إلى — to and until | Arabic (Modern Standard) Grammar

إلى (ʾilā) presents something as an endpoint: the destination of motion, the limit of a period, the conclusion of reasoning, or the target selected by a verb. English often translates it as to or until, but many English to*s require a different Arabic construction. The reliable question is not “Does English have *to?” but “Is Arabic construing this complement as a goal or endpoint?”

As a preposition, إلى governs a genitive noun: إلى المكتبِ “to the office.” Before an attached pronoun, its stem is إليـ: إليه، إليها، إليّ. This stem change must be learned; simply adding a suffix to written إلى would produce the wrong form. Compare the larger paradigm on Pronoun Suffixes after Prepositions.

Spatial goals

Use إلى for directed movement toward a destination. It contrasts with في, which locates something within a setting. ذهبت إلى المكتبة answers “where did you go?”, while كنت في المكتبة answers “where were you?”

ذهبنا إلى المكتبة بعد انتهاء المحاضرة.

dhahabnā ʾilā l-maktabati baʿda ntihāʾi l-muḥāḍara.

We went to the library after the lecture ended.

سافر الوفد من الرباط إلى تونس عبر الجزائر.

sāfara l-wafdu mina r-ribāṭi ʾilā tūnisa ʿabra l-jazāʾir.

The delegation traveled from Rabat to Tunis via Algeria.

نقلت الصناديق إلى الغرفة الخلفية وتركتها فيها.

naqaltu ṣ-ṣanādīqa ʾilā l-ghurfati l-khalfiyyati wa-taraktuhā fīhā.

I moved the boxes to the back room and left them there.

The last example separates the path's endpoint إلى الغرفة from the resulting location فيها. Reaching the endpoint may be entailed by some verbs and merely intended by others: توجه إلى المطار “headed to the airport” does not guarantee arrival.

When إلى meets the definite article, hamzat al-waṣl in الـ is not pronounced in connected speech. Sun letters assimilate: إلى السوق is ʾilā s-sūq, while the spelling keeps الـ.

Temporal endpoints

إلى marks the right edge of an interval. It frequently appears with من: من التاسعة إلى الخامسة “from nine to five,” من الاثنين إلى الجمعة “from Monday to Friday.” Whether the endpoint is included depends on the real-world convention and context; the preposition itself does not settle every scheduling question.

تفتح المكتبة أبوابها من الثامنة صباحا إلى السادسة مساء.

taftaḥu l-maktabatu ʾabwābahā mina th-thāminati ṣabāḥan ʾilā s-sādisati masāʾ.

The library is open from eight in the morning until six in the evening.

أجلت اللجنة التصويت إلى نهاية الأسبوع.

ʾajjalati l-lajnatu t-taṣwīta ʾilā nihāyati l-ʾusbūʿ.

The committee postponed the vote until the end of the week.

In إلى نهاية الأسبوع, إلى governs نهايةِ, and الأسبوعِ is genitive as the second term of the internal iḍāfa. With a clause, use إلى أنْ followed by the subjunctive imperfect when the endpoint is prospective.

سنبقى هنا إلى أن ينتهي الاجتماع.

sanabqā hunā ʾilā ʾan yantahiya l-ijtimāʿ.

We will stay here until the meeting ends.

💡

With a noun, إلى directly governs the genitive. Before a prospective event clause, إلى أنْ + subjunctive imperfect turns that event into the temporal boundary.

Abstract endpoints and verb government

Reasoning, communication, and change can have endpoints too. Modern Standard Arabic uses إلى after many verbs and nouns: أشار إلى “referred/pointed to,” استمع إلى “listened to,” توصل إلى “reached,” احتاج إلى “needed,” أدى إلى “led to,” and دعا إلى “called for.” Learn each predicate together with its complement.

أشار التقرير إلى ارتفاع تكاليف النقل.

ʾashāra t-taqrīru ʾilā rtifāʿi takālīfi n-naql.

The report pointed to an increase in transport costs. (Formal.)

توصل الباحثون إلى نتيجة مختلفة بعد مراجعة البيانات.

tawaṣṣala l-bāḥithūna ʾilā natījatin mukhtalifatin baʿda murājaʿati l-bayānāt.

The researchers reached a different conclusion after reviewing the data. (English ‘reach’ takes a direct object.)

استمعنا إلى البيان ثم قرأنا نصه الكامل.

istamaʿnā ʾilā l-bayāni thumma qaraʾnā naṣṣahu l-kāmil.

We listened to the statement and then read its full text. (Government contrast: استمع إلى, but قرأ + direct object.)

The contrast is lexical, not a difference in the thing heard or read. سمع البيان also takes a direct object, whereas deliberate listening is استمع إلى البيان.

Formal prose uses several fixed collocations whose English equivalents may choose other prepositions or none at all:

Arabic collocation	Usual function
بِالنَّظَرِ إِلَى	given / considering / in view of
بِالْإِضَافَةِ إِلَى	in addition to
اسْتِنَادًا إِلَى	on the basis of / based on
بِالْقِيَاسِ إِلَى	in comparison with

استنادا إلى الأدلة المتاحة، أوصت اللجنة بإجراء مراجعة مستقلة.

istinādan ʾilā l-ʾadillati l-mutāḥati, ʾawṣati l-lajnatu bi-ʾijrāʾi murājaʿatin mustaqilla.

On the basis of the available evidence, the committee recommended an independent review. (Formal.)

Attached pronouns: إليه, إليها, and إليّ

Before a suffix, إلى uses the stem إِلَيْـ. The masculine third-person form is إِلَيْهِ ʾilayhi in connected speech; the feminine is إِلَيْهَا ʾilayhā. First-person إِلَيَّ ʾilayya has doubled y. Under the guide's unvocalized display convention, first-person target text appears as إلي; the vocalized spokenForm makes the pronunciation explicit.

Complement	Form	Reading
me	إِلَيَّ	ʾilayya
you (m.sg.)	إِلَيْكَ	ʾilayka
you (f.sg.)	إِلَيْكِ	ʾilayki
him/it	إِلَيْهِ	ʾilayhi
her/it	إِلَيْهَا	ʾilayhā
us	إِلَيْنَا	ʾilaynā
them (m.)	إِلَيْهِمْ	ʾilayhim

أرسلت إليه الملف صباحا، فرد علي بعد ساعة.

ʾarsaltu ʾilayhi l-malaffa ṣabāḥan, fa-radda ʿalayya baʿda sāʿa.

I sent him the file in the morning, and he replied to me an hour later.

هذه هي النتيجة التي توصلت إليها اللجنة.

hādhihi hiya n-natījatu llatī tawaṣṣalat ʾilayhā l-lajna.

This is the conclusion that the committee reached.

أعد الكتاب إلي غدا، من فضلك.

ʾaʿidi l-kitāba ʾilayya ghadan, min faḍlik.

Return the book to me tomorrow, please. (Addressing one man.)

At a natural sentence-final pause, connected إليهِ may be read إليهْ ʾilayh. Inside the first example it is followed by الملف, so the connected form ʾilayhi is represented.

إلى versus لـ

Both can correspond to English to, but their organizing meanings differ. إلى marks a goal or endpoint; لـ commonly marks a recipient, beneficiary, purpose, or addressee selected by a verb. Compare ذهبت إلى المدير “I went to the director” with قلت للمدير “I said to/told the director,” and أرسلت الطرد إلى المكتب “I sent the parcel to the office” with أرسلت للمدير رسالة “I sent the director a message.” Some verbs conventionally choose one, so semantics and government work together.

ذهبت إلى المديرة لأشرح لها المشكلة.

dhahabtu ʾilā l-mudīrati li-ʾashraḥa lahā l-mushkila.

I went to the director to explain the problem to her. (Goal إلى; purpose لـ; recipient لها.)

An English infinitive to is not a preposition at all. Arabic uses أنْ + subjunctive, a bare subjunctive after certain particles, or a maṣdar construction—not إلى + verb.

💡

Classify each English to: destination, recipient, purpose, or infinitive marker. Only a destination or abstract endpoint reliably points toward إلى.

Common Mistakes

Choosing إلى for every English “to”

❌ قلت إلى المدير إن الموعد تغير.

Incorrect—قال marks its addressee with لـ, not إلى.

✅ قلت للمدير إن الموعد تغير.

qultu lil-mudīri ʾinna l-mawʿida taghayyar.

I told the director that the appointment had changed.

Putting إلى before an infinitive because English has “to”

❌ أريد إلى أقرأ التقرير.

Incorrect—English infinitival ‘to’ is not translated with the Arabic preposition إلى.

✅ أريد أن أقرأ التقرير قبل الاجتماع.

ʾurīdu ʾan ʾaqraʾa t-taqrīra qabla l-ijtimāʿ.

I want to read the report before the meeting.

Giving the following noun nominative case

❌ ذهبنا إلى المكتب، مع نطق المكتب بالضمة.

Incorrect in fully inflected Arabic—إلى governs genitive المكتبِ.

✅ ذهبنا إلى المكتب بعد الظهر.

dhahabnā ʾilā l-maktabi baʿda ẓ-ẓuhr.

We went to the office in the afternoon.

Stranding the preposition

❌ هذا هو الشخص الذي أرسلت الرسالة إلى.

Incorrect—formal Arabic keeps إلى attached to a resumptive pronoun.

✅ هذا هو الشخص الذي أرسلت الرسالة إليه.

hādhā huwa sh-shakhṣu lladhī ʾarsaltu r-risālata ʾilayh.

This is the person to whom I sent the letter.

Detaching suffixes or one-letter prepositions

❌ أرسلت إلى ه رسالة وشرحت ل ه السبب.

Incorrect—pronoun suffixes attach to their host, and one-letter لـ also attaches.

✅ أرسلت إليه رسالة وشرحت له السبب.

ʾarsaltu ʾilayhi risālatan wa-sharaḥtu lahu s-sabab.

I sent him a letter and explained the reason to him.

Key Takeaways

إلى marks spatial, temporal, and abstract endpoints and governs a genitive noun.
Before suffixes, use إليـ: إليه، إليها، إليّ (ʾilayhi, ʾilayhā, ʾilayya).
Learn government such as استمع إلى، أشار إلى، توصل إلى rather than translating English prepositions mechanically.
Distinguish endpoint إلى from recipient/purpose لـ, and never use إلى merely because an English infinitive contains to.

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