Arabic vocabulary
أَعْرَابِيٌّArab
How to say “Arab” in Arabic, with pronunciation and real example sentences from OpenArabic texts.
Example sentences
وكان أعرابي يؤم قومه في البادية،
A Bedouin used to lead his people in prayer in the desert,
أَعْرَابِيٌّ — an Arab. The subject of 'was', so it takes the -u ending, and with no al' it is indefinite, 'a Bedouin'. The doubled relational ending marks it as a 'belonging-to-the-desert' descriptive noun.
From: Bedouin Manners →فجاءه أعرابي يشكو جاره،
A Bedouin came to him complaining about his neighbor,
أَعْرَابِيٌّ — a Bedouin. This is 'a Bedouin', indefinite, the delayed subject of 'came'. Arabic puts the verb and its goal-pronoun first, then the doer, so this word arrives last yet is who performed the coming. It carries the nominative as the subject.
From: Justice in the Field →فلما حضر قال للأعرابي ما شكواك؟
When he appeared, he asked the Bedouin: What is your complaint?
لِلْأَعْرَابِيِّ — to the Bedouin. This is the preposition 'to, for' merged with 'the Bedouin' (definite through 'al-'). The preposition marks the person spoken to and forces a genitive on the noun. So the pair tells you to whom the governor directed his question.
From: Justice in the Field →فقال الوالي للأعرابي اذهب فاقبض ناقتك
The governor said to the Bedouin: Go and take your camel.
لِلْأَعْرَابِيِّ — to the Bedouin. This is the preposition 'to, for' merged with 'the Bedouin' (definite via 'al-'), marking the person the governor addresses and forcing a genitive on the noun. The pair identifies who the order is given to.
From: Justice in the Field →فقال الأعرابي إنه يطلب ثمن ما أكلت ناقتي
The Bedouin said: He demands the price of what my camel ate.
الْأَعْرَابِيُّ — the Bedouin. This is 'the Bedouin', definite with 'al-', the subject of 'said', placed after its verb in the nominative. It names who raises the objection that follows.
From: Justice in the Field →فقال الوالي للأعرابي أعطه عشرة دراهم
The governor said to the Bedouin: Give him ten dirhams.
لِلْأَعْرَابِيِّ — to the Bedouin. This is the preposition 'to, for' merged with 'the Bedouin' (definite via 'al-'), marking the person the order is addressed to and forcing a genitive on the noun. It identifies who must pay.
From: Justice in the Field →فقال الأعرابي ليس معي شيء
The Bedouin said: I have nothing.
الْأَعْرَابِيُّ — the Bedouin. This is 'the Bedouin', definite with 'al-', the subject of 'said', placed after its verb in the nominative. It names who answers next.
From: Justice in the Field →فقال الأعرابي ليس لي حمار
The Bedouin said: I do not have a donkey.
الْأَعْرَابِيُّ — the Bedouin. This is 'the Bedouin', definite with 'al-', the subject of 'said', placed after its verb in the nominative. It names who objects again.
From: Justice in the Field →
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