Arabic Language Blog
Menu
Search

Expressing spatial relationships in Arabic Posted by on Feb 26, 2013 in Arabic Language, Grammar, Vocabulary

In my previous post, I discussed temporal relationships (العلاقات الزمنية) which relate events in terms of time of their occurrence. In this post, I discuss spatial relationships (العلاقات المكانية), which relate objects according to their place.

 

I am going to present some expressions which we can use to express spatial relationships in Arabic, and give examples of their usage.

 

شمال/شمالاً = North

تقع مدينة الإسكندرية شمال مصر.

Alexandria is located to the North of Egypt.

لتصل إلى الإسكندرية، اتجه شمالاً.

To go to Alexandria, head North!

جنوب/جنوباً =south  

تقع مدينة أسوان جنوب مصر.

Aswan is located to the South of Egypt.

لتصل إلى أسوان، اتجه جنوباً.

To go to Aswan, head South!

شرق/شرقاً = East

تشرق الشمس ناحية الشرق.

The sun rises in the East

القطار المتجه شرقاً سيغادر بعد ساعة.

The train heading east will leave after one hour

غرب = West

معظم الشباب يريدون السفر إلى الغرب.

Most young people want to travel to the West.

لتصل إلى الواحة، استقل الحافلة المتجهة غرباً.

To go to the oasis, take the train heading west.

 

أمام/أماماً  = in front of/forward

سيارتي متوقفة أمام البوابة.

My car is parked in front of the gate.

هل يمكنك أن تحرّك سيارتك أماماً قليلاً؟

Can you move your car forward a little bit?

خلف/ خلفاً  = behind/backward

شقتي خلف هذه الشرفة.

My flat is behind this balcony.

بين= between   

يوجد المسجد بين بيتي و بيتك.

The mosque is located between your house and mine.

تحت= under

الكتاب سقط تحت الطاولة.

The book fell under the table

فوق  = over

وضعت المجلات فوق الجرائد.

I put the magazines over the newspapers.

داخل= inside

وضعت ابنتي اللعب داخل الصندوق.

My daughter put the toys inside the box.

خارج= outside

انتظرني خارج المكتبة.

Wait for me outside the library.

يمين= right  

يجلس محمد على يمين حسام.

Mohammed sits to the right of Hossam.

يسار = left

بعد شارعين، يجب الدوران لليسار.

After two roads, we have to turn left.

هنا= here

مَن هنا؟

Who is here?

هناك= there

يقف الأستاذ هناك، عند باب الصف.

The teacher is standing there, at the door of the classroom.

Tags: , , , ,
Keep learning Arabic with us!

Build vocabulary, practice pronunciation, and more with Transparent Language Online. Available anytime, anywhere, on any device.

Try it Free Find it at your Library
Share this:
Pin it

Comments:

  1. Asni M Amin:

    The Arabic fonts are too tiny. Cannot read them. I have to cut and paste on to Excel or Powerpoint to enlarge them.