Learn some common prefixes in Arabic
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Intro |
|---|
| Michael: What are some prefixes in Arabic? |
| Nora: And why are they useful to know? |
| Michael: At ArabicPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Karen is going out for some errands and wonders whether her son Ben is going the same way. She asks, |
| "How are you going to university?" |
| كَيْفَ سَتَذهَبُ إلى الجامِعَة؟ (kayfa sataḏhabu ilā al-ǧāmiʿah?) |
| Dialogue |
| Karen Lee: كَيْفَ سَتَذهَبُ إلى الجامِعَة؟ (kayfa sataḏhabu ilā al-ǧāmiʿah?) |
| Ben Lee: سَأَذهَبُ بِالمِترو. وأََنتِ؟ (saʾaḏhabu bilmetro. waʾanti?) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Karen Lee: كَيْفَ سَتَذهَبُ إلى الجامِعَة؟ (kayfa sataḏhabu ilā al-ǧāmiʿah?) |
| Michael: "How are you going to university?" |
| Ben Lee: سَأَذهَبُ بِالمِترو. وأََنتِ؟ (saʾaḏhabu bilmetro. waʾanti?) |
| Michael: "I'll go by metro. And you?" |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: Prefixes, one letter or more that is attached to the beginning of a word, are a great way to bring richness and fluidity to your speech. There are many prefixes in Arabic, and here we introduce examples for three different categories of words: conjunctions, prepositions, and tense markers. First off is the conjunction |
| Nora: وَ (wa) |
| Michael: meaning "and," which is definitely the most commonly used conjunction of all. The cool thing about this conjunction is that it can be used to link nouns, adjectives, and verbs. An example of this would be: |
| Nora: مَلح وَفِلفِل (malḥ wafilfil) |
| Michael: meaning "salt and pepper." Note how the conjunction is attached as a prefix to the second noun, pepper. |
| Nora: [SLOWLY] مَلح وَفِلفِل (malḥ wafilfil) |
| Michael:The second category we are going to talk about is prepositions. For example, we have |
| Nora: بِـ (bi) |
| Michael: meaning "by." The most important usage for this one letter prefix is to help you describe the method by which you performed a certain action. An example of this would be: |
| Nora: بِالسَيَّارَة (bis-sayyārah) |
| Michael: meaning "by car." Note how it merged to the first letter of the word "the car." |
| Nora: [SLOWLY] بِالسَيَّارَة (bis-sayyārah) |
| Michael: Lastly, we have: |
| Nora: سَـ(sa) |
| Michael: meaning "will," which is a future tense marker. Something as small as a letter in the beginning of the present tense form of the verb can change the tense from present to future! An example of this would be: |
| Nora: سَأَتَعَلَّم (saʾataʿallam) |
| Michael: meaning "I will learn," which is a combination of the future marker prefix and the first person present tense form of the verb "to learn." |
| Nora:[SLOWLY] سَأَتَعَلَّم (saʾataʿallam) |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let’s take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Karen asks "How are you going to university?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Nora as Karen Lee: كَيْفَ سَتَذهَبُ إلى الجامِعَة؟ (kayfa sataḏhabu ilā al-ǧāmiʿah?) |
| Michael: Here, we have the future tense marker attached to the verb "to go" in the second person masculine form creating the word: |
| Nora: سَتَذهَبُ(sataḏhabu) |
| Michael: all in all meaning "you will go." Without the future marker prefix, this becomes: |
| Nora: تَذهَبُ (taḏhabu ) |
| Michael: meaning "you go" in the present tense. |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let’s take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Ben says "I'll go by metro. And you?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Nora as Ben Lee: سَأَذهَبُ بِالمِترو. وأََنتِ؟ (saʾaḏhabu bilmetro. waʾanti?) |
| Michael: Here, we have three examples of prefixes in useful formations. The first is: |
| Nora: سَأَذهَبُ (saʾaḏhabu) |
| Michael: meaning "I will go," which consists of the future marker added as a prefix to the first person present tense form of the verb "to go." Then, we have: |
| Nora: بِالمِترو (bilmetro) |
| Michael: meaning "by metro." Here, we have the preposition prefix added to the word "the metro." And, lastly, we have: |
| Nora:وأََنتِ؟ (waʾanti?) |
| Michael: meaning "And you?." It is a one word question in Arabic, but that is because the conjunction "and" is a prefix attached to the beginning of the word "you." |
| Expansion |
| Michael: One other meaning for the prepositional prefix |
| Nora: بِـ (bi) |
| Michael: is "with," so this prefix could be used to say: |
| Nora: شاي بِحَليب (šāī biḥalīb) |
| Michael: meaning "milk tea," but literally means "tea with milk," which happens to be one of the most loved hot drinks in Egypt. |
| Michael: Let's review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then, repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation. |
| Do you remember how Karen asks "How are you going to university?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Nora as Karen Lee: كَيْفَ سَتَذهَبُ إلى الجامِعَة؟ (kayfa sataḏhabu ilā al-ǧāmiʿah?) |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Nora as Karen Lee: كَيْفَ سَتَذهَبُ إلى الجامِعَة؟ (kayfa sataḏhabu ilā al-ǧāmiʿah?) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Nora as Karen Lee: كَيْفَ سَتَذهَبُ إلى الجامِعَة؟ (kayfa sataḏhabu ilā al-ǧāmiʿah?) |
| Michael: And do you remember how Ben says "I'll go by metro. And you?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Nora as Ben Lee: سَأَذهَبُ بِالمِترو. وأََنتِ؟ (saʾaḏhabu bilmetro. waʾanti?) |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Nora as Ben Lee: سَأَذهَبُ بِالمِترو. وأََنتِ؟ (saʾaḏhabu bilmetro. waʾanti?) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Nora as Ben Lee: سَأَذهَبُ بِالمِترو. وأََنتِ؟ (saʾaḏhabu bilmetro. waʾanti?) |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Nora: !سلام (Salam!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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