Lesson 1: Basic Grammar
Yallah! Practice what you learned in the first lesson following the indications of the video or downloading the self-guided booklet that appears at the end of the page.
The Verb to be in Arabic
In Levantine Arabic the verb to be is not often used in Present. Thus, when saying:
- "You are Ahmad" we will just say "Enta A7mad - إِنتَ أَحمَد" (You ❌ Ahmad).
- "I am at school" we will just say "Ana bi almadrase - أَنا بِ المَدرَسة" (I ❌ at the school).
- "You are good" we will just say "Ente mnii7a - إِنتي منيحة" (You ❌ good).
The Defining Article in Arabic
In Levantine Arabic, the defining article is الـ and it can be pronounced differently depending on the accent of the speaker: "al / el / l". This article is invariable and works just like “the” in English. You simply attach it to the beginning of a noun to make it definite.
Enta Taalib bi madrase إِنتَ طالِب بِ مَدرَسة
You are a student at a school.
Enta alTaalib bi almadrase إِنتَ الطالِب ب المَدرَسة
You are the student at (the) school.
*Note that in Arabic, there’s no separate word for the English article “a / an”. Instead, if a singular noun appears without the definite article الـ, it is automatically taken to mean “a” in English.
The Dual Suffix in Arabic
In Arabic, nouns can show three numbers: singular (one), dual (two), and plural (three or more). To create the dual form, we just need to add the suffix "en" (ين) to the word we want to double.
Ustaadh أُستاذ
A teacher
Ustaadhen أُستاذين
Two teachers
Asaatidha أَساتِذة
Teachers
Taalib طالِب
A student
Taaliben طالِبين
Two students
Tullaab طُلّاب
Students
*Note that both "teacher" and "student" have a broken plural. Nouns in Arabic can form the plural in two main ways: by adding a regular suffix (called the sound plural) or by changing the internal structure of the word (called the broken plural). While the sound plural works like in English—just adding something to the end of the word, many very common words, like “teacher” or “student” use a broken plural instead. A broken plural is formed by “breaking” the original singular word and fitting it into a new pattern.
The Arabic Taa Marbouta ة
The Taa Marbouta is a very special letter that turns nouns and adjectives into the feminine. To do so you just need to add at the end of the word an ة (pronounced as an "a" or "e", depending on the accent and the word. While some nouns are feminine by nature (the Taa Marebouta is part of the word), others can be turned from masculine into the feminine using the Taa Marbouta.
Madrasa / madrase مَدرَس ة
School
Taalib طالِب
Student (marculine)
Taaliba / taalbe طالِبة
Student (feminine)
If you need more practice, you can download the self-guided booklet to your right and try to translate the sentences bellow: