26/01/2020 Duolingo - The world's best way to learn Arabic

Descriptions 1

Hold it!
In Arabic, if you hold the sound of a consonant extra long, it might change the meaning of a
word. We use a symbol called shadda (it looks like a small w) over a consonant to signal that
it’s extra long. In English letters, we’ll just write two of the same consonant.

With With
Word with
Word English Meaning English Meaning
shadda
letters letters

‫َد َرس‬ daras he studied ‫َد ﱠرس‬ darras he taught

‫َﺣﻣﺎم‬ Hamaam pigeons ‫َﺣ ّﻣﺎم‬ Hammaam bathroom

Note the shadda on the Arabic words on the right side, and the double rr and double mm in
darras and Hammaam. When a letter has shadda on it, just hold it extra long!

A house pretty
In English, when you want to describe a noun with an adjective (like “a pretty house” or “a big
door”), you put the adjective (pretty, big) before the noun (house, door).

Have you noticed how it’s the opposite in Arabic?

Phrase Translation

‫ﺑَﯾت َﺟﻣﯾل‬ a pretty house (literally: “a house pretty”)

‫ﺑﺎب َﻛﺑﯾر‬ a big door (literally: “a door big”)

https://www.duolingo.com/skill/ar/Descriptions-1/tips-and-notes 1/1