Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

### Expressing "To Have"

In Arabic, there is no direct equivalent for the verb "to have." Instead, you use prepositions and attach pronoun suffixes. The literal meaning is closer to "at me is..." or "with me is...".

Depending on what you are talking about, choose between three prepositions: عند, مع, or لـ.

### General Possession with عند

The most common word for possession is عند (at). Use it for general ownership, schedules, time, and abstract concepts like having a question or a problem.

- **عندي** = I have
- **عندك** = you have
- **عنده** = he has
- **عندنا** = we have

To say a specific person has something, put عند before their name or title: عند الطالب (the student has).

{{item:1085853}}

{{item:1085857}}

{{item:1085860}}

{{item:1085864}}

{{item:1085866}}

### Physical Possession with مع

If you have something physically on your person at this exact moment—such as carrying money or wearing a watch—use the preposition مع (with). 

- **معي** = I have (with me)
- **معك** = you have (with you)

{{item:1085872}}

{{item:1085875}}

### Relational Possession with لـ

When talking about family members or relationships, Arabic uses the preposition لـ (to/for). Attach the pronoun suffix to the end.

- **لي** = I have (literally: to me is)
- **له** = he has

{{item:1085876}}

{{item:1085877}}

Having and possessing (عند، لـ، مع)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

interrogative

noun

numeral

particle

prefix

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

The definite article and locatives (الـ)

Basic noun gender (ة)

Sun and moon letters

Singular subject pronouns (أنا، أنت، هو، هي)

Indefinite nouns and nominal sentences (ـٌ)

Demonstrative pronouns for 'this' (هذا / هذه)

Separate prepositions (في، من، إلى، على)

Attributive adjectives

Predicative adjectives

Yes/No questions (هل، أ)

Basic questions (من، ما، أين)

Singular possessive pronouns (ـي، ـك، ـه، ـها)

Plural subject pronouns (نحن، أنتم، هم)

Plural possessive pronouns (ـنا، ـكم، ـهم)

Noun possession

Attached prepositions (بـ، لـ، كـ)

Pronouns with prepositions

Regular plural nouns (ـون، ـين، ـات)

Broken plurals

Dual nouns (ـان / ـين)

Plural and distant demonstratives (هؤلاء، ذلك، تلك)

Non-human plural agreement

Present tense singular verbs

Verbal sentences (VSO)

Present tense plural verbs

Topicalized sentences (SVO)

The indefinite accusative case (ـاً)

Verb object pronouns (-ني، -ك، -ه)

Present tense negation (لا)

Question words with verbs (متى، كيف...)

Adverbs of time and place

The future tense (سـ / سوف)

Intentions and desires (أن)

Negating states and possession (ليس)

Past tense singular suffixes

Past tense plural suffixes

Negating past events (ما)

Singular commands

Numbers 1 to 10

Number agreement for 1 and 2 (واحد، اثنان)

Asking how many (كم)

Numbers 3 to 10 (ثلاثة إلى عشرة)

Ordinal numbers 1 to 10 (الأول، الثاني)

Basic conjunctions (فـ، أو، لكن)

Ordering at a café (واحد، اثنان)

Food and drink with conjunctions (و، ف، أو، لكن)

There is and there are (هناك / ليس هناك)

Direct address (يا)

Giving reasons (لأنّ)

Relative pronouns (الذي / التي)

Quantifiers (كل / بعض)

The past tense of 'to be' (كان)

Past possession

Numbers 11 to 19 and tens to 80

Telling time (الساعة)

This book vs this is a book (هذا الكتاب، هذا كتاب)

Greetings (مرحبا، السلام عليكم)

How are you? and goodbye (كيف حالك، مع السلامة)

Nationalities (مصري، مصرية)

Roots and patterns (كتب، كتاب، مكتب)

Politeness (من فضلك، آسف)

Complex possession chains

Colors and traits (أفعل / فعلاء)

Plural colors and traits (فُعْل)

Comparative adjectives (أفعل من)

Superlative adjectives (أفعل)

Adverbs of manner (ـاً)

The nominative case (ـُ)

The genitive case (ـِ)

The accusative case (ـَ)

Dual noun cases (ـان / ـين)

Masculine plurals and 'the best of' (أفضل النجارين)

Emphasizing sentences (إنّ)

Connecting clauses (أنّ)

Reporting speech (قال إنّ)

Expressing contrast (لكنّ)

Comparison and probability (كأنّ, لعلّ)

Distant plural pointing (أولئك)

Plural relative pronouns (الذين, اللواتي)

Past habits (كان + present)

Ongoing actions (ما زال)

Masculine plurals online (مبرمجون، مؤثرون)

Perfective past (قد)

Probability (قد)

The subjunctive mood (أن)

Expressing purpose (لـ)

Question	Answer
at / to have	عند'inda
question	سؤالsu'âl
I have a question.	عندي سؤال.indî su'âlun
Do you (m) have a question?	هل عندك سؤال؟hal 'indaka su'âl?
problem	مشكلةmushkila
I have a problem in the car.	عندي مشكلة في السيارة.'indî mushkilatun fî s-sayyârah
The student (m) has a big problem.	عند الطالب مشكلة كبيرة.'inda at-tâlibi mushkilatun kabîratun
appointment / scheduled time	موعدmaw'id
tomorrow	غداghadan
We have an appointment at the hospital tomorrow.	عندنا موعد في المستشفى غدا.'indanâ maw'idun fi al-mustashfâ ghadan
The doctor (m) has an appointment now.	عند الطبيب موعد الآن.'inda at-tabîbi maw'idun al-âna
meeting	اجتماعijtimâ'
I have a meeting in the office now.	عندي اجتماع في المكتب الآن.indi ijtimâ'un fi al-maktabi al-ân.
The manager (m) has a meeting tomorrow.	عند المدير اجتماع غدا.inda al-mudîri ijtimâun ghadan
time	وقتwaqt
Do you (m) have time?	هل عندك وقت؟hal indaka waqtun?
schedule / program (plan)	برنامجbarnâmaj
We have time for the program.	عندنا وقت للبرنامج.'indanâ waqtun lilbarnâmaji
Does she have a new program?	هل عندها برنامج جديد؟hal 'indahâ barnâmajun jadîdun
watch / hour	ساعةsâ'a
I have a beautiful watch.	عندي ساعة جميلة.indi sâ'atun jamîlatun
Do you (m) have a watch with you?	هل معك ساعة؟hal maaka sâah?
money	مالmâl
Do you (m) have money with you?	هل معك مال؟hal maaka mâl?
I have money with me for the ticket.	معي مال للتذكرة.ma'î mâlun lit-tadhkirah
I have a brother and a sister.	لي أخ وأخت.lî akhun wa'ukhtun.
He has a smart brother.	له أخ ذكي.lahu akhun zhakiyyun

Contributors