1. Counting
0 sifr 1 wāhid
2 ithnān 3 thalātha
4 'arbaca 5 khamsa
6 sitta 7 sabca
8 thamāniya 9 tisca
10 cashra 11 'ahada cashra
12 ithnā cashra 13 thalātha cashra
14 'arbaca cashra 15 khamsa cashra
16 sitta cashra 17 sabca cashra
18 thamāniya cashra 19 tisca cashra
20 cishrūn 21 'ahad wa-cishrūn
22 ithnān wa-cishrūn 23 thalātha wa-cishrūn
24 'arbaca wa-cishrūn 25 khamsa wa-cishrūn
26 sitta wa-cishrūn 27 sabca wa-cishrūn
28 thamāniya wa-cishrūn 29 tisca wa-cishrūn
30 thalāthūn 35 khamsa wa-thalāthūn
40 'arbacūn 42 'ithnān wa-'arbacūn
50 khamsūn 59 tisca wa-khamsūn
60 sittūn 66 sitta wa-sittūn
70 sabcūn 73 thalātha wa-sabcūn
80 thamānūn 84 'arbaca wa-thamānūn
90 tiscūn 91 'ahad wa-tiscūn
100 mi'a 1000 'alf
Grammar: Use of numbers
Numbers in Arabic are quite complicated, there are different
rules for the numbers, numbers are declined according to gender.
Getting the grip on numbers in order to make practical use of
them (few Arabs used numbers correctly), is however reasonably
easy.
From 21 to 99 you count like this: (example) 24: Four wa-twenty.
From 12 to 19 you count like this (example) 15: Five Ten. 11 is
slightly diverging.
When putting numbers together with nouns you do like this:
1: (example) 1 book is said as simply as "book", "kitāb",
you leave 1 out, unless it is very important to emphasise that
it is one book.
2: (example) 2 books is a special case, as Arabic not only has
singular and plural, but also dual. The rules here are straight,
but often omitted by students, who wind up saying "2 books" -
ithnān kutub. That is not correct, and the correct dual for
2 books is kitābāni.
3 and up: You place the full form of the number first,
immediately followed by the noun: 42 books: ithnān wa-'arbaūn
kutub
While this is not the correct form, it is OK to say it this way
at the present level. If you're curious, this is the correct way
for saying 42 books: ithnān wa-'arbaūn kitābān
2. Meeting people
mā-smuk?
What's your name?
'ismī salīm
My name is Salim
'ismuhu rashīd
His name is Rashid
'ismuhā warda
Her name is Warda
'anā sā'ih
I'm a tourist (as uttered by a man)
'anā sā'iha
I'm a tourist (as uttered by a woman)
'amal hunā
I'm working here
'anā tālib
I'm a student (as uttered by a man)
'anā tāliba
I'm a student (as uttered by a woman)
Grammar: Basic Arabic sentences
"To be" and "to have" verbs you don't use!
Two verbs are normally ommitted from Arabic (this thing makes
learning the language a little bit easier). These two are to be
and to have. The first of these two is well exemplified above.
Instead of saying "My name is Erik", you say "Name mine Erik"
'ismī 'īrīk
The same applies for qualities: Instead of saying "She is a
teacher", you say "She teacher" hiyya mudarrisa, "he
tourist" huwa sā'ih
As for the verb "to have", which can also equal "to own":
Instead of saying "He has a car", you say "To him a car"
lahu sayyāra, "to her a book" lahā kitāb, "to me a
house" (="I own a house") lī bayt
Even if this could appear slightly confusing at the very first,
the rules are terribly simple, and soon you will see yourself
forming basic sentences,- without the use of any verb. However,
be prepared, Arabic is full of verbs, and there is no way around
them if you want to communicate properly in Arabic.
3. In the hotel
ayna l-funduq salām?
Where is the Hotel Salam?
hal ladayka ghurfa?
Have you got vacant rooms?
min aiyyati l-darja hādhā l-funduq?
Of which class is the hotel?
hal 'al-ghurfa maca l-hammām?
Is there a bathroom coming with the room?
hal 'al-ghurfa maca l-hātif?
Is there a telephone in the room?
hal tilīfizyūn fī l-funduq?
Is there a TV-set in the hotel?
kam sacri l-layla
What's the price for one night?
uktub min fadlik
Please write
lā 'afham
I don't understand
'afham
I understand
ghālī
Expensive!
sa'askun hunā li muddati th-thalāthati l-laylāt I'm going
to stay here for three nights
'awwalān, urīd manzaru l-ghurfa, min fadlik
First, I want to see the room, please
shukran. al-ghurfa mumtāz
Thank you. The room is very nice
Grammar: The definite article
One of the things many should have noticed before embarking
on learning the Arabic language, is the frequent use of prefixes
like "Al". "Al" are the two letters "a" and "l" put together,
which indicate the definite article for a noun. But what is
considered definite and what is not, is often different from
many Western languages. Briefly one could make this as a rule:
If it is not particularly important to stress the indefinite
form, the definite article should be used. But this is only a
valid rule at your present stage in learning Arabic.
When a noun is indefinite, no prefixes or suffixes are added,
you simply use the core form of the noun. Just to complicate
things a bit here: In Arabic there are a group of "sun letters",
letters which standing first in a noun, eat the "l" of the
definite article. These are the following letters:
t, th, d, dh, r, z, s, sh, S, D, T, Z, n
4. In the restaurant
masā'a l-khayr
Good evening
hal tatakallumu l-inkliziyya?
Do you speak English?
yā nādil
Waiter!
qā'imatu t-tacām, min fadlik
Could I/we see the menu, please
lā ta'kulu l-lahm wa-lā l-bayda
She doesn't eat meat, nor eggs
lahmu l-khurūf lī, min fadlik. wa salata
Lamb for me, thank you. And salad
'al-kuskus lī, min fadlik. wa kūkā kūlā
Couscous for me, thank you. And a Coca Cola
lahmu l-jamal, min fadlik. wa qanīnatu l-mā'
Camel meat, thank you. And a bottle of water
lahmu d-dijāj mashwiyy wa-rūz wa salata mashwiyya lī
Grilled chicken with rice, and fried salad for me
āis krīm, qahwa, wa l-fawākih lī kull, min fadlik
Ice cream, coffee, and fruits for all, thank you
'al-fātūra, min fadlik
The bill, please
hal mumkin dafcu ma'a bitāqati l-icāra
Is it possible to pay with credit card?
maa salāma
With you be peace
ilā l-liqā'
So long; Until the next time
Grammar: Gender
There are only two genders to Arabic, masculine and feminine.
The implementation of these two are in most of the cases very
simple. You take the masculine form, and add the ending "-a" to
it. Then it is a feminine noun. F.ex.:
mudarris (masc.) mudarrisa (fem.) [teacher]
kitāb (masc.) [book] kitāba (fem.) [the act of writing]
sā'ih (masc.) sā'iha (fem.) [tourist]
Of the three examples above, you see that the first and the
third are used for a person. The second, however, is simply
changing the meaning of the word, through adding the feminine
"-a" at the end. This you will see over and over again in
Arabic. By adding "-a", new words with new specific meanings are
made.
But you should note, when new words are made by adding "-a" at
the end, there is a kin between the masculine and the feminine
nouns, in respect of their meaning.
