Arabic Phrases

Free Resources -> Arabic Phrases

Here are some basic Arabic phrases that you can use straight away to survive in an Arabic country. The English words are followed by the Arabic pronunciation and the word written in Arabic script.

Basic Words
Directions and Travel
Shopping
Greeting and Meeting

BASIC WORDS

yes na3am نعم
no la لا
is it possible to…? mumkin…? ممكن
May I write? mumkin aktub? ممكن أكتب؟
it is necessary… laazim… لازم
I need to write. laazim aktub. لازم أكتب
please min faDlik من فضلك
you’re welcome 3afwan عفواً
please come inside / please take a look tafaDDal تفضل

Directions and Travel

Where is…? ayna…? أين
Where is the bank? ayna al-maSraf? أين المصرف؟
the restaurant al-maTa3am المطعم
the toilet al-Hammaam الحمام
the hotel al-funduQ الفندق
the airport al-maTaar المطار
the museum al-matHaf المتحف
the mosque al-masdjid المسجد
the hosiptal al-mustashfa المستشفى
the police station markaz ash-shurTa مركز الشرطة
left al-yasaar اليسار
right al-yameen اليمين
straight 3ala Tool على طول
the street ash-shaari3 الشارع
the street corner an-naaSiya الناصية
taxi taksi تكسي
bus utoobees اوتوبيس
square maydaan ميدان
liberation square maydaan at-taHreer ميدان التحرير

SHOPPING

How much is this? bikam hadha? بكم هذا؟
I want to buy this. ana ureedu ashtari hadha. أنا أريد أشتري هذا
I don’t want to buy… ana la ureedu asthari… أنا لا أريد أشتري
Can you offer a discount? mumkin takhfeeD? ممكن تخفيض؟
This is too expensive hadha ghali djiddan هذا غالي جداً
cheap rakheeS رخيس
Do you have…? hal 3ayndakum…? هل عندكم؟

GREETING AND MEETING

hello as-salaamu 3alaykum or marhaba السلام عليكم
hello (reply) wa 3alaykum as-salaam وعليكم السلام
goodbye ma3 as-salaama مع السلامة
How are you? kayf al-Haal? كيف الحال؟
I’m very well ana bi-khayr أنا بخير

49 thoughts on “Arabic Phrases”

andre on March 30, 2011 at 1:38 pm said:

how to write my name “andre” in arabic
Sean L. Young on July 13, 2011 at 4:55 pm said:

Your name Andre would be اندريه
Sue on July 19, 2011 at 2:16 pm said:

Hi, I want to put a tattoo with my boys names, Kyle and Kyan, can you tell how to write down their name in arabic
tonie stephens on July 30, 2011 at 12:23 pm said:

How do you write faith in arabic?
maggy on September 14, 2011 at 8:16 pm said:

i would like to know what the words ‘ honesty ‘ and ‘ trust ‘ would look like.
perfect spelling because it is for a tattoo
Ibrahim on September 23, 2011 at 9:56 am said:

as to tony the arabic word for faith is Iman written إيمان

and honesty has the same root as Iman, the word is Amana أمانة and the word for trust is Theqah ثقة although they often use the word Amana for both, the root means integrity or uprightness, in other word worthy of faith or worth of my trust
Bianca on September 29, 2011 at 4:32 am said:

how to write “Family” and “Father and Mother” in arabic, please !
jazmin galicia on October 18, 2011 at 6:30 pm said:

how about “faith” in arabic? and different fonts?
Jessica Pena on December 6, 2011 at 1:24 am said:

how do write alisha in arabic & believe in arabic?
BASANT on December 17, 2011 at 9:42 am said:

@tonie stephens faith is الايمان
BASANT on December 17, 2011 at 9:45 am said:

@ Bianca
family is العائله and if you mean my family it’s عائلتي
my father and my mother is ابي و امي or والدي و والدتي
BASANT on December 17, 2011 at 9:51 am said:

@Jessica Pena اليشا as i think ~ believe is يؤمن
sabrina on December 28, 2011 at 7:38 pm said:

what is blessed?
Mariza on January 6, 2012 at 11:54 pm said:

Oi, sou do Brasil e gostaria da tradução para o árabe dos nomes: CAROLINA e RAPHAEL.
E como fica em árabe a frase: “Meus filhos, presentes de DEUS.”
Obrigada,
irina on January 12, 2012 at 10:55 am said:

pls,how would be “irina” ,”andrey” and “forever” in arabic?
IRIASman on January 19, 2012 at 5:14 am said:

how would you write irias in arabic?
Kaliyuga on January 30, 2012 at 8:24 am said:

Hello there..
how to write “My Mother Is My Hero” in arabic?
Thanks in advance..
SAVIA on February 21, 2012 at 1:02 pm said:

How DO i WRITE MY NAME IN ARABIC….SAVIA
kymmi12 on February 28, 2012 at 11:39 pm said:

How do I write kymmi in arabic
shani on April 3, 2012 at 5:02 am said:

how do you write SHANI GONZALEZ in arabic??
ramon martinez on April 5, 2012 at 8:31 am said:

How do I write “naia” and “ramon” in arabic
martina on April 21, 2012 at 6:57 pm said:

how do i write “GAFP” in arabic
Melis on May 3, 2012 at 5:02 pm said:

How do I write ”live, love, laugh” ?
Thanks in advance ..
monique on May 18, 2012 at 4:18 am said:

how would u write unbreakable in arabic. Unbreakable in the sense that you a re a strong person and not easily broken
ArabicGenie on May 18, 2012 at 9:14 am said:

@Monique
Take a look here, where I discuss the translation of “unbreakable”.
Evelyn on June 11, 2012 at 9:23 am said:

Hola me gustaria saber como se escribe “en mi corazon por siempre y para siempre”,me lo quiero tatuar ,muchas gracias
Anne on July 11, 2012 at 6:56 am said:

How would you say “strive for happiness” or “fight for happiness”? Thank you
Khadija on August 26, 2012 at 9:24 am said:

to irina……
أندري إيرينا إلى الأبد.
LBYRDCOLES on January 26, 2013 at 8:29 pm said:

how would “We Put The Bird In The Cage Because His Guilt Is Beauty” be written ?
Barbara Cook on February 4, 2013 at 5:43 pm said:

Could you please let me know how to say “Welcome” in Arabic. We are getting a new student for our school and he is from Ahba Dhabi. We understand he speaks Arabic and would like to have a sign up to Welcome him. Thank you so much
ArabicGenie on February 6, 2013 at 9:30 pm said:

Hi Barbara, “welcome” would be “ahlan wa sahlan”, with the “h” sound a bit more pronounced than in English. In Arabic script:
اهلا وسهلا
Ayanna on February 23, 2013 at 10:27 pm said:

my name is ayanna….but the arabic form is ayana….would it have the same spelling in arabic? i’m confused and if so how would it look in arabic? could it still be spelled with 2 n’s verses 1?
Reni on April 3, 2013 at 4:31 pm said:

Hi 🙂 I want to ask about “I love him” and ” I love her “
eiad on April 3, 2013 at 6:56 pm said:

do you do figural caligraphy? cause i want “actions speak louder then words” but in a cool shape
Jonathan on April 19, 2013 at 4:37 am said:

how do I write my nickname “Nate” in arabic?
Someone on July 7, 2013 at 1:58 pm said:

How do i write ” Familie and Love ” in arabic, please?
nika on July 12, 2013 at 3:17 pm said:

how i write NEVER GIVE UP in arabic?
ArabicGenie on July 12, 2013 at 3:36 pm said:

Hi Nika! One of my previous blog posts discusses various translations for never give up in Arabic. Please check it out and let me know if that helps.
Danielle-Jade on August 8, 2013 at 1:09 pm said:

Hiya! Really hope you can help me! How do you write ‘god is my judge’ in arabic? Thanks in advance!!
Natalie on September 25, 2013 at 11:49 am said:

Hey, could you tell me what ‘welcome to Bermuda’ is in Arabic? as well as ‘Natalie’. Thanks! 🙂
MJ on January 17, 2014 at 10:02 am said:

which is correct for the word FAITH الايمان or إيمان ? HELP!

thanks!
chickie on February 5, 2014 at 3:12 am said:

How would you write
“Mama may have, and papa may have, but god bless the child who’s got his own”

“the time is always now”

also how would you write

“If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you’ve always got”
Monica on February 13, 2014 at 5:43 pm said:

Hello how do you say and write “stay strong” in arabic and “forever” please?
daniela on May 29, 2014 at 5:06 pm said:

come si scrive in arabo “forza interiore”, vorrei fare un tattoo, ti prego aiutami!!! 🙂 grazie
Maleiah on December 14, 2014 at 10:54 pm said:

What would my name be translated to?
Maleiah
simbbel on March 4, 2015 at 3:23 pm said:

Hello Max,

thanks a lot for this really helpful site and your Magic Key to the Arabic Alphabet!

One request for translation, please, can someone tell me what this means:

حسبي الثة ونعم الوكيل

Thank you very much!
iman on March 11, 2015 at 11:35 pm said:

what would be “Trust” in Arabic? My boyfriend and I want to get it tattood and I want to make sure it’s the correct word before I put it permanently on my body lol
melissa on September 13, 2017 at 7:31 pm said:

How do you write Forver in Arabic?
Kassim Maabad on March 5, 2021 at 6:30 pm said:

I want to learn arabic with english