A bed, a cupboard, a window, and a fan. Do you know how to say these things in Arabic? Let the little girl Mariam teach you how to say some things in her room. This is the easiest Nadia Selim’s “story” videos and is entitled غرفة مريم ghurfat maryam ‘Mariam’s room’. This video is ideal for someone who has just worked through the Bite-Size Arabic book. In this article I present the vocabulary used in this video.
The video is available both here on her “Arabic with Nadia” website and here on YouTube. Here is the video:
While the video is self-explanatory, it doesn’t hurt to have a list of the vocabulary used.
خَزانَة | سَرِير | غُرْفَة |
khazaana | sariir | ghurfa |
‘cupboard, closet’ | ‘bed’ | ‘room’ |
أُلْوان | دُمْيَة | دَرّاجَة |
’alwaan | dumya | darraaja |
‘colors; crayons, colored pens/pencils, paints, etc.’ | ‘doll’ | ‘bicycle’ |
نافِذة | صُنْدُوق الْأَلْعاب | مِرْوَحَة |
naafidha | ṣunduuq il-’alʕaab | mirwaḥa |
‘window’ | ‘toy box’ | ‘fan’ |
You may know a different word for ‘window’: شبّاك shubbaak. That word is also correct, and there is no difference in meaning between that word and نافذة naafidha.
Note that the word ألوان ’alwaan, which in this video is used to refer to colored pencils, literally means ‘colors’. It is the plural of the noun لَوْن lawn ‘color’.
Let’s break down the phrase صندوق الألعاب ṣunduuq il-’alʕaab ‘toy box’.
صُنْدُوق الْأَلْعاب | أَلْعاب | صُنْدُوق |
ṣunduuq il-’alʕaab | ’alʕaab | ṣunduuq |
‘(the) toy box’ | ‘toys’ | ‘box’ |
Here are the singular and plural forms of ‘toy’:
أَلْعاب | لُعْبَة |
’alʕaab | luʕba |
‘toys’ | ‘toy’ |
What next?
Once you have mastered these prepositions and objects, I would recommend working through Learn prepositions with “Arabic with Nadia” video: أَيْنَ أَنْتِ؟. That video combines the vocabulary you have just learned with prepositions.