Feelings in Arabic: Say Happy, Tired, Hungry and More

01Start with happy and sad

These are masculine forms. Add أَنَا ana, I, to make a complete statement. Arabic needs no separate word for am in this present tense pattern.

Change only the description: ana hazin means I am sad. Ana stays the same.

02Name a physical state

A masculine speaker says أَنَا مُتْعَب ana mutab, I am tired, or أَنَا جَائِع ana jai, I am hungry.

• Mutab describes tiredness.
• Jai describes hunger.
• Choose the word for the state you want to communicate. A person can feel both.

Keep the short sentence together when practising: ana plus one description. You do not need to add a verb or a reason.

03Change the description for a woman

For these four adjectives, the feminine form adds ة. Ana still means I for either speaker. The description matches the speaker, not the listener. A woman speaking to a man therefore still says ana jaia.

Compare each pair aloud: said and saida; mutab and mutaba. Notice the ending as well as the meaning.

04Add worried and calm

The feminine forms are قَلِقَة qaliqa and هَادِئَة hadia.

These words describe a state rather than a reason. You can say how you feel without explaining an entire situation. When somebody says ana qaliq, they are telling you they feel worried; the sentence alone does not tell you why.

05Answer “How are you?”

The question changes according to the listener. The answer changes according to the speaker. Here is one exchange:

• First identify who is speaking.
• Keep ana at the start of these answers.
• Pick the description and the matching gender form.

The same question can invite many truthful answers. In the practice below, use the feeling specified in the prompt.