Arabic vocabulary
How to say “man” in Arabic, with pronunciation and real example sentences from OpenArabic texts.
فَقَالَ رجل لمعروف عَلمنِي الْمحبَّة
A man said to Ma'ruf, 'Teach me love.'
رَجُلٌ — a man. The subject of 'said', indefinite nominative (the tanwin) — 'a man'. The questioner.
From: The Path to God's Love →فَقَالَ لَهُ رجل إِنِّي أَكثر الْبكاء
A man said to him, 'I cry often.'
رَجُلٌ — a man. The delayed subject of 'said', indefinite and in the '-u' ending. Coming after its verb in the usual order, it introduces an unnamed man into the scene.
From: Contentment with What God Wills →ثم قام رجل آخر فقال ادع الله أن يجعلني منهم
Then another man stood up and said: 'Pray to Allah to make me one of them.'
رَجُلٌ — a man. This is the subject of 'stood up', nominative and indefinite — 'a man', a new, unnamed figure. The adjective next marks him as 'another'.
From: Those Who Enter Without Account →وأول من يسمعه رجل يلوط حوض إبله فيصعق ويصعق الناس،
And the first to hear it will be a man repairing the water basin for his camels, and he will fall unconscious along with the people,
رَجُلٌ — a man. This is the predicate of 'the first... [is]...' — 'a man', nominative and indefinite. It identifies who that first hearer is. The clause describing his task follows.
From: The Return of Jesus →فترى الرجل في حال غضبه يتكلم بما يندم عليه إذا سكن غضبه، ويفعل ما يسيء إليه في دينه ودنياه
So you see a man, in his state of anger, speaking words he regrets when his anger subsides, and doing what harms him in his religion and worldly life.
ٱلرَّجُلَ — a man. The definite object of 'see', in the object form, its 'the' marking the man as a generic example. It is the figure the listener is invited to picture.
From: Restraining Anger →وكم من رجل غضب على ولده أو صديقه، فقال كلمة قاسية فرقت بينهما، أو فعل فعلة شنعاء أورثت عداوة
How many a man has gotten angry at his child or friend, uttered a harsh word that separated them, or committed a terrible deed that led to enmity.
رَجُلٍ — man. The noun governed by the partitive 'of', in that form, its bare ending marking it indefinite: a single man standing for the many. It is what is marveled at.
From: Restraining Anger →ترى الرجل يقدم على أمر يظن فيه لذة أو منفعة، فينغمس فيه،
You see a man rushing into something he thinks brings pleasure or benefit, and he immerses himself in it,
الرَّجُلَ — the man. This is the object of 'you see', so it stands in the object case marked by its ending, and 'the' makes it a definite 'the man'. Although it acts like the subject of the following description, grammatically it is the thing seen.
From: Think Before You Act →فخرج الجصاص مسرورًا، فلقي رجلاً فقال له من أين جئت بهذه الدراهم؟
Al-Jassas went out happily and met a man who asked him: Where did you get this money from?
رَجُلًا — a man. The -an ending marks this as the direct object of 'met' and, lacking al-, also as indefinite, 'a man, some man'. One ending carries both jobs.
From: The Reward of Giving →فقال الرجل أنا أذهب إليه وأخبره أني اشتريت قصرًا في الجنة بعشرين ألفًا، فلعلّه يعطيني مثلها
So the man said: I will go to him and tell him that I have bought a palace in Paradise for twenty thousand, perhaps he will give me the same.
الرَّجُلُ — the man. This names the doer of the verb just said and so carries the -u subject ending, telling you which 'he' is speaking.
From: The Reward of Giving →كان الرجل ممن كان قبلكم إذا ثقل عليه الحديث قال
A man among those before you, when the speech became heavy upon him, would say
الرَّجُلُ — the man. This is 'the man' with 'al-' marking it definite, but here that definite article points to a representative type rather than one known individual, the sense of 'a certain man' or 'the kind of man'. It serves as the subject that the 'used to' frame is describing.
From: Stories That Soften the Heart →روي أن رجلا دخل البصرة، ولم يكن رأى الحسن،
It is narrated that a man entered Basra, who had not seen Al-Hasan,
رَجُلًا — a man. Although this noun is the topic doer of the coming clause, the preceding 'that' particle forces it into the object form. Its bare ending marks it indefinite, 'a man'.
From: The Grandson's Noble Grief →فإذا رأيت رجلا لم تر مثله قط رجلا، فذلك هو الحسن
When you see a man, the like of whom you have never seen, that is Al-Hasan.
رَجُلًا — a man. This noun is the one seen and sits in the object form as the receiver of the seeing. Its bare ending marks it indefinite, 'a man'.
From: The Grandson's Noble Grief →فإذا رأيت رجلا لم تر مثله قط رجلا، فذلك هو الحسن
When you see a man, the like of whom you have never seen, that is Al-Hasan.
رَجُلًا — man. This noun restates and specifies the count tied to 'his like', sitting in the object form as a clarifying object: it pins the comparison to 'any man'. Arabic uses such a bare object-form noun to sharpen what was just said.
From: The Grandson's Noble Grief →وسكوت هذا الرجل في مثل هذا المقام إِعانة على نفسه وذلك لا يحل،
And this man's silence in such a situation is aiding his own harm, which is not permissible.
الرَّجُلِ — man. This noun is the owner closing the 'silence of this man' pairing, so it takes the governed ending while staying definite. It fixes whose silence the topic is.
From: Trust in God →فَلَمْ يَبْقَ مَعَ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ غَيْرُ اِثْنَى عَشَرَ رَجُلًا،
Only twelve men remained with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.
رَجُلًا — man. A singular counted noun 'man' kept singular on purpose, since teen-numbers take a single counted item carrying a special indefinite object ending. English makes it plural 'men', but the Arabic literally counts 'twelve of man'.
From: A Companion at Battle →أَيُّ رَجُلٍ فِيكُمْ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ سَلَامٍ
Which man among you is Abdullah ibn Salam?
رَجُلٍ — man. An indefinite noun 'man' in the 'of'-type ending demanded by the question-determiner before it. The ending is set by 'which', and together they ask which single man among the group is meant.
From: What Was Created First →وَكَانَ لِرَجُلٍ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلِ اِشْتَرَاهُ بِثَلَاثِينَ مِثْقَالًا
And there was a man from the Children of Israel who bought him for thirty mithqals.
لِرَجُلٍ — for a man. Preposition li- on an indefinite noun, in the genitive; with 'was' this li- carries belonging, 'a man had...'. It marks the man as the possessor the existence-clause is built around.
From: Luqman's Wisdom and Trial →فَشَاهَدْنَا مَجْلِسًا رَجُلٍ لَيْسَ مِنْ عَمْرِوْ وَلَا زَيْدٍ،
Then we saw the gathering of a man who was neither Amr nor Zayd.
رَجُلٍ — of a man. A noun 'a man', the owning second term of 'gathering of a man', hence the genitive. It specifies whose gathering. The construct links the two nouns directly with no 'of'; being indefinite, the man is left unnamed for the description that follows.
From: Public Preaching →قال رجل منهم اللهم كان لي أبوان شيخان كبيران، وكنت لا أغبق قبلهما أهلاً ولا مالاً
One of them said: 'O Allah, I had elderly parents, and I never provided drink to my family or wealth before them.'
رَجُلٌ — one man. This noun is the subject of 'said', following its verb in the usual order, so it carries the plain (nominative) ending. Its indefinite form marks him as 'one (unnamed) man', singling out an individual from the group of three.
From: Three Men Saved by Sincerity →وقال الثالث اللهم استأجرت أجراء وأعطيتهم أجرهم غير رجل واحد ترك الذى له وذهب، فثمرت أجره حتى كثرت منه الأموال،
The third said: 'O Allah, I hired laborers and paid them their wages except for one man who left without taking his pay. I invested his wages until they multiplied into wealth.'
رَجُلٍ — one man. This noun is governed by the exception word, so it sits in the 'of' (genitive) ending; its indefinite form marks him as one unspecified man. It names the lone exception among those who were paid.
From: Three Men Saved by Sincerity →OpenArabic teaches words like رَجُل through real bilingual reading with native audio and spaced-repetition practice.
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