Lesson

Introduction to Greetings

Welcome to your first Arabic lesson! We'll start with basic greetings. Knowing how to greet people is a great first step in learning any language. Let's begin with how to say "Hello" in Arabic. There are a few ways, but we will start with this:

مرحبا (marhabaan) is a common way to say "Hello". You can use it in most situations. It's a friendly greeting that works well with anyone. Another greeting is:

أهلاً (ahlaan) is another way to say "Hello" or "Welcome". It's often used when you are welcoming someone.

Good Morning and Good Evening

Here are some ways to greet someone depending on the time of the day. To say "Good morning", you can say:

صباح الخير (sabah alkhyr) literally means "morning of goodness". To reply to this greeting, you would say:

صباح النور (sabah alnuwr), meaning "morning of light." For "Good evening", you can say:

مساء الخير (masa' alkhyr) which means "evening of goodness". To reply, you can say:

مساء النور (masa' alnuwr), which means "evening of light".

Introducing Yourself

Now, let’s learn how to introduce yourself. A simple way to say "My name is..." in Arabic is:

Replace the "..." with your name. For example, if your name is "John," you would say:

To ask "What is your name?", you can say:

ما اسمك؟ (ma asmak?) This is a common way to ask someone their name. It is literally translated as "What is your name?" Another way to ask is:

شو اسمك؟ (shu asmak?) This is an informal way to ask "What is your name?" and it is used in some dialects. It is very common.

Asking How Someone Is

To ask "How are you?" in Arabic, you can say:

كيف حالك؟ (kayf halak?) is the most common way to ask "How are you?". If you are talking to a female, you would say:

كيف حالك؟ (kayf halik?) note the slight difference in the pronunciation for females. If you are feeling well, you can answer:

بخير، شكراً (bikhayr shukran) which means "I am fine, thank you".

Farewells

Finally, let's learn how to say goodbye. A simple way to say "Goodbye" in Arabic is:

مع السلامة (ma'a alsalama) It translates to "with safety".