]
We -> نحن [Nahn]
We also use the female pronouns (except for هن, we use هم instead of it) for things that make a light sound, and use the male pronouns for things that make a deep sound
4- VERBS
We add a prefix and a suffix depending on the pronoun and the number of people:
ألعب (Me) [Al'ab]
يلعب (Male / Thing that makes a heavy sound) [Yal'ab]
تلعب (You / Female / Thing that makes a light sound) [Tal'ab]
تلعبي/تلعبين (You [Female Singular]) [Tal'abee/Tal'abeen]
نلعب/نلعبون/نلعبوا (We) Another way [Nal'ab/Nal'aboon/Nal'aboo]
يلعبون/يلعبوا (They [More than two nouns]) [Yal'aboon/Yal'aboo]
تلعبون/تلعبوا (You [More than two nouns]) [Tal'aboon/Tal'aboo]
يلعبان/يلعبا (They [Two nouns only])
تلعبان/تلعبا (You [Two nouns only])
تلعبانِ/تلعبا (You [Two Female Nouns only])
(The following suffixes are added to usually refer to the thing that the action is done to or to the noun that does the action [They come after the other pronoun suffixes i just mentioned]):
ألعبه (Male/[Thing that makes a heavy sound]) [Al'aboh]
ألعبها (Her/[Thing that makes a light sound]) [Al'abaha]
يلعبهم (Them [Male]) [Yal'abhom]
تلعبهن (Them [Female]) [Tal'abhen]
تلعبهما (Them [Two nouns]) [Tal'abhomaa]
نلعبكما (You [Two nouns]) (The last two letters can sometimes refer to the noun that does the action instead of the noun that the action happens to)
نلعبك (You) (The suffix only refers to the noun that the action is done to and not the noun that does it)
يلعبني (Me) (The suffix only refers to the noun that the action is done to)
يلعبكم (You [Male Plural]) (The last letter can sometimes refer to the noun that does the action instead of the noun that the action happens to)
يلعبكن (You [Female Plural]) (The last letter can sometimes refer to the noun that does the action instead of the noun that the action happens to)
يلعبنا (Us) (The suffix only refers to the noun that the action is done to and not the noun that does it)
الأولاد يأكلونكم/يأكلوكم (The boys eat you [plural male])
The word "لعبنا (we played / he/she played us [past tense]" can refer to the noun that the action is done to or the noun that does the action.
لعبناه We played him
لعبناها We played her
etc.....
الولد لَعَبَنا (The boy played us)
5- THINGS
We add the letter ة to the end of a word that describes a thing
وردَة
متحولَة
A noun becomes female by adding -ة [-a], if a word has it, we put fat-ha over the letter that comes before it, if there is a diacritic over that letter or if there is an object after it (without preposition), it is pronounce as -t, and if there is a letter after it, we replace it with ت
The adjective has the same rule
6- ADJECTIVES AND NOUNS
There are two types of adjectives:
Regular adjectives: adjectives that end with ونَ- or ينَ- if it describes more than two nouns and end with انِ- or ينِ- (we add fat-ha over the letter before the ينِ- suffix) if it describes two nouns only and end with ين- if it describes more than two females but it has to refer to second person pronouns at the same time (second person pronouns such as you, yours and etc.....)
Regular adjectives end with ات- if they are more than two females or more than two things and end with تانِ- or تَينِ- (we add fat-ha over the letter before the تَينِ- suffix) if they are two females only or two things only, some adjectives end with اء-, sometimes (not always) if an adjective has the letter ي before the last letter, then we get rid of the ي in order to make it refer to more than two nouns, some adjectives have the letter alif (ا) after the first letter (for singular only)
Irregular adjectives: adjectives that change differently when they are plural.
there is one thing you need to keep in mind: the letter ة is at the end of every adjective that describes one thing or one female
Its only for regular adjectives though, not irregular.
The nouns have the same roles as the adjectives, but some nouns have the letter ا (alif) somewhere in the middle of the word to refer to more than two males or more than two things, and some have the letter -ئ- before the last letter but its only added if the letters -لا- are in the middle of the word (singular and plural), before we add the ئ, we have to get rid of the ة (what makes it singular) because the ة refers to one thing and we have to make the word refer to more than two males or more than two things, we also use the alif that was mentioned before to make a noun from a verb or adjective or any other type of word, the letter alif has to be somewhere in the middle of the word, we also have to add the ة at the end (we also have to remove letters that make the word a verb or an adjective or etc....), If a noun is singular and has ة at the end but has the letter ي before it (i am not talking about a noun that comes from a verb or adjective, just a regular singular noun), to make it plural, we get rid of the ة and the ي and replace it with ى, some plural nouns have the letter و before the last letter, if the word already has the letter و, then we add the letter ؤ and put it before و, if a noun has the letters -ائ- in the middle of the word, we replace the letters with -لائ- to make it refer to more than two nouns, if the letter alif is in the middle of a noun (not before the last letter), we add the letter ل before the alif to make it plural or add و (for some nouns) before the alif to make it plural. some nouns can have -ائ- before the last letter when they are plural but there are two letters before the ائ. some nouns can be formed from an adjective or verb by removing the verb tense prefix and the pronoun tense prefixes and letters that make the word an adjective, and then add the prefix -ال. A lot of neuter nouns start with the letter alif with hamza (أ) and have the letter alif without hamza (ا) before the last letter of the noun (and we get rid of the ة suffix if the noun has it).
IRREGULAR PLURAL PATTERNS:
أَفْعَال afʿāl قَلَم → أَقْلَام qalam → aqlām Very common with many 3-consonant nouns, especially nouns of the فَعَل / فَعْل type.
أَفْعِلَة afʿila طَعَام → أَطْعِمَة ṭaʿām → aṭʿima Common with certain nouns, especially some short/medial-weak nouns and established lexical plurals.
أَفْعُل afʿul نَفْس → أَنْفُس nafs → anfus One of the traditional plural-of-paucity patterns; also occurs as an established plural of certain nouns.
فِعْلَة fiʿla فَتًى → فِتْيَة fatā → fitya Traditional plural-of-paucity pattern, particularly with certain human nouns.
فُعُل fuʿul كِتَاب → كُتُب kitāb → kutub Very common broken-plural pattern, especially with many nouns of suitable structure.
فُعَل fuʿal غُرْفَة → غُرَف ghurfa → ghuraf Common with certain feminine nouns, especially nouns ending in ـة with a suitable internal structure.
فِعَال fiʿāl رَجُل → رِجَال rajul → rijāl Very common with many 3-consonant nouns, particularly certain human nouns and adjectives.
فُعُول fuʿūl بَيْت → بُيُوت bayt → buyūt Very common with many 3-consonant nouns, especially nouns with suitable consonant/vowel structures.
فُعَلَاء fuʿalāʾ فَقِير → فُقَرَاء faqīr → fuqarāʾ Especially common for human nouns/adjectives describing people, particularly certain adjectives on فَعِيل.
أَفْعِلَاء afʿilāʾ صَدِيق → أَصْدِقَاء ṣadīq → aṣdiqāʾ Common with certain human nouns/adjectives, especially certain words ending in ـيّ / ـيل-type structures.
فَعَلَة faʿala كَاتِب → كَتَبَة kātib → kataba Used with certain agent/occupational nouns, especially some active-participle forms.
فَوَاعِل fawāʿil حَامِل → حَوَامِل ḥāmil → ḥawāmil Common with certain active participles, particularly feminine nouns and some nouns on فَاعِل.
فَعَائِل faʿāʾil رِسَالَة → رَسَائِل risāla → rasāʾil Very common with certain feminine nouns, especially nouns of suitable فَعِيلَة / فَعَالَة families.
مَفَاعِل mafāʿil مَكْتَب → مَكَاتِب maktab → makātib Very common with 4+ consonant nouns, especially nouns beginning with مَـ, including places and derived nouns.
مَفَاعِيل mafāʿīl مِفْتَاح → مَفَاتِيح miftāḥ → mafātīḥ Common with certain instrument nouns and longer nouns, particularly nouns of the مِفْعَال type.
فَعَالِل faʿālil دِرْهَم → دَرَاهِم dirham → darāhim Used especially with many four-consonant nouns and other nouns requiring a four-consonant broken-plural pattern.
فَعَالِيل faʿālīl عُصْفُور → عَصَافِير ʿuṣfūr → ʿaṣāfīr Common with certain four-consonant nouns, especially nouns containing long vowels or weak-letter structures.
تَفَاعِل tafāʿil تَجْرِبَة → تَجَارِب tajriba → tajārib Common with certain derived nouns, especially nouns beginning with تَـ.
تَفَاعِيل tafāʿīl تَفْصِيل → تَفَاصِيل tafṣīl → tafāṣīl Common with certain verbal nouns/abstract nouns, particularly longer nouns beginning with تَـ.
WITH ADJECTIVES:
1 أَفْعَال afʿāl كَبِير kabīr كِبَار kibār kibār Certain adjectives, especially common 3-consonant adjectives
2 أَفْعِلَة afʿila شَدِيد shadīd أَشِدَّة ashidda ashiddah Certain adjectives, especially established lexical plurals
3 أَفْعُل afʿul أَخْضَر akhḍar خُضْر khuḍr khuḍr Certain adjectives, especially colors/physical descriptions
4 فِعَال fiʿāl كَبِير kabīr كِبَار kibār kibār Very common adjective broken-plural pattern
5 فُعُول fuʿūl صَبُور ṣabūr صُبُر ṣubur ṣubur Some adjectives, particularly certain intensive/quality adjectives
6 فُعَلَاء fuʿalāʾ فَقِير faqīr فُقَرَاء fuqarāʾ fuqarāʾ Very common with human adjectives, especially certain فَعِيل adjectives
7 أَفْعِلَاء afʿilāʾ صَدِيق ṣadīq أَصْدِقَاء aṣdiqāʾ aṣdiqāʾ Certain human adjectives/nouns of suitable structure
8 فِعْلَة fiʿla شَابّ shābb شَبَاب shabāb shabāb Some adjectives/noun-adjectives with lexicalized plurals
9 فَوَاعِل fawāʿil حَامِل ḥāmil حَوَامِل ḥawāmil ḥawāmil Certain فَاعِل adjectives/participles, particularly feminine nouns
10 فَعَائِل faʿāʾil جَمِيلَة jamīla جَمَائِل jamāʾil jamāʾil Certain feminine adjective/noun formations
11 فَعَلَة faʿala كَاتِب kātib كَتَبَة kataba kataba Certain human agent adjectives/nouns
12 فَعَالِل faʿālil أَحْمَر aḥmar حُمُر ḥumur ḥumur Some color/physical-description adjectives; highly lexical
13 فُعْل fuʿl أَحْمَر aḥmar حُمْر ḥumr ḥumr Colors and physical characteristics
14 فُعْلَان fuʿlān عَطْشَان ʿaṭshān عِطَاش ʿiṭāsh ʿiṭāsh Certain adjectives expressing states/conditions
15 فِعَال fiʿāl مَرِيض marīḍ مَرْضَى marḍā marḍā Lexical broken plurals of certain adjectives
16 فَعْلَى faʿlā مَرِيض marīḍ مَرْضَى marḍā marḍā Particularly certain adjectives describing conditions
17 فُعْلَى fuʿlā كَبِير kabīr كُبْرَى kubrā kubrā Mostly the feminine singular, not an ordinary plural; important because it can look plural
18 أَفْعَل -> فُعْل afʿal → fuʿl أَخْضَر akhḍar خُضْر khuḍr khuḍr Colors and certain physical adjectives
19 أَفْعَل -> فِعْلَان afʿal → fiʿlān أَسْمَر asmar سُمْرَان sumrān sumrān Certain color adjectives; lexicalized
20 أَفْعَل -> فُعْلَان afʿal → fuʿlān أَحْمَر aḥmar حُمْرَان ḥumrān ḥumrān Some color adjectives in particular lexical usages
Some plural nouns have the letter أ along with adding any of the letters that we just mentioned
7- VERB TENSES
أنا أَكل I am eating / I eat (أكل -> a'kol)
ُأنا أَكَلت I ate
أنا سَوفَ أكل I will eat (أكل -> a'kol)
هو يَأكل He eats / He is eating
هو أكلَ He ate (أكل -> akal)
هو سوف يأكل He will eat (يأكل -> ya'kol)
هي تأكل She ate / She is eating (تأكل -> ta'kol)
هي أكلت She ate
هي سوف تأكل She will eat
انت تأكل You eat (Male)
َانت أكلت You ate (Male)
انت سوف تأكل/تأكلين/تأكلي You will eat (Male)
انتِ تأكل / انت تأكلين / انت تأكلي You eat (Female)
ِانتِ أكلتِ / انتِ أكلت You ate (Female)
انت سوف تأكل / انت سوف تأكلي / انت سوف تأكلين You will eat (Female)
انتم تأكلون / انتم تأكل / انتم تأكلوا You eat (more than two males)
انتم أكلتوا You ate (more than two males)
انتم سوف تأكلون You will eat (more than two males)
انتن تأكلون/تأكلوا (More than two females)
انتن أكلتوا You ate (More than two females)
انتن سوف تأكلون/تأكلوا You will eat (More than two females)
انتما تأكلان/تأكلا You eat (Two People)
انتما أكلتا You ate (Two People)
انتما سوف تأكلان/تأكلا You will eat (Two People)
هم يأكلون/تأكلوا They are eating / They eat
هم أكلوا They ate
هم سوف يأكلون/يأكلوا They will eat
نحن نأكل We eat / We are eating
نحن أكلنا We ate
نحن سوف نأكل We will eat
هما يأكلان They eat (Two Males) / They are eating (Two Males)
هما أكلا They ate (Two Males)
هما سوف يأكلان/يأكلا They will eat (Two Males)
هما يأكلن They eat (Two Females) / They are eating (Two Females)
هما أكلن They ate (Two Females)
هما سوف يأكلن They will eat (Two Females)
If the verb does not start with alif:
أنا ألعب
أنا لعبت
أنا سوف ألعب
هو يلعب
هو لعبَ
هي تلعب
هي لعبت
was: كَانَ
كَانَ يَلعب (was playing)
if a verb is 4 letters, then we add the prefix ا to make it past tense and the fatha diacritic on the letter this before the last letter, if the verb has the letter alif, then we just add the fatha diacritic without the alif prefix:
استمَع (He Listened)
استمعَت (She listened)
هاجَم (He Attacked)
هاجمَت (She attacked)
some verbs can have the letter ت after the verb gender prefix and have the fat-ha diacritic above the letter that is before the last letter, however this is not necessary and we can use the verb without ت:
تتمارَس She Exercises
تمارَس He exercised
etc....
if a verb ends with ي or و or ا or ى, to make it past tense, we get rid of the present tense prefix and replace ي with ى but its only for male, for female, we get rid of the ي:
يصلي -> صَلَى/صَلَت/صَلَيت
صلى (Male) (We do not add the fat-ha diacritic)
صلت (Female)
صليت (Me/You)
if its plural, we get rid of the ى and replace it with the plural suffix
يصلان
يصلون
يصلوا
When a verb refers to a bunch of nouns doing something to each other, we add the letter ت after the verb tense prefix and add the letter alif:
يتضارَب (Hits with)
تضارَب (Hit with [Male Past])
تضارَبت (Hit with [Female Past])
تضارب (Hit with [Imperative])
الولد تضارَب مع اخوه (The boy hit with his brother)
الرجل تناقَش مع اخوه (The man talked with his brother)
If a verb has the letter و before the last letter, to make it past tense, we replace و with ا:
يقول (He Says)
َقَال (He said)
If a verb has the letter ى as the last letter, if we want to put a pronoun suffix, we have to replace ى with ا:
يرى (sees)
يراك (sees you)
(The rest is the same structure)
كَانَ kaaana He was
كَانَت kaaanat She was
كُنتُ konto I was
كُنتَ konta You were
كُنتِ konte You were (Female)
كَانوا kaaanoo They were
كَانا/كَانُما/كَانَما kaaanaa/kaaanomaa/kaaanamaa They were (two)
كُنتوا kontoo You were (more than two)
كُنتا/كُنتُما/كُنتَما kontaa/kontomaa/kontamaa You were (Two)
كَانُم kaaanom They were (more than two males)
كَانن/كَانُن kaaanin/kaaanon They were (more than two females)
كُنتُم kontom You were (more than two males)
كُنتن/كُنتُن kontin/konton You were (more than two females)
كُنا/كُنَنا konaa/konanaa We were
مشَيتُ I walked
مشَت She walked
مشَيتَ You walked (Male)
مشَيتِ You walked (Female)
etc.....
لَيسَت Laysat She is not
لَستَ Lasta You are not (Male)
لَستِ Laste You are not (Female)
لَيسَ Laysa He is not
لَيسوا Laysoo He/She is not (Plural)
لَسنا Lasna We are not
لَستُم Lastom You are not (More than two male)
لَستُن Laston You are not (More than two female)
لَستُما Lastomaa You are not (Two)
etc.... (behaves like كان)
For past verbs that have a vowel:
قَالَ Qaaala He said
قَالَت Qaaalat She said
قلتُ Qolto (This past verb has the same diacritics as the verb's present; it behaves like it) I said
قلتَ Qolta (Same with previous) You said (Male)
قلتِ Qolte You said (Female)
قَالوا Qaaaloo They said
قَالا Qaaalaa They said (Two)
قلتوا Qoltoo You said (More than two)
قلتا Qoltaa You said (Two)
قلنا Qolnaa We said
For past verbs that end with a vowel:
مَشَى Mashaaa He walked
مَشَت Mashat She walked
مَشَيتُ Mashayto I walked
مَشَيتَ Mashayta You walked (Male)
مَشَيتِ Mashayte You walked (Female)
مَشوا Mashoo They walked
مَشا/مَشُما/مَشَما Mashaa/Mashomaa/Mashamaa They walked (Two)
مَشَيتوا Mashaytoo You walked (More than two)
مَشَيتا/مَشَيتُما/مَشَيتَما Mashaytaa/Mashaytomaa/Mashaytamaa You walked (Two)
مَشَينا Mashaynaa We walked
مَشُم Mashom They walked (More than two males)
مَشن/مَشُن Mashin/Mashon They walked (More than two females)
مَشَيتُم Mashaytom You walked (More than two males)
مَشَيتن/مَشَيتُن Mashaytin/Mashayton You walked (More than two females)
if a verb is 4 letters, then we add the prefix ا to make it past tense and the fatha diacritic on the letter this before the last letter, if the verb has the letter alif, then we just add the fatha diacritic without the alif prefix:
استمَع (He Listened)
استمعَت (She listened)
هاجَم (He Attacked)
هاجمَت (She attacked)
some verbs can have the letter ت after the verb gender prefix and have the fat-ha diacritic above the letter that is before the last letter, however this is not necessary and we can use the verb without ت:
تتمارَس She Exercises
تمارَس He exercised
etc....
if a verb ends with ي or و or ا or ى, to make it past tense, we get rid of the present tense prefix and replace ي with ى but its only for male, for female, we get rid of the ي:
يصلي -> صلى/صلت/صليت
صَلَى (Male) (We do not add the fat-ha diacritic)
صَلَت (Female)
صَلَيت (Me/You)
if its plural, we get rid of the ى and replace it with the plural suffix
يصلان
يصلون
يصلوا
When a verb refers to a bunch of nouns doing something to each other, we add the letter ت after the verb tense prefix and add the letter alif:
يتضارَب (Hits with)
تضارَب (Hit with [Male Past])
تضارَبت (Hit with [Female Past])
تضارب (Hit with [Imperative])
الولد تضارَب مع اخوه (The boy hit with his brother)
الرجل تناقَش مع اخوه (The man talked with his brother)
If a verb has the letter و before the last letter, to make it past tense, we replace و with ا:
يقول (He Says)
َقال (He said)
If a verb has the letter ى as the last letter, if we want to put a pronoun suffix, we have to replace ى with ا:
يرى (sees)
يراك (sees you)
تأكلنهن (They eat them [more than two females])
تأكلوهن (You eat them [more than two females])
يأكلونك (They eat you) (Used if nominative) (Used for more than two people or two people)
يأكلوك (They eat you) (Used if accusative or jazm) (Used for more than two people or two people)
Same with other pronoun suffixes
َقال (He said)
ُقلت (I said)
قلتَ (You said [singular male])
قلتِ (You said [singular female])
قالت (She said)
---
مشى (He walked)
مشت (She walked)
مشيت (I walked / You walked)
For verb tenses, you usually have to know the root of a verb in order to form a tense:
كَانَ kaaana He was
كَانَت kaaanat She was
كُنتُ konto I was
كُنتَ konta You were
كُنتِ konte You were (Female)
كَانوا kaaanoo They were
كَانا/كَانُما/كَانَما kaaanaa/kaaanomaa/kaaanamaa They were (two)
كُنتوا kontoo You were (more than two)
كُنتا/كُنتُما/كُنتَما kontaa/kontomaa/kontamaa You were (Two)
كَانُم kaaanom They were (more than two males)
كَانن/كَانُن kaaanin/kaaanon They were (more than two females)
كُنتُم kontom You were (more than two males)
كُنتن/كُنتُن kontin/konton You were (more than two females)
كُنا/كُنَنا konaa/konanaa We were
مَشَيتُ I walked
مَشَت She walked
مَشَيتَ You walked (Male)
مَشَيتِ You walked (Female)
etc.....
If a verb already has the fat-ha on the letter before the last one, we either keep it for past verb or replace it with kasra to make it more formal:
كسَرَ (Broke)
كسِرَ (Broke) (More formal)
If a verb has two vowels, we treat it like a verb that doesn't have one
A verb that has a vowel can have its vowel removed unless if it has more than one
(Present) -> (Past)
يأكل Ya'kul -> a'kala أكل (replace the letter before the last letter with a and add the -a because of the diacritic)
يلعب Yala'b -> la'ba لعب (add the -a because of the diacritic)
Yaktub -> kataba (add the letter A after the first letter and the third one and add the -a because of the diacritic)
تأكل -> Ta'kul
It is advised to learn the alphabet to form the tenses correctly, or simply memorize them (First option is better)
If a verb has a kasra under the letter before the last one, to make it past, we add the prefix وَ [wa-], and to make it imperative, we just get rid of the present prefix (IMPORTANT: every imperative has sukoon over the last letter)
وَعَدَ waʿada يَعِدُ yaʿidu عِدْ ʿid promise
وَجَدَ wajada يَجِدُ yajidu جِدْ jid find
وَصَفَ waṣafa يَصِفُ yaṣifu صِفْ ṣif describe
وَقَفَ waqafa يَقِفُ yaqifu قِفْ qif stand / stop
وَزَنَ wazana يَزِنُ yazinu زِنْ zin weigh
8- PERFECT TENSE
لَقَد كان <- have been/had been
لَقَد <- had/have
لَقَد أصبح -> have become
ُلَقَد لَعِبت i have played
we use a verb tense suffix for أصبح depending on the pronoun
9- PRONOUNS OF POSSESSION
كتابي My book
كتابك Your book
كتابنا Our Book
كتابه His Book / Its book (must have a heavy sound)
كتابها Her book / Its book (must have a light sound)
كتابهُم Their book (Male)
كتابهُن Their book (Female)
كتابهُما Their book (Two People)
كتابكما Your book (Two People)
كتابكُم Your book (More than two males)
كتابكن Your book (More than two females)
كتاب أحمد The book of ahmed / Ahmed's book
ٍكتاب شخص The book of a person / A person's book [We add the kasra diacritic over the last letter of the noun that has the possession, but if the noun is a name of person, we do not add it, and if it ends with ا, و, ي, the kasra does exist but we do not add it]
كتاب صديقي
ِكتاب الرجل The book of the man / The man's book
كتاب هذا الرجلِ The book of this man
هذا لي That/This is mine
هذا له That/This is his
هذا لهم That/This is theirs
GENITIVE: The noun that is possessed ends with a regular version of the diacritic instead of the tanween even when its indefinite, when its definite, we do not add al-. The possessor has the kasra diacritic [-e] at the end if its definite and has tanween al kasra [-en] if its indefinite, this applies for names:
كتابُ رجلٍ Kitabo al-rajulen Book of a man
كتابُ الرجلِ Kitabo al-rajule Book of the man
If the possessor ends in ي, ا, the diacritic isn't visible or pronounced:
كتابُ القاضي Kitabo al-qadhee Book of the judge
CASE ENDING: If a word ends in the letter alif, the the diacritic isn't visible or pronounced:
الدينا جيدةٌ Al-dunyaa jayyedaton The world is good
DEFECTIVE NOUN: When a noun ends in ي: It has different case ending rules:
Nominative/Accusative: Same as a regular noun: قاضيُ/قاضيَ qadheeo/qadheea
Genitive/Preposition followed: the diacritic isn't visible or pronounced: قاضي qadhee
INDEFINITE:
Nominative/Genitive/Preposition followed: Get rid of the ي and add the tanween al kasra over the letter that becomes last: قاضٍ qadhen
Accusative: Add alif and add tanween al fat-ha over the letter before it: قاضيًا qadheean
(Pronoun Suffix)ل
10- HAVE/HAS
have/had -> لدي
انا لدي/لي I have
هي لديها/لها She has
هو لديه/له He has
هما لديهما/لهما They have (Two)
هم لديهم/لهم They have (More than two males)
هن لديهن/لهن They have (More than two females)
نحن لدينا/لنا We have
انت لديك/لك You have (Male)
انتِ لديك/لك You have (Female)
انتم لديكم /لكم You have (More than two males)
انتن لديكن/لكن You have (More than two females)
انتما لديكما/لكما You have (Two People)
ليس لدي [Laysa Laday] (I don't have) (Use ليس [Laysa] for have when negative)
Past of I had is كانَ لدي kaana laday
11- THE
We add the prefix ال- to a word to mean "the"
الشخض (The person)
للشخص (For the person)
If a definite article has the following letters after it, the -l is silent:
ت ث د ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ل ن
ت تاء التُّفَّاح at-tuffāḥ
ث ثاء الثَّوْب ath-thawb
د دال الدَّرْس ad-dars
12- PASSIVE VOICE
There are 3 ways to make a passive voice sentence in arabic
The cake is eaten by him:
1- We add a prefix and a suffix referring to the person doing the action:
الكعكة يأكله الرجل (The cake is eaten by the man)
2- We add a prefix referring to the person doing the action but we add a suffix referring to the thing that the action was done to:
الكعكة يأكلها الرجل (The cake is eaten by the man)
3- We add the letter م to the beginning of the passive verb and add the letter و before the last letter of the word:
الكعكة مأكولة من الرجل (The cake is eaten by the man)
Some verbs do not have و when they are passive:
البيت مبني (The house is built)
4- We add the letter ن to the beginning of the verb
يضرب (Hits)
الولد يَنَضَرب (The boy is hit) (Use If it happens for a long time)
الولد انضَرَب (The boy is hit) (Use If it happens only now)
الولد انضرَب (The boy was hit)
الولد كَانَ يَنضَرب (The boy was being hit)
الولد يَنضَرب (The boy is being hit)
الولد لقد انضَرَب (The boy has been hit) (Used if it only happens now)
الولد لقد يَنضَرب (The boy has been hit) (Used if it continues to happen)
الولد لقد يَنضَرب (The boy has been being hit)
الولد لقد كان انضرَب (The boy had been hit)
الولد لقد كان يَنضَرب (The boy has been hit) (Used if it continues to happen)
الولد لقد كان يَنضَرب (The boy has been being hit)
الولد سوف يَنضَرب (The boy will be hit)
الولد لقد سوف يَنضَرب (The boy will have been hit)
الولد كان سوف يَنضَرب (The boy was going to be hit)
الولد لقد كان سوف يَنضَرب (The boy was going to be hit [but in perfect tense])
كُن مَضروب / مَضروباً (Be hit)
!انضَرب (Be hit!)
البنت تَنضَرب (The girl gets hit)
Pronounciation of !انضرب (Be hit!): [Indhareb!]
Pronounciation of انضرَب (Got hit): [Indharab]
We add a diacritic on the letter.
a little bit of passive verbs can have two ت to replace the ن prefix when the passive verb is present tense and refers to feminine or things that make a light sound (you have to memorize the words in order to know if it is nomative or accusative [passive]), however this is not necessary:
تتاكل
5- Same word but with different diacritics
ضُرِب (Is hit) (Used if it happens only now)
يُضرَب (Is hit) (Used if it happens for a long time)
يُضرَب (Is being hit)
ضُرب (Was hit)
كان يُضرَب (Was being hit)
لقد ضُرب (has been hit) (Used if it only happens now)
لقد يُضرَب (has been hit) (Used if it continues to happen)
لقد يُضرَب (has been being hit)
لقد كان يُضرَب (has been being hit)
سوف يُضرَب (will be hit)
لقد سوف يُضرَب (will have been hit)
كان سوف يُضرَب (was going to be hit)
لقد كان سوف يُضرَب (was going to be hit [but in perfect tense])
PASSIVE VERB TENSES:
مَبني (is built)
كان مَبني (was built)
يصبح مَبني (becomes built)
اصبح مَبني (became built)
يكون مَبني (is being built)
كان يكون مَبني (was being built)
لقد كان مَبني (has been built)
لقد كان يكون مَبني (has been being built)
سوف يكون مَبني (will be built)
لقد سوف يكون مَبني (will have been built)
كان سوف يكون مَبني (was going to be built)
لقد كان سوف يكون مَبني (was going to be built [but in perfect tense])
كُن مَبني (Be built)
الكعكة لَقَد كَانَت مَأكولَة (The cake has been eaten)
We also use the phrases above for adjectives and nouns, not just passive voice
الكعكة لَقَد كَانَت تَكون سعيدَة (The cake has been being happy)
الكعكة يأكلها الرجل (The cake is eaten by the man / The cake is being eaten by the man)
الكعكة كان يأكلها الرجل (The cake was eaten by the man / The cake was being eaten by the man)
الكعكة لَقَد يأكلها الرجل (The cake has been eaten by the man / The cake has been being eaten by the man)
الكعكة لقد كان يأكلها الرجل (The cake has been eaten by the man / The cake has been being eaten by the man)
الكعكة سوف يأكلها الرجل (The cake will be eaten by the man)
الكعكة كان سوف يأكلها الرجل (The cake was going to be eaten by the man)
الكعكة لقد سوف يأكلها الرجل (The cake will have been eaten by the man)
الكعكة لقد كان سوف يأكلها الرجل (The cake was going to be eaten by the man [but with perfect tense])
(The structure is the same for when the verb refers to the noun doing the action)
If there is a modal word in the passive sentence, then we add the word يكون before the passive verb:
يجب أن تكون مأكولة (She must be eaten)
يجب أن يكونوا مأكولين (They must be eaten)
يجب أن تكون ليس مأكولة (She must not be eaten)
We will talk about modal words in arabic later in this post.
يراك تنأكل (He sees you be eaten)
يراك تكون مأكول (He sees you be eaten)
اُضرَب (Get hit)
البنت تُضرَب The girl is hit (Use ت for female)
13- GERUNDS
To make a gerund, just replace the letters that make the word an adjective or verb or etc.... and add the prefix -ال, and we get rid of the diacritc of the letter before the last one and add fat-ha over the first letter: العَب il'ab Play ->اللَعب alla'ib Playing
(This was already mentioned in lesson 6 i think but i am saying it again to make you guys understand more or something), it is okay to get rid of the letters that make the word a verb or adjective without adding the prefix -ال, but it is better to do so
Some gerunds are made by adding و before the last letter and adding the last letter of the word, if the word is short, then we don't add the last letter of the word
يمر (Passes)
مرور/المرور (Passing [Gerund])
يهرب (Runs)
هروب/الهروب (Running [Gerund])
some gerunds are made by adding ا instead of و
يذهب (Goes)
الذهاب/ذهاب (Going [Gerund])
If a verb has the letter ى at the end, we replace the letter with ي to make a gerund:
تمنى
التمني
Some gerunds have the letter alif before the last letter:
احترم (Respect [Verb])
احترام/الاحترام (Respect [Noun])
بإحترام (With Respect [If there is a preposition before the word, the we add the hamza diacritic below the alif BUT ONLY if the preposition is a prefix)
صديق (Friend)
صداقة/الصداقة (Friendship
Some gerunds have the letter alif before the last letter and have the same letter but with a hamza below the alif, if the word has a vowel or more, we get rid of them before putting the alif:
إيقاف
بإيقاف (with a prepositon)
IMPORTANT: A noun or adjective can be formed into a verb by adding a verb tense prefix and a verb tense suffix
مرح (Fun)
يمرح (Has fun [Verb])
سجن (Jail)
يسجن (Jail [Verb])
حزين (Sad)
يحزن (Becomes Sad)
!اسجنه (Jail him!)
NEXT: Another way to make a gerund is by putting the prefix -مُ [mo-] and add alif after the letter that is after مُ, unless if it already has one, and we add ة- and add fat-ha over the letter that is before the letter that is before the ة-:
جامل jaamil -> مُجامَلَة mojaamalat
ألعبُ لِمُجامَلَةَ الأخرينَ 'alabo le-mojamalata al-'akhareena I play to be sarcastic with others (lieral: I play for being sarcastic with the others [the arabic sentence doesn't have the preposition]
If the gerund is plural, we use ات [-aat] instead of ة [-a]
To talk about someone doing something, Another way to make a gerund is by putting the prefix -مُ [mo-] and add alif after the letter that is after مُ [sometimes we don't], unless if it already has one, and we get rid of the diacritic of the letter before the last one
If a gerund has an object after it, we get rid of the definite article along with getting rid of the diacritic of the letter before the last one: لعب الكرة la'ib al kora playing the ball
But if the object has a preposition or if the gerund has a preposition after it, we keep the definite article
We can add the prefix بِ- [-be] to make a gerund sound more formal
Another way to make a gerund: يعزل Yo'azil -> تَعزيل ta'zeel (Add تَ before the word and ي before the last letter)
14- INFINITIVES
To make an infinitive, just add the prefix ل- before any prefix.
If a verb is followed by it, we just add the word أن after the verb and not add a prefix, but that is only if it does not refer to a reason:
أنا ألعب لِأمرح (I play to have fun)
أنا أحب أن ألعب (I love to play)
لِتَلعب, يَجب أن تمرح (To play, you must have fun)
أنا أسمعه يركض (I hear him run)
أنا أكل لِألعبَ Ana 'akol le'ala'aba I eat to play (Reason)
أنا أكل لِأن ألعبَ Ana 'akol le'aan 'ala'aba I eat to play (Reason)
أنا أكل لِللعبِ Ana 'akol lella'ibe I eat to play (Reason)
أنا أكل لِلعبِ الكرة Ana 'akol lela'ibe I eat to play the ball (Reason)
أنا أكل كَي ألعبَ Ana 'akol kay 'ala'aba I eat to play (Reason)
أنا أكل كَي أن ألعبَ Ana 'akol kay 'aan 'ala'aba I eat to play (Reason)
أنا أكل كَي اللعبَ Ana 'akol kay 'alla'iba I eat to play (Reason)
أنا أكل كَي لعبَ الكرة Ana 'akol kay la'iba al kora I eat to play the ball (Reason)
أنا أكل مِن أجلِ أن ألعبَ Ana 'akol min ajile 'aan 'ala'aba I eat to play (Reason)
أنا أكل مِن أجلِ اللعبِ Ana 'akol min ajile alla'ibe I eat to play (Reason)
أنا أكل مِن أجلِ لعبِ الكرة Ana 'akol min ajile la'ibe al kora I eat to play the ball (Reason)
Example : أنا أكلُ مِن أجلِ لعبِ الكرةَ Ana 'akolo min ajile la'ibe al korata I eat to play the ball (Reason)
لِألعبَ le'ala'aba (I do the action) to play
لِيَلعبَ leyala'aba (He does the action) to play
etc...
For object with preposition, we add definite article to the gerund just like with the sentence without a word after it
15- ABROGATING STATEMENTS
A sentence that describes a noun. There are two types of these statements:
Abrogating letters: Prepositions or conjunctions in a sentence.
Abrogating Verbs: Verbs in a sentence.
Abrogating letters:
إن: Is
أن: That (Relative Pronoun)
كأن: As if
لكن: But
لعل: Perhaps
ليت: I wish
The noun that is described in the sentence has the fatha diacritic above the last letter of it. The word that describes it has the tanween al dhama above the last letter of it.
Abrogating Verbs:
كان: was
أصبح: became
صار: became
مازال: still
ليس: is not
ظل: remained
The noun that is described in the sentence has the dhama diacritic above the last letter of it. The word that describes it has the tanween al fatha above the letter ا (alif) which is added after the last letter.
إن الولدَ سعيدٌ 'Ina al-walada sa'eedon The boy is happy
كَانَ الولدُ سعيداً Kaaana al-walado saeedan The boy was happy
الولدُ سعيدٌ Al-walado saeedon The boy is happy
الولدُ اختباراً لِرجلٍ Al-walado ikhtibaaran le-rajulen The boy is a test for/of a man
الولدُ اختباراً لِلرجلِ Al-walado ikhtibaaran lel-rajule The boy is a test for/of the man
إن الولدَ اختبارٌ لِرجلٍ 'Ina al-walada ikhtibaron le-rajulen The boy is a test for/of a man
إن الولدَ اختبارٌ لِلرجلِ 'Ina al-walada ikhtibaron lel-rajule The boy is a test for/of the man
إنكَ سعيدٌ 'Inaka saeedon You are happy
إن ولدً اختبارٌ لِرجلٍ 'Ina waladan ikhtibaaron le-rajule (A boy is a test for a man) If the noun that is described is indefinite [meaning without "ال" or "the" in english], then we use the tanween instead of regular, if it is tanween al fat'ha, we do not add alif and just put the tanween over the last letter)
16- ADJECTIVES
The winter is very cold:
1- Add a suffix that refers to the noun that is described:
الشتاء برده شديد (The winter's cold is strong)
الشتاء: The winter
برده: It's cold
شديد: Strong
2- A normal sentence:
الشتاء بارد جدا (The winter is very cold)
الشتاء: The Winter
بارد: Cold
جدًا: Very
We can also put a pronoun that refers to the noun before it when there is an adjective:
الكعكة هي لذيذة (The cake is tasty [If a noun ends with ة, the adjective also ends with ة])ٌ
ٌشخضٌ سعيد (A happy person / A person is happy / A person that is happy)
ُالشخصُ السعيد (The happy person)
الشخصُ سعيدٌ (The person is happy)
If an adjective ends in a vowel (ي, و, ا), we can pronounce it without the diacritic:
الوطنُ العربي [Al wauhtano al arabi] The arabic pensinela
17- QUESTION WORDS
What -> ماذا/ما maa/maadhaa
Who -> من man
When -> متى mataa
Where -> أينَ ayna
Why -> لِماذا/لِما lemaadhaa/lemaa
How -> كَيفَ kayfa
Does/Are/Is -> هَل hal
Doesn't/Aren't/Isn't -> ألَيسَ
لِمَن whose
مَن (comes after the thing being questioned)
Will -> (Verb)هل سوف/(Verb)هل س
اي تفاحة؟ (What apple?)
ما هو يأكل (What he eats)
نعم -> Yes
لا -> No
هل ستلعبي أم لا؟ (Are you [Female] going to play or not)
هل تركضي أم لا؟ (Do you [Female] run or no?)
هل ستلعب أم لا؟ (Are you [Male] going to play or not?)
لماذا يأكل (Why does he eat? / Why he eats)
Same structure for rest
هل ستلعبي أم لا؟ (Are you [Female] going to play or not)
هل تركضي أم لا؟ (Do you [Female] run or no?)
هل can be -أ:
?هل لديك -> ألديك Do you have?
?هل تأكل -> أتأكل Do you eat?
How many/How much -> كم
كم هذا؟ Kam hadha? How much is this?
كم كتب لديك؟ Kam kutub ladayk How many books do you have
كم هو جميل Kam huwa jameel How beautiful is he
Whose -> من (after the noun)
كتابُ من؟ Whose book? / Whose book is it?
كتأبُ من يلعب؟ Kitabu man yal'ab? Whose book plays?
OR: لِمن
لِمن هذا الكتاب Leman hadha al kitab Whose book is this? (Only one use and it is this one)
18- NEGATIVE
Does not / Do not -> لا Did not -> لم Will not -> لن Is not -> ليس
لَيسَت Laysat She is not
لَستَ Lasta You are not (Male)
لَستِ Laste You are not (Female)
لَيسَ Laysa He is not
لَيسوا Laysoo He/She is not (Plural)
لَسنا Lasna We are not
لَستُم Lastom You are not (More than two male)
لَستُن Laston You are not (More than two female)
لَستُما Lastomaa You are not (Two)
etc.... (behaves like كان [kaaana])
لن ألعبَ Lan al'ab I will not play
لَيسَ laysa is not
لَيسَ كَانَ / كَانَ لَيسَ laysa kaaana / kaaana laysa was not
لَيسَ سَوفَ يَكون / لَيسَ سَيَكون laysa soufa yakoon / laysa sayakoon will not be
هيَ لَيسَت سَوفَ تَكون heeya laysat soufa takoon will not be (female) (we can use any verb about being)
هيَ كَانَت لَيسَ سعيدةٌ Heeya kaaanat laysat sa'eedaton She was not happy
etc...
19- CASES
A case is something that shows the role of a noun in a sentence
In arabic, a case shows the role of a noun by using a verb (and also with a noun but we will get to that later). There are 3 cases:
Nominative: Relating to or denoting a case of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives that perform the action.
Accusative: Denoting a case of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives which expresses the object of an action or the goal of motion.
Jazm: A grammatical state in Arabic that makes a verb silent or modifies its ending
A verb in a nomative sentence has the dhama diacritic at the last letter. However if it ends with ي ,و or ا/ى, then we keep the verb as it is however it has a invisible dhama that we do not add. A verb in a accusative sentence has the fat-ha diacritic at the last letter. However if it ends with و or ي then we keep the verb as it is however it has an invisible fat-ha that we do not add. A verb in a jazm sentence has the sukoon diacritic (ْ) at the last letter. However if it ends with ي ,و or ا/ى, then we get rid of the last letter and put a diacritic over the letter before it, If the letter ends with و, we put the al dhama diacritic. if the letter ends with ي, we put the al kasra diacritic. If the letter ends with ا, we put the al fatha diacritic.
A sentence is accusative if it contains these words:
أن: that (Relative Pronoun)
لن: will not
كي: to
حتى: even/until
Infinitive:
فاء السببية: Adding ف to indicate a reason of something
A sentence is jazm if it contains these words:
لم: did not
لما: when (Relative Pronoun)
لا الناهية: Negative Imperative
لام الأمر: prefix ل Imperatives With
َالولدُ يأكلُ الكرة (The boy eats the ball [ball is accusative] [boy is nominative]) (الكرة is accusative and الولد is nominative)
The sukoon diacritic is a diacritic that makes a pronounciation stop earlier
NOTE: in passive voice, the noun that is an object is nominative instead of accusative, unless it has a word that makes the case different before the noun
الولدُ يَأكلُ كرةً Al-walado ya'akolo koratan (The boy eats a ball) (If a singular noun [not plural] is indefinite, we add the tanween)
ولدٌ يَأكلُ كرةً Waladon ya'akol koratan (A boy eats a ball) (A boy eating a ball)
الولدُ يركضُ كَي يَأكلَ كرةً Al-walado yarkudtho kay ya'akola koratan (The boy runs so that he eats a ball)
20- CASES 2
If the verb is nomative, we add ونَ- to the end of a verb verb that refers to more than two people
If the verb is accusative or jazm, we add وا- to the end of a verb that refers to more than two people
If the verb is nomative, we add ان- to the end of a verb that refers to two people only
If the verb is accusative or jazm, we add ا- to the end of a verb that refers to two people only
If the verb is nomative, we add ينَ to the end of a verb that is female singular
If the verb is accusative or jazm, we add ي to the end of a verb that is female singular
21- ABROGATING STATEMENTS 2
If a noun is nomative and refer to more than two males, we use the ونَ- suffix to the noun and the adjective and if they refer to two males only, we add انِ- suffix to the noun and the adjective, we use the ات- suffix to the noun and the adjective that refer to more than two females or more than two things and we add the al dhama diacritic over the last letter, and we add the تان- suffix to the noun and the adjective if they refer to two females or two things only.
If a noun is accusative and refer to more than two males, we use the ينَ- suffix to the noun and the adjective and if they refer to two males only, we add ين- suffix to the noun and the adjective, we use the ات- suffix to the noun and the adjective that refer to more than two females or more than two things and we add the al fatha diacritic over the last letter, and we add the تين- suffix to the noun and the adjective if they refer to two females or two things only.
A female noun that refers to two people has the suffix تانِ- if it is nominative and has the the suffix تَينِ- if it is accusative or jazm
The jazm has the same roles except that we add al sukoon diacritic over the last letter of the ات- suffix instead of al fatha
A plural noun/adjective that refers to two:
انِ- [-aane] (male) (nominative)
مسلمانِ
تانِ- [-taane] (female) (nominative)
مسلمتانِ
ينِ َ [-ayne] (male) (other than nominative)
مسلمَينِ
تينِ َ - [-tayne] (female) (other than nominative)
مسلمَتين
A plural noun/adjective that refers to more than two:
ونَ- [-oona] (male) (nominative)
مسلمونَ
ات- [-aat] (female) (any case, we apply the case ending)
مسلماتٌ
ينَ- [-eena] (male) (other than nominative)
مسلمينَ
22- ADVERBS
We either add the tanween diacritic over the last letter of an adjective to make an adverb, However, when we add the tanween al fatha, we have to add the letter ا to the end of the adjective and then put the tanween al fatha over that letter, or add the -ب prefix to a noun to mean "with/by", or we use the same case that was mentioned first (the one where i said you put tanween) but we add the prefix -م to the noun
الآنَ al-ʾāna now
اليومَ al-yawma today
أَمْسِ ʾamsi yesterday
غَدًا ghadan tomorrow
صباحًا ṣabāḥan in the morning
مساءً masāʾan in the evening
لَيْلًا laylan at night
نَهَارًا nahāran during the day
سَاعَةً sāʿatan for an hour
يَوْمًا yawman one day
أُسْبُوعًا usbūʿan for a week
شَهْرًا shahran for a month
سَنَةً sanatan for a year
قَبْلَ qabla before
بَعْدَ baʿda after
مُنْذُ mundhu since
مُنْذُ حِينَ mundhu ḥīnin since
أَحْيَانًا aḥyānan sometimes
دَائِمًا dāʾiman always
أَبَدًا abadan ever/never
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
هُنَا hunā here
هُنَاكَ hunāka there
هُنَالِكَ hunālika over there
فَوْقَ fawqa above
تَحْتَ taḥta below/under
أَمَامَ amāma in front of
خَلْفَ khalf(a) behind
وَرَاءَ warāʾa behind
بَيْنَ bayna between
بَجَانِبِ bijānibi beside
قُرْبَ qurba near
بَعِيدًا baʿīdan far
دَاخِلَ dākhila inside
خَارِجَ khārija outside
حَوْلَ ḥawla around
حَيْثُ ḥaythu where
شَمَالَ shimāla north of
جَنُوبَ janūba south of
شَرْقَ sharqa east of
غَرْبَ gharba west of
Example:
الطَّالِبُ أَمَامَ الْمُدَرِّسِ.
al-ṭālibu amāma al-mudarrisi.
= The student is in front of the teacher.
Arabic Meaning
دَائِمًا always
غَالِبًا usually/often
كَثِيرًا often/a lot
أَحْيَانًا sometimes
نَادِرًا rarely
قَلِيلًا seldom/little
أَبَدًا ever/never
عَادَةً usually
مُرَارًا repeatedly
يَوْمِيًّا daily
أُسْبُوعِيًّا weekly
شَهْرِيًّا monthly
سَنَوِيًّا annually
Example:
أَنَا أَذْهَبُ إِلَى النَّادِي دَائِمًا.
= I always go to the gym.
Arabic Meaning
جِدًّا very
كَثِيرًا very much/a lot
قَلِيلًا a little
جِدًّا جِدًّا very, very
تَمَامًا completely
تَقْرِيبًا approximately/almost
تَقْرِيبًا approximately
تَمَامًا entirely
نِصْفًا halfway
كُلِّيًّا completely
شِبْهَ almost/nearly
لِلْغَايَةِ extremely
Example:
هَذَا الْكِتَابُ مُفِيدٌ جِدًّا.
= This book is very useful.
Arabic Meaning
بِالتَّأْكِيدِ definitely
حَتْمًا certainly
يَقِينًا certainly
لَا شَكَّ undoubtedly
رُبَّمَا perhaps/maybe
لَعَلَّ perhaps/maybe
مِنَ الْمُحْتَمَلِ probably/likely
غَالِبًا probably/often
حَقًّا really/truly
Example:
رُبَّمَا يَأْتِي غَدًا.
= Maybe he will come tomorrow.
Arabic Meaning
لِذَلِكَ therefore/for that reason
لِهَذَا therefore/for this
لِذَلِكَ consequently
وَبِالتَّالِي consequently
لِهَذَا السَّبَبِ for this reason
إِذَنْ therefore/then
Example:
ذَهَبْتُ إِلَى الْمَدْرَسَةِ صَبَاحًا.
Dhahabtu ilā al-madrasati ṣabāḥan.
= I went to school in the morning.
only فَقَط
ever أبَداً
Forever للأبَد
لَن يَلعبَ أبداً
23- IMPERATIVES (VERBS TO ORDER SOMEONE)
add the prefix -ا or -لت to the verb (replace it with any verb tense prefix or pronoun prefix) to make an imperative), if the imperative is negative, we add the word لا before the verb, we sometimes get rid of the pronoun suffix to make an imperative for some words.
ألعب I play
العبْ Il'ab Play (Imperative)
لِتَلعبْ Play (Imperative)
لا تَلعبْ Don't Play
مارسْ Exercise
َمارَس Exercise (Past Verb)
لِتمارسْ Exercise (Imperative) (We can use لت for every imperative verb)
أمارس (I exercise)
َاستمَع (Listened)
استمعْ (Listen [Imperative)
لِتستمعْ (Listen [Imperative])
قال (Said)
يقول (Says)
قل (We get rid of the vowel to make a verb an imperative, but if the fat-ha diacritic is over the letter before the vowel or if has the plural suffix وا-, we keep everything the same except we get rid of the present pronoun prefix)
لتقل (Say [Imperative])
If an imperative sounds a lot like a verb that has the prefix أ or if it has the letter و before the last letter, then we do not add the prefix ا
العبي (Play [an order for a female])
العبوا (Play [an order for more than two males])
العبن (Play [an order for more than two females])
If a verb has the letter ي, و, ا (except when it is at the end), we get rid of the letter when imperative
العبي (Play [an order for a female])
العبوا (Play [an order for more than two males])
العبن (Play [an order for more than two females])
For verbs with vowel, we get rid of it unless if it refers to more than two
A formal way to make a negative imperative:
إياكَ 'Iyaaka Don't..... (To male)
إياكِ 'Iyaake Don't...... (To female)
إياه 'Iyaah He mustn't........
إياها 'Iyaahaa She mustn't.....
إياي 'Iyaay I mustn't.....
إياهُم 'Iyaahom They mustn't..... (More than two males)
إياهن/إياهُن 'Iyaahin/'Iyaahin They mustn't...... (More than two females)
إياهُما 'Iyaahomaa They mustn't....... (Two males)
إياهما 'Iyaahimaa They mustn't...... (Two females)
إياكُم 'Iyaakom Don't....... (To more than two males)
إياكن/إياكُن 'Iyaakin/'Iyaakon Don't...... (To more than two females)
إياكُما 'Iyaakomaa Don't....... (Two males)
إياكما 'Iyaakimaa Don't....... (Two females)
إيانا 'Iyaanaa Let's not.......
24- PRONOUN SUFFIXES FOR PREPOSITIONS (REFERS TO THE OBJECT)
ك- You (One Male)
ي- Me/I
كُم- [-kom] You (More than two males)
كن-/كُن [-kin/kon] You (More than two females)
هُ- [-oh] He/(Things that make a deep sound)
ها- [-haa] She/(Things that make a light sound)
هُما- [-homaa] They/Them (Two Males)/It (Two Things)
هما- [-himaa] They/Them (Two Females)/It (Two Things)
كُما- [-komaa] You (Two Males)
كما- [-komaa] You (Two Females)
نا- [Naa] We/Us
هُم- [-Hom] They/Them (More than two males)/It
هن/-هُن- [-Hin/-Hon]They/Them (More than two females)
25- DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS
هَذا this (male/something that makes a heavy sound)
هَذِهِ this (female/something that makes a light sound)
هَؤلاء these
ذلك that (male/things that make a heave sound/plural for male and things that make a heavy sound)
تلك that (female/things that make a light sound/plural for female and things that make a light sound)
هذا الكتاب (This book / This is the book)
هذا كتاب (This is a book)
26- REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS
نَفسه Himself
نَفسها Herself
نَفسهم Themselves (Male)
نَفسهن Themselves (Female)
نَفسهما Themselves (Two Nouns)
نَفسك Yourself
نَفسي Myself
نَفسنا Ourselves
نَفسكما Yourselves (Two Nouns)
نَفسكم Yourselves (Male)
نَفسكن Yourselves (Female)
27- RELATIVE PRONOUNS
الَذي (For male and for something that makes a heavy sound)
الَتي (For female and for something that makes a light sound)
الَذين (Plural for male and for things that make a heavy sound)
اللَواتي/اللاتي (Plural for female and things that make a light sound)
الشخص الذي يأكل (The person that eats)
We use these for everything
We can also use without the relative pronoun:
الشخص يأكل (The boy eating)
الكتاب أنا أقرأ (The book I read)
الكتاب الذي أنا أقرأ (The book that I read) (With a relative pronoun)
الشخص الذي يأكل (The person that eats)
28- PAST CONTINUOUS
While -> بَينَما
When -> حينَ/لَما
(When i ate, i was happy) لما أكلت, كنت سعيد
(While i was eating, i drank) بينما كنت أكل, شربت
29- WORD WE WE USE TO CALL SOMETHING
To call someone, use the يا word and put the word before the thing or person that is called
Another way to call someone is adding يأيها or أيها before the noun you are calling:
أيُها الكتاب/يَأيُها الكتاب Oh, book!
Adding a marker before a noun that is called in the sentence is not necessary, it is just used to sound more formal
30- THERE/THERE IS
There/There is -> هناك
32- WILL
will -> َسَوف
we can use the prefix -سَ to mean will
سَوفَ تلعب / سَتلعب
was going to -> -كَانَ سَوفَ / كَانَ سَ
أنا كُنتُ سَوفَ ألعب (I was going to play)
33- ANOTHER WAY TO MAKE A VERB SENTENCE
You can put the verb before the noun to make a sentence, it is not necessary though
We put the dhama diacritic on the noun
يَأكلُ الولدُ (The boy eats / The boy is eating)
We put the fatha diacritic on the noun:
يَأكلُ الولدَ (He eats the boy)
34- CASES 3
The case relies on the noun and the adjective (if it contains an adjective), not just the verb. however, it is the same changes:
An adjective is accusative if the noun is accusative, and the adjective is nominative if the noun is nominative and etc....
If a word has a preposition before it, we add tanween al kasra if it is indefinite and normal kasra if it is definite, no matter if it is nominative or accusative
أنا أكلُ الولدَ ana 'akolo al-walada I eat the boy
وَلدٌ يَأكلُ ولدً waladon ya'akolo waladan A boy eats a boy
الولدُ يأكلُ الولدَ al-walado ya'akolo al-walada The boy eats the boy
أنا أمشي حَتى الولدْ يأكلُ الولدَ ana 'amshee hataa al-walad ya'akolo al-walada I walk until the boy eats the boy
35- IMPORTANT NOTE
If a word ends with ى (which is the same as ا), we replace that letter with ي before putting the pronoun suffix.
36- ى and ا
We use the letter ى at the end of the word if:
- The word has the letter ي at the end of its present tense
- The word is 4 letters or more. (If the word is a verb then we use the present tense of the verb to count the letters and decide if we put ى or ا)
We use the letter ا at the end of the word if:
- The word has the letter ي before the ا
- The word is 3 letters or less
- The word has the letter و at the end of its present tense
37- IF CONDITONAL
If -> إذا
If conditional with "would"
(Present Verb) سَوفَ ,(Past Verb) (Pronoun/noun) لَو/إذا
If conditional with "will"
(Present Verb) سَوفَ ,(Present Verb) (Pronoun/Noun) لَو/إذا
ماذا لَو / ماذا إذا What if
حتى لَو / حتى إذا Even if
فقط لو / فقط إذا Only if
حتى لو يلعب even if he plays
38- MODAL WORDS AND VERBS/ADJECTIVES FOLLOWED BY GERUNDS/INFINITIVES
we use an infinitve or gerund or a regular verb after the modal word/verbs/adjectives followed by gerunds/infinitves
أنا أحب أن ألعب (I love to play)
انا أحب اللعب/ألعب (I love playing)
انا حبيت اللعب/ألعب (I loved playing)
انا حبيت أن ألعب (I loved to play)
أنا أسمعه يركض (I hear him running)
هو يركض (him running/he runs/he is running)
أنا سعيد أن أراك (I am happy to see you)
أنا سعيد لأراك (I am happy seeing you / I am happy to see you)
سوف (will) and لن (will not) and لم (will not [past]) and don't (لا) are the only modal words that we do not add أن before them.
The nominative, accusative and jazm have the same affect on modal words as verbs
MODAL WORDS TO KNOW (more will be added):
يَجب (must)
لازم (have to) (we do not add أن after it)
أريد (want to)
أستَطيع (can)
يجب أن ألعب (I must play)
يجب أن أكون مبني (I have to be built)
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
يستطيع yastaṭīʿu he can / is able to
أستطيع astaṭīʿu I can
تستطيع tastaṭīʿu you can / she can
نستطيع nastaṭīʿu we can
تستطيعون tastaṭīʿūna you can (plural)
يستطيعون yastaṭīʿūna they can
يقدر yaqdiru he can / is capable of
أقدر aqdiru I can
تقدر taqdiru you can / she can
نقدر naqdīru we can
يقدرون yaqdirūna they can
Pattern:
يستطيع + أنْ + verb
yastaṭīʿu + an + verb
أستطيع أن أكتب.
astaṭīʿu an aktuba
= I can write.
2. Could — could / was able to
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
استطاع istaṭāʿa he could / was able to
استطعت istaṭaʿtu I could / was able to
استطعتَ istaṭaʿta you could (m.)
استطعتِ istaṭaʿti you could (f.)
استطعنا istaṭaʿnā we could
استطاعوا istaṭāʿū they could
كان يستطيع kāna yastaṭīʿu he was able to / could
كان يقدر kāna yaqdiru he could
3. Permission — may / be allowed to
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
يجوز yajūzu it is permissible / may
يجوز لك yajūzu laka you may / you are allowed to
يجوز لي yajūzu lī I may / I am allowed to
يُسمح yusmaḥu it is allowed
مسموح masmūḥ allowed / permitted
مسموح لك masmūḥ laka you are allowed to
أَذِنَ adhina he permitted
يسمح yasmaḥu he allows
يمكن yumkinu can / may / it is possible
يجوز لك أن تدخل.
yajūzu laka an tadkhula
= You may enter.
4. Possibility — may / might / might be
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
قد qad may / might / sometimes
ربما rubbamā perhaps / maybe
لعلّ laʿalla perhaps / hopefully / may
يمكن أن yumkinu an it is possible that / may
من الممكن أن min al-mumkin an it is possible that
من المحتمل أن min al-muḥtamal an it is probable that
يحتمل أن yaḥtamilu an it is possible/probable that
قد يكون qad yakūnu may be / might be
قد يحدث qad yaḥduthu it may happen
ربما يكون rubbamā yakūnu it may/might be
لعلّه laʿallahu perhaps he / he may
لعلها laʿallahā perhaps she / she may
قد يأتي غدًا.
qad yaʾtī ghadan
= He may come tomorrow.
ربما يأتي غدًا.
rubbamā yaʾtī ghadan
= He might come tomorrow.
5. Necessity — must / have to
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
يجب yajibu must / should / have to
يجب أن yajibu an must / have to
ينبغي yanbaghī should / ought to
لا بدّ من lā budda min must / there is no avoiding
لا بدّ أن lā budda an must / inevitably
يتعيّن yataʿayyan must / is required
يتعيّن أن yataʿayyan an it is necessary that
من الضروري أن min aḍ-ḍarūrī an it is necessary to
من اللازم أن min al-lāzim an it is necessary to
ضروري ḍarūrī necessary
لازم lāzim necessary / must
يجب أن أذهب.
yajibu an adhhab
= I must go.
لا بدّ أن أذهب.
lā budda an adhhab
= I must go / I have no choice but to go.
6. Should / ought to
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
ينبغي أن yanbaghī an should / ought to
يجب أن yajibu an should / must
من الأفضل أن min al-afḍal an it would be better to / should
الأفضل أن al-afḍal an it is better to
يستحسن أن yustaḥsanu an it is advisable to
يُفضَّل أن yufaḍḍalu an it is preferable to
من المستحسن أن min al-mustaḥsan an it is advisable to
ينبغي أن تدرس.
yanbaghī an tadrusa
= You should study.
7. Need / need to
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
يحتاج إلى yaḥtāju ilā needs
أحتاج إلى aḥtāju ilā I need
تحتاج إلى taḥtāju ilā you/she need(s)
نحتاج إلى naḥtāju ilā we need
يحتاجون إلى yaḥtājūna ilā they need
من الضروري min aḍ-ḍarūrī it is necessary
من اللازم min al-lāzim it is necessary
بحاجة إلى bi-ḥājah ilā in need of
أحتاج إلى أن أذهب.
aḥtāju ilā an adhhab
= I need to go.
8. Needn't / do not have to
Arabic normally expresses this with ليس من الضروري or لا حاجة إلى rather than a special modal verb.
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
ليس من الضروري أن laysa min aḍ-ḍarūrī an need not / it is not necessary to
لا حاجة إلى أن lā ḥājata ilā an there is no need to
لا يلزم أن lā yalzamu an it is not necessary to
لا داعي لأن lā dāʿiya li-an there is no need to
لا يجب أن lā yajibu an do not have to / must not*
* لا يجب أن can be ambiguous in English translation. Depending on context it can mean “must not” or “does not have to,” so ليس من الضروري أن is clearer for “needn't.”
9. Obligation — be obliged / be required to
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
يجب أن yajibu an must
يُلزم yulzamu is obliged / required
يُلزَم بـ yulzamu bi- is required to
يلزم yalzamu is necessary / must
يتعيّن yataʿayyan is required / must
مُلزَم بـ mulzam bi- obliged to
مُجبَر على mujbar ʿalā forced to
مُضطر إلى muḍṭarr ilā forced/compelled to
إجباري ijbārī compulsory
إلزامي ilzāmī mandatory
10. Prohibition — must not / may not
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
لا يجوز أن lā yajūzu an must not / may not
يُمنع yumnaʿu it is prohibited
ممنوع mamnūʿ forbidden
محظور maḥẓūr prohibited
لا يُسمح بـ lā yusmaḥu bi- it is not permitted
لا يُسمح لك أن lā yusmaḥu laka an you are not allowed to
يحظر yaḥẓuru prohibits
يُحظَر أن yuḥẓaru an it is prohibited to
لا يجوز أن تدخل.
lā yajūzu an tadkhula
= You must not / may not enter.
11. Advice
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
ينبغي أن yanbaghī an should
يجب أن yajibu an should / must
من الأفضل أن min al-afḍal an it is better to
الأفضل أن al-afḍal an you had better / it is better to
يستحسن أن yustaḥsanu an it is advisable to
أنصحك أن anṣaḥuka an I advise you to
أنصح بـ anṣaḥu bi- I recommend
أقترح أن aqtarḥu an I suggest that
يُستحسن yustaḥsanu it is advisable
أنصحك أن تذهب.
anṣaḥuka an tadhhaba
= I advise you to go.
12. Had better
There is no single Arabic modal equivalent. Common constructions are:
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
من الأفضل أن min al-afḍal an had better
الأفضل أن al-afḍal an had better
من الأحسن أن min al-aḥsan an it would be better to
الأحسن أن al-aḥsan an it is better to
من الأفضل أن تذهب الآن.
min al-afḍal an tadhhaba al-ān
= You had better go now.
13. Will / shall — future
Arabic does not have separate English-style will and shall. Future is normally marked with:
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
سـ sa- will
سوف sawfa will
سيـ sa- + verb will
سوف + verb sawfa + verb will
سأذهب.
sa-adhhabu
= I will go.
سوف أذهب.
sawfa adhhabu
= I will go.
14. Would
Arabic does not have one universal word equivalent to English would.
Conditional “would”
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
سوف sawfa would, in some reported/future-in-the-past contexts
سـ sa- would, in some contexts
كان سيـ kāna sa- was going to / would
لو law if
لَـ la- would / then would
لو درستَ لنجحتَ.
law darasta la-najaḥta
= If you studied, you would succeed.
Habitual “would”
كان يفعل
kāna yafʿalu
= he would / used to do
15. Would have
Arabic commonly uses لو + past verb and the result with لـ.
لو درستَ لنجحتَ.
law darasta la-najaḥta
= If you had studied, you would have succeeded.
لو ذهبتُ، لرأيته.
law dhahabtu, la-raʾaytuhu
= If I had gone, I would have seen him.
16. Was going to
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
كان سيـ kāna sa- was going to
كان سوف kāna sawfa was going to
كان ينوي أن kāna yanwī an intended to
كان يعتزم أن kāna yaʿtazimu an intended/planned to
كان على وشك أن kāna ʿalā wushki an was about to
كنت سأذهب.
kuntu sa-adhhabu
= I was going to go.
17. About to
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
على وشك أن ʿalā wushki an be about to
أوشك أن awshaka an be about to
كاد أن kāda an almost / came close to
أنا على وشك أن أخرج.
anā ʿalā wushki an akhruja
= I am about to leave.
18. Almost
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
كاد kāda almost
كاد أن kāda an almost
تقريبًا taqrīban approximately / almost
أوشك أن awshaka an was almost about to
كدتُ أسقط.
kidtu asquṭu
= I almost fell.
19. Intention — intend / plan to
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
ينوي أن yanwī an intends to
أعتزم أن aʿtazimu an I intend to
يعتزم أن yaʿtazimu an intends to
أخطط لـ ukhaṭṭiṭu li- I plan to
يخطط لـ yukhaṭṭiṭu li- plans to
أنوي anwī I intend
أريد أن urīdu an I want to
20. Desire / want
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
يريد yurīdu wants
أريد urīdu I want
تريد turīdu you/she want(s)
نريد nurīdu we want
يريدون yurīdūna they want
يرغب في yarghabu fī desires / wishes
يشتهي yashtahī desires / craves
يتمنى yatamannā wishes
يتطلع إلى yataṭallaʿu ilā looks forward to / hopes for
أريد أن أتعلم العربية.
urīdu an ataʿallama al-ʿarabiyya
= I want to learn Arabic.
21. Would like
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
أودّ أن awaddu an I would like to
أريد أن urīdu an I would like to / I want to
أرغب في أن arghabu fī an I would like to
يودّ أن yawaddu an he would like to
تودّ أن tawaddu an she/you would like to
نودّ أن nawadd(u) an we would like to
أودّ أن أتعلم العربية.
awaddu an ataʿallama al-ʿarabiyya
= I would like to learn Arabic.
22. Willingness
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
مستعدّ لـ mustaʿidd li- ready/willing to
مستعدّ أن mustaʿidd an willing to
يرغب في yarghabu fī is willing/desires
يوافق على yuwāfiqu ʿalā agrees to
يقبل أن yaqbalu an agrees/accepts to
لا يمانع في lā yumāniʿu fī does not mind
23. Refusal — refuse to
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
يرفض أن yarfuḍu an refuses to
يرفض yarfuḍu refuses
يمتنع عن يمتنع ʿan refrains from / refuses to
يأبى أن yaʾbā an refuses to
لا يريد أن lā yurīdu an does not want to
24. Dare
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
يجرؤ على yajruʾu ʿalā dare to
يتجرأ على yatajarraʾu ʿalā dare to
يجرؤ أن yajruʾu an dare to
يملك الجرأة على yamliku al-jurʾata ʿalā have the courage to
لا أجرؤ على فعل ذلك.
lā ajruʾu ʿalā fiʿli dhālik
= I don't dare to do that.
25. Manage / succeed in
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
استطاع أن istaṭāʿa an managed to
تمكّن من tamakkana min managed to
نجح في najaḥa fī succeeded in
قدر على qadara ʿalā was able to
تمكّن من أن tamakkana min an managed to
تمكّنتُ من حلّ المشكلة.
tamakkantu min ḥalli al-mushkila
= I managed to solve the problem.
26. Try / attempt to
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
يحاول أن yuḥāwilu an tries to
حاول أن ḥāwala an tried to
يسعى إلى yasʿā ilā seeks/tries to
يبذل جهده لـ yabdhulu juhdahu li- makes an effort to
يجتهد في yajtahidu fī strives to
27. Hope
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
يأمل أن yaʾmalu an hopes to
أرجو أن arjū an I hope that
نرجو أن narjū an we hope that
آمل أن āmulu an I hope that
أتمنى أن atamannā an I wish/hope that
لعلّ laʿalla hopefully / perhaps
آمل أن تنجح.
āmulu an tanjaḥa
= I hope you succeed.
28. Expectation / supposed to
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
من المفترض أن min al-muftaraḍ an be supposed to
يُفترض أن yufṭaraḍu an be supposed to
متوقّع أن mutawaqqaʿ an expected to
من المتوقّع أن min al-mutawaqqaʿ an expected to
يُتوقّع أن yutawaqqaʿu an is expected to
من المفترض أن يصل اليوم.
min al-muftaraḍ an yaṣila al-yawm
= He is supposed to arrive today.
29. Probability / likelihood
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
ربما rubbamā perhaps / maybe
قد qad may / might
من المحتمل أن min al-muḥtamal an likely/probable
يحتمل أن yaḥtamilu an is likely to
من المرجح أن min al-murajjaḥ an is likely to
يُرجَّح أن yurajjaḥu an is likely that
على الأرجح ʿalā al-arjaḥ most likely
غالبًا ghāliban probably / usually
على الأرجح أن ʿalā al-arjaḥ an most likely
30. Certainty
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
بالتأكيد bi-t-taʾkīd certainly
بالتأكيد سوف bi-t-taʾkīd sawfa certainly will
حتمًا ḥatman definitely
قطعًا qaṭʿan definitely
حتماً ḥatman certainly
لا شكّ أن lā shakka an there is no doubt that
من المؤكد أن min al-muʾakkad an it is certain that
بالتأكيد أن bi-t-taʾkīd an certainly
يقينًا yaqīnan certainly
بلا شك bilā shakk without doubt
31. Deduction — must be
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
لا بدّ أن lā budda an must
لا بدّ من أن lā budda min an must
لا شكّ أن lā shakka an must / there is no doubt
من المؤكد أن min al-muʾakkad an must certainly
من الواضح أن min al-wāḍiḥ an clearly / must be
يبدو أن yabdū anna it seems that
من المرجح أن min al-murajjaḥ an is likely to
لا بدّ أنه في البيت.
lā budda annahu fī al-bayt
= He must be at home.
32. Seem / appear
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
يبدو أن yabdū anna it seems that
يبدو yabdū seems
يظهر أن yaẓharu anna it appears that
من الواضح أن min al-wāḍiḥ an it is clear that
كأنّ kaʾanna as if / as though
يبدو وكأنّ yabdū wa-kaʾanna it seems as if
33. Used to
Arabic usually expresses habitual past with كان + imperfect verb.
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
كان يفعل kāna yafʿalu he used to do
كنت أفعل kuntu afʿalu I used to do
كنتَ تفعل kunta tafʿalu you used to do
كانت تفعل kānat tafʿalu she used to do
كنا نفعل kunnā nafʿalu we used to do
كانوا يفعلون kānū yafʿalūna they used to do
كنت أذهب إلى المدرسة.
kuntu adhhabu ilā al-madrasah
= I used to go to school.
34. Impossible / cannot
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
لا يمكن lā yumkinu cannot / it is impossible
لا يمكن أن lā yumkinu an cannot
يستحيل أن yastaḥīlu an it is impossible to
من المستحيل أن min al-mustaḥīl an it is impossible to
لا يستطيع lā yastaṭīʿu cannot / is unable to
لا يقدر على lā yaqduru ʿalā cannot
لا يمكن أن يحدث ذلك.
lā yumkinu an yaḥdutha dhālik
= That cannot happen.
35. Permission vs possibility: يمكن
يمكن is particularly important because it can express several kinds of modality.
Construction Transliteration Meaning
يمكن أن أفعل yumkinu an afʿala I can/may do
يمكنني أن أفعل yumkinunī an afʿala I can do
يمكنك أن تفعل yumkinuka an tafʿala you can do
يمكنه أن يفعل yumkinuhu an yafʿala he can do
يمكننا أن نفعل yumkinunā an nafʿala we can do
من الممكن أن يحدث min al-mumkin an yaḥdutha it may happen
36. Conditional modality
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
لو law if / if ... would
إذا idhā if / when
إنْ in if
لَـ la- would / then
لولا lawlā if it were not for
لو كان law kāna if it were
لو كنت law kunta if you were
لو كنتُ غنيًا لسافرتُ.
law kuntu ghaniyyan la-sāfartu
= If I were rich, I would travel.
37. Wish / hypothetical
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
ليت layta if only / I wish
ليتني laytanī I wish I
ليتك laytaka I wish you
ليتنا laytanā I wish we
أتمنى لو atamannā law I wish that
يا ليت yā layta if only / I wish
ليتني أستطيع السفر.
laytanī astaṭīʿu as-safar
= I wish I could travel.
38. Necessity / inevitability
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
لا بدّ lā budda must / inevitably
حتمًا ḥatman inevitably
لا مفرّ من lā mafarra min there is no escape from
لا مفرّ من أن lā mafarra min an cannot avoid having to
لا مناص من lā manāṣṣa min there is no alternative but
حتمي ḥatmī inevitable
حتميّة ḥatmiyya inevitability
39. Volition
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
أراد أن arāda an wanted to
يريد أن yurīdu an wants to
يرغب في أن yarghabu fī an wishes to
شاء أن shāʾa an willed/wanted to
يشاء أن yashāʾu an wills/wishes to
اختار أن ikhtāra an chose to
40. Modal adverbs
These frequently express modality without being modal verbs:
Arabic Transliteration Meaning
ربما rubbamā perhaps
قد qad may/might
لعلّ laʿalla perhaps/hopefully
بالتأكيد bi-t-taʾkīd certainly
حتمًا ḥatman definitely
قطعًا qaṭʿan certainly
غالبًا ghāliban probably / often
عادةً ʿādatan usually
تقريبًا taqrīban approximately
فعلاً fiʿlan really / actually
حقًا ḥaqqan truly
حتمًا ḥatman inevitably
ربما rubbamā maybe
بالكاد bil-kād barely
تقريبًا taqrīban almost/about
39- DETERMINERS
1 الـ al- the; definite article
2 هٰذَا hādhā this (masculine)
3 هٰذِهِ hādhihi this (feminine)
4 هٰذَانِ hādhāni these two (masculine)
5 هَذَانِ hādhāni these two
6 هَاتَانِ hātāni these two (feminine)
7 هَؤُلَاءِ hāʾulāʾi these
8 ذَلِكَ dhālika that (masculine)
9 تِلْكَ tilka that (feminine)
10 ذَانِكَ dhānika those two (masculine)
11 تَانِكَ tānika those two (feminine)
12 أُولَئِكَ ulāʾika those
13 مَنْ man whoever / the one who
14 مَا mā what / whatever / that which
15 أَيُّ ayyu which / any (masculine)
16 أَيَّةُ ayyatu which / any (feminine)
17 كُلُّ kullu every, all
18 جَمِيعُ jamīʿu all, entire
19 كَافَّةُ kāffatu all, entire
20 كِلَا kilā both (masculine)
21 كِلْتَا kiltā both (feminine)
22 بَعْضُ baʿḍu some, part of
23 بَعْضُهُمْ baʿḍuhum some of them
24 أَحَدُ aḥadu one of / any one
25 أَيُّ شَخْصٍ ayyu shakhsin any person / which person
26 أَيُّ شَيْءٍ ayyu shayʾin anything / which thing
27 أَيٌّ ayy any / whichever
28 لَا أَحَدَ lā aḥada nobody
29 لَا شَيْءَ lā shayʾa nothing
30 شَيْءٌ shayʾun something / a thing
31 شَخْصٌ shakhsun someone / a person
32 كُلَّا killā both, each of two
33 كِلَا kilā both
34 كِلْتَا kiltā both
35 نَفْسُ nafsu same / very / self
36 عَيْنُ ʿaynu same / exact
37 ذُو dhū possessing / having
38 ذَاتُ dhātu possessing / having (feminine)
39 صَاحِبُ ṣāḥibu owner of / possessing
40 مِثْلُ mithlu such as / like
41 غَيْرُ ghayru other / another
42 آخَرُ ākharu another / other
43 أُخْرَى ukhrā another / other (feminine)
44 نَفْسُهُ nafsuhu himself / itself
45 نَفْسُهَا nafsuhā herself / itself
46 نَفْسُهُمْ nafsuhum themselves
47 جَمِيعُهُمْ jamīʿuhum all of them
48 كُلُّهُ kulluhu all of it / the whole of it
49 كُلُّهَا kulluhā all of it / the whole of it
50 كُلُّهُمْ kulluhum all of them
51 أَكْثَرُ aktharu most / more
52 أَقَلُّ aqallu least / less
53 مُعْظَمُ muʿẓamu most / the majority of
54 غَالِبُ ghālibu most / the majority of
55 عِدَّةُ ʿiddatu several / a number of
56 عِدَّةٌ مِنْ ʿiddatun min several of
57 قَلِيلٌ مِنْ qalīlun min a little / few of
58 كَثِيرٌ مِنْ kathīrun min many / much of
59 بَعْضُ مِنْ baʿḍu min some of
60 أَيٌّ مِنْ ayyun min any of / whichever of
بعض من الماء ليس جيدة Ba'du min al maa laisa jayida Some of the water is not good
الولد والبنت كلا سعيدان Al waladu wal bintu killa saa'eedan The boy and the girl are both happy
40- PREPOSITIONS
1 مِنْ min from, out of
2 إِلَى ilā to, toward
3 عَنْ ʿan about, from, away from
4 عَلَى ʿalā on, upon
5 فِي fī in, inside
6 بِـ bi- with, by, through
7 لِـ li- for, to, belonging to
8 كَـ ka- like, as
9 رُبَّ rubba many a, often
10 مُذْ mudhu since
11 مُنْذُ mundhu since, for
12 حَتَّى ḥattā until, up to
13 وَ wa- by — oath
14 تَـ ta- by — oath
15 مَعَ maʿa with
16 دُونَ dūna without, below
17 قَبْلَ qabla before
18 بَعْدَ baʿda after
19 أَمَامَ amāma in front of
20 خَلْفَ khalfa behind
21 فَوْقَ fawqa above, over
22 تَحْتَ taḥta under, below
23 بَيْنَ bayna between, among
24 حَوْلَ ḥawla around
25 نَحْوَ naḥwa toward
26 تِجَاهَ tijāha toward
27 دَاخِلَ dākhila inside
28 خَارِجَ khārija outside
29 خِلَالَ khilāla during, throughout
30 أَثْنَاءَ athnāʾa during
31 لَدَى ladā at, with, in the possession of
32 ضِدَّ ḍidda against
33 مِنْ أَجْلِ min ajli for, in order to
34 بِسَبَبِ bisababi because of
35 بِفَضْلِ bifaḍli thanks to
36 بَدَلًا مِنْ badalan min instead of
37 عِوَضًا عَنْ ʿiwaḍan ʿan instead of
38 بِالإِضَافَةِ إِلَى bi-l-iḍāfati ilā in addition to
39 بِالنِّسْبَةِ إِلَى bin-nisbati ilā regarding, with respect to
40 فِيمَا يَتَعَلَّقُ بِـ fīmā yataʿallaqu bi- concerning, regarding
41 فِيمَا يَخُصُّ fīmā yakhuṣṣu concerning
42 فِيمَا عَدَا fīmā ʿadā except for
43 بِاسْتِثْنَاءِ bistithnāʾi except for
44 وِفْقًا لِـ wifqan li- according to
45 طِبْقًا لِـ ṭibqan li- according to
46 بِنَاءً عَلَى bināʾan ʿalā based on
47 اعْتِمَادًا عَلَى iʿtimādan ʿalā based on, depending on
48 مُقَارَنَةً بِـ muqāranatan bi- compared with
49 بِالْقُرْبِ مِنْ bil-qurbi min near
50 بَعِيدًا عَنْ baʿīdan ʿan far from
هذه الهدية مني (This present is from me)
41- CONJUNCTIONS
1 وَ wa- and
2 فَـ fa- so, then
3 ثُمَّ thumma then, afterwards
4 أَوْ aw or
5 أَمْ am or (in questions)
6 أَمَّا ammā as for
7 بَلْ bal rather
8 لَكِنْ lākin but, however
9 لَكِنَّ lākinna but, however
10 لَا lā nor
11 حَتَّى ḥattā until, even
12 كَمَا kamā as, just as
13 إِذْ idh when, since
14 إِذَا idhā when, if
15 إِنْ in if
16 لَوْ law if (hypothetical)
17 لَوْلَا lawlā if not for, unless
18 لَوْمَا lawmā if not for
19 عِنْدَمَا ʿindamā when
20 حِينَ ḥīna when
21 حِينَمَا ḥīnamā when
22 بَيْنَمَا baynamā while, whereas
23 كُلَّمَا kullamā whenever
24 بَعْدَمَا baʿdamā after
25 قَبْلَمَا qablamā before
26 لَمَّا lammā when
27 مَا إِنْ mā in as soon as
28 أَنْ an to, that
29 أَنَّ anna that
30 إِنَّ inna indeed, that
31 كَأَنَّ kaʾanna as if
32 لِأَنَّ liʾanna because
33 بِمَا أَنَّ bimā anna since, given that
34 كَيْ kay so that, in order to
35 لِكَيْ likay so that, in order to
36 لِأَنْ li-an in order to
37 مَهْمَا mahmā whatever, no matter what
38 مَنْ man whoever
39 مَا mā whatever
40 أَيْنَمَا aynamā wherever
41 حَيْثُمَا ḥaythumā wherever
42 مَتَى مَا matā mā whenever
43 كَيْفَمَا kayfamā however
44 إِمَّا...أَوْ immā...aw either...or
45 لَا...وَلَا lā...wa-lā neither...nor
46 سَوَاءٌ...أَمْ sawāʾun...am whether...or
47 كَمَا...كَذَلِكَ kamā...kadhālika just as...so
48 لِذَلِكَ li-dhālika therefore
49 لِذَا li-dhā therefore
50 وَبِالتَّالِي wa-bi-t-tālī consequently
51 مَعَ ذَلِكَ maʿa dhālika nevertheless
52 وَمَعَ ذَلِكَ wa-maʿa dhālika nevertheless
53 مَعَ أَنَّ maʿa anna although, even though
54 رَغْمَ أَنَّ raghma anna although
55 عَلَى الرَّغْمِ مِنْ أَنَّ ʿalā r-raghmi min anna although
56 بِالرَّغْمِ مِنْ أَنَّ bir-raghmi min anna although
57 حَتَّى لَوْ ḥattā law even if
58 وَإِنْ wa-in even if
59 وَإِذَا wa-idhā and if, and when
60 إِنْ...فَـ in...fa- if...then
61 إِذَا...فَـ idhā...fa- if/when...then
62 لَوْ...لَـ law...la- if...would have
63 بَيْدَ أَنَّ bayda anna however, except that
64 غَيْرَ أَنَّ ghayra anna however, except that
65 إِلَّا أَنَّ illā anna except that
66 مُنْذُ أَنْ mundhu an since
67 مِنْ أَجْلِ أَنْ min ajli an in order that
68 بِمَا أَنَّ bimā anna since, because
69 حَيْثُ إِنَّ ḥaythu inna since, given that
70 سَوَاءٌ أَ...أَمْ sawāʾun a...am whether...or
أنا أكل وأشرب Ana a'kol wa ashrab I eat and drink
42- COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE
To make a comparative adjective, you get rid of the ي that is before the last letter of the adjective and add the -أ prefix to the adjective, the superlative adjective has the same form.
(Big) [Kabeer] كبير
(Bigger/Biggest) ['Akbar] أكبَر
(Bigger than) أكبَر من
(The biggest) الأكبَر
أكثَر (More)
أقَل (Less)
أكثَر مِن (More than)
[You get the rest]
We can use Positive Adjective + أكثر/أقل for emphasis
(Sentence + كَ+Person being compared to)
لَيسَت كبيرَةٌ كَالأسد (She is not big as the lion)
if the letter ي is at the end of the adjective, we replace the ي with ى when it is comparative/superlative:
قوي (Strong)
أقوى (Stronger/Strongest)
And if there is a vowel (ي, و, ا) in the adjective, we get rid of it to make it comparative/superlative:
صغير (Small)
أصغر (Smaller/Smallest)
Another way to make a comparative/superlative:
أجمل ->> جميل أكثَر/جميل أقَل/أكثَر جميل/أقَل جميل
A formal way to make comparative and superlative:
أكثَر/أقَل ['Akthar/'Aqal] + (Noun form of adjective)
هوَ أكثَرُ جمالةٌ Hoowa aktharo jamalaton He is more beautiful
هوَ الأكثَرُ جمالةٌ Hoowa alaktharo jamalaton He is the most beautiful
أقَل aqal less
مَرَح -> أمرَح
If a comparative and superlative adjective is attribute, it can come before the noun but we do not add -ال [al-]: أكبَرُ دولةٌ [Akbaro dawlaton] The biggest country
أكبَرُ الدولةِ [Akbaro al-dawlate] From the biggest of the country
43- THE HAMZA DIACRITIC
hamza is the diacritic form of ء (hamza) which stops the pronounciation of something suddenly, the diacritic makes the same sound,
ا (aa)
أ (aa')
إ (eh)
you know how when people cut off in movies, they make a sound when they cut off (the eh sound) (Ex: "I TRUSTED Y- [stops suddenly]"), the ء makes that sound
If the letter (not the diacritic) hamza has a letter after it, the hamza becomes ئ
44- THE ة CHANGED TO ت or ت changed to ة
the ة and ت are the same letter and make the same sound
the ة is used at the end of a word when:
- Singular Thing And Singular Female (If it is irregular then it does not end with ة)
the ت is used at the end of a word when:
- Plural Things And Plural Females
- There is a letter after it
45- BE
Become -> يصبح
يكون [Yakoon] Becomes / Is (Habitual)
كن [kon] Be (Imperative)
اصبح [Ossbeh] Become
َكان [Kana] Was
لتكن [Letakon] Be (Imperative)
كن سعيداً Be happy
46- INDIRECT OBJECT
we add the word ل and then add the pronoun suffix after it to refer to the indirect object.
if the verb ends with a vowel (ا and ي, و), we just add the pronoun suffix to refer to the indirect object.
أقرأ لكَ الكتاب (I read to you the book)
أعطيكَ الكتاب (I give you the book)
َأعطي شخصاً الكتاب (I give a person the book)
َأقرأ لشخصٍ الكتاب (I read to a person a book)
ٍأقرأ الكتابَ لشخص (I read the book to a person)
we make the word ل into a prefix if the indirect object is a noun instead of a pronoun
if the verb ends with a vowel, we do the same
أقرأ لعبدالله الكتاب (I read to abdullah the book)
أعطي لعبدالله الكتاب (I give abdullah the book)
أعطي شخصاً الكتابَ (I give a person the book)
أعطي الشخصَ الكتابَ [A'tee al shakhsa al kitaba] (I give the person the book)
أعطي الشخصَ كتاباً [A'tee al shakhsa kitabaan] (I give the person a book)
أعطي شخصاً كتاباً (I give a person a book)
أعطي لشخصٍ الكتابَ (I give to a person the book)
أعطي للشخصِ الكتابَ (I give to the person the book)
أعطي الكتابَ لشخصٍ (I give the book to a person)
أعطي الكتاب للشخصِ (I give the book to the person)
هذه الهديةُ لشخصٍ (This present is for a person) (When a noun is after a demonstrative pronoun, we put the dhama over the last letter of the noun, this is not just used for indirect object. we always do it.)
لِـ to / for أَعْطَيْتُهُ لِمُحَمَّدٍ = I gave it to Muhammad
لِـ belonging/possession الكِتَابُ لِمُحَمَّدٍ = The book belongs to Muhammad
لِـ purpose جِئْتُ لِأَتَعَلَّمَ = I came to learn
لَـ emphatic لَامُ التَّوْكِيد لَأَفْعَلَنَّ = I will certainly do it
لَـ in certain constructions often pronounced la- rather than li- due to grammar لَكَ = for/to youلِـ to / for أَعْطَيْتُهُ لِمُحَمَّدٍ = I gave it to Muhammadلِـ belonging/possession الكِتَابُ لِمُحَمَّدٍ = The book belongs to Muhammadلِـ purpose جِئْتُ لِأَتَعَلَّمَ = I came to learnلَـ emphatic لَامُ التَّوْكِيد لَأَفْعَلَنَّ = I will certainly do itلَـ in certain constructions often pronounced la- rather than li- due to grammar لَكَ = for/to you
47- POSSESIVE PRONOUNS 2
Mine لي
Yours (One male) لك
Yours (One female) لكِ
Yours (More than two males) لكم
Yours (More than two females) لكن
Yours (Two Nouns) لكما
Theirs (More than two males) لهم
Theirs (More than two females) لهن
Ours لنا
His له
Hers لها
48- Here
Here -> هنا
ألعب هنا I play here
49- COMMON WAY TO MAKE NOUNS
The letter alif is in the middle of a noun about someone doing something (like engineer, doctor
The letter ي can also be used but it is before the last letter of the noun
50- لا
ل+ا = لا
51- REPORTED SPEECH AND DIRECT SPEECH
الرجل قال أنه سوف يأكل (The man said that he will eat)
قال الرجل أنه سوف يأكل (The man said that he will eat)
"الرجل قال: "سوف أكل (The man said: "I will eat")
"قال الرجل: "سوف أكل (The man said "I will eat")
الرجل قال له (The man said to him)
قال الرجل له (The man said to him)
قال له الرجل (The man said to him)
الرجل قال لشخص (The man said to a person)
etc....
The verb قال changes depending on the gender and number of people just like every other verb:
قالت (She said)
قالوا (They said)
قلنا (We said)
etc.....
" ْفراس قالَ لي "لا تخاف (Feras told me "Don't be scared")
فراس قالَ لي أن لا أخافْ (Feras told me to not be scared)
الرجل قال سوف يأكل (The man said he will eat)
Same structure for rest
Statement: (Noun) + (Verb) + أن [an] (or without) + (Clause)
WH Question: (Noun) + (Verb) + (WH Question)
Yes/No Question: (Noun) + (Verb) + إذا/لو itha/laow + (Clause)
Command: (Noun) + (Verb) + -أن/ل an (or without) + (Clause)
رجلٌ طلبَ مني أن أكل (A man ordered from me that I eat)
رجلٌ طلبَ مني لأكل (A man ordered from me to eat)
رجل طلبَ مني أكل (A man ordered from me to eat)
رجلٌ سألني أن أكل (A man asked me to eat)
52- LET'S + (VERB)
Let's -> هَيا
هيا نلعب Hiya nal'ab Let's play
52- TAG QUESTIONS
A tag question is a phrase that is used to check if something is correct (Example: It is snowing, isn't it? [Isn't it is a tag question])
In arabic, it is أليس كذلك
إنها تمطر, أليس كذلك؟ (It is raining, isn't that so?)
إنهم يلعبوا, أليس كذلك؟ (They are playing, isn't that so?)
ألم تأكل؟ (Aren't you eating?)
ألستَ (Aren't you [Male])
ألستِ (Aren't you [Female])
ألستُ (Aren't I)
أليست (Isn't she)
أليسَ (Isn't he)
ألستَ سعيدأً؟ Aren't you happy?
صحيح؟ right?
أنت سعيدٌ, صحيح؟ You are happy, right?
ألا alaa (present verb)
ألَن alan (Future verb)
ألَم alam (past verb)
ألَيسَ alaysa (present state and verb)
ألَيسَ كَانَ alysa kaaana (past state and verb)
ألَيسَ سَوفَ يَكون / ألَيسَ سَيَكون alaysa soufa yakoon / alaysa sayakoon (future state and verb)(we can use any verb about being)
54- TIME EXPRESSIONS
اليوم (Today)
غذاً (Tomorrow)
قبل (Before)
بعد (After)
55- INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
شخص (Someone)
شيء (Something)
كل شخص (Everyone)
كل شيء (Everything)
أي شخص (Anyone)
أي شيء (Anything)
56- EMPHASISING OMETHING ELSE EXPLAINING WHY/HOW SOMETHING HAPPENS
: هَكَذا / لِهَكَذا / لِذَلك -> This is why/how / That is why/how
هكذا also means -> like this/like that
العبْ هَكَذا Play like this
لهكذا sounds better and is used more
57- WISH
أنا أتمنى أن أكل / أنا أتمنى أكل (I wish to eat)
أنا أتمنى أن تكون حالتي جيدة / أنا أتمنى تكون حالتي جيدة (I wish that my health becomes good / I wish my health)
58- EXPRESS BIG NUMBER OF ADJECTIVE
To express a big number of an adjective: ما + Comparative/Superlative Adjective
!ما أجمل How beautiful!
Describe exclamation using noun:
[Yaa] يا+ [La-] لَ+(Pronoun that is being exclamated about [Or noun]) + [Men] مِن + (Exclamation)
يا لَهُ مِن يومٍ جميلٍ [Ya laho men yaowmen jameelen] What a beautiful day