Learn how to ask for directions from a car
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to ArabicPod101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1, Lesson 19 - Asking for Directions in Arabic. I’m Becky. |
| Hany: مرحبا I'm Hany. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask for directions when you are in a car. The conversation takes place in a car on the street. |
| Hany: It's between Karim and a taxi driver. |
| Becky: The speakers are strangers, so they will use formal Arabic. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| كريم: السلام عليكم. لو سمحت, كيف أذهب إلى محطة مصر؟ |
| سائق تاكسي: إتجة إلى الأمام و لا تسلك أول كوبري, بل انعطف من تحته يميناً. |
| كريم: حسناً. أين أتجه بعد ذلك؟ |
| سائق تاكسي: ستجد نفق أمامك. لا تنزل في النفق, بل انعطف يساراً من فوقه. |
| كريم: يساراً من فوق النفق. حينها سأكون عند محطة العباسية, اليس كذلك؟ |
| سائق تاكسي: صحيح. بعد محطة العباسية أكمل إلى الأمام في نفس الطريق وتجاهل جميع الكباري التي تمر بها حتى ترى محطة مصر على يمينك. |
| كريم: هل هناك موقف سيارات حول محطة مصر؟ |
| سائق تاكسي: لست متأكداً. اسأل مرة أخرى عندما تصل إلى هناك. |
| كريم: إن شاء الله. شكراً جزيلاً يا حاج. |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Karim: Hello. Excuse me, how can I get to Masr station? |
| Taxi driver: Go straight and don't go up the first bridge, but take a right underneath it. |
| Karim: Ok. Then which way should I go? |
| Taxi driver: You'll find a tunnel in front of you. Don't take it, but turn left above it. |
| Karim: Left above the tunnel. Then I'll be near Abbasseya station, correct? |
| Taxi driver: Yes. After Abbasseya station, go straight forward in the same street and ignore all the bridges until you see Masr station on your right. |
| Karim: Is there a parking lot around Masr station? |
| Taxi driver: I'm not sure. Ask again when you get there. |
| Karim: If God wills. Thank you very much, pops. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Hany, in the Arabic world, is it OK to ask for directions in the street? Or to ask directions while you are driving? |
| Hany: In Egypt, where I am from, asking for directions when you are driving can be tricky, but most people do it at traffic lights when all the other cars aren't moving. You can also ask the police standing at the traffic lights. |
| Becky: I see. |
| Hany: Also, it's very hard to find a place to park your car in Egypt, especially in the very crowded parts of town. |
| Becky: So if you are going to such a crowded place, it might be wiser to take the bus, train, or a cab. |
| Hany: Right. Remember that, when you are in Egypt, you can call cab drivers with the nickname أوسطا osta. |
| Becky: Good to know. Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Hany: محطة [natural native speed] |
| Becky: station |
| Hany: محطة [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hany: محطة [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Hany: اتجه [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to head |
| Hany: اتجه[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hany: اتجه [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Hany: سَلَكَ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to take (a road) |
| Hany: سَلَكَ[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hany: سَلَكَ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Hany: كوبري [natural native speed] |
| Becky: bridge |
| Hany: كوبري[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hany: كوبري [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Hany: حينها [natural native speed] |
| Becky: then |
| Hany: حينها[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hany: حينها [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Hany: عند [natural native speed] |
| Becky: at, upon |
| Hany: عند[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hany: عند [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Hany: أكمَلَ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to complete, to continue |
| Hany: أكمَلَ[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hany: أكمَلَ [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Hany: تجاهل [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to ignore |
| Hany: تجاهل[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hany: تجاهل [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And lastly.. |
| Hany: جميع [natural native speed] |
| Becky: all |
| Hany: جميع[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Hany: جميع [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Hany: بَل |
| Becky: meaning "but instead." This word is always used in the expression "Don't do (something), but instead do (something else)”. |
| Hany: That's why it has a limited range of uses unlike lakin لكن meaning “but”, for example. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using the first word? |
| Hany: Sure. For example, you can say.. لا تَقرَأ هَذا الكِتاب, بَل اِقرَأ ذاك. (lā taqraʾ haḏā al-kitāb, bal iqraʾ ḏāk.) |
| Becky: ..which means "Don't read this book. Instead, read that one." Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Hany: بَعدَ ذَلك |
| Becky: meaning "after that”, “afterwards" |
| Hany: This expression consists of two words: ba'd means "after" and zalik meaning "that." |
| Becky: Literally it's just like the English expression "after that" or simply "then." This expression is mainly used when you are describing the order in which a certain action should take place. Hany, can you give us an example? |
| Hany: Sure. For example, you can say.. اِمضِِ عَلى المُستَنَد و بَعدَ ذَلِك سَلِّمهُ لِلإدارَة. (imḍii ʿalā al-mustanad wa baʿda ḏalik sallimhu lilʾidārah.) |
| Becky: .. which means "Sign the document then hand it over to the administration." Okay, what's the next word? |
| Hany: لَستُ مُتَأَكِّد |
| Becky: meaning "I'm not sure" |
| Hany: This expression consists of two words: lastu meaning "I'm not" and muta'akkid meaning "sure." |
| Becky: You use this expression when you want to stress that you aren't sure about something. It is flexible, meaning that it can be changed according to the preceding pronoun. Hany, please give us an example. |
| Hany: Sure. For example, you can say..لَستُ مُتَأَكِّداً إذا كانَ كَلامُهُ صَحيحاً. (lastu mutaʾakkidan ʾiḏā kāna kalāmuhu ṣaḥīḥan.) |
| Becky: .. which means "I'm not sure if what he's saying is correct." |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn how to ask for directions when you are in a car. |
| Hany: Specifically, you will learn how to ask for directions using adverbs of place in standard Arabic. |
| Becky: Adverbs of place are words that describe where something is or where an action took place, like “in front of the TV” or “under the bridge.” |
| Hany: In Arabic, adverbs of place are called zarf makaan ظرف مكان. |
| Becky: You will learn the most commonly used adverbs of place and their final vowelling state and sign. |
| Hany: They have vowelling states and signs that we have already learned in the previous lessons, so this should be easy. |
| Becky: First, let’s see some examples from the dialogue: |
| Hany: إتَّجِه إلى الأَمام و لا تَسلُك أَوَّلَ كوبري, بَل اِنعَطِف مِن تَحتِهِ يَميناً. (ʾittaǧih ʾilā al-ʾamām wa lā tasluk ʾawwala kūbrī, bal inʿaṭif min taḥtihi yamīnan.) |
| Becky: meaning “Go straight and don't go up the first bridge, but take a right underneath it.” |
| Hany: As you can see, the word al-ʾamām meaning “in front of” is preceded by the preposition ʾilā meaning “to”, so this one actually does not count as an adverb of place. The adverb of place yamīnan meaning “right” is not preceded by a preposition though, |
| Becky: So it counts as an adverb of place and is vowelled accordingly. Let’s see the vowelling more closely. |
| Hany: Adverbs of place, just like normal adverbs that we learned in a previous lesson, are always in the nasb vowelling state, which causes the adverb to always end in a fat-ha or “a” sound, as long as it is NOT preceded by a preposition. |
| Becky: Let’s see another example from the dialogue: |
| Hany: لا تَنزِل في النَفَق, بَل اِنعَطِف يَساراً مِن فَوْقِه. (lā tanzil fī al-nafaq, bal inʿaṭif yasāran min fawqih.) |
| Becky: meaning “Don't take it, but turn left above it.” Note the final vowelling of the adverb of place meaning “left.” |
| Hany: yasāran has a fat-ha as a final vowelling because it fulfills the rule we mentioned before – not being preceded by a preposition. The word fawqih meaning “above it” on the other hand, is preceded by a preposition and that’s why it has a kasra as a final vowelling. |
| Becky: We will be talking about words that follow prepositions in a future lesson. |
| Hany: Another thing here is the -an part at the end of the word yamīnan and yasāran. |
| Becky: We mentioned it before in the previous lessons. As a general rule, if the adverb isn’t preceded by any prepositions and consists of only 1 word. |
| Hany: Then it will gain the -an in the end which in Arabic is called tanween. |
| Becky: Now on to the next important part, the final vowelling of the noun following the adverb of place. |
| Hany: The noun that comes after the adverb of place is finally vowelled just like the mudaaf ilaih |
| Becky: We already saw that in Lesson 16. |
| Hany: That's right. It is always in a vowelling state called jarr/جَرّ, which causes the nouns to always end in a kasrah or an i sound. |
| Becky: as long as they 1)are singular nouns, with NO suffixes, 2) end in a consonant, and 3) are NOT proper nouns. |
| Hany: There is an example in the dialogue baʿda maḥaṭṭaẗi al-ʿabbāsiyyah بَعدَ مَحَطَّةِ العَبّاسِيَّة |
| Becky: meaning “After Abbasseya station” |
| Hany: Here, the word maḥaṭṭaẗi meaning “station” comes after the adverb of place baʿda meaning “after.” |
| Becky: Let’s see the vowelling state and sign. |
| Hany: This adverb of place will gain a nasb vowelling state with a fat-ha vowelling sign. The noun afterwards, maḥaṭṭaẗi, gained a jarr vowelling state with a kasra vowelling sign because it satisfies the conditions mentioned before. |
| Becky: Hany, which are the most common adverbs of place in Arabic? |
| Hany: Here are some, أمامَ ʾamāma |
| Becky: meaning “in front of” |
| Hany: خَلفَ ḫalfa |
| Becky: meaning “behind.” |
| Hany: فَوْقَ fawqa |
| Becky: meaning “above.” Let’s give some sample sentences using these adverbs now. |
| Hany: For example ستجد دار الأوبرا خلفَ البرج. (Satajidu daara al opera khalfa al burji.) |
| Becky: “You will find the Opera house behind the Cairo tower.” |
| Hany: هُناكَ مَتجَر صَغير أَمامَ بَيْتي. (hunāka matǧar ṣaġīr ʾamāma baytī.) |
| Becky: "There's a small shop in front of my house." |
| Hany: الطَريقُ مُزدَحِمٌ فَوْقَ الكوبري. (al-ṭarīqu muzdaḥimun fawqa al-kūbrī.) |
| Becky: "The roads are crowded on the bridge." |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Hany: شكرا |
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