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Mastering
Arabic 1
Fourth edition
Copyright © Jane Wightwick and Mahmoud Gaafar 1990, 2007, 2015, 2024
Jane Wightwick and Mahmoud Gaafar have asserted their rights under the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Authors
of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or
any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the
publishers.
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc does not have any control over, or responsibility for, any
third-party websites referred to or in this book. All internet
addresses given in this book were correct at the time of going to press.
The author and publisher regret any inconvenience caused if addresses have changed
or sites have ceased to exist, but can accept no
responsibility for any such changes.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
To find out more about our authors and books visit www.bloomsbury.com and sign up
for our newsletters.
To Leila
Contents
Preface x
Introduction xi
Online resources xiv
Language units 1
Getting started 2
1 Letters of the alphabet: group 1 ( )بتثني 2
Vowels 5
Joining letters: group 1 6
Adding vowels to words 8
Conversation sections 10
Conversation: Greetings and leave-taking 10
Video: Greetings 11
Vocabulary in Unit 1 11
Vocabulary learning 12
The family 25
3 Letters of the alphabet: group 3 ( )جحخهم 25
Handwriting letters: group 3 26
Joining letters: jım, ˛’, kh’ and mım 27
Joining h’ 29
Feminine words 30
iv
Contents v
What’s this? 31
The family 32
Conversation: Talking about where you live and who you live with 34
Conversation: Introducing your family 35
Video: My family 36
Vocabulary in Unit 3 36
4 Jobs 37
Letters of the alphabet: group 4 ( )سشصض 37
Handwriting letters: group 4 38
Joining letters: group 4 39
Jobs 42
Family occupations 43
Conversation: Talking about what you do 44
Making words plural 45
Conversation: Talking about where you work or study 48
Video: Amani talks about her family 48
Structure notes: Case endings; the nominative case 49
Vocabulary in Unit 4 50
5 Describing things 51
Letters of the alphabet: group 5 ( )فقكل 51
Pronunciation of qf 52
Handwriting letters: group 5 52
Joining letters: group 5 53
Everyday objects 55
Signs and crosswords 56
Describing things 57
Using ( الـal, the) 58
Possessive endings (attached pronouns) 60
Conversation: Asking about names 60
Whose is it? 61
Conversation: Polite requests 63
Video: Karima talks about possessions 63
Structure notes: Definite and indefinite 64
Vocabulary in Unit 5 64
6 Where is it? 66
Letters of the alphabet: group 6 ( )طظعغ 66
Emphatic letters 66
عayn and ghayn 68
Joining letters: group 6 70
vi Contents
Sun letters 73
Asking questions 75
Hamza 77
Where? 77
My room 79
Video: Zayd describes his room 79
Arabic and computers 80
Anwar’s blog 80
Conversation: Dialects 81
Structure notes: The genitive case 82
Vocabulary in Unit 6 82
7 Describing places 83
Describing your city or town 83
What’s the town like? 84
I∂fa constructions 85
Conversation: Asking for directions 87
More about plurals 88
More about adjectives 88
Conversation: Describing your town or your room 90
Video: Mahmoud describes his apartment 91
Structure notes: Genitive with i∂fa 92
Vocabulary in Unit 7 92
8 Review 93
Conversation: Review 98
15 Review 202
Conversation: Review 210
x
Introduction
Classical Arabic
This is the language of the Qur’an and classical literature. Its structure
is similar to Modern Standard Arabic, but the style and much of the
vocabulary are archaic. It is easier to begin by studying Modern Standard
and then progress to classical texts, if that is what you wish to do.
Spoken dialects
These are the spoken languages of the different regions of the Arab world.
They are all more or less similar to the Modern Standard language. The
colloquial dialects vary the most in everyday words and expressions, such as
‘bread’ or ‘How are you?’.
We have chosen to teach the Modern Standard in Mastering Arabic 1 as
it is a good starting point for beginners. Modern Standard is universally
understood and is the best medium through which to master the Arabic
script. However, whenever there are dialogues or situations where the
colloquial language would naturally be used, we have tried to choose
xi
xii Introduction
vocabulary and structures that are as close as possible to the spoken form.
In this way, you will find that Mastering Arabic 1 enables you to understand
Arabic in a variety of different situations and provides an excellent base
from which to expand your knowledge of the written and spoken language.
Videos
These now appear in every unit except the reviews. Go to the free website to
play the videos at the appropriate points, and have a go at the additional
activities.
Conversation sections
These sections are designed to introduce you to basic conversational Arabic
in social and everyday situations so that you can get talking right from the
start. They appear in all the units in the first half of the course, and then as
appropriate in the later units.
Structure notes
These occur at the end of some units and contain useful additional
information about Arabic grammar. They are not essential to your
understanding of basic Arabic but will help you to recognize some of the
finer points when you read or hear them.
Review units
These occur at three points in the course. They will be very useful to you
in assessing how well you remember what you have learnt. If you find you
have problems with a particular exercise, go back and review the section or
sections of the book that cover that area.
Introduction xiii
Reference material
This section is found at the end of the book and includes alphabet and verb
tables, lists of plurals and months of the year, a vocabulary glossary and an
index for easy reference, plus answers to all the exercises in Mastering Arabic 1.
Companion books
Alongside Mastering Arabic 1 there are four companion books: Mastering
Arabic 1: Activity Book; Mastering Arabic Grammar; Mastering Arabic Script;
and Mastering Arabic Pronunciation and Vocabulary. These complement the
main course, providing extra practice and additional information. They are
referenced in places where you may wish to consult them like this:
You can practise your new skills in the accompanying Activity Book: Unit 3 (Activities 1–3).
Acknowledgements
The authors and publishers wish to thank the following who have kindly
given permission for the use of copyright material: Oxford University Press
for material from the Oxford Arabic Dictionary, 2014; Otto Harrassowitz
Verlag for material from Hans Wehr, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic,
ed. J. Milton Cowan, 1979, reprint 2008.
The authors and publishers wish also to thank Lina Sawan, Murad Bushnaq,
Amani Zitouni, Cyrine El Oued and Mahmoud Abdou for the use of their
images and recorded video material.
Music for the audio was composed by Leila Gaafar.
Online resources
Visit https://www.bloomsburyonlineresources.com/mastering-arabic-series to
access a wealth of free resources for both teachers and students. Take a look
at some of the materials.
Activities and games, which have been Colourful and engaging PowerPoint©
designed to enhance your skills in listening, presentations, supporting each of the
speaking, reading and writing. main units in the book.
xiv
Language
units
1 Getting started
ب
Name of letter Pronounced
You can see that b’, t’ and th’ share the same shape, but the position and
the number of dots are different, whereas nün has a slightly different shape,
more circular and falling below the line, and y’ has a much curlier shape
with its tail also written below the line. However, y’ is connected with the
other letters, as you will see later in Unit 1.
When writers become more skilled at the Arabic script, they start taking
shortcuts when handwriting – such as the joining of dots. However, as you
are just starting out it, is important that you understand fundamentally
how the Arabic script is formed before you progress to these shortcuts. The
only difference you will currently see is that the dots are a round mark when
handwritten and not diamond-shaped as they often are in printed material.
2
Getting started 3
ب ب
ت ت
ث ث
ن ن
ي ي
Exercise 1
Look at the letters below and decide which each is. Follow the exercise
numbers right to left to accustom your eyes to moving in that direction.
ت ث ن ت 4 3 2 1
ي ب ي ب ن
9
8 7 6
5
4 Unit 1
Handwriting practice
(When practising handwriting, first trace the letters following the direction
of the arrows, and then try writing them on lined paper.)
The Arabic script is written from right to left, so the letters should be
ب
formed starting from the right:
nün ن
y’ ي
Finish the main shape of the letter first and then add the dots:
b’ ب
t’ ت
th’ ث
nün
ن
y’
ي
Tip: There are no capital letters in Arabic.
Vowels
Arabic script is a form of shorthand. Not all the vowel sounds are included.
The short vowels in Arabic (a, i, u) are written above and below the main
script. If you read an Arabic newspaper, novel or website you will rarely see
these vowels, as they are not usually written. The Arabic reader is expected
to deduce the meaning of words from experience and context. Imagine the
English sentence ‘They can find the key’ as ‘thy cn fnd th ky’.
Mastering Arabic 1 will begin by showing all the short vowels and will
gradually drop them as you become more proficient.
Look at these letters and listen to the recording:
01:02
َب (ba) ِب (bi) ُب (bu)
ِ
as in ‘bat’. This vowel is called fat˛a.
• A dash below the letter ( ) is pronounced as a short ‘i’ following the letter,
as in ‘hit’. This vowel is called kasra.
ُ
• A comma shape above the letter ( ) is pronounced as a short ‘u’ following
the letter, as in ‘book’. This vowel is called ∂amma.
Exercise 2
Listen to the recording and write the correct vowels on these letters:
01:03
ب ث ب 7 4 1
ت ت 6 3
Exercise 3
Now practise saying these letters with their vowels; then check your
pronunciation in the answer section at the back of the book.
ت
ِ 6 َي 3
You can learn more about the alphabet in the Introduction of the accompanying Grammar Book.
6 Unit 1
ث = بث+ ب
ب = تب+ ت
ت = ثبت+ ب+ ث
Notice how the letter gets ‘chopped’ and loses its final flourish, or ‘tail’,
when at the beginning or in the middle of a word, but still keeps its dots for
recognition.
The letters nün and y’ have exactly the same shape as the other letters in
this group when they come at the beginning or in the middle of a word, but
they retain their differences when at the end:
ن = بن+ ب
ي = ني+ ن
ت = بيت+ ي+ ب
ي = بني+ ن+ ب
ث = يبث+ ب+ ي
web
On the Mastering Arabic website you can find a teaching grid with a unit-by-
unit overview of how the Mastering Arabic companion books can support
your learning, including handwriting practice and additional activities to
reinforce your learning.
Getting started 7
Handwriting practice
ببب
Notice how these letters are joined when written by hand:
ث = بث+ ب
ب = تب+ ت
ن = تبن+ ب+ ث
ي = ني+ ن
ت = بيت+ ي+ ب
It’s easiest if you complete the main shape of the word and then go back
to the right-hand side and add all the dots from right to left.
web On the Mastering Arabic website you can find videos and a printable worksheet
➞ that will help you practise handwriting these combinations.
Exercise 4
Look at the newspaper headline below. Two examples of the letters in
group 1 are circled. How many others can you find?
Tip: When y’ is by itself or at the end of a word, you may see it without the
two dots.
Exercise 5
Handwrite these combinations of letters.
The first is an example:
=ي+ن 2
©kasha_malasha/shutterstock
=ن+ب+ت 3
=ت+ب+ن 4
=ي+ن+ب+ي 5
= تُب
)tub( )b( ب+ ُت )tu(
= بِن
)bin( )n( ن+ ِب )bi(
)bayna( نَ = َب ْي َن+
)na( )y( ي+ َب )ba(
You can practise your new skills in the accompanying Activity Book: Unit 1 (Activities 1–4).
Sukün
ْ
A small circle (sukün) above a letter ( ) indicates that there is no vowel sound
after that letter – see bint and bayna above. Notice that the sukün is not
usually put above the last letter of a word.
Getting started 9
Exercise 6
Listen to the recording and write the vowels on these words. Each word will
be given twice.
ثبت بيت
01:04
4 1
يثب 5 ثبتت 2
ثبن 6 تبن 3
Shadda
In addition to the three short vowels and the sukün, there is another symbol:
ّ
the shadda. This is a small w shape ( ) written above the letter to indicate
that the sound is doubled. For example:
Exercise 7
Write these letter combinations and then try to pronounce them. Check your
pronunciation with the recording or answer section.
= ن+ ن+ ُت = ت+ ت+ َب
01:06
3 1
Exercise 8
Look at these words and try to remember the meanings:
Handwrite the Arabic words on a separate piece of paper and cover the
pictures. Then match the Arabic words you have written with this English:
1 girl/daughter 2 coffee beans 3 house 4 hay 5 between
Conversation sections
The Conversation panels are designed to introduce you to basic conversational
Arabic in social and everyday situations. They appear in all the units in the
first half of the course, and then as appropriate in the later units. You’ll often
be given the opportunity to take part in short dialogues with native speakers.
Concentrate on speaking and listening in these sections. At first you may not
be able to read all the Arabic script, but you will be able to recognize some of
the letters and words.
01:07
( Conversation
Greetings and leave-taking
One of the most important conversational skills initially in any language
is to know how to greet people. Arabic greetings can be elaborate and
prolonged, but some all-purpose expressions will get you by:
أه ًال (ahlan) Hello, and also
You can practise your new skills in the accompanying Activity Book: Unit 1 (Activities 5–8).
Getting started 11
web
➞ Video: Greetings A B
To play the videos, go to www.
bloomsburyonlineresources.com/
mastering-arabic-series. You’ll also
find a wealth of useful additional
material online.
There is a video for every unit C D
(except for the review units). In this
first unit you will hear six people
greet you in different ways. Try to
match the photo with the correct
greeting.
Don’t worry if you don’t E F
understand everything. Just listen
for the key information. You’ll find
a transcript, a translation and an
extension activity on the website.
! Vocabulary in Unit 1
( ِب ْنتbint) girl/daughter ( بُ ّنbunn) coffee beans
( بَ ْيتbayt) house ( بَ ْي َنbayna) between
( تِ ْبنtibn) hay ( ِتينtın) figs
ً َمر َحبا/ً( أهالahlan/mar˛aban) Hello
ً( أهالً وسهالahlan wa sahlan) Hello and welcome
ِ ( أهالً بahlan bik/biki) Hello to you
بك/ِك
( َصباح ال َخيرßab˛ al-khayr) Good morning
( َصباح ال ُّنورßab˛ an-nür) Good morning (reply)
( َمساء ال َخيرmas’ al-khayr) Good evening/afternoon
( َمساء ال ُّنورmas’ an-nür) Good evening/afternoon (reply)
السالمة َّ ( َم َعmaعa s-salma) Goodbye
web
You’ll find a PowerPoint presentation on the companion website to help you
PPT
remember the key words in every unit.
12 Unit 1
Vocabulary learning
Arabic presents some challenges to the beginner trying to learn
vocabulary, as both the words and the script are unfamiliar. However, you
can use strategies to help yourself. One method recommended for learning
vocabulary in new scripts is the use of flashcards, similar to the method
used to teach young children how to read.
Try the following method to learn your vocabulary:
• Make a set of small cards, blank on both sides.
• Get five envelopes and mark them ‘Day 1’, ‘Day 2’, etc.
• Write each Arabic word, with vowels in pencil, on one side of a card
and the English on the other:
This is good handwriting practice and will help you remember the word.
• Put each card Arabic side up and say the Arabic aloud. Try to
remember what it means. When you’ve finished, shuffle the cards and
put them English side up, this time trying to remember the Arabic.
• If you remember a word, move that card to the ‘Day 2’ envelope; if you
forget, put it in the ‘Day 1’ envelope.
• Each day, take the cards out of each envelope in turn starting with the
highest-numbered envelope and working down to ‘Day 1’. (After you
have completed five days you’ll have cards in each envelope.)
• If you forget a card at any point it returns to the ‘Day 1’ envelope.
FORGET
ِب ْنت
• If you can remember a word five days running you can throw the card
away. (Or you could erase the pencil vowel marks and put it back in
the ‘Day 1’ envelope.)
• You can add up to 15 words a day to the ‘Day 1’ envelope. How
many you add will depend on the progress of the other cards up the
sequence of envelopes.
web You can adapt the method above for electronic flashcards. The Mastering
Arabic companion website has some ready-made online flashcards. In
addition, there are various flashcard websites and downloadable apps that
will allow you to make and sort your own Arabic flashcards.
2 Putting words
together
أبت
Letters of the alphabet: group 2
Look at the next group of letters and listen to the recording:
02:01
ا
Name of letter Pronounced
13
14 Unit 2
You can see that the dl and dhl have the same basic shape, as do r’
and zy. The only difference is that dhl and zy have the dot over the basic
shape. Pay special attention to the position and shape of these four letters –
dl and dhl sit on the line while r’ and zy fall under the line.
Ww and alif have very distinctive shapes, but their connection with the
other letters in this group will become clear later in this unit.
Exercise 1
Draw a line between the printed letters and the names of the letters, as in
the example:
و ا ز ر ذ د
alif dl zy r’ ww dhl
Handwriting practice
alif ا
dl, dhl د
r’, zy ر
ww و
Remember, finish the shape first and then add any dots:
ا د ذ ر ز و
web On the Mastering Arabic website you can find videos and a printable worksheet
➞ that will help you practise forming and handwriting these letters.
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