Miscellaneous Advanced Phrases for Arabic Essays

مُتَفَرِّقات

root:ف-ر-ق / plural noun / definition: miscellaneous things

For the first time since my undergraduate degree and during this break from teaching, I’m really experiencing the full joy of studying again. And that document of notes I mentioned in Night-time Ramblings of an Arabic PhD Student? Well, it’s now got over 20 thousand words and an expanding reading list at the bottom.

I’m well aware that I need to actually start collating the information and my thoughts into some sort of structure pretty soon. But let a girl read, you know?

All these academic texts I’ve been reading reminded me of a blog post idea that’s been sitting in the back of my mind. I thought, why not share some of the random Arabic phrases I used to use in my Arabic essays, or have since collected, so we can all elevate our Arabic academic writing a little?

The phrases I’ve rather haphazardly put together are here because they’re so widely-applicable, as you’ll see. Have a scroll…

سَلَّطَ / يُسَلِّطُ الضَّوء على

to shed light on

(Enlighten your readers!)

جُزء لا يَتَجَزَّأ مِن

an integral part of

(For when you’ve used مُهِمّ too much.)

بَذَلَ / يَبذِلُ كُلَّ غالٍ وَنَفيسٍ

to go to any length, to spare no effort

(When someone’s thrown everything and their left shoe at something… I don’t know if that’s a phrase in English, but it should be. This phrase (the Arabic, minus the left shoe bit) appeared in the example in Wehr Wednesdays #217.)

بَينَ لَيلَةٍ وَضُحاها

overnight

(Great for talking about change, and—like the English—it doesn’t have to be used literally. I mean, what most of us do between a night and forenoon is sleep.)

على حافةِ الاِنهِيار

on the verge of collapse

(Since mentioning this phrase in Four Simple Tips to Improve Your Essay Writing Skills in Arabic, nothing’s changed. Everything’s still on the verge of collapse. Honestly, just try to use it in your next essay and you’ll see how depressingly easy it is to fit in.)

مَهَّدَ / يُمَهِّدُ الطَّريقَ إلى

to pave the way for

(When one thing leads to another… but make it fancy. This phrase was also mentioned in that post.)

في أَعقاب

in the wake of

(Absolutely nothing will stop me envisioning a speedboat when I hear this one.)

تَداعِيات غَير مُتَوَقَّعة

unexpected repercussions/implications

(Because no one seems to expect the consequences of their actions? It’s a universal theme?)

مِن هذا المُنطَلَق

with this in mind, in this sense, from this perspective

(A springboard for your next thought after giving some background. A solid phrase.)

لَعِبَ / يَلعَبُ دَوراً حاسِماً في

to play a crucial role in

(Think: the role of caffeine in keeping you awake when you have a 12am deadline but you’ve been dying for a nap since 3pm and you’re barely at half the word count… Not speaking from personal experience, obviously.)

آلَ / يَؤولُ بِهِ المَطافُ إلى

to eventually get to the point where

(Not so much speedboats with this one, but I do think of a donkey being led through a desert-like area near some pyramids. Maybe because I first heard it in a documentary about Ancient Egypt.)

لِنَفرِضْ جَدَلاً أَنَّ

let’s suppose for the sake of argument that

(Why not, eh? More arguments? Could always do with some more of those.)

عَلى سَبيلِ المِثال لا الحَصر

to name a few

(For when you just want to submit and you cannot be bothered to research a single more name or event to add to your grand total of two.)

حَقَّقَ / يُحَقِّقُ (الاِستِقرار، السَّلام، التَّغيير، إلخ)

to implement/effect/realise (stability, peace, change, etc.)

(I proudly present you my chameleon word: تَحقيق. Whether you use the verb or its verbal noun, you can shove it into just about any context and it works and it looks fabulous. Love it.)

قَد يُؤَدّي إلى

may lead to

(I couldn’t resist adding this one to the list. I reckon it appeared in most of my final year writing tasks.)

رَزَحَ / يَرزَحُ تَحتَ وَطأَة

to be plagued by, overburdened with, reeling under

(No shortage of situations to use this for. Conflict, tyranny, debt…)

لاحَت / تَلوح تَباشير

for the heralds of (something good) to appear

(Because I had to finish off on a positive note. Always try to look for the good in situations, people, and essays.)

I don’t think there’s a shortage of vocabulary on this blog to learn. We’ve got (على سبيل المثال لا الحصر): small but useful phrases, synonyms, and—of course—our weekly Wehr Wednesdays posts.

Do you have any fancy phrases you like to add to your Arabic essays?

!مع السلامة