أُمّ umm: mother أَب ab: father Mother and father
Umm means mother. Ab means father. Both words start with alif.
أَخ akh: brother أُخْت ukht: sister Brother and sister
Akh means brother. Ukht means sister. Look at the end of ukht. It has one more letter, ta, with two dots on top.
جَدّ jadd: grandpa جَدَّة jadda: grandma Grandpa and grandma
Jadd means grandpa. Jadda means grandma. Jadda ends with a round letter. That ending often shows a word for a girl or a woman.
مَرْحَبًا marhaban: hello شُكْرًا shukran: thank you مَعَ السَّلَامَة ma'a as-salama: goodbye Hello, thank you, goodbye
Marhaban means hello. Shukran means thank you. Say it when someone gives you something. Ma'a as-salama means goodbye. It means go safely.
نَعَم na'am: yes لَا la: no Yes and no
Na'am means yes. La means no. La is a short word with just two letters. Ask your grown up a question and answer in Arabic.
For parents
Goal: Your child learns Arabic words for family members and a few kind, everyday words.
- Use the words at home: call each other umm, ab, akh and ukht during the day.
- Ukht (sister) looks like akh (brother) with one more letter at the end, a letter with two dots on top. Ask your child to find it.
- Practice manners in Arabic: say marhaban in the morning and shukran at the table.
Away from the screen: Draw a simple family tree with your child. Label each person with their Arabic word: umm, ab, akh, ukht, jadd and jadda.