Arabic vocabulary
وَحْدَهُalone in Arabic
وَحْدَهُ is how you say “alone” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in real example sentences from classical texts below.
Root و ح د (w-ḥ-d)noun (maṣdar وَحْدٌ + 3rd person suffix pronoun هُ), used adverbially / as a denotative of statePronounced waḥdahu
Meaning of alone in Arabic
- alone, by himself, apart from others — the standard fixed phrase, as in رَأَيْتُهُ وَحْدَهُ 'I saw him alone'
- by itself, on its own — same construction applied to a thing rather than a person, e.g. هٰذَا عَلَى وَحْدِهِ 'this is by itself'
وَحْدَهُ is not a separate root-word but the maṣdar وَحْدٌ ('being alone') fixed with a suffix pronoun and used adverbially, always in the accusative when not preceded by a preposition — grammarians debated whether this accusative is an adverb of place, an infinitive noun, or a denotative of state (ḥāl), but in all analyses the phrase functions to mean 'alone.' The pronoun changes with the person referred to (وَحْدَهَا 'she alone', وَحْدَهُمْ 'they alone', etc.), and the same pattern appears in the classical declaration لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللّٰهُ وَحْدَهُ 'there is no god but God, alone.'
Words from the same root
- وَاحِدٌone (the root's core number-sense, underlying تَوْحِيد 'declaring God one')
- تَوْحِيدٌdeclaring/believing in the oneness of God; monotheism
- اِتَّحَدَto become one, to unite (with someone, in interests etc.)
- وَحْدَةٌbeing alone, solitude (verbal noun of وَحَدَ/وَحِدَ)
- وَحِيدٌalone, solitary (adjective)
- أَوْحَدُunequalled, having no peer (made so by God)
Common questions
- How do you say "alone" in Arabic?
- وَحْدَهُ (waḥdahu), literally 'his being-alone,' is the standard way to say 'alone' when referring to 'he/him' — e.g. رَأَيْتُهُ وَحْدَهُ 'I saw him alone.' The pronoun suffix changes for other persons: وَحْدَهَا (her alone), وَحْدَهُمْ (them alone), وَحْدِي (I alone).
- Is وَحْدَهُ a separate word or built from another word?
- It's built from the noun وَحْدٌ (from the root و ح د, 'aloneness') plus the attached pronoun هُ ('him/his'); it isn't a verb, but a fixed adverbial noun-phrase.
Definitions synthesised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).
Example sentences
وَيصير هُوَ وَحدهُ هَمَّهُ دُونَ مَا سِوَاهُ
And He alone becomes his concern, to the exclusion of all else.
وَحْدَهُ — alone. An emphasizing accusative 'by Himself alone', with '-hu' (Him) attached — 'He, He alone'. The accusative is a fixed adverbial: exclusively He.
From: Reflecting on God's Names →فَقَالَ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ سُلَيْمَانَ قُولِي لَهُ يَدْخُلْ وَحْدَهُ
So Muhammad ibn Sulayman said, "Tell him to enter alone."
وَحْدَهُ — alone. A state-describing word, 'by himself', carrying an attached 'him' suffix that ties the aloneness to the one entering. The suffix anchors the description to its referent.
From: Wealth and Knowledge on Trial →فَلَا تَكُونُ إِلَّا لِلَّهِ وَحْدَهُ
Related words
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