Arabic vocabulary
حمار is how you say “donkey” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in real example sentences from classical texts below.
أنه كان له حمار فمرض،
He had a donkey that got sick,
حمار — donkey. The thing possessed, 'a donkey', the delayed subject of 'there was'. It is left indefinite, no 'the', because the story is introducing it for the first time.
From: Reflections on Literal Obedience →فأخذ جحا الدواء وذهب به إلى الحمار ووضعه في عينه،
Joha took the medicine and went to the donkey and put it in its eye,
الحمار — the donkey. The destination, 'the donkey', in the genitive after the preposition, made definite by its 'the'.
From: Reflections on Literal Obedience →فمات الحمار من ساعته
so the donkey died instantly.
الحمار — the donkey. The one that died, 'the donkey', named after the verb and so taking the subject ending. Its 'the' marks the definite animal of the story.
From: Reflections on Literal Obedience →أَن رجلا كَانَ يُسمى حمارا
A man was called "Himar" (Donkey).
حِمَارًا — Himar. This noun is indefinite and its ending is accusative because it is the name given by the passive 'was called' verb. Even with a passive naming verb, the assigned name takes this object-style ending, marking it as what he was called.
From: Sincerity and Hypocrisy →OpenArabic teaches words like حمار through real bilingual reading with native audio and spaced-repetition practice.
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