The emergence of swine flu has caused a lot of concerns and worries for many people around the world, including me. I check the news websites every few hours to know if new cases have been discovered and I hope and pray that this situation is resolved before more suffering happens. I am worried and frightened, and I thought in this posting to give some words and expressions that can be used to express fear and worry in Arabic. It should be noted that some of these expressions are very close in meaning, and one of them can be used for the other, just like the case with English.

This list contains adjectives that describe states of being worried and frightened. The are all in singular masculine form, and care should be taken to use the appropriate person and number when using them in sentences, e.g.

أنا خائفة، هل أنت خائف؟

I am afraid, are you afraid as well?

أختي قلقة على نتيجة الامتحان.

My sister is worried about the result of the examination.

الأطفال مروعون بعد رؤية الحادث.

The children are horrified after seeing the accident.