EZ Arabic - a course to help you learn arabic

[Muhaba]

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 ->

http://www.islamicboard.com/arabic/134303075-ez-arabic-practice-conversation-thread.html

I hope IB members find this course beneficial.

 

[Muhaba]

Week 1

This week’s vocabulary:

(Subject Pronouns

I - أنا
You (male) - أنتَ (anta)
You (female) – أنتِ (anti)

Girl - بنت (bint)
Boy - ولد (walad)
House - بيت (bait)
This - هذا (haaza)

Sentences:
In Arabic there are two kind of sentences, those that start with a noun called جملة إسمية and those that start with a verb called جملة فعلية . The following are examples of the first kind, جملة إسمية :

Note: I didn’t include the English terms for these as it only makes learning the language more complicated.

The following are examples of الجملة الإسمية :

I am a girl – ٌ أنا بنت
You are a boy - ٌ أنت ولد
This is a house – هذا بيت ٌ
This is my house – هذا بيتي
This is your house – هذا بيتك

As can be seen from the last two sentences, to show possession, the possessive pronoun is attached to the noun.

Some possessive pronouns:

My – (بيتي) ي
Your - (بيتك) ك
His - ه بيته) (
Her – (بيتها) ها

********************************
Sentences of common usage:
What is your name? ما اِسمُك؟ Ma ismuk? (pronounced masmuk)
My name is … اِسْمي .... Ismi ….
**************************** *****

Note: if you find any mistakes, plz let me know through pm and I will correct them.

Practice Tip: Use your English – Arabic Dictionary to get more words and make sentences of your own similar to the ones in this lesson. For example, هذا قلمك – This is your pen. أنتَ طالبٌ - you are a student.

 

[Muhaba]

Week 2:

This Weeks Vocabulary:
This – هذا
This (feminine) - هذه
That - ذلك
That (feminine) - تلك
House - بيت
Car - سيارة
City - مدينة
Old - قديم
Modern - متقدم

Possessive pronouns: In Arabic the possessive pronoun is attached to the end of the noun.
My –بيتي- ي
Your (masculine singular) - بيتك- كَ
Your (feminine singular) - بيتكِ- كِ
Our - بيتنا- نا

Sentences:
This is my house. هذا بيتي.
This is his car. هذه سيارته
That is your house. ذلك بيتك.
That is her car. تلك سيارتها

More sentences using the هذا , هذه and adjectives:
This flower is beautiful. هذه وردةُ جميلةٌ
That flower is beautiful تلكَ وردةٌ جميلةٌ.
This city is old. هذه مدينة قديمة.
The city I live in is modern. المدينة التي أسكنُ فيها مُتَقَدِّمَة ٌ.

********************************
Sentences of common usage:
How are you? كيف حالك؟ kaifa haaluk?
Alhamdulillah I am well. ألحمد لله أنا بخير Alhamdullilah ana bi khair.
**************************** *****

Practice Tip: make sentences using possessive pronouns and descriptive adjectives.

 

[Muhaba]

Supplement - Days of the Week
Saturday - السبت
Sunday - الأحد
Monday - الإثنين
Tuesday - الثلاثاء
Wednesday - الأربعاء
Thursday - الخميس
Friday - الجمعة

Yesterday - أمس
Today - اليَوم
Tomorrow - غداً

For reading only: Sentences talking about the days:
I will be going to the market on Saturday. سأذهبُ إلى السوق يوم السبت. Or يوم السبت سأذهبُ إلى السوق.
I went to the park on Friday. ذهبْتُ إلى الحديقة يوم الجمعة.
I was in my brother’s house on Monday. كُنْتُ في بيت أخي يوم الإثنين.
Today I will study. اليوم سأدْرُس.
Tomorrow is Sunday. غداً يوم الأحد.
I was sick on yesterday. كنتُ مريضاً أمس

I was at the beach yesterday. كنتُ على شاطيء البحر أمس.
Yesterday, it snowed. أمس كان ثلج. Literally, Yesterday there was rain.
It rained today. اليوم كان مطر. Literally, yesterday there was snow.

Practice Tip: Learn the days of the week. Read the sentences to become familiar with Arabic sentences.

 

[Muhaba]

Week 3

This week’s Vocabulary:
To - إلى
He – هو
She - هي
Where - أين
Went - ذهب
To be going - ذاهبٌ
City - مدينة

Sentences:
He is a boy. هو ولدٌ
She is a girl. هي بنتٌ

I am going. أنا ذاهبٌ
Where did the boy go? أين ذهَبَ الولد؟
He went to his house. هو ذهب إلى بيته
The boy went to his house. الولدُ ذَهَبَ إلى بَيْتِهِ.

The following are examples of sentences that start with a verb, known as جملة فعلية
The boy went. ذهب الولد
The girl went. ذهبتْ البنت
The boy studied. دَرَسَ الولد
The girl studied. دَرَسَتْ البنت.

The boy said, I don’t want to study. قال الولدُ أنا لا أريد أنْ أدرسَ
The girl said, I don’t want to study. قالَتْ البنتُ أنا لا أريدُ أنْ أدرسَ

Note that the subject of the sentence contains a damma on the last letter when it is singular.
You can make more complex sentences by adding a prepositional phrase to the جملة الفعلية :
The boy went to his house. ذهبَ الولدُ إلى بيته.
The girl went to her house. ذهبتْ البنتُ إلى بيتها

The boy studied in the school. درس الولد في المدرسةِ
The girl studied in the school. دَرَسَتْ البنت في المدرسةِ

As you can see from the examples, you can write the same sentence starting with a verb or a noun. ذهب الولدُ إلى المدرسةِ. الولدُ ذهبَ إلى المدرسةِ.


*******************************
Sentences of Common Usage:
Where are you from? من أين أنت؟ or أنت من أين؟
I am from (country name). أنا من ...
Where do you live? أين تسكن
I live in … … . أسكنُ في ...
I live in … City. أسكنُ في مدينة ....
Where are you? أيْنَ أنْت؟
I am at school.أنا في المَدْرَسَةِ
I am at the market. أنا في السُوق

Practice tip: write where you went recently.

Note: if there are any mistakes, let me know in PM. thank you

 

[Muhaba]

Supplement: List of subject pronouns
Here is a complete list of subject pronouns. Since you already learned some of these, learning these will be easy. Try to learn them all and use them in your sentences.


Iأنا
Weنحن

Heهو
Sheهي
They (dual) هما
They (masculine plural)هم
They (feminine plural)هنّ

You (masculine) أنت
You (feminine)أنتِ
You (dual)أنتما
You (masculine plural)أنتم
You (feminine plural)أنتن

 

[Muhaba]

Week 4
This week’s vocabulary:
Big كبير
School مَدْرَسَة
Student (male) طالب -
Student (female) طالبة -
Studied – دَرَسَ
Studies - يَدْرَسُ
Cat - قِطَّة
Near - قَرِيْب

To make simple sentences starting with nouns (الجملة الإسمية ) , you can use noun + a word that tells more about the noun, called khabar خبر in Arabic. The خبر can be an adjective, a verb phrase, a noun phrase, a prepositional phrase, etc.
Adjective as خبر :
The house is big. البيتُ كبيرٌ
The school is far. ٌ المدرسة ُ بعيدة
My house is near. بيتي قَرِيب

(Note: In Arabic, if a noun is at the beginning of a sentence it is normally a proper noun (that is, it contains ال ). A sentence may start with a preposition, for example: في البيت قطة A cat is in the house. If the subject is a common noun, it should be preceded by the predicate, as in the above sentence.

If the subject of a sentence is feminine, the adjective is also feminine.
The (female) student is intelligent. الطالبة زكية
The (male) student is intelligent. الطالب زكيٌ
Practice tip: make sentences to describe something or someone.

Verb phrase as خبر :
He is studying هو يدرس.
He studied . هو درسَ

Practice tip: make sentences to tell what someone did or is doing.

Noun as خبر:
I am a student. أنا طالبٌ
I am a (female) student. أنا طالبةٌ
The man is a teacher. الرجلُ مدرسٌ
The girl is a student. البنتُ طالبة ٌ.

Prepositional phrase as خبر :
The cat is in the garden. القطةُ في الحَدِيقةِ
The (female) students are in the class. الطالباتُ في الصفِ
The boy is in his house. الولدُ في بيتِه
I am in my room. أنا في غرفتِي
A man is in the car. في السيارةِ رجلٌ

Practice tip: make sentences to tell where something is.

Other forms of خبر :
I am going. أنا ذاهبٌ
He has studied. هو دارس


Note: if the subject is feminine, then the verb will also be feminine:
She is studying. . هي تدرس
She studied. . هيَّ دَرَسَتْ

Note: when a pronoun is attached to a noun, the noun doesn’t contain ال .
الولدَ في البيتِ
الولدَ في بيته
Practice tip: Make nominal sentences( الجملة الإسمية ) using different kinds of خبر . you can use nouns or pronouns. Use your English to Arabic dictionary to get nouns, verbs and adjectives.

**********************
Common usage:
Where would you like to go? أين تريد أن تذهبَ ؟
I want to go to the market. أريدُ أن أذهبَ إلى السوق.
Where are you going? أين تذهب؟
I am going to the market. أذهبُ إلى السوق.
******************

 

[Muhaba]

Supplement - Prepositions in sentences
This week’s vocabulary:
Prepositions:

On - على
In - في
Under - تحت
To - إلى
From - من

Table - طاولة
Bag - حقيبة
Cat - قطة
Bed - سرير

You already learned to use prepositions in الجملة الفعلية . You can also use them in الجملة الإسمية , as follows:
الولدُ في البيت ِ. The boy is in the house.
القطة ُ على الطاولة ِ. The cat is on the table.
الحقيبة ُ تحت السرير ِ. The bag is under the bed.

The boy is going to his house - الولدُ يذهبُ إلى بيتِه
The boy went to his house. - الولد ذهبَ إلى بيته
The boy is going to his house – الولدُ ذاهِبٌ إلى بيتِه

Note that the singular noun following the preposition contains a kasra ( ِ ) on the last letter.


Prepositions can also be placed at the beginning of a sentence, mainly if the subject of the sentence is not a proper noun.
في البيت ِ ولد ٌ A boy is in the house. (Literally, in the house is a boy.)
على الكرسية ِ حقيبة ٌ A bag is on the chair.
تحت الشجرِ قطة ٌ A cat is under the tree.

Note that in Arabic, a common noun usually contains tanwin ( ً , ٌ , ٍ ) on the last letter, while a proper noun contains only one vowel ( َ , ُ , ِ ).

Practice Tip: make sentences using prepositions.

 

[Muhaba]

Week 5 - Showing Possession in Arabic


Two ways to show possession in Arabic are: By using possessive pronouns (which are attached to the noun) and by using the word ل (which means of) + pronoun or noun.
Some examples:
Whose لِمَنْ (Whose book is this? لمن هذا الكتاب؟ )
Mine لي (This book is mine. هذا كتاب لي. )
Ours لنا (This house is ours. هذا البيت لنا. )
Yours masculine singular لكَ (It is yours. هو لَكَ )
Yours (feminine singular) لك ِ (the book is yours. الكتابُ لك ِ )
Yours (plural) لكمْ (The house is yours. البيتُ لكُمْ )
His له (The book is his. الكتاب له )
Hers لها (the bag is hers. الحقيبة لها )

To you be your way and to me, mine.
لكم دينكم و لي الدين
For you your deeds, and for us our deeds.
لكم أعمالكم و لنا أعمالنا.

The second way is to use possessive pronouns. Possessive pronouns are attached to the end of the noun.
Some possessive pronouns are:
My ي - your (masculine) كَ - your (feminine) كِ - your (plural) كم - his ه - hers ها - theirsهم - theirs (feminine) هن -
(note: some of these are the same as subject pronouns and some are the same as object pronouns.)

Some examples are as follows: (note that the pronoun at the end is the possessive pronoun.)
My book كتابي
Your bookكتابك
His book كتابه
Her book كتابها
Their bookكتابهم
Their (feminine) bookكتابهن
Their (dual) book كتابهما

Sentences using possessive pronouns:
Whose house is this? لِمَنْ هذا البيت؟
This is my house. هذا بيتي.
It is her house. إنّه بيتها
That is my bag. تلك حقيبتي.
The boys (or the children) went to their houses. الأولاد ذهبوا إلى بيوتهم.

A third way to show possession is to write the owner’s name after the possessed item’s name, with a kasra on the last letter of the second noun. The first noun contains the vowel appropriate for its position in the sentence.
The boy’s chair . كُرْسيةُ ولدِ
The boy’s chair is big. كرسيةُ الولدِ كبيرةٌ
The boy’s chair broke. كسر كرسيةُ الولدِ
I sat on the boy’s chair. جلسْتُ على كرسيةِ الولدِ
I bought the boy’s chair. أشْتريتُ كُرْسيةَ الولدِ
Note that the first noun (the possessed item مضاف ) contains a vowel appropriate for its position in the sentence, that is, whether it is the subject, the object, etc. The second noun (the possessor, مضاف إليه ) contains a kasra on the last letter. (This is equivalent to using an apostrophe + s ( ‘s ) to show possession in English.) As you can see from the above examples, when the singular noun is the subject of the sentence, it contains a damma on the last letter. When it is an object, it contains a fathha on the last letter. And when it follows a preposition, it contains a kasra on the last letter.
More examples:
حقيبةُ البناتِ
علبة كبريت
عطلة الصيفِ
مدرسون المدرسةِ
كتب الطلابِ
سيارات المدرسين

Note: possession doesn’t have to mean that the item is owned by someone.
For example in the following sentence, the relationship between the two words is that of possession, but one doesn’t own the other, just as in English, using an apostrophe + s doesn’t necessarily mean someone owns something:
The company’s director. مدير الشركةِ
Our class. صفنا
My God. إلهي
His sister. أخته
Your teacher. مدرستك

Practice tip: make sentences to show possession, using both pronouns and nouns.

 

[Muhaba]

W5 SUPPLEMENT – Possessive Pronouns

The following is a list of possessive pronouns along with examples:
My – كِِتَابي- ي (my book)
Our - كِتَابُُنا- نا (our book)

Your (masculine singular) - كتابكَ- كَ (your book)
Your (feminine singular) - كتابك ِ- ك ِ (your book)
Your (masculine dual) - كتابكما- كما (your book)
Your (feminine dual) - كتابكما- كما (your book)
Your (masculine plural) - ْ كتابكم- كم (your book)
Your (feminine plural) - كتابكُنَّ - كُنَّ (your book)

His - حقيبتهُ)- ه (his bag)
Her - حقيبتها- ها (her bag)
Their (masculine dual) - حَقِيْبَتهُما- هما (their bag)
Their (feminine dual) - حقيبتهما- هما (their bag)
Their (masculine plural) - حَقِيبَتهُمْ- همْ (their bag)
Their (feminine plural) - حقيبتهُنَّّ- هنّ (their bag)

Practice Tip: learn to use possessive pronouns.

 

[Muhaba]

Week 6: The Verbal Sentence
This week’s vocabulary:
Man رجل
Womanإمرأة
Male teacherمُدَرِّس
Female teacherمُدَرِّسَة
Student طالب
Female student طالبة
Mother - أم
Father - أب - أبو

More Subject Pronouns:
They (dual)هما
They (plural)همْ
They (plural feminine)هُنَّ

Sentences that start with a verb (known as جملة فعلية ):
To make simple sentences of this kind, place verb + noun:
The boy went. ذهبَ الولد ُ.
The (male) teacher laughed. ضحكَ المدرسُ.
The man sat. جلسَ الرجلُ.
The father beat his son. ضَرَبَ الأبُ ابْنَهُ

If the noun is feminine, place ت at the end of the past tense noun. (This تْ has a sukun on it.)
The (female) teacher went.ذهبَتْ المدرسة ُ.
The woman sat. ُ جلسَتْ المرأة
The mother looked at her son. نَظَرَتْ الأمُ إلى وَلَدِها.

In place of the noun in these sentences, a pronoun can also be used. This pronoun is attached to the verb:
I went - ذهبتُ
You went - ذهبتَ
We went - ذهبنا
They went - ذهبوا
They (feminine) went –ذهبْنَ

In the case of the pronouns he and she, the subject pronouns ( هو , هي ) are used with the verb, unless the verb is followed by a noun.
He went – هو ذهبَ
She went –هي ذهبَتْ
Khalid went - ذهبَ خالد
Maryam went –ذهبت مريم

Note: that in Arabic, the singular subject contains a damma ُ on the last letter.

**************
Common Usage:
What do you do? ماذا تعمل؟
I am a student. أنا طالبٌ - أنا طالبة. إنّني طالبٌ - إنني طالبة ٌ.
What are you doing? ماذا تفعل؟
I am studying. إنني أدرسُ. / أنا أدْرُسُ.
********************
Practice tip: write about what you or someone else did using past tense verbs. Use your English – Arabic dictionary for words.

 

[Muhaba]

Supplement - Conjugated Subject Pronouns:

There are subject pronouns (pronouns that show who is doing the action) which are attached to verbs. With some of these, it is not necessary to use nouns or pronouns, while with others it is necessary to clarify who is doing the action. The following are examples of subject pronouns attached to past tense verbs:
I - تُ
I went - ذَهَبْتُ
I said - قُلْتُ
I ate - أكَلْتُ

You (masculine) - تَ
You went - ذَهَبْتَ
You said - قُلْتَ
You ate - أكلْتَ

You (feminine) - تِ
You (feminine) went - ذهبْتِ
you (feminine) said - قُلْتِ
you (feminine) ate - أكَلْتِ

We - نا
We went - ذهبْنا
We said - قلْنا
We ate - أكلْنا

They (masculine) - وا
They went - ذَهَبُوا
They said - قالُوا
They ate - أكلُوا
They (feminine) - نَ
They (feminine) went - ذَهَبْنَ
They (feminine) said - قُلْنَ
They (feminine) ate - أكلْنَ

Some sentences using subject pronouns conjugated with verbs:
I went home. ذهبْتُ إلى البيتِ
You asked a question.سألْتَ سؤالاً
Where are the children? They went to school. أينَ الأولاد؟ ذهبوا إلى المدرسة
Have you eaten dinner? Yes, we have. هل أكلْتم العشاء ؟ نعم, أكلنا

Practice tip: tell what people did using conjugated subject pronouns.

 

[Muhaba]

Week 7- Making more complex sentences
This week’s vocabulary:
Plateسحن
Tableطاولة
Fellسقط
Park / gardenحديقة
From من
Toإلى
Onعلى
Apple تفاحة

You can make more complex sentences by adding a preposition + noun to the sentence:
The boy went to the park. ذهبَ الولدُ إلى الحديقةِ
The student went to his house. ذهب الطالبُ إلى بيته or ذهب الطالبُ إلى البيت (which means the same thing, to his house and not to the house.)
The plate fell from the table سقط السحنُ من الطاولةِ.
The man sat on the chair. ِ جلسَ الرجلُ على الكرسي

Or by using a direct object in the sentence:
The (female) teacher read the lesson. قرأتْ المدرسة ُ الدرسَ.
The boy ate an apple. أكل الولدُ التفاحة َ.
I ate dinner. أكلْتُ العشاء


Note that the direct object contains a fathha َ on the last letter when it is singular.
Practice tip: make sentences using prepositional phrases and direct objects.

 

[LightLine]

thank you sister , very useful

 

[Salahudeen]

jazakallah khair

 

[Muhaba]

Week 7 Supplement: Other conjugations

In Arabic, pronouns can be attached to prepositions as well as nouns.
Here are some examples of pronouns attached to prepositions.
From us - = منا من + نا
To us - لَ + نا = لنا
In it - في + ه = فيه
To him - ل + ه = له
To it - إلى + ه = إليه
To us -إلى + نا = إلينا
To you - إلى + ك = إليك
To her - إلى + ها = إليها
On it - على + ه = عليه

Some examples in sentences:
It belongs to me. هو لي
Send it to him. أرسله إليه
Go to him (or go to it).اذهب إليه
Learn from us.تتعلم منا
It is in it. هو فيه
It is on it. هو عليه

Practice: make sentences using prepositions conjugated with pronouns.

 

[piXie]

Assalamu alaikum

I joined late and trying to catch up. Please could you put the harakahs on the letters?

Good initiative, jazakAllaah Khair

 

[Muhaba]

thank you. insha-Allah i will try to do that.

 

[piXie]

Inshaa Allaah, please as soon as you can as I really want to do this its brilliant mashaa Allaah. jazakAllaah Khair

 

[Muhaba]

Week 8: The Present Tense
This week’s vocabulary:

Some present tense verbs (with the past tense verb in parentheses):
To drink - شَرِبَ- يَشْرَبُ drank
To sleep - نامَ- ينامُ slept
To eat - أكلَ- يأكُلُ
To study - درسَ- يدْرَسُ
To walk - مشا- يمْشي
To return - عادَ- يَعودُ returned
To stand - قامَ- يقومُ
To wait - انتظر- ينتظِرُ

Up till now I mostly used verbs in the past tense, like ذهب , درس .
To make the present tense of the verb, add one of the present tense letters to the beginning of the (past tense) verb: for example, يدرسُ <- درسَ , يذهبُ <- ذهبَ
The present tense letters are: , ي , ت , ن أ/إ
I study / I am studying أدرسُ
I am going. أذهبُ
We study ندرسُ

He studies(هو) يدرسُ
She studies(هي) تدرس

You study(أنتَ) تدرس

Noun + present tense verbs:
The boy studies. الولدُ يدرس
The girl studies. البنتُ تدرس

Practice tip: make sentences about what you or someone else is doing using present tense verbs. use nouns as well as pronouns in your sentences.