كيفك اليوم؟

A common pronunciation is:

• kīfak il-yōm? when speaking to a man
• kīfik il-yōm? when speaking to a woman

You may also hear slight regional variations, especially in the ending vowel, such as kīfek in some areas.

A rough English guide:

• kīf sounds like keef
• -ak / -ik is a short ending attached to the word
• il-yōm sounds like il-yohm

So overall:

• keefak il-yohm?
• keefik il-yohm?

كيفك is made of:

• كيف = how
• -ك = you / your (attached pronoun)

So literally, it is something like how are you? or more literally your condition, how?

In natural English, you should just think of كيفك؟ as How are you?

In Arabic, especially in the present tense, the verb to be is usually not said.

So where English says:

• How are you today?

Levantine Arabic simply says:

• كيفك اليوم؟
• literally: How you today?

This is completely normal in Arabic. The meaning of are is understood without saying it.

Yes. In Levantine Arabic, it usually changes for masculine and feminine singular:

• كيفك؟ = kīfak? to a man
• كيفك؟ = kīfik? or sometimes kīfek? to a woman

In writing, people often write both as كيفك, so the difference is clearer in speech than in spelling.

اليوم means today.

In this sentence, it adds the idea of today to the greeting:

• كيفك؟ = How are you?
• كيفك اليوم؟ = How are you today?

It works like a time word in English. It is often placed at the end of the sentence, which feels very natural in Arabic.

كيفك اليوم؟ is dialectal, and it sounds natural in Levantine Arabic.

In Modern Standard Arabic, you would more often see something like:

• كيف حالك اليوم؟

In Levantine, people usually prefer the shorter, more conversational كيفك؟ or كيفك اليوم؟

So if you are learning spoken Levantine, this sentence is very useful and natural.

It is generally neutral to informal and very common in everyday speech.

You can use it with:

• friends
• family
• classmates
• coworkers in many situations

If you want to be more formal or polite, especially with someone older or in a formal setting, people may use different greetings or add polite expressions, but كيفك اليوم؟ itself is very normal and friendly.

Not exactly as it is. كيفك is for one person.

For more than one person in Levantine, you would usually say:

• كيفكن اليوم؟ = How are you all today?

Here:

• -كن means you all / your all

So:

• كيفك اليوم؟ = one person
• كيفكن اليوم؟ = more than one person

Some common answers are:

• منيح = good
• كويس = fine / good
• الحمد لله = thank God
• تمام = great / fine
• مو منيح = not good

Very often, the other person will also return the question:

• منيح، وإنت؟ = Good, and you?
• الحمد لله، كيفك إنت؟ = Thank God, how are you?

Yes, but they are close.

• كيفك؟ = How are you?
• شو أخبارك؟ = What’s your news? / How have you been?

Both are common greetings in Levantine.
كيفك؟ asks more directly about the person’s state.
شو أخبارك؟ can feel a little more like asking what’s new.

In conversation, both can be used naturally.

Because the -ك is an attached pronoun suffix. In Arabic, pronouns like this are often attached directly to the word before them.

So instead of writing:

• كيف ك

it is written:

• كيفك

This is normal Arabic spelling. Many short grammatical pieces are attached to words rather than written separately.

Yes, absolutely.

• كيفك؟ = How are you?
• كيفك اليوم؟ = How are you today?

Without اليوم, it is the basic everyday greeting.
With اليوم, it sounds a little more specific, as if you are asking about how the person is doing today in particular.

Yes. Levantine includes several regional varieties, such as Syrian, Lebanese, Palestinian, and Jordanian speech, and pronunciation can vary a little.

For example:

• the feminine ending may sound like -ik or -ek
• اليوم may be pronounced more like il-yōm or lyōm

But the sentence will still be widely understood across the Levant. The core structure stays the same:

• كيفك اليوم؟