This original travel-guide entry was written for the guide. It describes the old city of Fez in Morocco in contemporary Modern Standard Arabic (formal/travel), with broadly established cultural features rather than copied promotional language. A guide entry must locate places, build a vivid but responsible description, and explain culture-specific terms without turning residents and working neighborhoods into scenery.
Arabic travel prose often begins with nominal sentences: a place is presented as a stable scene before the visitor's movement begins. Prepositional predicates position gates, lanes, workshops, and landmarks; adjectives add evaluation but must agree with their nouns; and local terms need contextual explanation. English speakers should pay particular attention to adjective position and to feminine-singular agreement with non-human plurals. The reusable patterns appear in Location Sentences, Adjective Agreement, and Nominal versus Verbal Style.
The complete guide entry
جولة في مدينة فاس القديمة
مدينة فاس القديمة متاهة حية من الأزقة الضيقة والأسواق المسقوفة والبيوت ذات الأفنية الداخلية. عند بعض أبوابها ساحات مزدحمة، وفي داخل الأسوار أحياء ما زال الحرفيون يعملون في ورشها الصغيرة.
تبدأ جولة مناسبة من باب بوجلود، ثم تمتد عبر طرق متعرجة نحو جامع القرويين والمنطقة المحيطة به. وعلى جانبي الطريق دكاكين تعرض مصنوعات نحاسية ومنسوجات وتوابل. أما المدابغ، فهي أماكن عمل تعالج فيها الجلود بطرائق تقليدية، وقد تكون روائحها قوية لبعض الزوار.
السير هو الوسيلة الأسهل في معظم الأزقة، لأن كثيرا منها لا يتسع للسيارات. ارتد حذاء مريحا، واسأل قبل تصوير الأشخاص أو داخل الورش. والمدينة القديمة ليست متحفا مفتوحا فقط؛ إنها أيضا حي يسكنه الناس ويعملون فيه، ولذلك يحسن بالزائر أن يحترم خصوصيتهم وحركة العمل اليومية.
Faithful translation
A Walk through the Old City of Fez
The old city of Fez is a living maze of narrow lanes, covered markets, and houses with inner courtyards. Near some of its gates are busy squares, and inside the walls are neighborhoods where craftspeople still work in small workshops.
A suitable walk begins at Bab Bou Jeloud, then continues along winding routes toward al-Qarawiyyin Mosque and the surrounding area. On both sides of the route are shops displaying copperware, textiles, and spices. Tanneries are workplaces where hides are treated by traditional methods, and their smells may be strong for some visitors.
Walking is the easiest means of travel in most lanes because many are too narrow for cars. Wear comfortable shoes, and ask before photographing people or the inside of workshops. The old city is not only an open-air museum; it is also a neighborhood where people live and work. A visitor should therefore respect their privacy and the rhythm of daily work.
Nominal sentences establish the scene
مدينة فاس القديمة متاهة حية من الأزقة الضيقة والأسواق المسقوفة والبيوت ذات الأفنية الداخلية.
madīnatu fāsa l-qadīmatu matāhatun ḥayyatun mina l-ʾaziqqati ḍ-ḍayyiqati wa-l-ʾaswāqi l-masqūfati wa-l-buyūti dhāti l-ʾafniyati d-dākhiliyya(h).
The old city of Fez is a living maze of narrow lanes, covered markets, and houses with inner courtyards.
The present-tense copula is zero: Arabic joins subject مدينة فاس القديمة directly to predicate متاهة حية. The iḍāfa مدينة فاس makes the city definite through the proper name, so adjective القديمة is also definite. Predicate متاهة remains indefinite because it classifies the city rather than identifying it with a unique maze.
The three non-human plurals الأزقة، الأسواق، البيوت each take feminine-singular adjectives: الضيقة، المسقوفة, and—through ذات الأفنية الداخلية—a feminine singular relational expression. English plural morphology gives no warning that Arabic will treat these plurals grammatically as feminine singular in agreement.
المدينة القديمة ليست متحفا مفتوحا فقط؛ إنها أيضا حي يسكنه الناس ويعملون فيه.
al-madīnatu l-qadīmatu laysat matḥafan maftūḥan faqaṭ; ʾinnahā ʾayḍan ḥayyun yaskunuhu n-nāsu wa-yaʿmalūna fīh.
The old city is not only an open-air museum; it is also a neighborhood where people live and work.
ليست supplies present negation and agrees with feminine المدينة. Heavy إنها reasserts the same topic before a corrective predicate. Indefinite حي is followed directly by descriptive clause يسكنه الناس ويعملون فيه; object suffix ـه after يسكن and prepositional ـه after في both resume the place.
Fronted location phrases guide the reader's eye
عند بعض أبوابها ساحات مزدحمة، وفي داخل الأسوار أحياء يعمل الحرفيون في ورشها الصغيرة.
ʿinda baʿḍi ʾabwābihā sāḥātun muzdaḥimatun, wa-fī dākhili l-ʾaswāri ʾaḥyāʾun yaʿmalu l-ḥirafiyyūna fī warashihā ṣ-ṣaghīra(h).
Near some of its gates are busy squares, and inside the walls are neighborhoods where craftspeople work in small workshops.
The locatives عند بعض أبوابها and في داخل الأسوار come first because the guide mentally places the reader before introducing what is there. Indefinite ساحات and أحياء are delayed subjects. Non-human plural ساحات takes feminine-singular مزدحمة; أحياء takes a descriptive clause whose human plural subject الحرفيون controls masculine plural meaning inside it.
وعلى جانبي الطريق دكاكين تعرض مصنوعات نحاسية ومنسوجات وتوابل.
wa-ʿalā jānibayi ṭ-ṭarīqi dakākīnu taʿriḍu maṣnūʿātin nuḥāsiyyatan wa-mansūjātin wa-tawābil.
On both sides of the route are shops displaying copperware, textiles, and spices.
The dual loses its ن in the iḍāfa جانبي الطريق. Delayed دكاكين is indefinite and modified by تعرض without a relative pronoun. Because دكاكين is a non-human plural, the verb is feminine singular even though individual shopkeepers are human.
تبدأ جولة مناسبة من باب بوجلود، ثم تمتد عبر طرق متعرجة نحو جامع القرويين.
tabdaʾu jawlatun munāsibatun min bābi būjlūd, thumma tamtaddu ʿabra ṭuruqin mutaʿarrijatin naḥwa jāmiʿi l-qarawiyyīn.
A suitable walk begins at Bab Bou Jeloud, then continues along winding routes toward al-Qarawiyyin Mosque.
The verbal sentence shifts from description to movement. من gives the starting point, عبر the path, and نحو the direction without promising arrival inside the religious complex. Feminine-singular تمتد refers to جولة, while feminine-singular adjective متعرجة agrees with non-human plural طرق.
Adjectives: description, agreement, and responsible evaluation
السير هو الوسيلة الأسهل في معظم الأزقة، لأن كثيرا منها لا يتسع للسيارات.
as-sayru huwa l-wasīlatu l-ʾashalu fī muʿẓami l-ʾaziqqati, li-ʾanna kathīran minhā lā yattasiʿu li-s-sayyārāt.
Walking is the easiest means of travel in most lanes because many are too narrow for cars.
Separation pronoun هو clarifies the definite predicate boundary. Elative الأسهل agrees in definiteness but does not take a feminine ending. In كثيرا منها, the masculine singular partitive refers to “many of them” as members of the set of lanes; the following singular يتسع agrees with that grammatical head, not directly with plural الأزقة.
قد تكون روائح المدابغ قوية لبعض الزوار.
qad takūnu rawāʾiḥu l-madābighi qawiyyatan li-baʿḍi z-zuwwār.
The smells of the tanneries may be strong for some visitors.
قد + imperfect marks possibility rather than declaring a universal reaction. Non-human plural روائح takes feminine-singular copula تكون and predicate قوية. The phrase لبعض الزوار identifies affected experiencers without calling a working craft district inherently unpleasant.
ارتد حذاء مريحا، واسأل قبل تصوير الأشخاص أو داخل الورش.
irtadi ḥidhāʾan murīḥan, wa-sʾal qabla taṣwīri l-ʾashkhāṣi ʾaw dākhila l-warash.
Wear comfortable shoes, and ask before photographing people or the inside of workshops.
This sentence changes from description to advice (formal/travel). Weak-final imperative ارتد acquires a connecting vowel in speech before the following noun. قبل تصوير uses a verbal noun, allowing one rule to cover photographing people and workshop interiors. Asking permission treats the medina as a lived and worked space, not merely a visual attraction.
Culture-specific vocabulary in context
المدابغ أماكن عمل تعالج فيها الجلود بطرائق تقليدية.
al-madābighu ʾamākinu ʿamalin tuʿālaju fīhā l-julūdu bi-ṭarāʾiqa taqlīdiyya(h).
Tanneries are workplaces where hides are treated by traditional methods.
Instead of substituting a one-word English gloss and moving on, the guide defines المدابغ by function. Passive تعالج centers the hides and process; فيها resumes plural place أماكن with the standard feminine-singular suffix. This contextual definition is more useful than exoticizing the site.
في الأسواق دكاكين تعرض مصنوعات نحاسية ومنسوجات وتوابل.
fī l-ʾaswāqi dakākīnu taʿriḍu maṣnūʿātin nuḥāsiyyatan wa-mansūjātin wa-tawābil.
In the markets are shops displaying copperware, textiles, and spices.
السوق can denote both a commercial market and a spatially organized traditional market district; the local context determines the scope. Nisba adjective نحاسية means “made of / relating to copper” and agrees with non-human plural مصنوعات as feminine singular.
Comprehension and production
- Which sentences present stable characteristics, and which verbs move the visitor along a route?
- Find four fronted location phrases and identify the delayed subject in each.
- List five feminine-singular forms controlled by non-human plurals.
- How does the text define المدابغ and frame etiquette without reducing the old city to a museum?
For production, write a 130-word entry for a real place you know well. Open with a nominal sentence, use three fronted locatives, describe one route with من...عبر...نحو, include two non-human plurals with feminine-singular adjectives, define one culture-specific term in context, and add one respectful practical instruction. Verify any factual claim about the place.
Common Mistakes
Placing the adjective before the noun by copying English order
❌ الضيقة الأزقة تمر بين البيوت.
Incorrect neutral adjective order—Arabic normally places the descriptive adjective after الأزقة.
✅ الأزقة الضيقة تمر بين البيوت القديمة.
al-ʾaziqqatu ḍ-ḍayyiqatu tamurru bayna l-buyūti l-qadīma(h).
The narrow lanes pass between the old houses.
Giving a non-human plural a plural adjective
❌ طرق متعرجات تؤدي إلى السوق.
Incorrect in neutral MSA—non-human plural طرق takes feminine-singular متعرجة.
✅ طرق متعرجة تؤدي إلى السوق القديم.
ṭuruqun mutaʿarrijatun tuʾaddī ʾilā s-sūqi l-qadīm.
Winding routes lead to the old market.
Inserting a present copula into a simple nominal sentence
❌ المدينة تكون متاهة حية.
Unnatural for a plain present classification—تكون adds a marked modal or contextual meaning rather than serving as a neutral ‘is.’
✅ المدينة متاهة حية من الأزقة والأسواق.
al-madīnatu matāhatun ḥayyatun mina l-ʾaziqqati wa-l-ʾaswāq.
The city is a living maze of lanes and markets.
Describing a lived neighborhood as though only tourists matter
❌ الأزقة مكان مجاني لصور الزوار.
Grammatically possible as a collective classification, but irresponsible framing—it reduces lived and working lanes to free scenery for visitors.
✅ اسأل قبل تصوير الأشخاص، واحترم حركة العمل في الورش.
isʾal qabla taṣwīri l-ʾashkhāṣi, wa-ḥtarim ḥarakata l-ʿamali fī l-warash.
Ask before photographing people, and respect the activity of work in the workshops.
Key Takeaways
- Nominal sentences present stable scenes; verbal sentences move a route or narrate an action.
- Fronted prepositional and locative phrases place the reader before introducing an indefinite location subject.
- Arabic adjectives follow their nouns and match definiteness, gender, number, and case; non-human plurals normally take feminine-singular agreement.
- A useful guide defines local vocabulary through function and context, not through a decontextualized word list.
- Register includes stance: respectful travel writing recognizes that a destination may also be someone's home and workplace.
Now practice Arabic
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- Procedure: How to Complete an ApplicationB1 — Follow an original application procedure through direct imperatives, passive directives, sequencing expressions, and attached object pronouns.
- Popular-Science ExplanationB1 — Read an original explanation of the sky's color through definitions, cause and result, passive voice, and technical nisba adjectives.
- Locative SentencesA1 — Locate known people and things, or introduce new ones, with prepositional and adverbial predicates in present-tense Arabic.
- Adjective Agreement: Gender, Number, Case, and DefinitenessA1 — Build Arabic noun phrases by matching adjectives in gender, number, case, and definiteness, including the nonhuman-plural pattern.
- Nominal versus Verbal StyleC1 — Choose between nominal and verbal Arabic according to topic continuity, agency, tense, density, and the reader's processing needs.