25 Simple Arabic Sentences for Beginners

01This + thing

• No separate “is” or English style “a” is needed here.
• For a feminine noun, use هَذِهِ — hadhihi: هَذِهِ حَقِيبَة — hadhihi haqiba — this is a bag.

These examples use Modern Standard Arabic. Grammatical gender applies to objects too; learn each noun with its matching “this.”

02The thing + description

In this pattern, the noun has al, “the,” but the description does not.

• A statement: الْكِتَاب جَدِيد — the book is new.
• A phrase: الْكِتَاب الْجَدِيد — the new book.
• A feminine noun: الْحَقِيبَة جَدِيدَة — alhaqiba jadida — the bag is new.

The adjective matches the noun. Notice how jadid becomes jadida with the feminine bag.

03The thing + location

• فِي — fi — in.
• عَلَى — ala — on.
• تَحْتَ — tahta — under.

Name the object, then give its position. Put a pen in a bag, move it onto a book, and say what changed. You still do not need a separate present tense “is.”

The reading aids simplify Arabic sounds and usually omit grammatical endings. Careful, fully inflected MSA includes endings affected by prepositions.

04I + action

• أَنَا أَقْرَأ — ana aqra — I read / I am reading.
• أَنَا أَشْرَب مَاء — ana ashrab ma — I drink water / I am drinking water.

The situation tells you whether an action is habitual or happening now. These first person verbs work for male and female speakers, and ana is optional because the verb already identifies “I.”

If you change “I” to “she,” the verb also needs to change. Do not swap the pronoun alone.

05I want + thing

Change coffee to مَاء — ma — to ask for water. Learn these other expressions as complete chunks:

• أَحْتَاج إِلَى قَلَم — ahtaj ila qalam — I need a pen. Keep ila.
• عِنْدِي سُؤَال — indi sual — I have a question.
• لَا أَفْهَم — la afham — I do not understand.

Here la makes a present tense verb negative. It is not the form for every kind of negative sentence. Finish by choosing one object and making three true sentences about it.