Roots & patterns
Most Arabic content words are built from a three-consonant root (جذر) slotted into a pattern (وزن). The root carries the core meaning; the pattern adds grammatical information.
- Root ك ت ب → writing family: كتب، كتاب، مكتبة، مكتوب
- Root د ر س → studying family: درس، مدرسة، درّس، دراسة
- Look up words by root in Lookup to see related vocabulary together.
Iḍāfa (إضافة)
An iḍāfa is a noun–noun possessive/construct chain. The first noun drops nunation / the definite article; definiteness comes from the last noun.
- كتاب الطالب — the student’s book
- جامعة القاهرة — Cairo University
- Adjectives agreeing with the first noun usually follow the whole chain.
Verb forms (الأوزان)
Derived forms alter a Form I root’s meaning (causative, reflexive, intensive, etc.). Knowing the form helps you guess meaning and conjugation patterns.
- Form I — basic: كتب، درس، ذهب
- Form II — causative/intensive (doubled middle radical): درّس “to teach”
- Form IV — causative with أ: أحبّ “to love”
- Form V — reflexive of II: تكلّم “to speak”
- Past stem ≈ perfect; present stem ≈ imperfect. Imperative is built from the present.
Gender & number
Nouns and adjectives are masculine or feminine, and singular / dual / plural. Many feminine singulars end in ة (taa’ marbuuṭa).
- Sound masculine plural: ون / ين (e.g. معلّمون)
- Sound feminine plural: ات (e.g. جامعات)
- Broken plurals change the internal pattern: كتاب → كتب
- Adjectives agree in gender, number, and definiteness with the noun they modify.
Prepositions & verb governance
Some verbs take a fixed preposition that changes meaning. Always learn the preposition with the verb.
- ذهب إلى — go to (destination)
- سكن في — live / reside in
- تكلّم مع / عن — speak with / about
- Prepositions are followed by a noun in the genitive (مجرور).