Modern Standard Arabic
Formal reading and prepared speechBegin formal grammar and widely shared vocabulary here. Fully pronounced case endings are not the norm in every spoken register.
LANGUAGE
From written signs to everyday conversation.
Mandarin Chinese / Taiwan
Bopomofo / Zhuyin
注音符號A set of phonetic symbols used to show Mandarin pronunciation. Syllables are assembled from an initial, a medial or final, and a tone.
The first version was created in 1913 and released in 1918. It remains a practical reading, dictionary, and keyboard tool in Taiwan.
- SYMBOLS
- 37
- TONES
- 5
- ALSO CALLED
- Zhuyin / Zhuyin Fuhao
Initials
21Medials
3Finals
13Tones
5Arabic: choose a spoken variety and a reading register
Modern Standard Arabic supports much formal writing, broadcasting and cross-regional education. Everyday conversation normally uses regional varieties. They share historical relationships but are not interchangeable accent settings.
Classical / Qurʾanic Arabic
Historical and religious textsStudy period-specific usage and, for recitation, a named reading tradition; not merely MSA with older vocabulary.
Egyptian
Everyday life in EgyptLearn local negation, pronouns and question forms; avoid assuming MSA phrases predict the reply.
Levantine
Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, JordanRelated local varieties with meaningful differences; choose a city/community model.
Gulf and Iraqi
Arabian Gulf and IraqSeparate local systems; both differ from textbook MSA and from one another.
Maghrebi
Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and neighboring regionsSubstantial local variation and language contact. Darija is not a label for all Arabic everywhere.
Try it: For ordering food in Cairo, should an MSA lesson be the only listening model?
Show the answer
No. Keep MSA for formal literacy while adding Egyptian conversation and local recordings.
References: Georgetown Arabic programs ↗
ARABIC / FOUNDATIONS
العربية · الفصحى
Start with the words you need.
Build your own sentences.
The words for everyday life.
Find a situation, read the phrase, or show the native text. Learn common replies as well as questions.
Pronunciation & how to use these phrases
Start with the writing charts, then listen to complete words. Device speech depends on installed voices and may use a different regional accent. Spelling and sound do not match one-to-one.
من فضلك addresses one person; spoken endings vary with addressee and region. Learn a local dialect alongside the standard for natural shop and taxi conversations. Learning path: recognise words and phrases → build simple sentences → practise questions and replies → expand tense and connected speech → read and discuss longer texts. These foundation lessons are available now; later stages will grow with the collection.
24 phrases
Basics
Communication
Bathrooms
Food & ordering
Shops & payment
Taxi & transport
Airport
Help
Listen for
Reply
Hotels
ARABIC / GRAMMAR REFERENCE
8 chaptersForms, rules & structure
Modern Standard Arabic with selected full case/mood endings. Everyday spoken varieties have distinct grammar and pronunciation.
Grammar terminology
- Noun
- A word used to name or classify an entity: person, place, object, substance, idea.
- Adjective
- A word that describes a property; its form and position depend on the language.
- Pronoun
- A form used to refer to a participant or entity without repeating a full noun phrase.
- Determiner
- A word such as an article, demonstrative or possessive that helps specify a noun phrase.
- Verb
- A word heading a predicate, often describing an action, event or state.
- Conjugation
- A pattern of verb forms expressing grammatical distinctions such as person, tense or mood.
- Declension
- A pattern of noun, pronoun or adjective forms, often marking case, number and gender.
- Case
- A distinction marking a noun phrase’s grammatical role or its relationship to a governing word.
- Gender
- A grammatical classification of nouns; it need not match sex or have a transparent meaning.
- Agreement
- A form changes to match features of another expression, such as person, number, gender or case.
- Tense
- A grammatical way of locating a situation relative to a time of reference.
- Aspect
- How a situation is viewed: for example ongoing, habitual, completed or prior to a reference point.
- Mood
- A grammatical distinction associated with assertion, possibility, commands, wishes or other clause functions.
- Finite form
- A verb form that can serve as a clause’s main inflected verb, contrasting with infinitives and participles. The precise criteria vary by language.
- Participle
- A verb-derived form used in constructions such as modifiers, compound tenses or passives; its roles vary by language.
- Infinitive
- A nonfinite verb form in languages that have one; it is not automatically equivalent to English “to + verb”.
- Subject / object
- Grammatical relations in a clause, not universal synonyms for “doer” and “receiver”.
- Clitic
- A short grammatical form that depends phonologically on a neighboring word.
- Transitive
- Describes a verb construction that takes a direct object.
- Register
- A variety of expression associated with context, relationship or level of formality.
Gender, definiteness & number
- Nouns have masculine or feminine gender. ة is a common feminine marker, not a universal definition of feminine nouns.
- الـ marks definiteness. Arabic distinguishes singular, dual and plural; sound plurals use suffixes, while broken plurals alter the stem pattern and must be learned lexically.
| Pattern | Singular | Plural / dual |
|---|---|---|
| masculine noun | كِتَابٌ (book) | كُتُبٌ |
| feminine noun | مَدْرَسَةٌ (school) | مَدَارِسُ |
| sound feminine | طَالِبَةٌ | طَالِبَاتٌ |
| sound masculine nominative | مُعَلِّمٌ | مُعَلِّمُونَ |
| dual nominative | كِتَابٌ | كِتَابَانِ |
| definite | كِتَابٌ | الْكِتَابُ |
Worked examples
هٰذَا كِتَابٌ جَدِيدٌ.
This is a new book.
How it works: The noun and adjective are indefinite masculine singular nominative; no present copula is needed.
Location
أين means where. A present nominal sentence normally has no spoken equivalent of is.
أين المخرج؟Where is the exit?
Read the model, complete the gap, then change one word and explain what changes.
Try it yourself
1 / 1 · 0 correctComplete the model using the rule.
___ المخرج؟
All words · vocabulary quiz
1 / 20 · 0 correctChoose the English meaning.
ماء
ماءwater
ماءwater
طعامfood
طعامfood
حليبmilk
حليبmilk
خبزbread
خبزbread
قهوةcoffee
قهوةcoffee
شايtea
شايtea
أرزrice
أرزrice
حمّامbathroom
حمّامbathroom
مطارairport
مطارairport
محطّةstation
محطّةstation
تذكرةticket
تذكرةticket
مخرجexit
مخرجexit
يسارleft
يسارleft
يمينright
يمينright
اليومtoday
اليومtoday
غدًاtomorrow
غدًاtomorrow
واحدone
واحدone
اثنانtwo
اثنانtwo
ثلاثةthree
ثلاثةthree
مساعدةhelp
مساعدةhelp
Between the words
This starter uses Modern Standard Arabic with some widely recognized service phrases. It is useful for reading and careful communication, but is not a single everyday dialect used identically everywhere.
مرحبًا.
Written standard and spoken varietiesThis starter uses Modern Standard Arabic with some widely recognized service phrases. It is useful for reading and careful communication, but is not a single everyday dialect used identically everywhere.
مرحبًا.
من فضلك addresses one person; spoken endings vary with addressee and region. Learn a local dialect alongside the standard for natural shop and taxi conversations.
Read the situation
1 / 1 · 0 correctRecall the opening greeting from this collection.
Practice scores last for this visit.Arabic audio is unavailable on this device. All exercises work without audio.