Basic Arabic for English Speakers

Greetings & Introductions

The greeting you probably already know: السلام عليكم (as-salāmu ʿalaykum) — "peace be upon you" — is the universal Islamic greeting used across the entire Arab world, by everyone. The reply is always وعليكم السلام (wa ʿalaykum as-salām).

For everyday moments: مرحباً (marḥaban) is "hello / welcome", صباح الخير (ṣabāḥ al-khayr) is "good morning" — answered with صباح النور (ṣabāḥ an-nūr) — and مساء الخير (masāʾ al-khayr) is "good evening".

Introduce yourself with ما اسمك؟ (mā ismuk?) — "what's your name?" — and answer اسمي… (ismī…). When you meet someone, say تشرفنا (tasharrafnā) — "nice to meet you". Say goodbye with مع السلامة (maʿa s-salāma) — "with peace" — or إلى اللقاء (ilā l-liqāʾ) for "see you later".

The Arabic Alphabet & Sounds for English Speakers

Arabic has 28 letters and is written right-to-left. Letters connect to each other like handwriting, and short vowels are usually not written — you learn them through exposure, exactly as native speakers do.

The good news: many function words are tiny and repeated constantly — و (wa, "and"), في (fī, "in"), على (ʿalā, "on"), من (min, "from"). Learn those four and you are already building sentences.

Essential Everyday Phrases

Five phrases get you through 90% of polite daily life: شكراً (shukran) — thank you, عفواً (ʿafwan) — you're welcome / pardon me, من فضلك (min faḍlik) — please, نعم (naʿam) — yes, and لا (lā) — no.

For understanding, the magic trio is: لا أفهم (lā afham) — "I don't understand", لا أعرف (lā aʿrif) — "I don't know", and هل يمكنك أن تعيد؟ (hal yumkinuka an tuʿīd?) — "can you repeat?". Add ببطء من فضلك (bi-buṭʾ, min faḍlik) — "slowly, please" — and you can follow almost any conversation.

The most valuable question you will ever learn: هل تتحدث الإنجليزية؟ (hal tataḥaddath al-inglīzīyya?) — "do you speak English?" It buys you time, goodwill and usually a smile.

Numbers, Dates & Time

Numbers 1–10 are pure memorising: واحد (wāḥid, 1), اثنان (ithnān, 2), ثلاثة (thalātha, 3), أربعة (arbaʿa, 4), خمسة (khamsa, 5), ستة (sitta, 6), سبعة (sabʿa, 7), ثمانية (thamāniya, 8), تسعة (tisʿa, 9), عشرة (ʿashara, 10). Beyond that it is regular building: 11 is أحد عشر (aḥad ʿashar), 20 is عشرون (ʿishrūn), 100 is مئة (miʾa).

Note the script: the Arab world uses Eastern Arabic numerals ٠ ١ ٢ ٣ ٤ ٥ ٦ ٧ ٨ ٩ — with time spent in Arabic-speaking countries you will use them in markets and phone numbers daily.

The days (remember Friday is the holy day): الأحد (al-aḥad, Sunday), الاثنين (al-ithnayn, Monday), الثلاثاء (ath-thalāthāʾ, Tuesday), الأربعاء (al-arbiʿāʾ, Wednesday), الخميس (al-khamīs, Thursday), الجمعة (al-jumʿa, Friday), السبت (as-sabt, Saturday). The time: كم الساعة؟ (kam as-sāʿa?) — "what time is it?" → الساعة الثالثة (as-sāʿa ath-thālitha) — "three o'clock".

Pronouns & the "Invisible" Verb To Be

The pronouns: أنا (anā) I, أنت (anta) you (masc.) / أنتِ (anti) you (fem.), هو (huwa) he, هي (hiya) she, نحن (naḥnu) we, أنتم (antum) you all, هم (hum) they.

Now the best news in the whole course: Arabic has no "to be" verb in the present tense. You simply don't say "am / is / are". أنا سعيد = "I happy" = "I am happy". هي طبيبة = "she doctor" = "she is a doctor". نحن هنا = "we here" = "we are here". Three words, job done.

This makes building sentences dramatically easier than English: take any pronoun, add any noun or adjective, and you have a complete statement. أنا من لندن (anā min Landan) — "I am from London" — is just "I from London".

Possession & "To Have" with عند

Arabic has no verb "to have" either. Instead you use the word عند (ʿinda) — which literally means "at / with" — followed by small endings: عندي (ʿindī) "I have", عندك (ʿindak) "you have", عنده (ʿindah) "he has", عندها (ʿindahā) "she has", عندنا (ʿindanā) "we have".

A literal translation makes it clear: عندي كتاب = "with-me a book" = "I have a book". هل عندك وقت؟ — "is there time with you?" — is exactly how you ask "do you have time?". عندي سؤال (ʿindī suʾāl) = "I have a question" — save it for class!

Same endings appear everywhere on prepositions, so learn the pattern once: معي (maʿī) "with me", لي (lī) "for me", عليّ (ʿalayya) "on me". One small puzzle, endless sentences.

Gender, the Definite Article & Plurals

Arabic has just two genders, masculine and feminine. The simplest signal: most nouns ending in the "round t" ة are feminine — سيّارة (sayyāra, car), مدينة (madīna, city), قهوة (qahwa, coffee). Everything else is masculine by default.

The definite article "the" is a prefix: ال (al-). كتاب (kitāb, a book) → الكتاب (al-kitāb, the book). Easy — except when ال meets a "sun letter", where the l quietly melts into the next sound: السلام is pronounced "as-salām", الشمس "ash-shams". You will hear it, not read it.

Plurals come in two flavours. Regular plurals add endings: masculine مدرس → مدرسون (muʿallimūn, teachers), feminine معلمة → معلمات. And broken plurals change the word's shape completely, like English "man → men": كتاب → كتب (kutub, books), بيت → بيوت (buyūt, houses). Think of them as irregular plurals — you collect them one by one.

Questions & Negation

Yes/no questions are the easiest thing in any language: just add هل (hal) to the front of a statement. أنت من لندن؟ ("you from London?") → هل أنت من لندن؟ ("are you from London?"). Written Arabic omits the question mark's question-mark-ness, so the هل is your true signal.

Question words sit at the front: أين (ayna) where, متى (matā) when, لماذا (limādhā) why, كيف (kayfa) how, كم (kam) how much / how many, ما / ماذا (mā / mādhā) what, من (man) who.

Negation for present-tense actions is simply لا (lā) before the verb: أتحدث الإنجليزية ("I speak English") → لا أتحدث الإنجليزية ("I don't speak English"). لا أعرف ("I don't know"), لا أفهم ("I don't understand"). One word, no conjugation surprises.

Food, Ordering & Shopping

Meals: الفطور (al-fuṭūr, breakfast), الغداء (al-ghadāʾ, lunch), العشاء (al-ʿashāʾ, dinner). The pantry of basics: الخبز (al-khubz, bread), الجبن (al-jubn, cheese), الماء (al-māʾ, water), القهوة (al-qahwa, coffee), الشاي (ash-shāy, tea), الأرز (al-arz, rice).

Order with simple honesty: أريد قهوة من فضلك (urīdu qahwa, min faḍlik) — "I want a coffee, please" — or the softer conditional لو سمحت (law samaḥt) — "please / if you please" — the most-used courtesy word in cafes across the region. أريد هذا (urīdu hādhā) — "I want this" — pointing is always allowed.

Shopping phrases: كم الثمن؟ (kam ath-thaman?) — "how much is it?", هذا غالي (hādhā ghālī) — "this is expensive", الحساب من فضلك (al-ḥisāb, min faḍlik) — "the bill, please", and أين…؟ (ayna…?) — "where is…?".

Putting It Together — Your First Conversation

Everything you have learned fits into a real conversation. Read this dialogue out loud twice — once slowly, once at a natural speed:

Notice how every piece you learned appears here: the sacred greeting and its reply, شكراً, the invisible "to be" (أنا بخير = "I fine"), اسمي for introductions, تشرفنا, the question words أين and من فضلك-style politeness, and the two farewells.

Shadowing drill (the habit that builds accent): read the dialogue aloud once a day from memory. Match the melody of the sentences, not just the words — Arabic has a flowing, rising tune that English speakers pick up surprisingly fast.