Arabic – Building sentences with common prepositions -Arabic Lesson For Beginners – fasiharabic.com

Building sentences with common prepositions
In grammatical terms, prepositions are words or small phrases that indicate a
relationship between substantive and other types of words, such as adjectives,
verbs, nouns, or other substantives. In both English and Arabic, prepositions
are parts of speech that are essential in the formation of sentences.
You can add them to “is/are” sentences to give them more specificity. Table
2-6 lists the most common prepositions you’re likely to use in Arabic.
 Common Prepositions
Arabic Pronunciation Translation
min meen from
fii fee in
‘ilaa ee-lah to
ma’a mah-ah with
‘alaa ah-lah on
qariib min kah-reeb meen close to
ba’iid min bah-eed meen far from
‘amaama ah-mah-mah in front of
waraa’a wah-rah-ah behind
taHta tah-tah underneath
fawqa faw-kah above
bijaanibi bee-jah-nee-bee next to
You can use these prepositions to construct clauses and phrases using both
indefinite and definite nouns and adjectives. Here are some examples:
 al-bint ‘amaama al-madrasa. (al-bee-net ah-mah-mah al-mad-rah-sah; The
girl is in front of the school.)
 aT-Taawila fii al-ghurfa. (ah-tah-wee-lah fee al-goor-fah; The table is in
the room.)
 al-‘ustaadha fii al-jaami’a. (al-oos-tah-zah fee al-jah-mee-ah; The professor
is in the university.) (F)
 al-maT’am bijaanibi al-funduq. (al-mat-ham bee-jah-nee-bee al-foon-dook;
The restaurant is next to the hotel.)
 ar-rajul min ‘amriika. (ah-rah-jool meen am-ree-kah; The man is from
America.)
 al-madiina qariiba min ash-shaaTi’. (al-mah-dee-nah kah-ree-bah meen
ah-shah-teeh; The city is close to the beach.)

 as-sayyaara al-bayDaa’ waraa’a al-manzil. (ah-sah-yah-rah al-bay-dah
wah-rah-ah al-man-zeel; The white car is behind the house.)
 al-walad al-laTiif ma’a al-mudarris. (al-wah-lad ah-lah-teef mah-ah almoo-
dah-rees; The nice boy is with the teacher.)
In addition, you can use multiple adjectives with both the subject and object
nouns:
 al-‘imra’a al-jamiila fii as-sayyaara as-sarii’a. (al-eem-rah-ah al-jah-mee-lah
fee ah-sah-yah-rah ah-sah-ree-ah; The beautiful woman is in the fast car.)
 al-mudarissa ad-dakiyya ‘amaama al-madrasa al-bayDaa’. (al-moo-dahree-
sah ah-dah-kee-yah ah-mah-mah al-mad-rah-sah al-bay-dah; The smart
teacher is in front of the white school.) (F)
 al-kursiiy aS-Saghiir waraa’a aT-Taawila al-kabiira. (al-koor-see ah-sahgeer
wah-rah-ah ah-tah-wee-lah al-kah-bee-rah; The small chair is behind
the big table.)