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

This lesson focuses on the essential vocabulary needed to follow a legal proceeding, from courtroom terms to case outcomes.

### Trials and Juries

At the center of the legal process is the محاكمة (trial). When a case goes to court, it is often heard by a jury. In Arabic, a jury is هيئة المحلفين, which literally translates to a "body" (هيئة) of "jurors" (محلفين).

{{item:1144924}}

{{item:1144927}}

### Oaths and Fairness

Before giving testimony, a witness must take an oath (أقسم). Naturally, the ultimate goal of the trial is a decision that is عادل (fair).

{{item:1144929}}

{{item:1144931}}

### Convictions and Appeals

If the court decides the defendant is guilty, the verb أدان (to convict) is used. Following a conviction, the defense will often استأنف (appeal) the decision. You can link these events using transition words like لذلك (therefore).

{{item:1144934}}

### Acquittals, Release, and Bail

If the defendant is found innocent, it results in a براءة (acquittal). Consequently, the judge will release the defendant. Note that the verb أفرج (to release) must be followed by the preposition عن to indicate who is being released.

{{item:1144937}}

Temporary release can also happen before the trial ends by paying كفالة (bail).

{{item:1144939}}

### Legal Scenarios and Exceptions

You can use the hypothetical structure لو (if) and the prefix لـ (then / would) to discuss alternative verdicts.

{{item:1144940}}

When pointing out a dissenting vote, use the word إلا (except). In this type of affirmative sentence, the noun directly following إلا takes the accusative case, marked here by the double *fatha* ending (محلفا).

{{item:1144943}}

The Courtroom Trial

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
the trial	محاكمةmuhâkama
The trial of the accused (f) began today.	بدأت محاكمة المتهمة اليوم.bada'at muhâkamatu l-muttahamati l-yawm
the body (board/committee)	هيئةhay'ah
the juror	محلفmuhallaf
The jury listened to the witness.	استمعت هيئة المحلفين إلى الشاهد.istama'at hay'atu al-muhallafîna ilâ ash-shâhid.
to swear (take an oath)	أقسمaqsama
Did the witness swear in the trial?	هل أقسم الشاهد في المحاكمة؟hal aqsama ash-shâhidu fil-muhâkamati?
fair	عادل'âdil
The judge (f) was fair in this trial.	كانت القاضية عادلة في هذه المحاكمة.kânati l-qâdiyatu 'âdilatan fî hâdhihi l-muhâkamah
to convict	أدانadâna
to appeal	استأنفista'nafa
The jury convicted the accused, therefore the lawyer appealed.	أدانت هيئة المحلفين المتهم، لذلك استأنف المحامي.adânat hay'atu l-muhallafîna l-muttahama, lidhâlika ista'nafa l-muhâmî
the acquittal / innocence	براءةbarâ'ah
to release	أفرج عنafraja 'an
After the acquittal, the judge released the defendant.	بعد البراءة، أفرج القاضي عن المتهم.ba'da al-barâ'ati, afraja al-qâdî 'ani al-muttahami.
the bail	كفالةkafâla
Did the court release the accused (f) on bail?	هل أفرجت المحكمة عن المتهمة بكفالة؟hal afrajati l-mahkamatu 'ani l-muttahamati bikafâlah?
If the judge had convicted the man, the lawyer would have appealed.	لو أدان القاضي الرجل، لاستأنف المحامي.law adâna l-qâdî r-rajula, la-sta'nafa l-muhâmî
The accused swore that he is innocent, but he did not pay the bail.	أقسم المتهم أنه بريء، لكنه لم يدفع الكفالة.aqsama al-muttahamu annahu barii'un, lâkinnahu lam yadfa'i al-kafâlata.
The court's decision was fair, and it confirmed the woman's acquittal.	كان قرار المحكمة عادلا، وأكد براءة المرأة.kâna qarâru al-mahkamati 'âdilan, wa akkada barâ'ata al-mar'ati.
All the jurors agreed except one juror.	وافق جميع المحلفين إلا محلفا واحدا.wâfaqa jamî'u al-muhallafîna illâ muhallafan wâhidan
The court did not convict the accused (f), and therefore the lawyer (f) did not appeal.	لم تدن المحكمة المتهمة، ولذلك لم تستأنف المحامية.lam tudini l-mahkamatu l-muttahamata, wa lidhâlika lam tasta'nifi l-muhâmiyatu.