Who Am I? - Family and Personal Characteristics

Reading Arabic

Arabic is written in a beautiful flowing script, and it is read from right to left, the opposite of English. In this module, every Arabic word is shown three ways: the script, the sound (transliteration in brackets), and the English. That way you learn to recognise it and say it.

Saying who you are

These are useful starting chunks for introducing yourself. Read the Arabic first, then use the transliteration as a support.

The family

The core family words from the identity topic.

Match each Arabic word to its meaning

Spot the word

Which word means "father"?

• أب (ab)
• أم (umm)
• أخ (akh)
• صديق (sadiq)

The feminine ending

Arabic often marks a female person with the ending ة (called taa marbuta), added to the male word. For example صديق (sadiq) is a male friend, and صديقة (sadiqa) is a female friend. Look for that rounded ة at the end of a word.

Match each male word to its female counterpart

Find the female forms

Tap the TWO Arabic words that name female people.

• صديقة (sadiqa)
• صديق (sadiq)
• أخت (ukht)
• أخ (akh)

Direction and "the"

Two facts about how Arabic works: - It is read and written right to left. - The word for the is الـ (al-), joined to the front of a noun. So بيت (bayt) is "a house", and البيت (al-bayt) is "the house".

Which way?

In which direction is Arabic written and read?

• Right to left
• Left to right
• Top to bottom
• It changes with every word

Family members

Select ALL THREE words that are family members.

• أب (ab)
• أم (umm)
• أخت (ukht)
• صديق (sadiq)
• اسمي (ismi)
• أنا (ana)

Arabic builds the sentence its own way

These words become sentences without any word for "am" or "is". Arabic simply puts the two parts side by side, and joins ideas with و (wa - and):

Arabic has no word for "am"

Arabic has no word for "am". Which of these says "my name is Sarah and I am a girl"?

• اسمي سارة وأنا بنت (ismi Sara wa-ana bint)
• اسمي سارة وأنا أكون بنت (ismi Sara wa-ana akun bint)
• اسمي بنت وأنا سارة (ismi bint wa-ana Sara)
• ليس لي أخ (laysa li akh)

Introduce yourself

Choose the right word at each step to introduce yourself and your family.

• To say "I", which word do you use?
• To say "my name (is)", which word?
• To introduce your sister, which word?

The right word

Using the script, complete: "father" is _____, "mother" is _____, "family" is _____, and "my name" is _____.

Write a tiny profile

Write two short Arabic lines using only patterns from this module.

• Use أنا or اسمي to introduce yourself.
• Add one family word, such as أب, أم, أخ, أخت or عائلة.
• Remember that Arabic runs right to left, and that no separate word is needed for "is/am" in اسمي سارة.