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In this lesson, we will cover terminology for reporting service outages, understanding utility tariffs, and paying bills.

### Reporting Outages

When reporting a service outage (انقطاع) or a short circuit (ماس), you often need to specify when or how it happened. To express adverbs of time or manner—such as "in the evening" (مساء) or "immediately" (حالا)—Arabic frequently uses indefinite nouns in the accusative case, indicated by a double-vowel ending.

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### Bills and Payments

Utility bills involve financial dues (مستحقات) that require payment (سداد). Notice how adverbs of time like "in the morning" (صباحا) and "tomorrow" (غدا) specify payment deadlines.

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### Arrears and Numbers 21–99

If bills go unpaid, you may accumulate arrears (متأخرات), leading to your service being disconnected (مقطوع). 

When discussing quantities like amounts owed or areas affected, you will encounter compound numbers. For numbers between 21 and 99, Arabic states the units (ones) digit first, followed by the conjunction و (and), then the tens digit. The noun being counted is always singular and in the accusative case.

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### Backup Power and Infrastructure

When dealing with outages, you might need a candle (شمعة) or a generator (مولد).

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Knowing terminology for household infrastructure, such as sewers (مجاري) and cables (كابل), helps you communicate clearly with maintenance services.

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Utility Bills and Services

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
outage	انقطاعinqitâ'
short circuit	ماسmâss
A power outage occurred in the evening because of a short circuit.	حدث انقطاع في الكهرباء مساء بسبب ماس.hadatha inqitâ'un fî al-kahrabâ'i masâ'an bisababi mâssin.
What is the reason for the internet service outage?	ما سبب انقطاع خدمة الإنترنت؟mâ sababu inqitâ'i khidmati l-internet?
You must report the short circuit immediately.	عليك أن تبلغ عن الماس حالا.alayka an tuballigha 'ani al-maassi hâlan
dues	مستحقاتmustahaqqât
We settled the electricity bill dues in the morning.	سددنا مستحقات فاتورة الكهرباء صباحا.saddadnâ mustahaqqâti fâtûrati l-kahrabâ'i sabâhan
We must hurry in paying the dues.	علينا أن نعجل في دفع المستحقات.alaynâ an nu'ajjila fî daf'i al-mustahaqqât
payment	سدادsadâd
The electricity bill payment date is tomorrow.	موعد سداد فاتورة الكهرباء غدا.maw'idu sadâdi fâtûrati al-kahrabâ'i ghadan
You all must confirm the payment of the fees.	عليكم أن تؤكدوا سداد الرسوم.'alaykum an tu'akkidû sadâda r-rusûm
arrears	متأخراتmuta'akhkhirât
I paid forty-five dollars for the arrears.	دفعت خمسة وأربعين دولارا للمتأخرات.dafa'tu khamsatan wa-arba'îna dûlâran lil-muta'akhkhirât.
The service was cut off because of the consumption fee arrears.	انقطعت الخدمة بسبب متأخرات رسوم الاستهلاك.inqata'ati al-khidmatu bisababi muta'akhkhirâti rusûmi al-istihlâk
disconnected	مقطوعmaqtû'
Gas is disconnected in twenty-five streets.	الغاز مقطوع في خمسة وعشرين شارعا.al-ghâzu maqtû'un fî khamsatin wa 'ishrîna shâri'an.
candle	شمعةsham'a
We lit twenty-one candles in the dark.	أشعلنا إحدى وعشرين شمعة في الظلام.ashalnâ ihdâ wa-ishrîna shamatan fi-zh-zhalâm
We read by candlelight at night.	قرأنا على ضوء الشمعة في الليل.qara'nâ 'alâ daw'i ash-sham'ati fi al-layl
sewers	مجاريmajâri
The plumber repaired the sewage network pipe.	صلح السباك أنبوب شبكة المجاري.sallaha as-sabbâku unbûba shabakati al-majârî
She must clean the sewers soon.	عليها أن تنظف المجاري قريبا.alayhâ an tunazzifa al-majâriya qarîban.
generator	مولدmuwallid
The company bought thirty-two generators.	اشترت الشركة اثنين وثلاثين مولدا.ishtarati sh-sharikatu ithnayni wa thalathiina muwallidan.
The guard turned on the generator in the evening.	شغل الحارس المولد مساء.shaghghala al-hârisu al-muwallida masâ'an
cable	كابلkâbil
We need thirty-four meters of the cable.	نحتاج إلى أربعة وثلاثين مترا من الكابل.nahtâju ilâ arba'atin wa thalâthîna mitran mina alkâbili
The street lighting pole cable is disconnected.	كابل عمود إضاءة الشارع مقطوع.kâbilu 'amûdi idâ'ati ash-shâri'i maqtû'un