Learn how to ask where somebody is
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| Marḥaban ǧamīʿan, ʾanā Carole! Hi everybody! I’m Carole. |
| Welcome to ArabicPod101.com’s Al-ʿarabiyyah fi ṯalāṯi daqāʾiq. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Arabic. |
| In the last lesson, we learned how to talk about nationalities and we learned the word ʾayna which means “where”. This word is also used to talk about location, so it's very useful! |
| When you want to know where something or someone is, you use the word ʾayna in Arabic. |
| For example, when someone asks you on the phone ʾayna ʾanta? That means "Where are you?". |
| Let's break it down. |
| ʾayna means "Where" |
| ʾanta is "you.” As you noticed there is no verb in this sentence, so the verb “to be” is not needed, it is just implied. And ʾanta, as you know, is the masculine word for "you", so for a girl we say: ʾayna ʾanti? |
| Answering this question is very easy! You just say ʾanā + fī + the place where you are. |
| Ana means “I” and fī is “in”. |
| Then you add the place. So for example, you can say ʾanā fī ʾīṭālyah which is "I am in Italy" |
| [slowly] ʾanā fī ʾīṭālyah. |
| Now let’s see a few other possible answers with I: |
| "I am at the office" would be ʾanā fī al-maktab |
| "I am in a meeting" would be ʾanā fī ʾiǧtimāʿ |
| "I am in a store" would be ʾanā fī matǧar |
| Do you know how to say “I am here!”? It’s very easy! You just say ʾanā hunā! |
| The English verb “to be” in Arabic is not needed, so nouns or pronouns alone are enough. Let’s review a few of the versions we’ve seen so far. |
| Min ʾayna ʾanta? where are you from? |
| Ma hiya ǧinsiyyatuka? what is your nationality? |
| ʾAyna ʾanta? where are you? |
| ʾAnā fī matǧar |
| ʾAnā min ʾīṭālyah |
| ʾAnā fī ʾīṭālyah |
| ʾAnā ʾīṭālī |
| ʾAnā alone is enough to mean “I am”, followed by the words ‘in’, ‘from’, ‘with’...and a noun. |
| 11 Now it’s time for Carole’s tips. |
| Another way to use the “non-existent” verb ‘to be’ is in a convenient question for when you are lost in the street, for example. ʾAnā lā ʾaʿlamu ʾayna ʾanā, mumkin ʾan tusāʿidanī, min faḍlika? |
| This means “I don’t know where I am, can you help me please?” |
| (One more time, slowly: ʾanā lā ʾaʿlamu ʾayna ʾanā, mumkin ʾan tusāʿidanī min faḍlika? ) |
| In this lesson we learned how to talk about your location. Next time, we’ll learn how to talk about ages, also by using a sentence without a verb in Arabic. So do you want to know how to ask somebody’s age? I’ll be waiting for you in the next Al-ʿarabiyyah fi ṯalāṯi daqāʾiq! |
| ʾilā al-liqāʾi fi al-ʾumṯūlati al-qādimah! |
| See you in the next lesson! |
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