Arabic vocabulary
How to say “master” in Arabic, with pronunciation and real example sentences from OpenArabic texts.
قَالَ فقمر سيد لُقْمَان
He said: Then Luqman's master lost the game.
سَيِّدُ — master. 'sayyid' = 'master, lord'; first half of an 'of' phrase: 'the master of...'. Subject of the verb.
From: Luqman's Response to Injustice →فَسلم على سَيّده
Then he greeted his master.
سَيِّدِهِ — his master. '-hi' = 'his'; genitive ending after the preposition.
From: Luqman's Response to Injustice →وَرَجع إِلَى سَيّده
And he returned to his master.
سَيِّدِهِ — his master. '-hi' = 'his'; genitive ending after 'ila'.
From: Luqman's Response to Injustice →وَكَانَ سَيّده إِذا رَآهُ عَبث بِهِ وَيسمع مِنْهُ الْكَلِمَة الحكيمة فيعجب مِنْهُ
And his master, when he saw him, would ridicule him and hear the wise word from him, and be amazed by it.
سَيِّدُهُ — his master. '-hu' = 'his'; subject (nominative).
From: Luqman's Response to Injustice →فَلَمَّا جلس إِلَيْهِ قَالَ لسَيِّده مَا لي أَرَاك كئيبًا حَزينًا فاعرض عَنهُ
So when he sat down with him, he said to his master, 'Why do I see you sad and sorrowful?' But he turned away from him.
لِسَيِّدِهِ — to his master. 'li-' = 'to' + '-hi' = 'his'.
From: Luqman's Response to Injustice →قال يا سيدي، جاري أخذ ناقتي وحبسها عنده
He said: O my lord, my neighbor took my camel and detained it with him.
سَيِّدِي — my lord. This is 'master, lord' with the attached 'my' on its end, a respectful term of address. As the noun being called after 'O', it forms the vocative, and the possessive suffix makes it personally 'my lord'. The pairing is the polite way to open the appeal.
From: Justice in the Field →قال نعم يا سيدي، ناقته دخلت حائطي وأكلت زرعي، فحبستها حتى يأتي صاحبها
He replied: Yes, my lord, his camel entered my field and ate my crops, so I detained it until its owner comes.
سَيِّدِي — my lord. This is 'master, lord' with the attached 'my', the noun being called after 'O'. Together they form the polite vocative 'my lord', the possessive suffix personalising the address. It is the courteous way to address the governor.
From: Justice in the Field →وَكَانَ سَيِّدُهُ إِذَا رَآهُ عَبَثَ بِهِ
And whenever his master saw him, he would play with him.
سَيّده — his master. A noun with the possessive '-hu' (his), the subject of the surrounding 'kana' clause. The suffix marks the slave as the owner of this master and keeps the reference tied to him. One word holds both the noun and 'his'.
From: Luqman's Wisdom and Trial →فَلَمَّا جَلَسَ إِلَيْهِ قَالَ لِسَيِّدِهِ مَا لِي أَرَاكَ كَئِبًا حَزِينًا
When he sat down beside him, he said to his master, "What is the matter? I see you downcast and sorrowful."
لِسَيِّدِهِ — to his master. Three pieces in one word: the preposition 'li-' (to), the noun 'master', and the possessive '-hi' (his). The 'li-' marks the master as the addressee and governs the noun, while '-hi' names whose master. So a single token says 'to his master'.
From: Luqman's Wisdom and Trial →فَعُرِفَ سَيِّدُهُ أَنَّهُ قَدْ صَدَقَ فَطَابَتْ نَفْسُهُ
Then his master realized that he had been truthful, and his soul was pleased.
سَيّده — his master. A noun with the possessive '-hu' (his), here the one to whom the truth became clear within the passive clause. The suffix names whose master, pointing back to the slave. One word holds the noun and 'his'.
From: Luqman's Wisdom and Trial →OpenArabic teaches words like سَيِّدٌ through real bilingual reading with native audio and spaced-repetition practice.
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