Lesson 4
Daily Life
الحياة اليومية
Talk about your daily routine from waking up to sleeping. This unit introduces present-tense verbs for the first time, allowing you to express actions rather than just descriptions.
Daily Routine Vocabulary
ArabicTransliterationMeaning
يَسْتَيْقِظyastayqiẓwakes up
يَأْكُلyaʾkuleats
يَشْرَبyashrabdrinks
يَذْهَبyadhabgoes
يَرْجِعyarjiʿreturns
يَنَامyanāmsleeps
Telling the Time
ArabicTransliterationMeaning
السَّاعَةُ كَم؟as-sāʿatu kam?What time is it?
السَّاعَةُ السَّابِعَةas-sāʿatu s-sābiʿaIt is seven o'clock
صَبَاحاً / مَسَاءًṣabāḥan / masāʾanin the morning / evening
كُلَّ يَوْمkulla yawmevery day
أَسْتَيْقِظُ فِي السَّاعَةِ الْخَامِسَةِ صَبَاحاً لِصَلَاةِ الْفَجْر
Astayqiẓu fī s-sāʿati l-khāmisati ṣabāḥan liṣalāti l-fajr
I wake up at five in the morning for Fajr prayer.
يَذْهَبُ أَبِي إِلَى الْعَمَلِ كُلَّ يَوْم
Yadhhabu abī ilā l-ʿamali kulla yawm
My father goes to work every day.
- Present tense prefix يَ: Used for he/they يَأْكُل (he eats), يَذْهَب (he goes).
- First person أَ prefix: أَذْهَب (I go), أَكُل (I eat).
- Ordinal numbers for time: الأُولَى (1st/one o'clock) through الثَّانِيَة عَشْرَة (twelfth/twelve o'clock).
- Islamic routine: The five daily prayers naturally structure the Arabic day Fajr, Ẓuhr, ʿAṣr, Maghrib, ʿIshāʾ.