Archive for 'Vocabulary'
Conjugating لَيْسَ laysa and كَاْنَ kaana Posted by Ibnulyemen اِبْنُ اليَمَن on Jul 27, 2017
The Arabic sentence is either اِسْمِيَّة ismiiyah ‘nominal’, i.e. has no verb, or فِعْلِيَّة fi‘liiyah ‘verbal’. Their frequency is similar. لَيْس laysa ‘not’ and كَانَ kaana ‘was/were’ are mainly associated with the nominal. Therefore, both are important and frequent; knowing the regularity and irregularity of their تَصْرِيْف taSriif ‘conjugation’ is essential for easier learning and…
Telling the time in Libyan Colloquial Arabic Posted by Hanan Ben Nafa on Jul 26, 2017
A few weeks ago, we looked at how we ask for the time and also learnt some time-related vocabulary, using a kids song. This week, we’re going to learn how to tell the time in Libyan colloquial Arabic. Although I’m focusing on the Libyan dialect here, it’s worth mentioning that this is not at…
Meet An Emirati Sports Champion (2) Posted by jesa on Jul 25, 2017
Marhaba! Listening to Maha talk about her passion for her sports has enticed me to go ahead and exercise myself! I hope you enjoyed Maha’s story as well. As more and more female athletes break barriers in the Arab world and around the world, champions like Maha are indeed an inspiration. I have provided you…
Arabic Verb Forms [Conjugatable vs. Non-conjugatable] Posted by Ibnulyemen اِبْنُ اليَمَن on Jul 24, 2017
Arabic verbs are either fully conjugatable, partially conjugatable, or non-conjugatable. In Arabic grammar, this classification is referred to as مُتَصَرِّف mutaSarrif ‘conjugatable’, مُتَصَرِّف نَاقِص mutaSarrif naqiS ‘partially conjugatable’ and جَاِمد jamid ‘non-conjugatable.’ … Continue Reading
Meet an Emirati Sports Champion! (1) Posted by jesa on Jul 22, 2017
Marhaba! Have you ever been interested in water sports, or tried any nautical exercises? The Emirati, Maha al-Blushi, has excelled in the sports of rowing (التجديف). She has crossed various barriers, social and physical, to become one of the prominent champions of rowing in the United Arab Emirates. Today, I am sharing with you a…
10 Common Levantine Proverbs Posted by jesa on Jul 15, 2017
Marhaba! As you know, every language and culture has different ways of saying things. Most cultures have accumulated across the years a number of proverbs and sayings to express certain ideas or describe a given situation. The Arabic language has of course a huge collection of proverbs. Today I am going to share with you…
15 Love phrases in different Arabic dialects Posted by Hanan Ben Nafa on Jul 12, 2017
As always, diversity is a hot topic when it comes to the Arabic language. On that note, our topic today is going to be about the different love expressions used in different Arabic dialects. To do that, we’re using an interesting song (check video below), by the by the Lebanese singer – Sandra –…