EZ Arabic - a course to help you learn arabic (OP)
EZ Arabic
I am trying to devise a self-study Arabic course that isn’t complicated.
In this course you will learn Arabic vocabulary (about 6 to 8 words a week) as well as how to make simple sentences. You will also learn some sentences of common usage.
You should practice what you learn as much as you can through speaking. If you can’t find anyone to practice with, use the conversation thread to practice hwat you learn. You should learn to type in Arabic, but in the beginning it’s okay to use English transliteration. However, do type some Arabic daily. You can get Arabic letter stickers for the keyboard. To set Arabic as a language on your computer, go to -> control panel -> Regional and Languages -> Languages Tab -> Details (in Text Services and Input Languages) -> Add -> then select Arabic from the dropdown menu. If Arabic isn’t in the menu, then you have to install the script for it by checking the box next to install files for complex script and right – left languages (including Thia) In regional and Languages Options (Language Tab).
To change to Arabic typing press the Alt + Shift keys. You can see the abbreviation (EN) for English and (AR) for Arabic on the Task Manager (on bottom right side of the screen). You can select which language to type in from there as well.
Study Plan:
Get yourself the following:
A new notebook and pen
A Arabic-English / English – Arabic dictionary, preferably electronic one.
*Why a new notebook and pen? You may ask why you should get a new notebook and pen? Why not rip out the pages from an existing notebook and use that? Although using an existing notebook is economical, I have found new notebooks and pens to be inspirational. You just have to use them. A beautiful notebook with a beautiful cover is even better.
Write each lesson in your notebook, writing the vocabulary on one page, the lesson on another, and the common usage sentences on a third page. It’s better to write everything in each lesson in one place instead of making separate sections for each part. This is because it makes studying more efficient. You can study each lesson separately. Since each lesson consists of a new vocabulary words and a few sentences it is less burdensome then to see a whole section of vocabulary words or sentences and trying to learn them all at once. Trying to learn too many words/sentences at once only causes one to fail.
You should study the words and sentences in your lesson often, trying to memorize as many as you can before starting the next lesson.
Use the conversation thread to practice what you learn. Use your dictionary to find more words and use these in sentences of your own and post to the conversation thread.
For the Arabic conversation thread, go here ->
In Arabic, the noun in the direct object position is different from the noun in the subject position.
If the direct object noun is singular, it ends with the fathha vowel ( َ (.
For example, الدرسَ
كتبتُ الدرسَ - I wrote the lesson.
اشترَى الولدُ الكتابَ. – The boy bought the book.
( اشترَى الولدُ كتاباً - The boy bought a book. )
قرأتْ أختي الدرسَ - My sister read the lesson.
The same is the case if the noun is an irregular noun, whether singular or plural:
قرأتُ الكتبَ
رأيت ُ البيوتَ في دمشق
حَفِظْتُ الدروسَ
Practice tip: make sentences containing the direct object. Post to practice / conversation thread.
Note: for more practice, see Week 12 lesson and Supplement 12
Supplement: Object pronoun conjugated with the present tense verb
The object (مَفعول به) is the thing that receives the action (is acted upon).
The object in Arabic can be a noun or a pronoun conjugated to a verb.
Object pronouns conjugated to the present tense verb:
Me: ني actually the pronoun here is the ya, but the nun makes it easier to pronounce the verb correctly.
You:ك َ , ك ِ
You (plural): كُم , كن
You (dual): كما
Him:هُ
Her:ها
Them:هم , هنّ
Them (dual):هما
Some examples with present tense verbs:
to treat (someone) well : يكْرمُ
he treats me well –هو يكرمُني
he treats you well –يكرمك
he treats you (plural) well – يكرمكم , يكرمكنّ
he treats you (dual) well – يكرمكما
he treats him well –يكرمه
he treats her well –يكرمها
he treats them well –يكرمهُمْ , يكرمهُنّ
he treats them (dual) well –يكرمهما
The conjugated pronoun in each of the above sentences is in the mansoob position. Note: pronouns are always mabny مبني that their form doesn’t change because of their position in the sentence.
Sentence analysis:
هو يكرمُني
هو: pronounضمير in the subject (marfoo) case. (it is in the mubtada position because the nominal sentence جملة الاسمية starts with it), ضمير في محل رفع مبتدأ
يكرمني: present tense (فعل مضارع ) verb conjugated with object pronoun
ني:ن : نون الوقاية, nun that separates the verb from the pronoun making it easier to pronounce the word.
ي: conjugated pronoun in the object position, ضمبر متصل في محل نصب مفعول به
practice tip: learn to use object pronouns with the present tense verb.
Conjugate any 5 present tense verbs with object pronouns. Try some sentence analysis.
As you know, the regular masculine plural noun ends in a ون in the subject position.
If the noun is a regular masculine plural noun, the ون at the end of the word is changed to a ين in the direct object position, and the letter before the ي contains a kasra vowel.
جاء المدرسون (The (male) teachers came) -> رأيتُ المدرسين (I saw the (male) teachers.)
أكرمتُ المعلمين I respected the (male) teachers.
In the dual case, the regular masculine and feminine noun normally ends in ان in the subject position. But in the direct object position, this ان changes to a ين as well, except the letter before the ي has a fathha vowel on it.
جاء المدرسان The two male teachers came. -> رأيتُ المدرسَين ِ I saw the two male teachers.
أكرمتُ المعلمَين ِ
جاءتْ المدرستان The two female teachers came -> رأيتُ المدرستَينِ I saw the two female teachers.
The regular female plural noun normally ends in ات with a damma ُ on the ت in the subject position. However, in the direct object position, it ends in a kasra on the ت . تِ
رأيتُ المدرسات ِ
أكرمتُ المدرسات ِ
Practice tip: make sentences containing masculine and feminine plural direct objects. Post to practice / conversation thread.
Supplement Object pronoun conjugated with the past tense verb
As with the present tense verb, the object pronoun conjugated with the past tense verb comes at the end of the past tense verb. However the difference is that in the past tense verb, the subject pronoun may also come at the end of the verb, so might have two pronouns at the end of the past tense verb, the first being the subject pronoun (showing who did the action) and the second being the object pronoun (showing on whom the action was done).
Object pronouns conjugated with past tense verbs: (these come at the end of the past tense verb).
Me - ني
You – ك
You plural – كم , كنّ
You dual – كما
Him – ه
Her – ها
Him / her (dual) – هما
Them – هم , هنّ
Example of the past tense verb عَلِمَ (he taught) conjugated with object pronouns:
هو علمنيhe taught me
هو علمك he taught you
هو علمه he taught him
هو علمها he taught her
هو علمهم he taught them
هو علمهن he taught them
Example of past tense pronoun ( علمْتُ) (I taught) conjugated with the subject pronoun and the object pronoun. (the ت at the end of this pronoun is the subject pronoun.)
علمْتك
علمته
علمتها
علمتهم
علمتكم
For more practice with subject pronouns conjugated with verbs, see Week 6 supplement lesson
Practice tip: Conjugate subject and object pronouns with past tense verbs.
Time, clock - الساعة
Minute - دقيقة
Second - الثانية
Hour - الساعة
½ hour – نصف ساعة
One third - ثُلث
Quarter - رُبع
Quarter to two - إثنين إلا ربع
20 minutes to two - إثنين إلا ثلث
2: 15 – إثنبن و ربع
5:30 - خمسة و نصف
5:00 - ساعة خَمْسة
Noon –ظُهر
Morning - سباحاُ
Evening - مساءً
Night - ليل
(From list of English irregular verbs, Business Vocabulary in Use for beginners)
Practice tip: conjugate the verbs with pronouns and use them in sentences.
Write the conjugated verb forms for the following pronouns:
أنا I
أنتَ you
أنتِ you
أنتما you dual
أنتم you plural
أنتنّ you plural fem
هو he
هي she
هما they dual mas
هما they dual fem
هم they plural
هنّ they plural fem
For example, some conjugated forms for the verb Feelيَشْعُر are:
I feel أنا أشعرُ
He feels هو يَشْعُرُ
She feelsهِيّ تشعر
You feelأنتَ تشعر
You (fem) feelأنتِ تشعُرِينَ
They feelهم يشعرون
They (fem) feelهنّ يشعُرْنَ
Vocabulary:
شرِبَ drank
يشربُ to drink
شاي tea
طعام food
صديق friend
زارَ visited
يزورُ to visit
رَأى saw
يرَى to see
سافرَ travelled
يسافِرُ to travel
أهل family / people
بَلَد country
Who مِن
When متى
أ , هل
هل and أ can be used with verbs, nouns and pronouns to make questions. To make a question, just place one of these words before a verb, noun, or pronoun.
Some examples:
هل + past tense verb:
هل شربْتَ شاي؟ did you drink tea?
هل أكَلَ الولدُ الطعامَ ؟ Did the boy eat the food?
هل + present tense verb:
هل تشرب شاي؟ do you drink tea/ would you like to drink tea?
أ + present tense verb:
أتشرب شاي؟ do you drink tea?
هل + past tense verb:
هل زُرْتَ صديقك؟ have you visited your friend?
هل + present tense verb:
هل تزور صديقك؟ do you visit your friend?
هل + future tense verb:
هل ستزور صديقك؟ are you going to visit your friend?
أ + present tense verb:
أتزور صديقك؟ Do you visit your friend?
أيزورك صديقك؟ Does your friend visit you? (note how the meaning of the sentence changes by conjugating the present tense verb with the object pronoun.) this sentence can also be written as: أصديقك يزورك؟
هل أختكِ زُرتك؟ did your sister visit you?
هل أنت ستزورني؟ are you going to visit me?
أ + pronoun:
أأنت راضي؟ are you pleased?
Using هل and أ you can turn any sentence into a question.
For example:
أنا رأيتُ أهلي I have seen (or I saw) my family.
هل رأيتَ أهلك؟ have you seen your family?
هو سيسافر He will travel.
هل هو سيسافر؟ will he be travelling?
أحِبُ بلدي I love my country.
هل تحب بلدك؟ هل تحبين بلدك؟ Do you love your country?
sister i joined this thread very late.It is very difficult to understand Arabic.I have a doubt like If translate the Arabic word to English mostly last word come first and first goes last.
for eg akhlak-alrasool means prophet's manner and other word alaliate fi alislam means Family in Islam.How I will come to know that which word will come first.
(my English very weak plz try to understand)
you will need to learn the grammar rules etc. the best thing is to learn the language from the beginning. you will learn sentence structure, etc as you study the language. go slowly and try to learn the material well and practice what you learn in oral conversations. since this course has already gotten so far ahead, you can either study each lesson on your own at your own pace, moving onto the next lesson after you've mastered the previous, or you can use the course with transliteration. since i just started posting those and will be posting them a few lessons at a time gradually, you can progress in the course with those lessons.
Week 16 Supplement: Question Words
Vocabulary:
Yes نعم
No لا
With عِند َ | مع
Called اتصل
To call يَتّصِلُ
Liked / loved أحَبَّ
To like / to love يُحِبُّ
Why لِماذا
Where أين
What ما - ماذا
Question words
Who مِن
Who is that (who is he)? من هو؟
Who is with you? مَن عندك؟ or من معك؟
Who are you travelling with?مع من تسافر؟
Who came? من جاءَ؟
Who are you? من أنت؟
When متى
When are you travelling?متى تسافر؟
When are you going to call me? متى تتصلني؟
Where أين
Where are you travelling to? إلى أين تسافر؟
Where is your house? أين بيتك؟
Why لِماذا
Why are you travelling?لِماذا تُسافِر؟
Why are you smiling? لماذا تبتسم؟
What ما - ماذا
What do you have? ماذا عندك؟
What are you taking with you?ماذا تأخذ معك؟
What do you like? ماذا تحب؟
Note: ما is normally used with nouns while ماذا is used with verbs.
To show a choice between two items, use أم in questions.
تشرب شائي أم قهوى؟ Would you like to drink tea or coffee?
To inquire which of two are correct, use أو in the question.
هل تدرسون لغة العربية أو لغة الإنكليزية؟ Do you study Arabic or English?
More questions:
ماذا تشرب؟ شائي أو قهوى؟ What do you drink? Tea or coffee?
ماذا تشرب؟ شائي أم قهوى؟ What (would you like to) drink? Tea or coffee?
هل درستَ شيء؟ Did you study anything?
نعم , درستُ لغة العربية. Yes, I studied Arabic Language.
لا, لم أدرس شيء. No, I didn’t study anything.
Practice tip: make questions similar to those above.
Negative words used with verbs:
The following words make the sentence negative. They are used with verbs.
لا
لم
ما
لن
لا is used with the present tense verb. It is for the present negative sentence.
لا أدرس الآن. I am not studying now.
لا أريد I don’t want (it).
لا أريد أن أدرس. I don’t want to study.
You can make negative sentences by simply placing لا before the present tense verb.
For example:
I am studying now. أنا أدْرَسُ ألآن.
I am not studying now. أنا لا أدرس ألآن .
He is eating an apple. هو يأكل تفاحة
He is not eating an apple. هو لا يأكل تفاحة.
They are travelling. هم يسافرون
They are not travelling. هم لا يسافرون
Note: this lesson discussed لا when it is used with the present tense verb. There are also cases where لا is used with a noun. You will learn those types of sentences later, insha-Allah.
Sentence Analysis:
I am not studying now. أنا لا أدرس ألآن .
أنا subject pronoun mabny in the mubtada position. ضمير منفصل مبني في محل رفع مبتدأ
لا negation word. حرف نفي
أدرَسُ present tense verb marfoo and the sign of رفع is the damma visible at the end . فعل مضارع مرفوع و علامة الرفع الضمة الظاهرة على آخره
ألآن word showing time. ظرف زمان منصوب
Practice tip: make present tense negative sentences.
sister i joined this thread very late.It is very difficult to understand Arabic.I have a doubt like If translate the Arabic word to English mostly last word come first and first goes last.
for eg akhlak-alrasool means prophet's manner and other word alaliate fi alislam means Family in Islam.How I will come to know that which word will come first.
(my English very weak plz try to understand)
Once you know what a phrase / sentence means, it will be easy for you to translate it. And you will know the meaning by learning the vocabulary and the grammar. In Arabic, the work of a noun depends on the word’s ending, whether it is marfoo (for example, damma on the last letter of the singular noun) or whether it is mansoob (fathha on the singular noun) or whether it is majroor (kasra on the ending of the singular noun). (normally, the subject is marfoo and the object is mansoob.)
Because of this, in Arabic, the order of the words isn’t always necessary and you can have an order different from the normal order, as is stated in the Arabic grammar book Sharh Ibn Aqeel ala Alfiah Ibn Malik شرح ابن عقيل على ألفية ابن مالك.
Sharh Ibn Aqeel states that it is ok to change the common order of the words in the sentence so you can have the object first and then the subject. In Arabic, because the meaning of a word depends on the word’s ending, therefore it is easy to know what a sentence means even when the words are not in the normal order.
For example, the sentence “the man ate the fish” could be written as:
Akala arrajalo assamaka أكلَ الرَجلُ السمك َ
Or it could be written as akala asamaka arrajalo.أكلَ السمك َ الرجلُ
Both sentences mean the same thing and you know from the ending of the words that rajol (man) is the subject and samak (fish) is the object.
At the beginning of studying Arabic this may seem complicated so stick to the normal order of the words but later you can go into more complex material. This is also where balagha comes, which is writing Arabic in a way that is more beautiful and eloquent.
As for the possessive relationship, in Arabic the possessor noun is in the majroor case (having a kasra on the last letter if it is singular). Although apparently its order is opposite to the order in English, however if you translate it using “of” between the two words, then the order is the same as in English. For example, kitab al-lugha can be translated into language book or book of language. The second translation has the same order as the Arabic phrase. This translation may make it easier for beginners to translate such word phrases. By the way, it is written in Sharh Ibn Aqeel that some linguists say that there is an invisible preposition between the two words which is what makes the second noun (possessor) majroor since the noun that follows the preposition in Arabic is in the majroor case. In that case the phrase بلد الناس (country of the people) would be something like : بلد للناس ِ
About the book شرح ابن عقيل على ألفية ابن مالك: This is a great book and a must-have for those who want to study Arabic seriously. I recommend getting it in Arabic after you have learned the language enough to be able to read and understand it. The book is very simple, although at the beginning you may think that it is a bit hard to understand. I have found the book to be much easier to understand than other grammar books. (The book is actually an explanation of poetry written by Ibn Malik. Ibn Malik wrote the grammar rules in verse and this book explains the grammar verse by verse. It is truly a great book.)
jazakallah sister
I do not understand it well, I want to ask if it l learn Arabic because it will help me to understand Quraan . I have heard Quraan Arabic is different than usual Arabic
Quranic Arabic is classical Arabic which is what you're learning here and its what you usually learn in schools. colloquial Arabic (slang Arabic) is what is spoken by Arabs in many Arab countries and it is different from classical Arabic.
I am studying Basic arabic with intention to read Quran inshallah and increase my khushoo inshallah, inshallah ya Rabb
Will you teach us the meaning of Quran word for word?
Let's say
From Surrah Al Fatiha
Bismillah - Bism (name) Allah = in the Name of Allah بسم الله
سلام
The HIGHEST accomplishment I can achieve in this worldly life is to be a TRUE MUSLIM. (me)
no i won't be doing that. i used to and there's a thread on this site someplace with word for word translation of some verses that i posted but i'm not doing that anymore. i read someplace that word for word translation isn't good. i think it's better to read translation verse for verse and even to read some commentary. along with that, you can learn arabic grammar and vocabulary. there are some Qurans that have the meaning of individual difficult words on the margin. you can get one of those if they are available in your language.
In Week 5 lesson, you learned that to show possession, you can place the possessed item followed by the possessor, for example: the girl’s bag حقيبةُ البنتِ . the possessor (second noun) is called the modaf ilaih ( مضاف إليه ) and contains a kasra on the last letter when it is singular, i.e. (that is), it is in the majroor case. The possessed item (first noun) is called the modaf ( مضاف ). The modaf contains the letter appropriate for its position in the sentence.
The modaf ilaih (possessor, second noun):
The modaf ilaih is in the majroor مجرور case. Therefore, the modaf ilaih contains a kasra on the last letter when it is singular. For example, كتاب الرَجُل ِ the man’s book. The modaf ilaih in this phrase is rajol and it contains a kasra on the last letter.
The same is the case if the modaf ilaih is a feminine plural or irregular plural. For example: the girls’ bags حقائب البناتِ , the students’ bags حقائب الطلابِ . The modaf ilaih in these sentences are al-banati (feminine plural) and at-tulaabi (irregular plural).
However, if the modaf ilaih is the dual noun, it contains a ya + nun (ين) instead of the normal alif + nun (ان). For example: سيارات المدرسَينِ - سيارات المدرستَينِ
And when the modaf ilaih is a masculine plural noun, it also contains a ya + nun (ين) instead of the waw + nun ( ون ). (For example: سيارات المدرسِينَ ) The difference between the dual and plural is that the vowel on the letter preceding the yah in the dual is a fathha and in the plural it is a kasra. (that is, in the dual noun, the ending has an “ain” sound (for example, modarisain) while in the plural, the ending has an “een” sound (for example, modariseen).)
The modaf (the first noun in the possessive phrase, which denotes the possessed item):
The modaf (possessed item) always contains the vowel / word ending appropriate for its position in the sentence. So the modaf may be marfoo, mansoob, or majroor depending on its position in the sentence. On the other hand, the modaf ilaih (possessor) is always in the majroor case.
Note the difference in the ending of the modaf in the following examples:
حقائبُ الطلاب ِ على الطاولةِ (The student’s bags (bags of the students) are on the table.) The modaf (the possessed item) is the subject (مبتدأ) of the sentence and so contains the damma which is the vowel ending appropriate for its position in the sentence. That is, it is marfoo. The modaf ilaih (possessor/ owner) has a kasra on the last letter.
هذه حقائبُ الطلابِ (These are the student’s bags) the modaf is the predicate (خبر) of the sentence and so is marfoo (contains a damma when it is singular). The modaf ilaih contains a kasra, that is it is majroor.
رأيتُ سَيارَةَ المُدَرِّسَةِ (The teacher’s car.) the modaf (سيارةَ ) is the direct object and so is in the mansoob case (contains a fathha on the last letter when singular). The modaf ilaih contains a kasra on the last letter and is in the majroor case as always.
نَظَرْت إلى أوراقِ الإمتِحانِ (I looked at the exam papers.) The modaf (أوراقِ) follows a preposition (إلى) and so contains a kasra on the last letter. The modaf ilaih is in the majroor case and contains a kasra on the last letter.
Note: if the modaf is a dual or regular plural masculine noun (that is, ends in ان , ون , or ين ) the nun (ن) from the end is omitted when it is followed by the modaf ilaih. Likewise, if the modaf (possessed item) is an improper noun, its normal tanwin is removed, leaving only the single vowel.)
Practice tip: learn to use possession correctly in your sentences.
Revision - Grammar rules for nouns in different sentence position:
In the subject position, the noun contains a damma on the last letter if it is singular, irregular, or feminine plural. If the noun is masculine plural, then it ends in a ون in the marfoo case. If it is a dual noun, then it ends in ان in the marfoo case. This is known as the marfoo مرفوع case.
Some examples of nouns in the marfoo case:
Student – taalib طالِبٌ
Students – tulaab (irregular noun) - طلابٌ
Male Professional - مُهَندسٌ
Male professionals - مهندسون
Female professional – مهندسة ٌ
Female professionals – مهندساتٌ
Note: as you can see, most of the above nouns end in a damma tanwin ٌ . However, sometimes a noun ends in just a dammaُ . The reason for the difference, in most cases, is whether the noun is a proper noun or not. If a noun is improper, it ends in tanwin. If it is proper, it ends in just one vowel, the damma in the marfoo case. For example, طلابٌ –الطلابُ
The noun in the object case:
If the noun is in the object position, then it’s ending changes. It ends in a fathha if it is a singular or irregular noun. If it is a plural feminine noun, then it ends in a kasra. And if it is a dual noun, then it ends in a ين with a fathha on the ya. And if it is a masculine regular plural noun, then it ends in a ين with a kasra under the ya. This is known as the mansoob منصوب case.
Student – taalib طالِبً
Students – tulaab (irregular noun) - طلابً
Male Professional - مُهَندسً
Male professionals - مهندسين
Female professional – مهندسة ً
Female professionals – مهندسات ِ
If the noun follows a preposition, it is in the majroorمجرور case. In this case, it ends in a kasra if it is a singular or irregular noun or if it is a feminine plural noun. If it is a dual noun, then it ends in a ين with a fathha on the ya. And if it is a plural regular masculine noun, then it ends in ين with a kasra on the ya.
Student – taalib طالِب ٍ
Students – tulaab (irregular noun) – طلاب ٍ
Male Professional – مُهَندس ٍ
Male professionals - مهندسِين
Female professional – مهندسة ٍ
Female professionals – مهندسات ِ
Note: a noun is in a majroor case when it follows a preposition or when it is the modaf ilaih (owner of possessed item).
Practice tip: make plural of nouns in the different cases. Use the nouns correctly in sentences.
no i won't be doing that. i used to and there's a thread on this site someplace with word for word translation of some verses that i posted but i'm not doing that anymore. i read someplace that word for word translation isn't good. i think it's better to read translation verse for verse and even to read some commentary. along with that, you can learn arabic grammar and vocabulary. there are some Qurans that have the meaning of individual difficult words on the margin. you can get one of those if they are available in your language.
Salam thank you very much, its okay, I was just wondering where i can get the translation of word for word of Quran
I mean for example Al Fatiha
I know the meaning of it, starting in the Name of Allah, then thanking Allah, then remembering that Allah is Most Gracious and Most Merciful and so on, it keeps the kushoo infact
salam
The HIGHEST accomplishment I can achieve in this worldly life is to be a TRUE MUSLIM. (me)
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