If you're trying to learn Arabic Articles you will find some useful resources including a course about Definite and Indefinite Articles... to help you with your Arabic grammar. Try to concentrate on the lesson and notice the pattern that occurs each time the word changes its place. Also don't forget to check the rest of our other lessons listed on Learn Arabic. Enjoy the rest of the lesson!
Learning the Arabic Articles is very important because its structure is used in every day conversation. The more you master it the more you get closer to mastering the Arabic language. But first we need to know what the role of Articles is in the structure of the grammar in Arabic.
Arabic articles are words that combine with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun. Generally articles specify the grammatical definiteness of the noun. Examples are "the, a, and an". Here are some examples:
| English Articles | Arabic Articles |
|---|---|
| articles | مَقَالَات - maqaalaat |
| the | ال - al |
| a | no equivalent in arabic - no equivalent in arabic |
| one | وَاحِد - waahed |
| some | بَعْض - ba'th |
| few | قَلِيْل - qaleeel |
| the book | الْكِتَاب - alketaab |
| the books | الْكُتُب - alkotob |
| a book | كِتَاب - ketaab |
| one book | كِتَاب وَاحِد - ketaab waahed |
| some books | بَعْض الْكُتُب - ba'th alkotob |
| few books | الْقَلْيْل مِن الْكُتُب - alqaleel men alkotob |
A very important rule in Arabic is المضاف والمضاف إليه Al-mudhaf wa-al-mudhaf ilaihu. This is used to denote the passive like in the book of the man is translated as كتاب الرجلِ kitaab ar-radjuli. According to the Arabic grammarians, book is made definite by the man so it doesn’t need a definite article! Also the man is declined with I the sign of the possessive. If one wants to say the book of this man, then this must be put at the end of the construction, since nothing may break it. كتاب الرجل هذه Book (of) the man this.
Notice the structure of the Articles in Arabic.
Below is a list of vocabulary where you can use the Definite and Indefinite Articles in Arabic. Try to practice but also memorizing this table will help you add very useful and important words to your Arabic vocabulary.
| English Vocabulary | Arabic Vocabulary |
|---|---|
| Food | غِذَاء - ghethaa' |
| almonds | لُوْز - lowz |
| bread | خُبْز - khobz |
| breakfast | إِفْطَار - eeftaar |
| butter | زُبْدَة - zobdah |
| candy | حَلْوَى - halwaa |
| cheese | جَبُن - jabon |
| chicken | دَجَاج - dajaaj |
| cumin | كُمُوْن - komown |
| dessert | حَلْوَى - halwaa |
| dinner | عِشَاء - 'eshaa' |
| fish | سَمَك - samak |
| fruit | فَاكِهَة - faakehah |
| ice cream | الْآَيْس كْرِيْم - alaaees kreeem |
| lamb | خَرُوْف - kharowf |
| lemon | لَيْمُوْن - laeemown |
| lunch | غَدَاء - ghadaa' |
| meal | وَجْبَة - wajbah |
| meat | لَحْم - lahm |
| oven | فُرْن - forn |
| pepper | فُلْفُل - folfol |
| plants | نَبَاتَات - nabaataat |
| pork | لَحْم خِنْزِيْر - lahm khenzeeer |
| salad | سَلَطَة - salatah |
| salt | مِلْح - melh |
| sandwich | شَطِيْرَة - shateeerah |
| sausage | سُجُق - sojoq |
| soup | حَسَاء - hasaa' |
| sugar | سُكَّر - sokar |
| supper | عِشَاء - 'eshaa' |
| turkey | دِيَك رُوْمِى - deeeak rowmea |
| apple | تُفَّاحَة - tofaahah |
| banana | مَوْز - mawz |
| oranges | بُرْتُقَال - bortoqaal |
| peaches | خَوْخ - khawkh |
| peanut | الْفُوُل الْسُّوْدَانِي - alfowol alsowdaaneee |
| pears | كُمَّثْرَى - komathraa |
| pineapple | أَنْاناس - aananas |
| grapes | عِنَب - 'enab |
| strawberries | فَرَاوِلَة - faraawelah |
| vegetables | خُضْرَوَات - khothrawaat |
| carrot | جُزُر - jozor |
| corn | ذَرَّة - tharah |
| cucumber | خِيَار - kheeeaar |
| garlic | ثُوْم - thowm |
| lettuce | خَس - khas |
| olives | زَيْتُوْن - zaeetown |
| onions | بَصَل - basal |
| peppers | الْفُلْفُل - alfolfol |
| potatoes | الْبَطَاطِس - albataates |
| pumpkin | الْيَقْطِيْن - aleeaqteeen |
| beans | فَاصُوْلِيَّا - faasowleeeaa |
| tomatoes | طَمَاطِم - tamaatem |
Like English, Arabic has one definite article "the", but it has no indefinite article “a”. Instead the Arabs use a declension to indicate that a noun is indefinite. For example the book is translated as Al-Kitabu الكتابُ, having al- in front (note the indefinite article is written attached to the noun it describes, so is wa و meaning and) and ending on the vowel u indicates that the noun is indefinite.
A book however is written as Kitabun كتابٌ where a n is added at the end of the vowel to indicate the noun is indefinite, Arab grammarians cal this nunnation.
Sun Moon letters
The l of the definite article al assimilates with the letter following it. If the pronouncation of the letter following the l is pronounced in the same region of the l, i.e. in front, the l changes to the consonant following the l, making this consonant effectively spoken twice, when the consonant following the l is pronounced in the back then the pronunciation of the l is maintained. The Arabs call this sun and moon letters حَرْفُ الشَّمْسِ HHarf(u)-asj-sjamsi and
حَرْفُ الْقَمْرِ. The l in case of sun letters is written but in pronnounsiation replace by the sound following it.
Definite and Indefinite Articles have a very important role in Arabic. Once you're done with Arabic Articles, you might want to check the rest of our Arabic lessons here: Learn Arabic. Don't forget to bookmark this page.
Menu: | |||
The links above are only a small sample of our lessons, please open the left side menu to see all links.