Learn how to use ordinal numbers
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to ArabicPod101.com. This is Lower Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 14 - Would You Like to Read this Arabic Book? I’m Becky. |
| Nora: السلام عليكم. I'm Nora. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn ordinal numbers in Arabic This conversation takes place at a book store in Cairo. Muhammed's mother told him to go there to find a non-fiction book. |
| Nora: It's between Mohammed and Khaled |
| Becky: The speakers are friends, so they’ll be using informal Egyptian Arabic. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| محمد : حزَر فزَر ؟ في تلات كتب في المجموعة القصصية دي و الكاتب كسب بيهم جايزة المركز الأول ! |
| خالد : واو , هي الكتب دي عن ايه ؟ |
| محمد : في الكتاب الأول , ولد صغير بيكتشف انه عنده قدرات خارقة .في الكتاب التاني , الولد بيستخدم سحره عشان يساعد عيلته تبقي غنية بس عندهم مشاكل كتير.في الكتاب التالت الولد هيبقي ملك ! |
| خالد : واو , انا عايز اقرا الكتب دي انا كمان . بعد ما تقراها ممكن استلف منك الكتاب الأول ؟ |
| محمد : اه , أكيد طبعا . |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| محمد : حزَر فزَر ؟ في تلات كتب في المجموعة القصصية دي و الكاتب كسب بيهم جايزة المركز الأول ! |
| خالد : واو , هي الكتب دي عن ايه ؟ |
| محمد : في الكتاب الأول , ولد صغير بيكتشف انه عنده قدرات خارقة .في الكتاب التاني , الولد بيستخدم سحره عشان يساعد عيلته تبقي غنية بس عندهم مشاكل كتير.في الكتاب التالت الولد هيبقي ملك ! |
| خالد : واو , انا عايز اقرا الكتب دي انا كمان . بعد ما تقراها ممكن استلف منك الكتاب الأول ؟ |
| محمد : اه , أكيد طبعا . |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Mohammed: Guess what? There are three books in this series and the author won a first-place prize for them! |
| Khaled: Wow, what are they about? |
| Mohammed: In the first book, a young boy discovers he has magic powers. In the second book, the boy uses his magic to help his family become very rich but they have many problems. In the third book, he becomes a king! |
| Khaled: Wow, I want to read the books too. After you read it, can I borrow the first book? |
| Mohammed: Yes, of course. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Nora, could you tell us something about Arabic literature? |
| Nora: Sure, you should know that Arabic literature flourished during the Islamic Golden Age, and has remained vibrant to the present day, with poets and prose-writers across the Arab world achieving increasing success. |
| Becky: I’ve definitely heard of Naguib Mahfouz. |
| Nora: Ah yes, he was the Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature. He is regarded as one of the first contemporary writers of Arabic literature, along with Tawfiq el-Hakim, to explore themes of existentialism. |
| Becky: His name is also related to a prize, right? |
| Nora: Yes, The Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature, which was first awarded in 1996 and is a literary award for Arabic literature. |
| Becky: It is given to the best contemporary novel written in Arabic, but not available with an English translation. The winning book is then translated into English, and published by The American University in Cairo press. Nora, could you tell us the name of the prize in Arabic? |
| Nora: Sure it’s ميداليَة نَجيب مَحفوظ لِلأَدَب |
| Becky: Which means "The Naguib Mahfouz medal for literature." Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Nora: حزَر فزَر [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Guess what? |
| Nora: حزَر فزَر[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: حزَر فزَر [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: المجموعة القصصية [natural native speed] |
| Becky: book series |
| Nora: المجموعة القصصية[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: المجموعة القصصية [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: جايزة [natural native speed] |
| Becky: award, prize |
| Nora: جايزة[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: جايزة [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: يكتشف [natural native speed] |
| Becky: he discovers |
| Nora: يكتشف[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: يكتشف [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: قدرات خارقة [natural native speed] |
| Becky: supernatural powers |
| Nora: قدرات خارقة[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: قدرات خارقة [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: سحر [natural native speed] |
| Becky: magic |
| Nora: سحر[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: سحر [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: ملك [natural native speed] |
| Becky: king |
| Nora: ملك[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: ملك [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And last.. |
| Nora: استلف [natural native speed] |
| Becky: I borrow |
| Nora: استلف[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: استلف [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 phrase is.. |
| Nora: حزَر فزَر |
| Becky: meaning "Guess what?" |
| Nora: This phrase is commonly used in riddle shows during Ramadan and has been used for a very long time. |
| Becky: What is a riddle show? |
| Nora: These shows are made to entertain the people during their long fasting hours. They usually present a musical skit that contains a riddle and you have to guess the answer by the end of the show. It's an Egyptian habit that has been going on for years! The most popular actress that used to star in these shows is called "Nelly.” |
| Becky: Can you break down the phrase, Nora? |
| Nora: Sure, Hazzar alone means “guess,” but adding the fazzar part gives off a playful feel which is needed in riddles. Fazzar in itself doesn't have a meaning, but it's added for the sound effect to make the phrase sound funny and memorable, |
| Becky: just like "hocus pocus" in English. |
| Nora: Exactly. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Nora: Sure. For example, you can say.. حزر فزر معايا إيه؟ |
| Becky: ..which means "Guess what I have?" |
| Nora: There is another word that doesn’t have the same playful nuance and can be used in more occasions, which is خَمِّن (khammen). |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Nora: المجموعة القصصية |
| Becky: meaning "book series". The first word literally means "the group" and the second word means "the stories or anecdotes." |
| Nora: This is a noun modification construction in which two nouns are begun with an ال to make a phrase... |
| Becky: ...so its translated meaning is literally "anecdotal group", or in more common terms, "book series." |
| Nora: Also please note how the order of the words is the opposite in Arabic, like for example: القطة السودة |
| Becky:meaning “the black cat” |
| Nora: The word 'otta which means “cat”, comes first, then the modifier comes afterwards, literally meaning: el otta (“the cat”) el sooda (“the black”). |
| Becky: Can you give us an example ? |
| Nora: Sure. For example, you can say.. المَجموعة القصصية بتاعِت هاري بوتر مشهورة جداً في مصر. |
| Becky: .. which means "Harry Potter's book series is very popular in Egypt." |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Nora: قدرات خارقة |
| Becky: meaning "supernatural powers ". The first word literally means "abilities" and the second word is the adjective meaning “miraculous” or “supernatural.” |
| Nora: Note that since the noun is plural and inanimate, the adjective takes the feminine singular form with the ة suffix. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Nora: Sure. For example, you can say.. الأمهات عندهم قدرات خارقة. |
| Becky: .. which means "Mothers have supernatural powers." |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use ordinal numbers in conversation. |
| Nora: just like English, there are two types of numbers in Arabic - cardinal and ordinal. We will focus on ordinal numbers in this lesson. |
| Becky: Cardinal numbers are numbers concerned with quantity, such as "one," "two," "three" and so on. Ordinal numbers are numbers concerned with order, such as "first," "second," and "third." |
| Nora: Ordinal numbers are used as adjectives. For example: |
| الولد التالت |
| Becky: which means “the third boy” |
| Nora: Note that the noun “the boy” is definite and starts with ال and the adjective “third” is also definite and starts with ال. In fact, in almost every usage of ordinal numbers, they will be in the definite form, which means they will start with ال which means “the.” |
| Becky: Let’s do an example to compare cardinal, "short form", and ordinal numbers 0-10, including both masculine and feminine forms of ordinal numbers, which are used as adjectives. |
| Nora: Sure. For example, let’s consider أربعة (arbaʿa) |
| Becky: Meaning “four” |
| Nora: the “short form” that precedes the noun is أربع (arbaʿ) |
| Becky: and the ordinal number, both masculine and feminine? |
| Nora: They are respectively تالت - تالتة (taalit - talta) |
| Becky: Let's compare cardinal and ordinal numbers. |
| Nora: Note the difference between the structure of the phrases "three books" and "the third book." In تلات كتب - “three books,” the cardinal number comes first, in "short form", and is followed by the noun. |
| Becky: The short form does not change based on gender, because it comes before the noun and is not functioning as an adjective. |
| Nora: So whenever you want to use ordinal numbers with nouns, you have to use the short form, which is basically just like the ordinal form but without the ة suffix at the end. |
| Becky: That seems pretty easy! What about the form with the ordinal number? |
| Nora:In the case of الكتاب التالت - “the third book”, the ordinal number functions as an adjective and comes after the noun. Because of its placement, it must match the noun in gender. If the phrase were "the third word", it would be الكلمة التالتة with the suffix ة because "word" is a feminine noun. |
| Becky: Arabic ordinal numbers, just like in English, follow a general pattern but there are exceptions to the rule. |
| Nora: Right. The general rule to change cardinal numbers to ordinal is, first drop ا or ة at the beginning or end of the cardinal number, then add ا after the first consonant in the root. |
| Becky: Let’s give an example of this rule and one for an exception |
| Nora: خمسة (ḫamsa) which is “five” becomes خمس (ḫams) which becomes خامس ḫaames meaning “fifth” |
| Becky: What’s an exception? |
| Nora:Let’s consider “six” ستة (setta) which becomes سادس (saades) which means “sixth” |
| Becky: To wrap up, could you please give a couple of examples of sentences using numbers? |
| Nora: Sure! إدخُل تالِت شارِع يمين |
| Becky: "Take a right at the third street." |
| Nora: محَمَّد إشترى خَمَس كُتُب |
| Becky: "Mohamed bought five books." |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Nora: مع السلامة |
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