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

Whether you are driving through heavy traffic or taking the bus to work, having the right vocabulary makes navigating your daily commute much easier. In this lesson, we will focus on the essential terms for discussing traffic conditions, public transit, and travel routines.

### Rush Hour and Traffic

To talk about "rush hour" in Arabic, we use the phrase وقت الذروة, which literally translates to "the time of the peak."

{{item:1166585}}

When describing a jam or congestion as specifically related to traffic, we use the adjective مروري. If the commute is tiring, you might also use the adjective مرهق (exhausting). Remember that in Arabic, adjectives follow the noun they describe.

{{item:1166588}}

{{item:1166590}}

### Routines and Seating

For your everyday habits, use the adjective يومي (daily) and the noun روتين, which sounds exactly like the English word "routine."

{{item:1166593}}

Once you step onto public transit, you will likely look for a "vacant" or empty seat, using the adjective شاغر. Notice how these vocabulary words combine naturally:

{{item:1166604}}

{{item:1166605}}

### Fares and Travel Time

To pay for your ride, you will need to know the word for a ticket price or "fare": تعرفة.

{{item:1166603}}

When discussing how long a wait or a trip takes, Arabic uses the verb استغرق (to take time / to last).

{{item:1166599}}

{{item:1166600}}

### Commuting Verbs and Prepositions

Certain commuting actions require specific verbs paired with fixed prepositions to complete their meaning.

To say that you "caught" the bus or train, use the verb لحق paired with the preposition بـ. When written, the بـ prefix attaches directly to the following word (for example, بالقطار).

{{item:1166607}}

To say you are "heading" to a destination or taking a specific route, use the verb توجه paired with the preposition إلى (to/toward).

{{item:1166610}}

The Daily Commute

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
peak (climax, apex)	ذروةdhirwa
My sister avoids the traffic jam during rush hour.	أختي تتجنب الازدحام في وقت الذروة.ukhtî tatajannabu-l-izdihâma fî waqti-dh-dhurwati
This is the longest delay during rush hour.	هذا هو التأخير الأطول في وقت الذروة.hâdhâ huwa t-ta'khîru l-atwalu fî waqti dh-dhurwah
traffic (adjective)	مروريmurooriyy
There is a traffic jam on the road.	يوجد ازدحام مروري على الطريق.yûjadu izdihâmun murûriyyun alâ at-tarîq
exhausting	مرهقmurhiq
The traffic jam was exhausting.	كان الازدحام المروري مرهقا.kâna al-izdihâmu al-murûriyyu murhiqan.
daily (adjective)	يوميyawmiyy
routine	روتينrûtîn
The daily commute is an exhausting routine.	التنقل اليومي روتين مرهق.at-tanaqqulu al-yawmiyyu rûtînun murhiqun.
No one likes the exhausting traffic jam.	لا أحد يحب الازدحام المروري المرهق.lâ aḥada yuḥibbu al-izdiḥâma al-murûriyya al-murhiqa
Reading on the train is my daily routine.	القراءة في القطار هي روتيني اليومي.alqirâ'atu fî alqiṭâri hiya rûtînî alyawmiyyu.
vacant	شاغرshâghir
Did you get a vacant seat on the bus?	هل حصلت على مقعد شاغر في الحافلة؟hal hasalta 3alâ maq3adin shâghirin fi l-hâfilah?
to take (time)	استغرقistaghraqa
The daily trip takes an hour.	تستغرق الرحلة اليومية ساعة.tastaghriqu ar-riĥlatu al-yawmiyyatu sâ'atan
Waiting for the train took a long time.	استغرق انتظار القطار وقتا طويلا.istaghraqa intizâru al-qitâri waqtan tawîlan
fare (tariff, rate)	تعرفةta'rifa
Did the train fare increase?	هل ارتفعت تعرفة القطار؟hali irtafa'at ta'rifatu l-qitâr?
I paid the bus fare in cash.	دفعت تعرفة الحافلة نقدا.dafatu tarifatal-hâfilati naqdan
I am looking for a vacant seat on the bus.	أنا أبحث عن مقعد شاغر في الحافلة.ana abhathu 'an maq'adin shâghirin fil-hâfila
There is no vacant seat during rush hour.	لا يوجد مقعد شاغر في وقت الذروة.lâ yûjadu maq'adun shâghirun fî waqti adh-dhurwati
to catch	لحق بlahiqa bi
I caught the early train today.	لحقت بالقطار المبكر اليوم.laḥiqtu bil-qitâri l-mubakkiri l-yawm
She ran fast and caught the bus.	جرت بسرعة ولحقت بالحافلة.jarat bisur'atin wa laḥiqat bil-ḥâfilati.
to head	توجهtawajjaha
The driver headed to the station.	توجه السائق إلى المحطة.tawajjaha as-sâ'iqu ilâ al-mahattati.
We headed to the alternative route because of the accident.	توجهنا إلى الطريق البديل بسبب الحادث.tawajjahnâ ilâ al-tarîqi al-badîli bisababi al-hâdithi