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### Old letters, new words

Family stories are full of words you already know, but several of them hide a second word with the same letters. Arabic is printed without short vowels, so the sentence has to tell you which one you are reading.

| you know | the new word |
|---|---|
| مِثْل *like, such as* | مَثَل *proverb* |
| قَدَّرَ *to value* | قَدَر *fate* |
| سَارَ *to walk* | سَارّ *pleasant (news)* |
| سِرّ *secret* | سَرَّ *to delight* |
| دَارَ *to spin* | دَار *home, house (formal)* |
| كَوْن *universe* | كَوَّنَ *to form* |
| نَفْس *self, same* | نَفَس *breath* |

### Nouns sit where nouns sit

After a preposition or the article, the word is a noun:

{{item:1217538}}

بالقدر carries ب and ال, so it is *fate*, not *to value*.

{{item:1217561}}

نفسها after ل is *herself*; نفسا, the object of خذي, is *a breath*.

{{item:1217553}}

A real proverb: *the neighbor before the house*. دار is the formal word for a house or home, and it is the usual word in the names of institutions, such as دار للمسنين, *a home for the elderly*.

### Verbs come first

A verb has a subject after it. In {{item:1217547}} the subject is الخبر, so سر is *delighted*, not *secret*. يسرني أن… *it delights me to…* is the polite way to open a speech:

{{item:1217548}}

كَوَّنَ doubles its middle letter: you hear it, but you do not see it.

{{item:1217555}}

### Walking or pleasant?

سَارّ ends in a doubled ر and follows the noun it describes, usually خبر:

{{item:1217544}}

سارت has a subject (أمي): *walked*. السار agrees with الخبر: *the pleasant news*. Without the article it still comes straight after its noun:

{{item:1217542}}

Life Stories and Proverbs

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
proverb	مثلmathal
My grandmother told me an old Arabic proverb.	قالت لي جدتي مثلا عربيا قديما.
My grandmother, like all grandmothers, loves proverbs.	جدتي، مثل كل الجدات، تحب الأمثال.
fate	قدرqadar
My grandmother believes in fate.	تؤمن جدتي بالقدر.
This is my fate, and I cannot change it.	هذا قدري، ولا أستطيع أن أغيره.
We met after thirty years, and that was fate.	التقينا بعد ثلاثين عاما، وكان ذلك قدرا.
pleasant, happy (of news)	سارsârr
I have pleasant news for you.	عندي خبر سار لك.
Pleasant news reached us from the hospital.	وصلتنا أخبار سارة من المستشفى.
My mother walked to her neighbor's house to tell her the pleasant news.	سارت أمي إلى بيت جارتها لتخبرها بالخبر السار.
to delight, to make glad	سرsarra
It delighted me to see you after all these years.	سرني أن أراك بعد كل هذه السنوات.
The news delighted her parents a lot.	سر الخبر والديها كثيرا.
It delights me to welcome you to my home.	يسرني أن أرحب بكم في بيتي.
home (institution: care home, orphanage); house (formal)	دارdâr
My grandmother spent her last years in a home for the elderly.	قضت جدتي سنواتها الأخيرة في دار للمسنين.
The child lived in a home for orphans for ten years.	عاش الطفل في دار للأيتام عشر سنوات.
She returned to her family's house after the war.	عادت إلى دار عائلتها بعد الحرب.
As the proverb says: the neighbor before the house.	كما يقول المثل: الجار قبل الدار.
to form (a family, a relationship)	كونkawwana
My parents married and formed a big family.	تزوج والداي وكونا عائلة كبيرة.
My mother formed strong relationships in her new job.	كونت أمي علاقات قوية في عملها الجديد.
The students formed a small team.	كون الطلاب فريقا صغيرا.kawwana at-tullâbu fariqan saghiran.
breath	نفسnafas
The grandmother took a deep breath and began her story.	أخذت الجدة نفسا عميقا وبدأت قصتها.
My grandfather was breathing with difficulty, and every breath hurt him.	كان جدي يتنفس بصعوبة، وكل نفس يؤلمه.
She said to herself: take a deep breath.	قالت لنفسها: خذي نفسا عميقا.qâlat linafsihâ: khudhî nafasan `amîqan.

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