Lesson 3
Book 3 Short Conversations and Simple Texts
الكتاب الثالث المحادثات القصيرة والنصوص البسيطة
Hold your first real-world conversations in Arabic at a shop, asking for directions, describing your day. The full present-tense verb system is introduced alongside numbers up to 100, telling the time, and Islamic cultural texts.
Present Tense Full Conjugation Table
The present tense uses prefixes and sometimes suffixes to show who does the action. The root يَذْهَبُ (to go) is used here as the model verb.
PersonPronounPresent TenseMeaning
1st sing.أَنَاأَذْهَبُI go
2nd m. sing.أَنْتَتَذْهَبُyou (m) go
2nd f. sing.أَنْتِتَذْهَبِينَyou (f) go
3rd m. sing.هُوَيَذْهَبُhe goes
3rd f. sing.هِيَتَذْهَبُshe goes
1st pl.نَحْنُنَذْهَبُwe go
2nd m. pl.أَنْتُمْتَذْهَبُونَyou (m pl) go
3rd m. pl.هُمْيَذْهَبُونَthey (m) go
3rd f. pl.هُنَّيَذْهَبْنَthey (f) go
Numbers 11–100 الأعداد
NumeralArabicTransliteration
11أَحَد عَشَرaḥada ʿashar
12اثْنَا عَشَرithnā ʿashar
20عِشْرُونʿishrūn
30ثَلَاثُونthalāthūn
40أَرْبَعُونarbaʿūn
50خَمْسُونkhamsūn
100مِئَةmiʾa
25 (compound)خَمْسَة وَعِشْرُونkhamsa wa-ʿishrūn
Telling the Time الوَقْت
ArabicTransliterationMeaning
كَمِ السَّاعَةُ؟kami s-sāʿa?What time is it?
السَّاعَةُ الثَّالِثَةas-sāʿatu th-thālithaIt is three (o'clock)
السَّاعَةُ الثَّالِثَةُ وَالنِّصْف...wa-n-niṣfhalf past three
وَالرُّبُعwa-r-rubʿquarter past
إِلَّا رُبُعاًillā rubʿanquarter to
صَبَاحاً / مَسَاءًṣabāḥan / masāʾanin the morning / evening
Daily Routine Vocabulary
ArabicTransliterationMeaning
يَسْتَيْقِظُyastayqiẓuhe wakes up
يَتَوَضَّأyatawaḍḍaʾhe makes wuḍūʾ
يُصَلِّيyuṣallīhe prays
يَأْكُلyaʾkulhe eats
يَشْرَبyashrabhe drinks
يَدْرُسyadrushe studies
يَعْمَلyaʿmalhe works
يَنَامyanāmhe sleeps
Real-World Conversations
أَيْنَ الْمَسْجِدُ مِنْ هُنَا؟ اِذْهَبْ يَمِيناً ثُمَّ يَسَاراً، هُوَ أَمَامَك
Ayna l-masjidu min hunā? Idhhab yamīnan thumma yasāran, huwa amāmak
Where is the mosque from here? Go right then left, it is in front of you.
بِكَمْ هَذَا؟ بِخَمْسَةٍ وَعِشْرِينَ دِرْهَماً
Bikam hādhā? Bikhamsa wa-ʿishrīna dirhaman
How much is this? Twenty-five dirhams.
مَتَى تَذْهَبُ إِلَى الْمَدْرَسَة؟ أَذْهَبُ فِي السَّاعَةِ السَّابِعَة صَبَاحاً
Matā tadhhabu ilā l-madrasa? Adhabu fī s-sāʿati s-sābiʿa ṣabāḥan
When do you go to school? I go at seven in the morning.
The Adhān الأذان
The call to prayer is one of the most important texts a Muslim learner of Arabic encounters daily. Book 3 provides a full Arabic reading of the Adhān with grammar notes.
اللهُ أَكْبَر اللهُ أَكْبَر
Allāhu akbar Allāhu akbar
Allah is the Greatest Allah is the Greatest. (اللهُ: subject, nominative. أَكْبَر: predicate, comparative form of كَبِير.)
أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّه
Ashhadu an lā ilāha illā llāh
I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. (أَشْهَدُ: 1st person present verb. أَنْ: that. لَا إِلَهَ: لَا of negation of genus, إِلَه in accusative.)
- Verb order: Verb + subject is the standard Arabic sentence order for verbal sentences (جُمْلَة فِعْلِيَّة).
- Present vs. command: يَذْهَبُ (he goes) → اِذْهَبْ (go!) the imperative drops the prefix and adds sukūn.
- Numbers follow noun: ثَلَاثَةُ طُلَّاب (three students) numbers 3–10 take the opposite gender of the noun counted.
- Connectors: وَ (and), ثُمَّ (then), لَكِنْ (but), أَوْ (or) the building blocks of multi-clause sentences.
- Adhān grammar: The first phrase "Allāhu akbar" is a nominal sentence subject + comparative predicate.
- ACTFL target: Novice-High can handle transactions, give and follow directions, and describe daily routines.