One Arabic root … many derivatives (Part 1) Posted by aziza on Jan 24, 2010
In this post, I present one useful root in Arabic (و ج ه) and many words that derive from it. This is a very useful exercise to try for yourself to expand your vocabulary; you can also use the dictionary for help. وجهها صبوح. “Her face is radiant/graceful.” “Her face always smiles.” Face وَجْه وجوه…
Arabic Vocabulary: Ball Sports Posted by aziza on Jan 21, 2010
When I though of writing this post, I wanted to make a vocabulary list about the topic of hobbies (الهوايات), but I realized that it was too broad, so I decided to limit the list to sports (الرياضات), yet it was still too broad, so I decided to make a list of words related to ball…
Fayrouz Posted by aziza on Jan 18, 2010
Fayrouz (فيروز) is one of the most famous Arab singers. She was born on 21st November 1935 in Lebanon. In her childhood, she used to sing at school concerts and to neighbors and friends in her family’s simple house in Beirut. At one of the school concerts, Mohammed Fleyfel became impressed by her voice and…
Expressing Opinions in Arabic Posted by aziza on Jan 15, 2010
There is a range of expressions that we can use to express opinion (التعبير عن الرأي) in Arabic. Following is a list of expressions that can be used in this context: In my opinion… في رأيي… I think that… أظن أنّ… I believe that… أعتقد أنّ… It seems to me that… يبدو لي أنّ… As…
Irregular Verbs in Arabic (Part 2): Doubled Verbs in Present Tense Posted by aziza on Jan 12, 2010
In this post, I present doubled verbs (الفعل المضعف) in the present tense. Examples of doubled verbs are (شدّ) ‘pulled’, (ظنّ) ‘thought’, (استعدّ) ‘got prepared’, (استمرّ) ‘continued’, etc. Just like past tense verbs, with some pronouns the doubled letter has to be repeated twice, while with others, it remains one letter with shadda. The table…
Irregular Verbs in Arabic (Part 1): Doubled Verbs Posted by aziza on Jan 9, 2010
Doubled verbs (الفعل المضعف) in Arabic end in a doubled letter, i.e. one with shadda (ـّ), e.g. (شدّ) ‘pulled’, (ظنّ) ‘thought’, (استعدّ) ‘got prepared’, (استمرّ) ‘continued’, etc. What is special about these verbs is that with some pronouns, the doubled letter has to be repeated twice, while with others, it remains one letter with shadda…
Arabic nouns: Proper nouns vs. Generic nouns Posted by aziza on Jan 6, 2010
There are 2 types of Arabic nouns, with sub-types of each type. The first type is proper nouns (اسم عَلَم) which refer to a particular person, place, etc. Examples of these are (محمد), (يوسُف), (مَكّة), (فلسطين), etc. These nouns are definite because they are names of particular people or places; therefore, they cannot be made…