Learn how to talk about prices
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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 the phrase ʿafwan, bikam hāḏā? meaning “How much is it?” In this lesson let’s see how we could answer that question by counting currency in Arabic. The currency used in Arabic speaking countries varies from country to country. |
| But since the dollar can also be used in almost any of these countries, we are going to use the dollar or dūlār. |
| Let’s try to say prices in Arabic. Start by trying to say "6 Dollars" |
| The first noun in a sentence always ends with an “u” accent, and the word ‘dollar’ should be conjugated with the plural accordingly. |
| - Sittu dūlārāt |
| [slowly] Sittu dūlārāt |
| let’s try to say “26 Dollars” now: |
| Sittatun wa ʿišrūna dūlār |
| [slowly] Sittatun wa ʿišrūna dūlār |
| The difficulty in the Arabic counting system is that complex numbers’ endings change according to the gender of the word that follows. |
| The word ‘Dollar’ is sometimes used in the masculine singular form after a single number, so it takes the masculine form dūlār after a single number. When it is used in the plural form after complex numbers, it becomes dūlārāt and is feminine plural. |
| The numbers, on the other hand, take the opposite form when put before a noun, and if the noun is masculine, the number takes the feminine form, if the noun that follows a complex number is feminine, that number becomes masculine. |
| It might sound a bit complicated, but with a bit of practice, it won’t be as difficult. |
| Let’s try another example: |
| "34 Dollars" |
| ʾ arbaʿatun wa ṯalāṯūna dūlār |
| [slowly] ʾ arbaʿatun wa ṯalāṯūna dūlār |
| Get ready for the next example. This one’s longer: |
| "99 Dollars" |
| tisʿatun wa tisʿūna dūlār |
| [slowly] tisʿatun wa tisʿūna dūlār |
| tisʿatun takes the feminine form because it’s followed by the masculine dūlār. |
| If we want to say only “9 Dollars”, we say: |
| tisʿu dūlārāt |
| [slowly] tisʿu dūlārāt |
| Notice that tisʿu is changed to the masculine form because it’s followed by the feminine plural dūlārāt. |
| Now it’s time for Carole’s Tips |
| The currencies used in the Arab countries are numerous, and include the Dinar in Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, and Jordan; the UAE Dirham in the United Arab Emirates; and the Rial in Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. |
| Some Arab countries accept the Dollar too instead of the local currency. |
| You should ask your friends in the Arab countries if they want to go shopping with you to practice these phrases! But first you’ll have to check if they have other plans or not. But do you know how to ask that in Arabic? If not, I’ll see you in the next lesson! |
| ʾ ilā al-liqāʾi fi al-ʾumṯūlati al-qādimah! |
| See you in the next lesson! |
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