Tag Archives: language

Using سبق أن

بَديل root: ب-د-ل / noun / plural: بَدائِل / definition: substitute, alternative Another day, another grammar post! I just love finding different ways to express the same word or structure in Arabic—although perhaps you already know that, considering the fact that this blog has a synonyms series. This week, I’m presenting you with an alternativeContinue reading “Using سبق أن”

Step-by-Step Arabic Literature Translation #4

اِستِعارة root: ع-و-ر / noun / plural: اِستِعارات / definition: metaphor And… we’re back with the fourth post in the literature translation series! This time, we’re going through an excerpt from another poem: مَسرَح (Theatre) by الصادق الرضي (Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi), whose poetry I previously mentioned in this post.

Arabic Observations: Duplicated Roots with Reduplicated Forms

مُلاحَظة root: ل-ح-ظ / noun / plural: مُلاحَظات / definition: observation The title might appear somewhat complex, but this topic is just plain cool. If you’ve been keeping up with the Arabic Observations series, you might remember the post Arabic Observations: Doubled Roots, where we looked at the properties and meanings of roots such as ع-س-ع-سContinue reading “Arabic Observations: Duplicated Roots with Reduplicated Forms”

Five Arabic Verbs for “to Include”

تَرادُف root: ر-د-ف / noun / definition: synonymity It’s hard to believe: it’s almost been a full year since I started posting on The Arabic Pages, and Wehr Wednesdays #49 was our 100th post! (Most surprising is that I’ve kept up with two posts a week. Two!) As for today’s post—a.k.a. #101—we’re diving into anotherContinue reading “Five Arabic Verbs for “to Include””

Comparing the Grammar of Arabic Comparison Particles

مُقارَنة root: ق-ر-ن / verbal noun of form III / plural: مُقارَنات / definition: comparison A while back, on The Arabic Pages‘ Instagram page, I received a brilliant idea for a post: to explain the differences between several comparison words which include كَ. It’s not something that I’d given too much thought to before, butContinue reading “Comparing the Grammar of Arabic Comparison Particles”

Learning Arabic Through Poetry

شِعْر root: ش-ع-ر / noun / plural: أَشْعار / definition: poetry In the course of my language learning journey, I’ve found that going through Arabic texts and looking up each unfamiliar word is a really great way to pick up vocabulary. And what helps is if you encounter those pieces of vocabulary in interesting contexts.

How to Use the Arabic Phrase “مِن قِبَلِ”

فاعِل root: ف-ع-ل / noun / definition: subject (e.g. of a verb) It’s no coincidence that I included “مِن قِبَلِ” in the very first Small but Useful Arabic Phrases That You Need To Know post. And because this phrase is so helpful, I thought it was worth making a post explaining how and when to useContinue reading “How to Use the Arabic Phrase “مِن قِبَلِ””

Two Ways to Say “Not Yet” in Arabic

طَريقة root: ط-ر-ق / noun / plural: طَرائِق or طُرُق / definition: way, method Don’t you just love adding variety to your foreign language lexicon? (For reference, the only correct answers here are ones synonymous with the word “yes”.) Well, seeing as you do… I now present you with a new synonyms post: two waysContinue reading “Two Ways to Say “Not Yet” in Arabic”

Arabic Headline Analysis #4

عُنْوان root: ع-ن-و-ن / noun / plural: عَناوين / definition: title, headline This week, we’re embarking on another Arabic Headline Analysis—exploring the vocabulary and grammar of a recent news headline and concluding with the resulting translation. Our Arabic headline this week is taken from an article posted on the Project Syndicate website. I really recommendContinue reading “Arabic Headline Analysis #4”

كان Plus a Past Tense Verb

الماضي root: م-ض-ي / noun / definition: the past, past tense Ever heard of the term “pluperfect”? (Yes? No? Possibly…?) Well, seeing as the Hans Wehr dictionary uses this word (on page 993, to be specific), we’ll have to find out what it means and how it works.