Moving on to our nineteenth letter of the Arabic alphabet (ف), we will look at various words and phrases beginning with (ف) along with more culture/language related facts.

Let’s begin with looking at your basic forms of the letter ف.

Initial ف‎, as in the word “فُنْدُق” meaning “hotel”.

Medial ـف‎ ‍, as in the word “مِفْتاح” meaning “key”.

Final ـف‎, as in the word “خَوف” meaning “fear”.

Before looking at the following words and phrases, can you think of words beginning with ف?

✨Let’s begin with the common phrase !فُرْصَة سَعِيدَة

This phrase literally translates to “happy or pleasant opportunity” which is the Arabic equivalent of “Nice to meet you!” or “Pleasure to meet you!” 😊

🎇في is probably one of the first words you learned in Arabic to basically mean “in”. Let’s look at what في means in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) according to context as well as its meaning and function in Levantine Arabic.

في: in/at/on/into/inside

For example:

in America  في أمريكا

at the hotel في الفُندق

on the television and radio في الإذاعة والتَلَفِزيون

When we go into battle. .عندما نَدخُل في المَعركة

Levantine:

في: in/at similar to MSA in addition to /there is/there are. For example:

There is tea at home. .في شاي بالبَيت

(As a question as well) Is there tea at home?  في شاي بالبَيت؟

ما في: there isn’t/ there aren’t

There isn’t any money in the account. .مافي مَصاري بالحِساب

There are no cars in the garage. .مافي سَيارات بالكَراج

Fairouz فيروز, is a famous مَشْهور Lebanese singer. You may have already heard of her since she is one of the most admired and influential ذو نُفوذ singers in the Arab world. Here is link to a song for فيروز called أعطني النَّاي meaning “Give me the flute”. The song is in Modern Standard Arabic with subtitles in both Arabic and English. Enjoy 😊!

أعطني الناي

 

 

 

Let’s continue looking at other words beginning with ف.

فَهِمَ: to understand   هَل فَهِمت الدَرس العَرَبي؟

Did you understand the Arabic lesson?

فَكَرَ: to think  هل تُفَكِر فيما حَدَث اليَوم؟

Are you thinking about what happened today?

Note: To say “I think” as in “I’m not sure” in Arabic is an entirely different word being أعتَقِد or أظُن.

فِكْرة: idea   !لَدي فِكرة رائِعة  I have a great idea!

فَقَط: only/just  .لَدي دولار واحِد فَقَط  I only have one dollar.

فَقير: poor  .أعطيتُ بَعض المَال لِرَجُل فَقير 

I gave some money to a poor man.

فَقَدَ: to loose  .لَقد فَقدتُ جَواز سَفَري ولا أستطيعُ السَفر

I lost my passport and I can’t travel.

فعَلَ: to do/to take action ماذا تُحاوِل أن تَفعَل؟  What are you trying to do?

فَرْق: difference  ما الفَرق بَين القَهوة العَرَبية والقَهوة الأمريكية؟

What is the difference between Arabic coffee and American coffee?

فَنّ: art  .المَسجِد مُزيَن بالفَن الإسلامي

The mosque is decorated with Islamic art.

فاكِهة: fruit .تَحتوي الفاكِهة على العَديد مِن الفيتامينات  Fruits have many vitamins.

فِنْجان: small cup (usually a tea/coffee cup)  هَل تَرغَب فِنجان قَهوة؟

Would you like a cup of coffee?

فَصْل: season  .فَصْلي المُفَضَل هو الخَريف  My favorite season is autumn.

فَصْل دِراسي: semester  .سَتكون هُناك امتحانات نِهاية الفَصل الدراسي

There will be exams at the end of the semester.

فَم: mouth .هُناك فأر في فَم القِطة   There is a mouse in the cat’s mouth.

When I thought of food that begins with ف, I thought of فلافِل falafel فول (fava bean dip) which of course comes with حُمص hummus; a popular breakfast combination in the Middle East. Watch the video below showing the most famous restaurant in Jordan for serving فلافِل and فول and حُمص called مَطعَم هاشِم Hashem. This restaurant is in downtown Amman and was established in 1956. It’s always super busy and has become a tourist destination. If you tend to visit Jordan, you must have breakfast or supper at مَطعَم هاشِم. 😎 Here is a video showing the restaurant and interviewing some customers.

جولة في مطعم هاشم

Till next time, happy Arabic learning! 😊