Comparing Merchandise İn Arabic -Arabic- Arabic Beginner Lesson 56– Learn Arabic Free Online
Comparing Merchandise İn Arabic -Arabic- Arabic Beginner Lesson 56– Learn Arabic Free Online
Comparing Merchandise İn Arabic
Comparing Merchandise
Have you ever been shopping and found yourself debating between two or
more comparable items? Perhaps you have a general idea of what you want
to buy — a television, for instance — but you aren’t sure what year, make, or
model you want. In these instances, being able to compare merchandise is
important. In this section, you discover how to evaluate comparable (and
incomparable) items based on a variety of important criteria, such as price,
quality, and durability.
In order to be able to compare different items, it’s necessary to have an
understanding of degrees of adjectives and superlatives. In English, degrees
of adjectives have straightforward applicability. For example, in order to say
that something is bigger than another thing, you simply add the suffix -er to
the adjective; hence “big” becomes “bigger.” Furthermore, when you’re comparing
two or more items, you use comparatives, meaning you use both the
degree of adjectives followed by the preposition “than.” For instance, “the
truck is bigger than the car.” To say that something is the biggest, you only
need to add the suffix -est to the adjective; so “big” becomes “biggest,” as in
“it’s the biggest car.” This form is called a superlative.
Fortunately, the structures of degrees of adjectives, comparatives, and
superlatives in Arabic are fairly similar to those in English.
Comparing two or more items
Adjectives are the linguistic backbone that allow for comparisons between
different items, products, or goods. Table 6-2 lists some of the most common
adjectives followed by their comparative forms.
Table 6-2 Arabic Adjectives and Their Comparative Forms
Adjective Pronunciation Translation Comparative Pronunciation Translation
kabiir kah-beer big ‘akbar ak-bar bigger
Saghiir sah-geer small ‘aSghar ass-gar smaller
Hasan hah-san good ‘aHsan ah-san better
suu’ sooh bad ‘aswa’ as-wah worse
rakhiiS rah-kees cheap ‘arkhas ar-kas cheaper
ghalii gah-lee expensive ‘aghlaa ag-lah more
expensive
(continued)
Chapter 6: Going Shopping 109
Table 6-2 (continued)
Adjective Pronunciation Translation Comparative Pronunciation Translation
sarii’ sah-reeh fast ‘asra’ ass-rah faster
baTii’ bah-teeh slow ‘abTa ab-tah slower
thaqiil tah-keel heavy ‘athqal at-kal heavier
khafiif kah-feef light ‘akhfaa ak-fah lighter
jamiil jah-meel pretty ‘ajmal aj-mal prettier
bashii’ bah-sheeh ugly ‘absha’ ab-shah uglier
ba’iid bah-eed far ‘ab’ad ab-ad farther
qariib kah-reeb near ‘aqrab ak-rab nearer
jadiid jah-deed new ‘ajadd ah-jad newer
qadiim kah-deem old ‘aqdam ak-dam older
Place these adjectives in their appropriate context in the phrase or sentence —
using these adjectives independently changes their meanings. Similar to the
English language structure, the comparative form of adjectives always follows
this pattern:
noun + adjective comparative form + preposition min (meen; than) +
second adjective
It’s essential that you include the preposition min right after every comparative
adjective. In addition, all nouns being compared need to be defined by
attaching to them the definite article prefix al-.
Here are some common examples of comparative sentences using the adjective
forms:
al-bint ‘akbar min al-walad. (al-bee-net ak-bar meen al-wah-lad; The girl
is bigger than the boy.)
at-tilifizyuun ‘aghlaa min al-midyaa’. (ah-tee-lee-fee-zee-yoon ag-lah
meen al-meed-yah; The television is more expensive than the radio.)
as-sayyaara ‘asra’ min as-shaaHina. (ah-sah-yah-rah as-rah meen ah-shahhee-
nah; The car is faster than the bus.)
aj-jakiiTa ‘arkhas min al-qamiis. (ah-jah-kee-tah ar-kas meen al-kah-mees;
The jacket is cheaper than the shirt.)
110 Part II: Arabic in Action
When forming these types of sentences, you may add demonstratives to be
even more specific. Here are examples of comparative sentences used in conjunction
with demonstratives:
haadhihi al-bint ‘akbar min dhaalika al-walad. (hah-zee-hee al-bee-net
ak-bar meen zah-lee-kah al-wah-lad; This girl is bigger than that boy.)
haa’ulaa’ii as-sayyaaraat ‘asra’ min ‘ulaa’ika as-shaahinaat. (hah-oo-lahee
ah-sah-yah-rat as-rah meen oo-lah-ee-kah ah-shah-hee-nat; These cars
are faster than those buses.)
tilka al-‘imra’a ‘ajmal min dhaalika ar-rajul. (teel-kah al-eem-rah-ah ajmal
meen zah-lee-kah ah-rah-jool; That woman is prettier than that man.)
haadhaa al-walad ‘akbar min ‘ulaa’ika al-banaat. (hah-zah al-wah-lad
ak-bar meen oo-lah-ee-kah al-bah-nat; This boy is bigger than those girls.)
Notice in the examples that the adjective comparative form remains constant
whether the nouns being compared are a combination of singular/singular,
singular/plural, or plural/plural. In other words, the adjective comparatives
are gender-neutral: They remain the same regardless of both gender and
number.