Useful Phrases & Conversation

A Transliteration System

It takes time to master the Arabic alphabet. To start speaking right away, we use a transliteration system, which represents Arabic sounds using the Latin alphabet. This is a temporary tool to help you learn vocabulary before you've mastered the script.

You should start writing words in Arabic script as soon as you learn all the letters. It's the only way to develop proficiency in reading and writing.

A good transliteration system gives each unique sound its own unique symbol. This is different from English, where one letter can have many sounds (like 's' in sun, prism, and treasure) or one sound can have many spellings (like 'f', 'gh' in laugh, and 'ph' in philosophy).

Drill 1: Differentiating 'th' Sounds

Arabic has two distinct sounds for the English 'th'. This exercise helps you distinguish them. Repeat each word out loud to determine if its 'th' sounds like the one in "three" or the one in "other".

Sounds like "three" (ث)

thumbthinkteeththroughtheftthrobthoughtdepth

Sounds like "other" (ذ)

theyalthoughweatherbothertherebrotherthentogetherthusrather

Transliteration: Consonants

A Note on "Arabizi" (Chat Arabic)

You will often see Arabic written with Latin letters and numbers online, a system called "Arabizi". It uses numbers for sounds not in English. It's very useful to know the most common ones:

2 = ء (hamza/glottal stop, like in "uh-oh!") and أ (alif)
3 = ع ('ayn), a deep throat sound. The number 3 looks like a mirror image of the letter ع. This sound is one of the hardest for English speakers and is sometimes dropped in simple transliterations.
5 = خ (kha), a raspy sound like "ch" in the Scottish "loch".
7 = ح (Haa), a breathy 'h' sound, like a sigh of relief. The number 7 has a similar shape to ح.

While useful for texting, this course uses a more formal transliteration system (shown below) to help you build good pronunciation habits.

The table below shows the transliteration system used in this course. It uses uppercase letters for emphatic sounds and doubled vowels for long vowels.

Symbol	Sound	Arabic	Symbol	Sound	Arabic
b	as in bet	ب	f	as in fun	ف
t	as in tip	ت	q	like k, but deeper in throat	ق
th	as in three	ث	k	as in keep	ك
j	j or g, varies by region	ج	l	like Spanish or Italian l	ل
H	a raspy, breathy h	ح	m	as in mat	م
kh	like German or Hebrew ch	خ	n	as in neat	ن
d	as in dip	د	h	as in aha!	ه
dh	th in the and other	ذ	w	as in wow!	و
r	like Spanish or Italian r	ر	y	as in yes	ي
z	as in zip	ز	'	glottal stop (uh-oh!)	ء
s	as in sip	س	S	emphatic S, like in subtle	ص
sh	as in she	ش	D	emphatic D, close to d in duh!	ض
T	emphatic T, similar to t in bottle	ط	DH	emphatic DH, close to th in thy	ظ
gh	like French or Hebrew r	غ

Transliteration: Vowels

Formal Arabic has three vowel sounds (a, i, u), each short or long. Spoken Arabic adds e and o. Long vowels are written with doubled letters (aa, ii, uu).

Formal Vowels

Symbol	Sound	Arabic (Short/Long)
a / aa	e in 'bet' to a in 'father'	ـَ / ـَا
i / ii	i in 'bit' / ee in 'piece'	ـِ / ـِي
u / uu	u in 'put' / oo in 'poodle'	ـُ / ـُو

Additional Spoken Vowels

Symbol	Sound
e / ee	French é, as in fiancé
o / oo	o, similar to a la mode
a	schwa, like e in listen

Vocabulary and Dialects

Egyptian and Levantine Colloquial

This course teaches Formal Arabic (written), Egyptian Colloquial (maSri), and Levantine Colloquial (shaami). Egyptian and Levantine are the most widely understood dialects.

Egyptian (maSri): Known from films and music. Often uses a hard 'g' sound for 'j' and emphasizes the second-to-last syllable.
Levantine (shaami): Spoken in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine. Often uses a final 'e' vowel sound on certain words.

You should choose one spoken variety to master, but it's useful to recognize both.

Vocabulary: Greetings

Meaning	Formal / Written	Levantine (shaami)	Egyptian (maSri)
Greetings! (Islamic)	ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ assalaamu alaykum	ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ assalaamu alaykum	ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ issalaamu alaykum
Hello! / Hi!	أَهْلًا ahlan	أَهْلًا ahla	أَهْلًا ahlan
Hello!	أَهْلًا وَسَهْلًا ahlan wa sahlan	أَهْلًا وَسَهْلًا ahla w sahla	أَهْلًا وَسَهْلًا ahlan wa sahlan
Hello! (Levant)	مَرْحَبًا marHaban	مَرْحَبَا marHaba	-
I	أَنَا ana	أَنَا ana	أَنَا ana
my name	اِسْمِي ismii	اِسْمِي ismi	اِسْمِي ismi
from	مِن min	مِن min	مِن min
the city of...	مَدِينَة... madiinat...	مَدِينَة... madiinit...	مِدِينِة... midiinit...
in	فِي fii	بِ bi	فِي fi

Conversation: Introductions

Here is a sample introduction in Levantine Arabic. Note how the verb "is/are" is omitted.

Yusuf:

مرحبا

marHaba

Hello

Fatima:

أهلا وسهلا

ahla w sahla

Hello

Yusuf:

اسمي يوسف. شو اسمك؟

ismi Yusuf. shuu ismik?

My name is Yusuf. What is your name?

Fatima:

اسمي فاطمة. من وين إنت؟

ismi Fatima. min ween inte?

My name is Fatima. Where are you from?

Yusuf:

أنا من مدينة بيروت

ana min madiinit Beirut

I am from the city of Beirut.

Vocabulary: Getting to Know Someone

Meaning	Formal / Written	Levantine (shaami)	Egyptian (maSri)
door	بَاب baab	بَاب baab	بَاب baab
what?	مَا؟ maa?	شُو؟ shuu?	إِيه؟ ee?
Reply to ahlan wa sahlan (m)	أَهْلًا بِكَ ahlan bika	أَهْلًا فِيك ahlan fiik	أَهْلًا بِيك ahlan biik
Reply to ahlan wa sahlan (f)	أَهْلًا بِكِ ahlan biki	أَهْلًا فِيكِ ahlan fiiki	أَهْلًا بِيكِي ahlan biiki
Reply to assalaamu calaykum	وَعَلَيْكُمُ ٱلسَّلَام wa calaykumu s-salaam	وَعَلَيْكُمُ ٱلسَّلَام wa calaykumu s-salaam	وَعَلَيْكُمُ ٱلسَّلَام wa calaykumu s-salaam
you (polite, m)	حَضْرَتُكَ HaDratuka	حَضْرْتَك HaDertak	حَضْرِتَك HaDritak
you (polite, f)	حَضْرَتُكِ HaDratuki	حَضْرْتِك HaDertik	حَضْرِتِك HaDritik
Nice to meet you!	تَشَرَّفْنَا tasharrafnaa	تْشَرَّفْنَا tsharrafna	إِتْشَرَّفْنَا itsharrafna
you (m)	أَنْتَ anta	إِنْتِ inte	إِنْتَ inta
you (f)	أَنْتِ anti	إِنْتِي inti	إِنْتِي inti
your name (m)	اِسْمُكَ ismuka	اِسْمَك ismak	اِسْمَك ismak
your name (f)	اِسْمُكِ ismuki	اِسْمِك ismik	اِسْمِك ismik
where?	أَيْنَ؟ ayna?	وَيْن؟ ween?	فِين؟ feen?
from where?	مِن أَيْنَ؟ min ayna?	مِن وَيْن؟ min ween?	مِنِين؟ mineen?
yes	نَعَم na'am	إِيه ee	أَيْوَه aywa
no	لَا laa	لَا laa	لَأ la'

Culture & Practice

Culture: Saying Hello

Polite behavior requires you to say hello to everyone in a room you enter. Practice this by always greeting your classmates and instructor when you enter your Arabic class.

Practice Drills

Use the vocabulary you've learned to practice:

Drill: Meet someone new. Go around and greet your classmates. If you don't know their names, find out!
Drill: Where is Arabic spoken? Look up a map of the Arab world. Choose ten countries and their capitals and write them out using the transliteration system.
Drill: Reading in transliteration. With a partner, try to identify the following places: amriika, lubnaan, faransa, as-suudaan, al-yaabaan, tuunis, isbaaniyaa, al-ciraaq.