When visiting an Arab country, it’s good to know “money” related vocabulary. Knowing your numbers is of course crucial, but understanding words like “money”, “change”, “currency”, etc. will come in handy. Also, knowing more Arabic will help you in places where you have to bargain يُساوِم. In this post, we’re going to look at Arabic synonyms for “money” in addition to money related terms, how to say “money” in Levantine Arabic, and how to ask how much something is in Standard Arabic and Levantine Arabic.

Different words used to mean “money” in Arabic:

مَال                 I don’t have a lot of money.    .ليسَ لَدي الكَثير مِن المال

نَقد                  money transfer    تَحويل النَّقد

فُلوس              I need the money today.    .أحتاج إلى الفُلوس اليَوم

نُقود                There is no money in the account.   .لا توجَد نُقود في الحِساب

 

Money related words:

عُملة: currency                 American currency    عُملة أمريكية

صَرافة: change                 Do you have change?  هَل لَديكَ صَرافة؟

مَصروف: pocket money

I gave my son pocket money for school.   .أعطَيتُ إبني مَصروف للمَدرَسة

باقي: remaining change     Keep the change.     .إحتفظ بالباقي

 

In Levantine dialect:

money: مَصاري            The money is on the table.   .المَصاري فَوق الطاولة

change: فَراطة، فَكة       Sorry, I don’t have change.   .آسِف، ما مَعي فراطة

 

Asking how much prices are.

How much is this?        كَم هذا/هذه؟

How much?            كَم؟

price: سِعر

In Levantine dialect:

بِكم هادا/هاي؟

أديش؟

Here is a video showing currencies in different Arab countries.

Which countries use ليرا, which use دينار, and which use ريال? 😎

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