Recent world events have brought more and more English speakers into contact with Arabic—speaking populations, and governments and businesses are increasingly aware of the importance of basic Arabic language skills. Arabic For Dummies presents the language in the classic For Dummies style. Written by a native Arabic speaker who helped start a year—round Arabic department at Middlebury College, Arabic For Dummies is just what you need to start making yourself understood in Arabic.
Uploaded by islamic books free on July 5, Internet Archive's 25th Anniversary Logo. Search icon An illustration of a magnifying glass. User icon An illustration of a person's head and chest. Sign up Log in. Plus, memorizing these words not only helps with your pronunciation but also helps build your vocabulary!
Addressing Arabic Transcription The transcription I use in this book is a widely used and universally recognized method of transcribing Arabic to English. Students of Arabic across the United States and around the world use this method.
In the transcription method used in this book, every letter in Arabic is represented by a letter in Roman script. Because grammar is so important, this chapter gives you an overview of the major grammatical concepts in the Arabic language, from the basic parts of speech nouns, adjectives, articles, and verbs to instructions on how to build both simple and descriptive sentences using common regular and irregular verbs. In addition, I introduce prepositions, demonstratives, and other parts of speech that will help you create phrases and sentences and, in general, express yourself in Arabic.
Introducing Nouns, Adjectives, and Articles Nouns and adjectives are two of the most essential elements in any language. Nouns in Arabic, much like in English and other Romance languages, are the parts of speech used to name a person, place, thing, quality, or action. Although nouns and adjectives go hand in hand, the best way to understand how they work in Arabic is to address each one separately.
Getting a grip on nouns In Arabic, every noun has a masculine, feminine, singular, and plural form. Table lists some common Arabic nouns. Table presents some common adjectives in both the feminine and masculine forms.
This rule applies to all regular adjective forms. However, in addition to the regular adjective forms, another category of adjectives exists in which the masculine and feminine forms are completely different from each other.
This is the irregular adjective form. Fortunately, all irregular adjectives fall in the same category: color words; and every color word is an irregular adjective. Table lists the most common irregular adjectives. One of the biggest differences between adjective and noun interactions in the English and Arabic languages is that nouns in Arabic come before the adjectives. In English, nouns always come after their adjectives. Discovering definite and indefinite articles and the sun and moon A common trait that nouns and adjectives share in the Arabic language is that both can be modified using definite article prefixes.
To refresh your memory, an article is a part of speech that you use to indicate nouns or adjectives and specify their applications. In English, there are two types of articles: indefinite and definite articles. The rule The definite article in Arabic is the prefix al-. When you want to define a noun or adjective, you simply attach this prefix to the word. The inevitable exceptions In the examples al-kitaab and al-madrasa, the prefix al- retains its original form.
However, there are exceptions to this rule. Every single letter in Arabic falls into one of two categories: sun letters and moon letters. Put simply, every word that begins with a moon letter gets the prefix al-, and every word that begins with a sun letter gets the prefix a- followed by its sun letter. Table lists all the sun letters.
Every other letter in Arabic is automatically a moon letter. Notice the difference between the words that begin with sun letters and moon letters. In this section, I show you how you can manipulate nouns and adjectives to create little phrases. Recall that unlike in the English language, nouns in Arabic always come before the adjective. You can create three types of phrases by manipulating nouns and adjectives.
This section examines the ways you can pair up nouns and adjectives to create definite and indefinite phrases. Later in the chapter, I show you how to create a complete sentence by simply using a noun and an adjective. Indefinite phrases One of the most important things to remember about nouns and adjectives in Arabic is that they can be both defined and undefined using the definite article prefix al-.
Hence, to create an indefinite phrase, all you do is take an undefined noun and add to it an undefined adjective. For example, you say bint jamiila and not bint jamiil. Both noun and adjective must be defined using the definite article prefix. This concept may seem a little strange at first, but this section helps you quickly see the logic and reasoning behind such a structure. Chapter 2: The Nitty-Gritty: Basic Arabic Grammar When you put an indefinite noun with an indefinite adjective, you create an indefinite phrase.
Similarly, when you add a definite adjective to a definite noun, you end up with a definite phrase. So what happens when you combine a definite noun with an indefinite adjective? For example, take the defined noun al-kitaab the book and add to it the indefinite adjective kabiir big.
M If you want to use additional adjectives in these verb-free sentences, you simply add the conjunction wa. M This construct is fairly flexible, and if you change the nature of one of the adjectives, you radically alter the meaning of the jumla joom-lah; sentence. For instance, the examples all show a defined noun with two indefinite adjectives.
What happens when you mix things up and add an indefinite noun to an indefinite adjective and a definite adjective? Keep al-bint as a definite noun but change the indefinite adjective SaHiiHa into its definite version, aS-SaHiiHa; also, drop the wa, and keep qawiiya as an indefinite adjective.
M Notice that a simple change in the definite article changes the meaning of the phrase or sentence. In both English and Arabic, prepositions are parts of speech that are essential in the formation of sentences. In Arabic, however, some demonstratives are gender-neutral whereas others are gender-specific. How do you know whether a demonstrative is gender-neutral or genderspecific? When a demonstrative is followed by a defined noun, you get a definite clause, as in the examples in the preceding list.
For instance, if you add the demonstrative haadhaa to the indefinite subject noun walad, you get haadhaa walad hah-zah wah-lad; This is a boy. Arabic is no different, except that personal pronouns in Arabic are a lot more comprehensive and specific than personal pronoun structures in other languages, such as English. Table presents all the major personal pronouns in the Arabic language. In the translation and conjugation tables in this section and throughout Arabic For Dummies, in addition to singular and plural denotations, you see a form labeled dual.
Furthermore, Arabic includes special pronouns reserved for describing two items no more, no less. So all in all, personal pronouns in Arabic may describe one thing, two things, and three or more things. The following table shows laysa conjugated using all the personal pronouns.
Basically, you only need to be concerned with two proper verb forms: the past and the present. I examine the past tense followed by the present and future tenses, and then I show you irregular verb forms for all three tenses. Digging up the past tense The structural form of the past tense is one of the easiest grammatical structures in the Arabic language.
First, you refer to all regular verbs in the past tense using the huwa hoo-wah; he personal pronoun. Second, the overwhelming majority of verbs in huwa form in the past tense have three consonants that are accompanied by the same vowel: the fatHa fat-hah.
Note that the first part of the verb remains constant; only its suffix changes depending on the personal pronoun used. Table outlines these specific suffixes. At this stage, you should know that not all regular verbs in the past tense have three consonants.
To conjugate them, you keep the first part of the word constant and only change the last consonant of the word using the corresponding suffixes to match the personal pronouns. To get a better sense of this conversion, take a look at the verb takallama spoke conjugated in the past tense.
Notice that the first part of the word stays the same; only the ending changes. Examining the present tense Conjugating verbs in the past tense is relatively straightforward, but conjugating verbs in the present tense is a bit trickier. Instead of changing only the ending of the verb, you must also alter its beginning. In other words, you need to be familiar not only with the suffix but also the prefix that corresponds to each personal pronoun.
Notice how both the suffixes and prefixes change in the present tense. Table includes every personal pronoun with its corresponding prefix and suffix for the present tense. For complete coverage of Arabic vowels damma, fatHa, and kasra , check out Chapter 1. The dominant vowel is always the middle vowel. The best way to identify the dominant vowel is to look up the verb in the qaamuus kah-moos; dictionary. Identify the dominant vowel that will be used to conjugate the verb using all personal pronouns.
Isolate the prefix and suffix that correspond to the appropriate personal pronouns. Rather, you achieve the future tense by adding the prefix sa- to the existing present tense form of the verb. Regular verbs have a specific pattern and follow a specific set of rules, but irregular verbs do not. This section looks at some of the most common irregular verbs in the Arabic language. First impressions in the Middle East are crucial, and knowing both the verbal and nonverbal nuances of greeting people is one of the most important aspects of mastering Arabic.
In this chapter, I show you how to greet people in Arabic, how to respond to basic greetings, and how to interact with native Arabic speakers. In Arabic, you have to choose between formal and informal ways of greeting people.
I cover both types of greetings as well as some other handy pleasantries in this section. Another variation of kayf al-Haal is kayf Haalak? Modern Arabic evolved from the Koran, and many everyday phrases still contain religious references. Myriam: kayf al-Haal? How are you? Lisa: al-Hamdu li-llah, shukran. And you, how are you? Myriam: al-Hamdu li-llah, shukran. In the United States, a firm and strong handshake is encouraged in order to display a healthy dose of confidence.
In most Arab countries, however, a forceful handshake is viewed as an openly hostile act! Therefore, the most acceptable way to shake hands in the Arab world is to present a friendly, not-too-firm grip. My name is Amine. Alex: tasharrafnaa! Talking About Countries and Nationalities With the growing internationalism of the modern world, when you meet someone for the first time, you may want to know what country he or she is from.
Fortunately for English speakers, the names of countries in Arabic are very similar to their names in English. Even more good news is the fact that the terms for nationalities are derivatives of the country names. Student al-Hamdu li-llah, shukran.
Teacher al-Hamdu li-llah, shukran. Student tasharrafnaa! The answers are in Appendix C. Whatever the case, the ability to engage in kalaam khafiif is important. You need to be aware of a number of rules when you make small talk in Arabic. I also share how to chat about aT-Taqs aht-tah-kes; the weather. Finally, you discover key words that will allow you to engage in kalaam khafiif like a native speaker! You may use these question words to ask more elaborate and detailed questions.
MS Notice that some of the questions above refer to either masculine or feminine subjects. When you ask a question in Arabic, you choose the gender of the subject by modifying the gender suffix of the noun in question. So if you want to ask a man for his book, you use kitaabuka.
They strike up a friendly conversation outside the cafeteria. Excuse me. Are you a student at the university? And you? Youssef: mumtaaz! Are you living on campus? See you around. In Arab culture, the idea of the immediate family extends to second- and even third-degree cousins!
He strikes up a conversation with Alexandra, who is sitting next to him. Are you American? Were you visiting family in Morocco? My aunt lives in Tangiers. What part of the United States are you visiting? Have a safe trip. Same to you. A lot of people identify themselves with their occupations, so being able to make small talk about jobs is essential. Professions in Arabic always have a gender distinction. F Table contains some important words relating to different occupations.
Alexandra: maa mihnatuka? What do you do? Alexandra: haadhaa mumtaaz! With which newspaper? With The New York Times. Talking About Hobbies hiwaayaat hee-wah-yat; hobbies are a really great topic for kalaam khafiif.
Almost everyone has a hobby, and because a hobby, by definition, is an activity that a person is really passionate about, you can be sure that he or she will enjoy talking about it! People really like to talk about their hobbies, so knowing how to engage in kalaam khafiif related to hiwaayaat is important. Yassin: maa hiya hiwaayatuka? What is your hobby? I like soccer. I also like soccer! We must play sometime! Shooting the Breeze: Talking About the Weather If you want to engage in kalaam khafiif, shoot the breeze, or chitchat with a friend or stranger, talking about Taqs tah-kes; weather is a pretty safe topic.
Hassan: kayfa aT-Taqs fii nyuu yoork? The weather is excellent right now! Hassan: hal satakun shams? Is it going to be sunny? And after that? One of the happiest times of the year for people of the Middle East is when the rain comes.
After all, these hot desert countries get very little rainfall. A jellaba is a long, flowing garment worn by farmers in the Middle East. It has a big hood in which the farmer puts objects. Talking Numbers Knowing how to express numbers in Arabic is a basic language lesson. One of the most important aspects of Arabic numbers to keep in mind is that you read them from left to right.
Even though you read and write Arabic from right to left, you read and write Arabic numbers from left to right! In the Islamic calendar, Sunday is the first day, Monday the second day, and so on.
Similarly, as-sabt is the day of rest, similar to the Jewish Sabbath. Arabs use three different types of calendars to note the passage of time. However, the names of the Islamic calendar are quite different. Name the season. You can find out a lot about a people by exploring what they eat, how they eat it, and how they prepare it. In this chapter, you expand your vocabulary with the Arabic words for some popular meals and foods, and you find out how to place an order at a restaurant and how to interact appropriately with your waiter or waitress.
In the mornings, I like to start my day with a cup of qahwa kah-wah; coffee. I usually like to drink it kaHla kah-lah; black , but sometimes I add a little Haliib hah-leeb; milk and some sukkar soo-kar; sugar to give it a bit of flavor. Some days, I prefer to drink shay shay; tea instead of qahwa. Would you like juice this morning? Chapter 5: This Is Delicious! Yes mommy. What kind of juice do you want: orange juice, apple juice, or carrot juice?
I want orange juice. Fatima: mumtaaz! And do you want cereal as well? Yes, and with lots of milk. Fatima: wa haa huwa al-khubz bi zabda.
Nadia: shukran. Thank you. Fatima: laHdha. One moment. Of course! Note: The word qahwa denotes both the beverage as well as the coffee shop. Good morning Ahmed. Ahmed: SabaaH an-nuur lora. Good morning Laura. What would you like this morning?
The usual. Ahmed: fawran. Right away. Coffee with milk, right? How many spoons of sugar? Two spoons. Would you like a small, medium, or large coffee? And would you like anything to eat? Do you have donuts? How many donuts do you want?
Because fawaakih fah-wah-keeh; fruits play an important role in any healthy meal, here are some of the more common fawaakih: Chapter 5: This Is Delicious! Other times, you may prefer a nice, healthy shalada shah-lah-dah; salad. Nawal takes his order. How may I help you? I would like to order a sandwich please.
What size sandwich do you want: large or small? Matt: as-sandwiish al-kabiir. The large sandwich. What type of bread would you like: white bread or whole wheat bread? White bread. We have all sorts of meat: lamb, beef, and veal.
And we also have chicken. What kind of meat do you want in the sandwich? Matt: dajaaj min faDlik. Chicken please.
Nawal: wa hal tuHibb khudar fii as-sandwiish? And would you like any vegetables in your sandwich? Do you have any tomatoes? Anything else? Lettuce, broccoli, and onions.
Matt: Tayyib. Lettuce and tomatoes will do. Nawal: wa hal turiid Tawaabil? And do you want condiments? Matt: mukhallalaat faqat. Pickles only. This section covers the key terms to help you prepare and set the table for a wajba ladhiida fii al-manzil waj-bah lah-zee-zah fee al-man-zeel; a delicious home-cooked meal!
The dining experience in most restaurants in the Middle East, as well as in Middle Eastern restaurants all over the world, is truly an enchanting and magical experience. The wait staff usually wears traditional jellaba jeh-lah-bah , which are long, flowing garments that are pleasing to the eye, and the food is very exotic, spicy, and delicious.
The taHliya is a great way to wrap up a nice wajba. I like the taHliya because there are a lot of Halawiyyaat hah-lah-wee-yat; sweets to choose from. They place their drink orders with their waitress. Welcome to Restaurant Atlas. What do you have to drink? We have water, soda water, and lemonade. Do you want mineral bottled water or regular tap water? Mineral water. Waitress: fawran. And would you like any alcoholic drinks as well?
Do you have any wine? We have white wine and red wine. Waitress: mumtaaz. Sam: shukran. Are you ready to place your order? Excellent selection. But before you do, you need to take care of your Hisaab hee-sab; bill. You may ask your waiter for the bill by saying al-Hisaab min faDlik al-hee-sab meen fad-leek; the bill please. Another option is to ask the waiter or waitress kam al-kaamil? Like in the United States, tipping your waiter or waitress is customary in Arabic-speaking countries and Middle Eastern restaurants.
The amount of the baqsheeh bak-sheesh; tip depends on the kind of service you received, but usually 15 to 20 percent is average. Answers are in Appendix C. Discover how to choose the right dress size, how to choose the best item from an electronics store, and even how to shop for nice jewelry!
Going to the Store When you want to buy something, you head to the dukkaan doo-kan; store. Depending on your shopping list, you can choose from different types of dakaakiin dah-kah-keen; stores. If you want to buy some khubz koo-bez; bread , then you want to head to the makhbaza mak-bah-zah; bakery. To buy malaabis mah-lahbees; clothes , head to dukkaan al-malaabis doo-kan al-mah-lah-bees; clothing store. Other types of dakaakiin provide services, such as haircuts and manicures.
At the dukkaan kabiir, you can find almost everything and anything you want. Feel free to look through the dukkaan naafida doo-kan nah-fee-dah; window for any items that may attract your attention. Otherwise, if you want to continue browsing, laa shukran lah shook-ran; no thank you should do the trick.
She asks the attendant at the information desk for assistance. May I help you? Is there an elevator to the fifth floor? Yes, to your right. Jessica: kwayyis, shukran. Okay, thank you. One other thing. Is there a jeweler inside the mall?
Chapter 6: Going Shopping Attendant: laa laysa daakhil ad-dukkaan al-kabiir. But there is a jeweler outside the mall located in the city center. Jessica: shukran jaziilan.
Thank you very much. In order to help with your baHth bah-heth; search , you should be familiar with the verbs baHatha bah-hah-thah; searched and yabHathu yab-hah-thoo; searching. Arabic has a number of different demonstratives, depending on the number of items singular or plural and gender in case of human nouns , as well as state present or absent.
In a sentence, you always place the demonstrative word before the object being pointed to, which is often a noun.
In addition, the noun must be defined using the definite prefix pronoun al-. Do you have jackets? We have many different kinds of jackets. Which kind are you looking for? I want a leather jacket. Salesperson: Tayyib. Follow me please. Omar follows the salesperson to the jacket section. Those are all the jackets we have. I like these jackets. I agree. They are very beautiful.
I would like to try on this one. Are you looking for any particular color? I want that color. In these instances, being able to compare merchandise is important. In this section, you discover how to evaluate comparable and incomparable items based on a variety of important criteria, such as price, quality, and durability. In English, degrees of adjectives have straightforward applicability. Fortunately, the structures of degrees of adjectives, comparatives, and superlatives in Arabic are fairly similar to those in English.
Comparing two or more items Adjectives are the linguistic backbone that allow for comparisons between different items, products, or goods. Table lists some of the most common adjectives followed by their comparative forms. In addition, all nouns being compared need to be defined by attaching to them the definite article prefix al-.
Chapter 6: Going Shopping When forming these types of sentences, you may add demonstratives to be even more specific. In other words, the adjective comparatives are gender-neutral: They remain the same regardless of both gender and number. Picking out the best item A superlative describes something that is of the highest order, degree, or quality.
Basically, a superlative in Arabic is nothing more than the comparative form of the adjective! The salesman helps him pick the best one. Sah-bah ah-noor wah mar-hah-bah ee-lah ah-doo-kan al-ee-leek-troo-nee-yat. Good morning and welcome to the electronics store. Adam: shukran. I am looking for a camera. Are you looking for a particular model?
Salesman: Tayyib. We have this model with different colors. Do you have another model? This second model is popular with customers. Which is the best model? The second model is better than the first model. Excellent selection! Because these verbs are widely used and have their own pattern, you should be familiar with how to conjugate them. Table lists some basic articles of clothing and accessories you should know.
When describing masculine nouns, use the masculine forms. How do you know whether a noun is feminine or masculine? For the rest, simply look up the word in the qaamuus kah-moos; dictionary to determine its gender. The masculine and feminine forms of some common colors appear in Table And telling waqt wah-ket; time in Arabic is an entirely different proposition than telling time in English.
See Chapter 4 for more on numbers. If sunset is at p. Because these methods have different conventions, this section examines each method separately.
Using this system, you can cover ten past the hour, quarter past the hour, twenty past the hour, and half past the hour, which are the major fractions. If you want to express minutes as a fraction and specify which time of day a. What time is it? When will the movie begin? I believe that it will start at Salim: kwayyis. Check out Chapter 4 for full coverage of cardinal numbers. Ted: mataa satanTaliqu al-Haafila? When does the bus leave? Why should you learn Arabic? Well, besides the fact that over million people in more than 22 nations use it to communicate, there are tons of reasons to get up to speed this 1, year old language, including: Nearly all of the Middle-East speaks Arabic or one of its dialects Basic Arabic skills are extremely useful for anyone traveling to, doing business in, or serving in the Middle East It is the language in which the Koran is written There is a rich, centuries-old literary tradition in Arabic Arabic For Dummies presents the language in the classic, laid-back For Dummies style.
Written by a native Arabic speaker who helped start a year-round Arabic department at Middlebury College, Arabic For Dummies is just what you need to start making yourself understood in Arabic.
This book is dedicated to people who want to learn Arabic alphabets and also haw to spell. It's not only for kids, it's adequate with all ages starting from 7 years. What you will learn from this book? How to pronounce all Arabic alphabets ; How to write Arabic alphabets; 28 professions in Arabic, the name of a profession with every letter. Learn to write in Arabic In Arabic, there are different levels of language.
The written language, which is studied in this book, is literary Arabic, sometimes also called classical Arabic or even modern or standard Arabic.
It is the language of the Quran, classical poetry, literature and the media. The Arabic plume consists of 28 consonants and three long vowels. Each consonant is accompanied by a vowel which is placed above or below the consonant.
Arabic speakers are in great demand in the United States, due to the country's political commitments to the Middle East, but only 25 percent of non-native speakers know the language in enough detail to function as translators, interpreters, analysts, or field agents. Arabic Character Writing For Dummies helps you write this language clearly and correctly.
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