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### Playing Music

When talking about musicians, you will use the noun for a player or instrumentalist (عازف). To talk about playing an instrument yourself, use the verb meaning "to play" (عزف) followed by the preposition على before the name of the instrument.

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### String Instruments

Some of the most popular string instruments include the violin (كمان), the guitar (جيتار), the piano (بيانو), and the traditional Arabic lute known as the oud (عود). When discussing how these instruments are built or played, you might also need the word for a string (وتر).

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### Wind and Percussion Instruments

You can describe the beat of a song using the word for rhythm (إيقاع). This is especially useful when talking about percussion instruments like a drum (طبل), or wind instruments like a flute (ناي) and a trumpet (بوق).

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Musical Instruments

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
player (of an instrument)	عازفâzif
violin	كمانkamân
The violin player is very famous.	عازف الكمان مشهور جدا.âzifu al-kamâni mash'hûrun jiddan
piano	بيانوbiyânu
I want to play the piano.	أريد أن أعزف على البيانو.urîdu an a'zifa 'alâ al-biyânô.
oud	عود'ûd
guitar	جيتارgîtâr
The oud is older than the guitar.	العود أقدم من الجيتار.al-'ûdu aqdamu mina l-gîtâr
string	وترwatar
How many strings are in the guitar?	كم وترا في الجيتار؟kam wataran fi l-jîtâr?
The player broke a string in the violin.	كسر العازف وترا في الكمان.kasara al-âzifu wataran fil-kamâni
rhythm	إيقاعîqâ'
drum	طبلtabl
I like the rhythm of the drum.	أحب إيقاع الطبل.uhibbu îqâa attabli
flute	نايnây
The rhythm of the flute is beautiful.	إيقاع الناي جميل.îqâ'u n-nâyi jamîl
trumpet	بوقbûq
The trumpet player is ready.	عازفة البوق جاهزة.âzifatu l-bûqi jâhizatun
He played the trumpet during the night.	عزف على البوق خلال الليل.azafa alal bûqi khilâlal layl
How do you play the oud?	كيف تعزف على العود؟kayfa ta'zifu 'alâ al-'ûd
She wants to buy a new piano.	تريد أن تشتري بيانو جديدا.turîdu an tashtariya biyâno jadîdan
We will not buy a new flute.	لن نشتري نايا جديدا.lan nashtariya nâyan jadîdan.
I played the guitar during the weekend.	عزفت على الجيتار خلال نهاية الأسبوع.azaftu alâ al-gîtâr khilâla nihâyati al-usbû'
This drum has a strong rhythm.	لهذا الطبل إيقاع قوي.lihâdhâ at-tabli îqâ'un qawiyy
The violin string broke.	انكسر وتر الكمان.inkasara wataru al-kamâni.

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