I have been extremely busy in the past few weeks, but I decided that I needed to spend more time doing things that I honestly cared about, and that would be important to my life. So, what better way to spend a Saturday morning than by learning Arabic!
Here are some notes that I took:
Singular Subject Pronouns:
| هي | هو | انت | انت | انا |
| Hiyya | Huwwa | Anti | Anta | Ana |
| She | He | You (Feminine) | You (masculine) | I |
Feminine Markers:
In Arabic, as in many languages, words have masculine and feminine genders. Most feminine Arabic words which are not obviously feminine, such as mother and sister, have characteristic endings that indicate their gender.
There are three feminine markers:
| Ta Marbuta | ة |
| Alif Maksura | ى |
| Alif/Hamza | أ |
Examples with Feminine Markers:
| Jameela | جميلة |
| Leela | ليلى |
| Hada’ | هذاء |
Changing the Gender of a Word:
- Add “Ta Marbuta” (ة) to the end of the word
| طبيب | طبيبة |
| Tabib | Tabiba |
| Male Doctor | Female Doctor |
Sentences with “To Be”:
- No verb for “to be”
- Use subject pronoun with noun/adjective
| I (feminine) am a hardworking doctor. | انا طبيبة مجتهدة. |
| You (masculine) are a hardworking doctor. | انت طبيب مجتهد. |
| You (feminine) are a hardworking doctor. | انت طبيبة مجتهدة. |
| He is a hardworking doctor. | هو طبيب مجتهد. |
| She is a hardworking doctor. | هي طبيبة مجتهدة. |
Adjectives (In Masculine Form):
| Beautiful | Jameel | جميل |
| Big | Kabeer | كبير |
| Generous | Kareem | كريم |
| Nice | Lateef | لطيف |
| Short | Qasseer | قصير |
| Hardworking | Mujtahid | مجتهد |
| Successful | Najah | نجح |
| Active | Nasheet | نشيط |
| Fat | Sameen | شمين |
I learnt a lot during my little session, and I can’t wait to learn more! Next week, I hope to document new notes, as well as some information about how/from where I am learning, and some effective tips!
Shraddha Joshi 