LESSON NOTES

Absolute Beginner S1 #5
Finding Places in the Arabicspeaking World
CONTENTS
2
2
3
3
4
5
6
6
7

Arabic
Vowelled Arabic
Romanization
English
Vocabulary
Sample Sentences
Vocabulary Phrase Usage
Grammar
Cultural Insight

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VOWELLED ARABIC

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ABS OLUT E BEGI NNER S 1 #5 - FI NDI NG PLACES I N T HE ARABI C-S PEAKI NG WORLD

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ROMANIZATION
1.

"MUAMMAD:

ayna anti? nanu qaliqna alayki.

2.

L:

h... laaqad aatu arq. an qurba min kabrin, kabrin dan.

3.

MUAMMAD:

asnan, an rifu ayna anti. inaf f al-ri al-kabr al- al-yasri.

umma sir biarqin mustqmin att al-madrasi al-qadmai,
umma inaf yamnan. hal arifti?

4.

L:

naam... anaifu yamnan umma asru biarqin mustqmin at almadrasi wamin umma anaifu yamnan.

5.

MUAMMAD:

l, inaif yasran awwalan. mina al-mi al-kabri, inaif il alrii yasran, wamin umma sir birqin mustqmin il al-madrasai
al-qadmaii, umma inaif yamnan.

6.

L:

asnan, ukran lka.

ENGLISH
1.

MOHAMMED:

Where are you? We are worried about you.

2.

JULIA:

Oh... I am lost. I am at a big mosque. Really big.

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ABS OLUT E BEGI NNER S 1 #5 - FI NDI NG PLACES I N T HE ARABI C-S PEAKI NG WORLD

3.

MOHAMMED:

Okay, I know where you are. Turn into the street on the left. Go
straight until the old school, then turn right. Got that?

4.

JULIA:

Yes... Turn right, go straight until the school and then turn right
again.

5.

MOHAMMED:

No, first turn left. From the big mosque, turn into the street on the left,
go straight until the old school, then turn right.

6.

JULIA:

Okay, thank you.

VOCABULARY
A r abic

R omanization

English

C lass

Ge nde r

min

mosque

noun

masculine
masculine

turn (to a

inaif

female)

verb

qurba

near, at, next to

preposition

ri

street

noun

laqad aatu
arq

I've lost my way

phrase

kabiir

big, large

adjective

yasr

left

noun

umma

and then

conjunction

madrasah

school

noun

ARABI CPOD101.COM

sr

go/walk (to a
woman)

masculine
masculine/
feminine

masculine

feminine

verb

ABS OLUT E BEGI NNER S 1 #5 - FI NDI NG PLACES I N T HE ARABI C-S PEAKI NG WORLD

biarqin
mustaqm

straight on

phrase

asanan

alright

exclamation

qadiim

old

adjective

yamnan

right

adverb

awwalan

first

adverb

masculine

SAMPLE SENTENCES

askunu qurba miin kabrin

inaif yasran

I live next to a big mosque

Turn left

askunu qurba miin kabrin.

m ismu riika?

I live next to a big mosque.

What's the name of your street?

laqad aatu arq.

askunu qurba miin kabrin

I've lost my way.

I live next to a big mosque

inaif yasran

umma m?

Turn left

Then what?

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ABS OLUT E BEGI NNER S 1 #5 - FI NDI NG PLACES I N T HE ARABI C-S PEAKI NG WORLD


.
al-ahbu il al-madrasah mutaallabun ass
lilafal- f al-wilyt al-muttaidah.

.
sr biarqin mustaqm.

Walk straight on.

Going to school is required of children in

the United States.

:2 . :1

sr biarqin mustaqm

1: na mawid al-ahb. 2: asanan

Walk straight on.

1. It's time to leave. 2. Alright.

tilfz idd qadm iddan

inaafa yamnan badalan min al-yasar

My grandpa's television is very old.

He turned right instead of left.

.
alaka an tusidan awwalan.

You have to help me first.

VOCABULARY PHRASE USAGE

1. Note: is used to form a yes/no question in Arabic. Take any sentence, add hal in front,
and it becomes a question. It's the equivalent of the French est-ce que.
2. Note: literally means, "Do you know?" but it can also be used as "Got it?"/"Do you
understand?"
3. Note: literally means, "with a straight way." So "Go straight" is translated into
Arabic as "Go with a straight way." This is the kind of linguistic difference that you should be
prepared for. You can't just take an English expression and expect it to be the same in
another language.

GRAMMAR

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The Focus of This Lesson is Adjectives

al-madrasa al-qadiima
"The old school"

Arabic nouns come in two genders - masculine and feminine. Fortunately, these genders
don't require any memorization (unlike in French or German). Almost all feminine words end
in ( a). This way, you can easily recognize them. There are a few feminine words that don't
end in "-a" but those tend to be words for female family members where the gender is implicit.
If a noun is feminine then the adjective has to get a feminine ending, too, so it also adopts
that ( a). This is why we say jaamin kabiir ("a big mosque") but madrasa kabiira ("a big
school"). The Arabic word for "school" is madrasa, and from the final "-a" you know that it's
feminine, so kabiira also has to end in "-a." This is a way that Arabic is a lot easier than most
other languages.
There is just one more annoyance - the adjective also has to copy a noun's definiteness. With
'definiteness' I mean whether a noun has "the" in front or not. If the noun uses "the," then the
adjective also has to use "the." And the adjective always comes after the noun. So in Arabic,
"the big mosque" is actually translated as "the mosque the big" (al-mi al-kabr), and "the
old school" is translated as "the school the old" (al-madrasa al-kabiira). Non-definite phrases
like "a big mosque" and "an old school" are rendered as "mosque big" and "school old."

CULTURAL INSIGHT
Directions in Arabic

Getting directions in an Arab city can be quite different from getting directions in an American
city. Street names will probably not be used unless it is one of the main strips, such as
Mohamed V Avenue in Rabat, Morocco. Depending on the country there may not even be
street names as you move further away from downtown areas.
Directions are usually given using landmarks, such as mosques, churches, schools,
restaurants, and so on. In Egypt, something called a midan (meaning "square" but it looks like
a roundabout) is often used as a landmark, for example, Tahrir Square, or midan at-taHriir. In
Cairo, someone may tell you which midan is closest to their home.

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ABS OLUT E BEGI NNER S 1 #5 - FI NDI NG PLACES I N T HE ARABI C-S PEAKI NG WORLD