Arabic Grammar for English Speakers: Roots, Verbs

One letter, four shapes

Arabic letters change shape depending on their position in a word, because they join to the letters beside them. Read from right to left.

ب Alone the letter bāʾ, “b”

بـ At the start joins to the left

ـبـ In the middle joins on both sides

ـب At the end joins to the right

Short vowels (a, i, u) are usually not written; they appear as small marks only in learner texts, the Quran and children’s books.

“The”: sun letters and moon letters

The Arabic word for “the” is ال al-, joined to the front of the noun. Before 14 “sun letters” the l sound blends into the next consonant; before the 14 “moon letters” it stays.

Sun letters: the l blends

الشَّمسash-shams“the sun” · ل + ش sounds “sh-sh”النُّورan-nūr“the light” · ل + ن sounds “n-n”

Moon letters: the l is pronounced

القَمَرal-qamar“the moon” · the l is clearالكِتابal-kitāb“the book” · the l is clear

Your first sentences

In the present tense Arabic needs no verb “to be”: “I student” is a complete sentence. Read the Arabic from right to left; the gloss under each word is in the same order.

أناanāIطالِبṭālibstudent

“I am a student.” No verb “am” and no word for “a”. A woman says طالِبة ṭāliba.

الكِتابal-kitābthe bookجَديدjadīdnew

“The book is new.” “The book” plus a describing word without “the” makes a full sentence.

كِتابkitābbook (of)الطّالِبaṭ-ṭālibthe student

“The student’s book.” This is iḍāfa: two nouns side by side mean “the book of the student”. Only the second takes al-.

Roots: one meaning, many words

Most Arabic words are built from a root of three consonants that carries a core meaning. Vowels and extra letters slot around the root to make related words. Learn the root once and you can often guess the meaning of words you have never seen. The hero diagram shows one root; the table below shows the other half of the system, the patterns. The root system reference has the main patterns.

ma-CCaCa place where it happensمَكْتَبmaktaboffice (k-t-b, writing)مَطْبَخmaṭbakhkitchen (ṭ-b-kh, cooking)

CāCiCa person who does itدَارِسdārisstudent (d-r-s, study)طَابِخṭābikhcook (ṭ-b-kh)

muCaCCiCa person who causes itمُدَرِّسmudarristeacher (d-r-s)مُعَلِّمmuʿallimteacher (ʿ-l-m, knowing)

maCCūCa thing it is done toمَكْتُوبmaktūbwritten, a letter (k-t-b)مَعْلُومmaʿlūmknown (ʿ-l-m)

Patterns are templates: C stands for a root consonant. Pour any root into ma-CCaC and you get a place, so the pattern alone tells you what kind of word it is.

Masculine and feminine

Every Arabic noun is either masculine or feminine (grammatical gender: the class a noun belongs to, which adjectives and verbs must match). Most feminine nouns end in ة, a letter called tāʾ marbūṭa, pronounced -a. Adjectives take the same ending to agree.

Meaning	Masculine	Feminine	Why
teacher	مُعَلِّم muʿallim	مُعَلِّمَة muʿallima	Adding ة makes the feminine form.
big	كَبِير kabīr	كَبِيرَة kabīra	Adjectives copy the noun’s gender.
new house / new car	بَيْت جَدِيد bayt jadīd	سَيَّارَة جَدِيدَة sayyāra jadīda	The adjective comes after the noun and matches it.

One, two, many

Arabic has three number forms: singular for one, dual for exactly two, and plural for three or more. Many plurals are “broken”: the vowels inside the word change instead of an ending being added. The broken plurals reference lists the common patterns.

Form	Example	Meaning	How it is made
Singular	كِتَاب kitāb	one book	The basic word.
Dual	كِتَابَان kitābān	two books	Add ـَان -ān.
Plural (broken)	كُتُب kutub	books	The vowels inside change.
Plural (sound)	مُعَلِّمُون muʿallimūn	teachers	Add ـُون -ūn (masculine).

A sentence with a verb

In formal written Arabic the verb often comes first. Its prefix or ending shows who is acting, so a separate word for “I” or “she” is often not needed.

أَكْتُبُaktubuI-writeرِسَالَةًrisālatana letter

“I am writing a letter.” The prefix أَ a- on the verb means “I”. Read from right to left; the gloss under each word follows the Arabic.

ذَهَبَتْdhahabatshe-wentإِلَىilātoالمَدْرَسَةal-madrasathe school

“She went to school.” The ending تْ -at on the verb means “she”. ال al- is “the”, joined to the noun.

How to start learning Arabic

1Learn the 28 lettersIn all their joined shapes, reading right to left. Two to three weeks is typical.
2Practise the new soundsع ʿayn, ح ḥāʾ and ق qāf have no English equivalent; drill them early.
3Choose Modern Standard and a dialectModern Standard Arabic is used in writing and news; a dialect such as Egyptian or Levantine is used at home and on the street.
4Learn words by rootGroup new words by their three-letter root to remember them in families.
5Read with vowel marksUse learner texts with the short-vowel marks until you can predict them yourself.