Learning the Grammar of the language is important, I know it might seem hard to understand but it’s not, and that’s what we will see in today’s lesson, prepositions, and their uses.
What is a preposition in Arabic?
One of the main things to learn in the Arabic language is its preposition, there is no language on earth that doesn’t have them.
Prepositions in Arabic
Prepositions or as it is called in Arabic “huruf aljari حروف الجر=”, are used to show the relation between the words. For example, when we say “the book is on the table” this shows us where the book is. Or when we say “the book is in my bag”. From those two examples, we can clearly understand where the book is.
Ok, we understand what it means, is there anything else to know about it? Yes, prepositions pronunciation doesn’t change when changing its position in the sentence because they are Mabni words. Also, the word that follows any one of them ends with a Kasrah.
How many prepositions are there in Arabic?
To learn Arabic correctly you should learn about its prepositions and how to use them. But before you learn them you might wonder; how many prepositions are in the Arabic language? and the answer to this question is 17.
What are 10 commonly used prepositions?
Here is a list of the most common ones:
English meaning | Arabic prepositions |
Some of or One of | مِــن |
To or At | إلى |
From or About | عـَـن |
On or Above | على |
In or Into | في |
By, With, In or At | بِ |
like | ك |
To or For | ل |
Until | حتى |
And | و |
How are prepositions used in Arabic?
1- Miin (مِــن ) may come in the meaning of going from a place to another, for example:
I went from school to my work.
ذهب من المدرسة الى العمل.
Or it might come in the meaning of “some of”, for example:
I drank a cup of coffee this morning.
شربت كوب من القهوة هذا الصباح.
2- The Arabic preposition (إلى) is used to define the direction or destination, for example:
I went to school.
ذهبت الى المدرسة.
3- عـَـن means from or about, for example:
I walked away from the shop.
مشيت بعيدًا عن المدرسة.
I read a book about mysterious creatures.
قرأت كتابا عن المخلوقات الغامضة.
4- The Arabic preposition على comes in the meaning of above or on, for example:
The book is on the table.
الكتاب على الطاولة.
The cup is on the shelf.
الكوب على الرف.
5- في means in or into, for example:
The book is in my bag.
الكاب فى حقيبتى.
The money is in my wallet.
المال فى محفظتى.
6- ب this preposition comes in the meaning of With, In, or At, for example:
You succeed by working hard.
تنجحُ بالعملِ الجاد
With science, you build minds.
بالعلمِ تبنى العقول
Ali is at home.
علي بالمنزل.
Many people meet in the club.
يجتمع الكثير من الناس بالنادي
7- ك which means like or as, for example:
This cat looks like my cat.
هذه القطه تبدو كقطتى.
He speaks like a robot.
انه يتحدث كالانسان الالى.
Time is like a sword.
الوقت كالسيف.
8- The preposition ل means for or to, let’s see some examples:
We go to school to learn.
نحن نذهب الى المدرسة لنتعلم.
We watch movies to have fun.
نحن نشاهد الافلام لنستمتع بوقتنا.
9- The use of حتى is to define the end of something, for example:
I study until I fall asleep.
أنا أدرس حتى أنام.
He eats until he’s full.
يأكل حتى يشبع.
I slept until sunrise.
نمت حتى شروق الشمس.
The kid kept crying until his mom bought him ice cream.
ظل الطفل يبكي حتى اشترت له والدته الآيس كريم.
10- The last one of the common ten prepositions is و which comes in the meaning of and. For example:
My bag and money were stolen.
تمت سرقة حقيبتي وأموالي.
I love ice cream, cakes, and chocolate.
أنا أحب الآيس كريم والكعك والشوكولاتة.
Conclusion:
The preposition is called in Arabic “huruf aljari حروف الجر=”. They are used to show the relation between the words. For example, when we say “the book is on the table” this shows us where the book is. Or when we say “the book is in my bag”. From those two examples, we can clearly understand where the book is.
prepositions pronunciation doesn’t change when changing its position in the sentence because they are Mabni words. Also, the word that follows any one of them ends with a Kasrah.
There are seventeen Prepositions in the Arabic language and the most common ones of them are:
English meaning | Arabic prepositions |
Some of or One of | مِــن |
To or At | إلى |
From or About | عـَـن |
On or Above | على |
In or Into | في |
We learned how to use each one of them:
- Miin (مِــن ) may come the meaning of going from a place to another. Like when saying “I went from school to my work.”
- The Arabic preposition (إلى) is used to define the direction or destination, for example, I went to school.
- عن means from or about, for example, I walked away from the shop.
- The Arabic preposition على comes in the meaning of above or on, for example, The book is on the table.
- في means in or into, for example, The book is in my bag.
- ب this preposition comes in the meaning of With, In or At, for example, You succeed by working hard.
- ك which means like or as, for example, This cat looks like my cat.
- The preposition ل means for or to, let’s see some examples: We go to school to learn.
- The use of حتى is to define the end of something, for example, I study until I fall asleep.
- The last one of the common ten prepositions is و which comes in the meaning of and. For example, My bag and money were stolen.
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