مَهارة root: م-ه-ر / noun / plural: مَهارات / definition: skill A great way to hint at your remarkable ability to provide countless examples in a list (thereby convincing whoever’s reading your essay of your expert knowledge of the topic), is to end your lists with a phrase like “and so on”. So, what areContinue reading “Seven Arabic Phrases Meaning “and so on””
Category Archives: small but useful phrases
The Verb يتسبّب and its Prepositions
مُتَنَوِّع root: ن-و-ع / active participle of form V / definition: various In one of the examples in Arabic Observations: Words with Antonymic Meanings, we saw how changing the preposition following a verb could produce two completely opposite meanings. While the meaning of the form V verb تَسَبَّبَ / يَتَسَبَّبُ doesn’t change that drastically, it stillContinue reading “The Verb يتسبّب and its Prepositions”
Another Small But Useful Phrase: جاء في
تَقرير root: ق-ر-ر / verbal noun of form II / plural: تَقارير / definition: report With my last deadline until September out of the way as of Monday, my brain has finally had time to do… nothing. And it’s really needed that break to be honest—since we started semester two way back in January, it’sContinue reading “Another Small But Useful Phrase: جاء في”
“Once Upon a Time” in Arabic
قِصّة root: ق-ص-ص / noun / plural: قِصَص / definition: story Once upon a time… It’s the typical opening of the stories I’m sure most of us used to read when we were younger. But what’s the Arabic equivalent of this phrase? And how does it make sense grammatically?
Using عدم
عَدَم root: ع-د-م / noun / definition: nonexistence, absence, lack The word عَدَم is a noun meaning “nonexistence”, “absence”, or “lack (of)”. When it’s used in an إضافة with a following noun, it can often be translated as a prefix like non-, un-, or dis-. Let’s look at some examples…
What Does مما كان عليه Mean?
حالة root: ح-و-ل / noun / plural: حالات / definition: state, case, condition In the post Treasures in Translation, I used a quote from an article to illustrate a cool translation point—the quote being: وما ينذر بالسوء أن درجة حرارة الأرض أصبحت الآن أعلى مما كانت عليه خلال عصر الهولوسين …and the translation point beingContinue reading “What Does مما كان عليه Mean?”
What Does إذ Mean and How Do We Use It?
سَبَب root: س-ب-ب / noun / plural: أَسْباب / definition: reason, rationale So many milestones! It’s been two years now since my first post on this blog, where I was pretty much writing for an audience of one (thanks Mum <3). In this time, I’ve received so many messages from you guys—blog readers and fellowContinue reading “What Does إذ Mean and How Do We Use It?”
How to Form Words with the “Re-” Prefix in Arabic
تَشْكيل root: ش-ك-ل / verbal noun of form II / definition: forming, formation I’ve never been great when it comes to time perception. But I do know that it feels like ages since we last had a grammar post on here (the last was Quadriliteral Active Participles in Arabic, it seems). I can’t stay away fromContinue reading “How to Form Words with the “Re-” Prefix in Arabic”
Useful Arabic Phrases Meaning “Tantamount to”
عَكَسَ root: ع-ك-س / form I verb / present tense: يَعكِسُ / definition: to reflect I was toying with the title Fancy Ways to Say “Is” in Arabic for this post—which would have been reflective of the content, albeit a little ambiguous. Nevertheless, the phrases we’re going to look at in this post which—by dictionaryContinue reading “Useful Arabic Phrases Meaning “Tantamount to””
How to Say “Post-” in Arabic
مَرْحَلة root: ر-ح-ل / noun / plural: مَراحِل / definition: stage, phase Don’t get confused, it’s not البريد (the post, mail) that we’re talking about this week—we’re actually looking at how to create words with the post- prefix, such as: postcolonial, postmodern, post-pandemic, etc.
Small But Useful Arabic Phrases That You Need To Know (Part 3)
نافِع root: ن-ف-ع / adjective, active participle of form I / definition: beneficial, useful It’s definitely time for another post in the small but useful phrases series, where I present you with short pieces of vocabulary that can have a big impact on your understanding and writing of Arabic. Let’s get straight into Part 3!
Three Meanings of حتّى
مَعْنَى root: ع-ن-ي / noun / plural: مَعانٍ / definition: meaning, sense I might be stating the obvious here, but learning those Arabic words with multiple meanings is really advantageous. I mean, learning a single word that you can use in numerous contexts to give rise to different meanings? Yes, please.
Small But Useful Arabic Phrases That You Need To Know (Part 2)
عِبارة root: ع-ب-ر / noun / plural: عبارات / definition: phrase, expression Back in December, I posted a list of Small But Useful Arabic Phrases That You Need To Know. But seeing as you can never have too much vocabulary in Arabic, I felt compelled to put together a Part 2—so here’s some more veryContinue reading “Small But Useful Arabic Phrases That You Need To Know (Part 2)”
Small but Useful Arabic Phrases That You Need To Know
مُفيد root: ف-ي-د / adjective / definition: useful, beneficial As much as most of us, as Arabic students, love to learn all sorts of complex and specific vocabulary, knowing the small, simple stuff that fills up sentences is really important too. So, below, I’ve made a fairly compact list of small but useful Arabic phrasesContinue reading “Small but Useful Arabic Phrases That You Need To Know”
The Arabic Pages 