Arabic vocabulary
How to say “less” in Arabic, with pronunciation and real example sentences from OpenArabic texts.
حين تستقرّ العادةُ، تصير كالعجلة على سكّة؛ أقلُّ احتكاك، أسرعُ وصول
When the habit becomes settled, it is like a wheel on a track; less friction, faster arrival.
أَقَلُّ — less. An elative, 'less / least,' heading an 'of' pair with 'friction.' A clipped phrase — 'less friction' — describing the rail-wheel: the entrenched habit meets little resistance. Paired with 'faster arrival' next.
From: Steady Spiritual Habits →وأقل محنة الكبير أن تقع النواة في الكوز،
The smallest trial of the elder is for the kernel to fall into the jug.
وَأَقَلُّ — and the smallest. The 'and' joins the clause, and beneath it a superlative-shaped word means 'the least', heading a possessive pairing, 'the least of the elder's trial'. It serves as the subject the sentence comments on, so it sets up a statement that even the smallest hardship is named next.
From: God's Promise of New Life →وَأَقَلُّ مِحْنَةِ الْكَبِيرِ أَنْ تَقَعَ النَّوَاةُ فِي الْكُوزِ،
And the least trial of the elder is that the pit falls into the jug.
وَأَقَلُّ — and the least. 'Wa-' opens the line, fused with a superlative 'the least'. It is the subject of an equational sentence, and the superlative heads an 'of' pairing with 'trial' next, giving 'the least trial of...'; a 'that' clause at the end will state what that least trial is.
From: On Birth and Its Timing →فَقَالَ أَبُو سُفْيَانَ عَمْرُو أَقَلُّ مِنْ ذَلِكَ
Abu Sufyan said, "Amr is less than that."
أَقَلُّ — less. A comparison adjective 'fewer/less', built on the special Arabic template that English renders with '-er' or 'less'. It heads a comparison completed by 'than that' which follows, and as the comment about Amr it works without any helper verb.
From: Conquest of Mecca Account →ثُمَّ جَاءَتْ كَتِيبَةٌ، وَهِيَ أَقَلُّ الْكَتَائِبِ،
Then a detachment arrived, and it was the smallest of the detachments.
أَقَلُّ — smallest. A comparison adjective in its top-degree use, 'the smallest', built on the Arabic comparison template. It heads the pairing 'the smallest of the detachments', and as the description of 'it' it works without any helper verb.
From: Conquest of Mecca Account →فَلا أَقَلُّ مِنَ الإِقْبَالِ عَلَى الطَّاعَةِ،
So at the very least, be eager to obey.
أَقَلُّ — least. A comparative-shaped adjective, 'less / least', here fixed inside the idiom 'no less than', which sets a minimum expectation. Rather than comparing two things directly, in this frame it means 'at the very least', the baseline the speaker is demanding.
From: Humility Over Fame →OpenArabic teaches words like أَقَلُّ through real bilingual reading with native audio and spaced-repetition practice.
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