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This lesson introduces vocabulary to help you talk about the Arabic language itself, including its structure, punctuation, and how it sounds.

### Letters and Sentences

At the most basic level of written language is the "letter" (حرف). The plural is حروف. When talking about how to say these letters out loud, use the verb "to pronounce" (نطق).

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Letters form words, and words combine into a "sentence" (جملة). The plural of جملة is جمل. When learning new Arabic sentences, you will often need to ask for their "meaning" (معنى).

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### Phrases, Punctuation, and Lines

A group of words that functions as a single unit is a "phrase" (عبارة).

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When writing phrases and sentences, you need punctuation. The word for a "comma" is فاصلة. These elements are written on a "line" (سطر) of text.

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### Brackets, Spelling, and Dialects

Another common punctuation mark is the "bracket" (قوس). Because words are usually placed "between" (بين) two brackets, you will often see it in the genitive dual form قوسين.

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Writing words correctly requires good "spelling" or "dictation" (إملاء).

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Finally, when speaking, the way a language sounds can vary greatly depending on the region. A specific regional variety of a language is called a "dialect" (لهجة).

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Language & Punctuation

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

Having and possessing (عند، لـ، مع)

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)

Question	Answer
letter	حرفharf
These are Arabic letters.	هذه حروف عربية.hâdhihi hurûfun 'arabiyyah
to pronounce	نطقnataqa
The student pronounced the letter slowly.	نطق الطالب الحرف ببطء.naṭaqa aṭṭâlibu alḥarfa bibuṭ'in.
How do you pronounce this letter?	كيف تنطق هذا الحرف؟kayfa tantiqu hâdhâ al-harfa?
sentence	جملةjumla
The professor wrote a long sentence.	كتبت الأستاذة جملة طويلة.katabati l-ustâdhatu jumlatan tawîlatan
These are short sentences.	هذه جمل قصيرة.hâdhihi jumalun qasîratun
meaning	معنىma'nan
What is the meaning of this sentence?	ما معنى هذه الجملة؟mâ ma'nâ hâdhihil jumlah?
I know the meaning of this word.	أنا أعرف معنى هذه الكلمة.ana a'rifu ma'nâ hâdhihi l-kalimah
phrase	عبارة'ibâra
This phrase is longer than that one.	هذه العبارة أطول من تلك.hâdhihi al-‘ibârâtu atwalu min tilka
I heard a phrase I do not know.	سمعت عبارة لا أعرفها.sami'tu 'ibâratan lâ a'rifuhâ.
comma	فاصلةfâsila
I want to put a comma after this phrase.	أريد أن أضع فاصلة بعد هذه العبارة.ureedu an adaa fâsilatan bada hâdhihi al-ibârah
The student forgot a comma here.	نسيت الطالبة فاصلة هنا.nasiyati t-tâlibatu fâsilatan hunâ
line	سطرsatr
My friend is writing a sentence on this line.	يكتب صديقي جملة على هذا السطر.yaktubu sadîqî jumlatan 'alâ hâdha s-satri.
The first line is longer than the second line.	السطر الأول أطول من السطر الثاني.as-satru al-awwalu atwalu mina as-satri ath-thâni
bracket	قوسqaws
I put the word between two brackets.	وضعت الكلمة بين قوسين.wadaatu al-kalimata bayna qawsayni
I opened a bracket here.	فتحت قوسا هنا.fataḥtu qawsan hunâ
spelling	إملاءimlâ'
The spelling of this sentence is very difficult.	إملاء هذه الجملة صعب جدا.imlâ'u hâdhihi l-jumlati sa'bun jiddan
We have a spelling exam tomorrow.	عندنا امتحان إملاء غدا.indanâ imtihânu imlâ'in ghadan
dialect	لهجةlahja
This is an Egyptian dialect.	هذه لهجة مصرية.hâdhihi lahjatun misriyyah
I heard a dialect I do not understand.	سمعت لهجة لا أفهمها.sami'tu lahjatan lâ afhamuhâ