مرحبا، كيفك؟

hello

Breakdown of مرحبا، كيفك؟

• كيف: how
• ك: you (suffix)

Questions & Answers about مرحبا، كيفك؟

How do you pronounce مرحبا، كيفك؟ in Levantine Arabic?

A common pronunciation is:

• marḥaba, kīfak? when speaking to a man
• marḥaba, kīfik? when speaking to a woman

A few notes:

• ḥ in marḥaba is a stronger, breathier h sound than English h
• kh is not used here; كيفك starts with a normal k
• The long ī in kīfak/kīfik sounds like the ee in see

You may also see it written in Latin letters as marhaba, keefak/keefik.

What does each word do in the sentence?

The sentence has two parts:

• مرحبا = hello
• كيفك؟ = how are you?

More literally:

• كيف = how
• -ك = you (addressing one person)

So كيفك؟ is an everyday Levantine way to ask someone how they are.

Why is there no word for are in كيفك؟

Because Arabic often does not use a present-tense verb like am / is / are in sentences like this.

In English, you say:

• How are you?

In Levantine Arabic, you can simply say:

• كيفك؟ = How are you?

This is completely normal. Arabic often leaves out the present-tense to be in everyday speech.