100 Basic Arabic Words by Theme, With Vowel Marks
100 everyday Arabic words in ten themes: family, days of the week, colours, food, home, body, places, verbs and adjectives, with vowel marks and pronunciation.
· Written by Amaan
What are the first Arabic words to learn?
Start with words for things you can point at and say every day: question words, family, the days of the week, colours, food, the rooms of a home, parts of the body, places, and a few common verbs and adjectives. Ten words in each of those ten themes give a hundred, enough to read simple sentences and to see how Arabic builds words from roots.
The list is in Fusha, the written Arabic understood in every Arab country.
Nouns are shown with the ending ـٌ, -un, which means “a”. Say the word without it when it stands alone: baytun becomes bayt.
Arabic verbs are listed in the past tense, “he” form: أَكَلَ is “he ate”, and it is the dictionary form of “to eat”.
Most feminine nouns end in ة. A few do not, including the parts of the body that come in pairs.
Five of the days of the week are the numbers one to five.
Nine of the ten adjectives share one pattern, and two of the place words share a root with a verb in the list.
How this list was chosen
These hundred words come from the A1 level of Fasaha’s vocabulary course, which has 490 words in 20 themes. The whole course runs from A1 to B2, with 2,343 words in 84 themes. This guide takes ten of the first themes and ten words from each.
It is a list of concrete, everyday words, not a frequency list. The most frequent words in any Arabic text are small ones, such as “from”, “in” and “that”. They matter, but they are learned inside sentences. The words here are the ones you can point at, and they make those first sentences possible.
How to read the table
Every word carries its vowel marks, so the Arabic column tells you exactly how the word sounds. The pronunciation column gives the form you say when the word stands alone.
Most nouns and adjectives in the list end in the mark ـٌ. It is pronounced -un and marks an indefinite word: بَيْتٌ, baytun, is “a house”. Arabic drops that ending at a pause, so on its own the word is bayt. The six basic colours have no -un: they belong to a group of words that never take it.
Why the verbs say “he ate”
Arabic dictionaries do not list a verb under an infinitive. A dictionary lists a verb under its simplest form, which is the past tense for “he”: أَكَلَ, akala, “he ate”. The table gives the meaning as “to eat” because that is how your own language names a verb.
The simple form shows the root clearly. أَكَلَ is the three consonants ء ك ل with three short vowels, and every other form of the verb is built on them.
Feminine nouns, with and without ة
Every Arabic noun is masculine or feminine. The usual sign of a feminine noun is the ending ة: مَدْرَسَةٌ, school; غُرْفَةٌ, room; مَدِينَةٌ, city. It is pronounced a at a pause.
Some feminine nouns do not have it. أُمٌّ, mother, and بِنْتٌ, girl, are feminine by meaning. So are most parts of the body that come in pairs: عَيْنٌ, eye; أُذُنٌ, ear; يَدٌ, hand; رِجْلٌ, leg; قَدَمٌ, foot.
The colours have a pattern of their own
The six basic colours share one shape: a-CC-a-C. أَحْمَرُ, aḥmar, red; أَزْرَقُ, azraq, blue; أَخْضَرُ, akhḍar, green. Learn the shape once and a new colour sounds familiar the first time you hear it.
The other four are made from things, with the ending ـِيّ, -ī: بُنِّيٌّ, brown, from بُنّ, coffee beans; وَرْدِيٌّ, pink, from وَرْد, roses; رَمَادِيٌّ, grey, from رَمَاد, ash; بُرْتُقَالِيٌّ, orange, from the fruit. The same ending makes nationalities: عَرَبِيٌّ, Arab.
The days of the week count from one
Sunday to Thursday are numbered. الْأَحَدُ, Sunday, is “the one”, and the next four contain the numbers two, three, four and five. If you know the numbers, you know five days.
Friday, الْجُمُعَةُ, is “the gathering”, from the root ج م ع, to gather; the same root gives جَامِعَةٌ, university, and the word for a mosque where Friday prayer is held. Saturday, السَّبْتُ, is related to the word “sabbath”.
Words in the list that share a root
Three words in the table are built on ك ت ب, to write: كَتَبَ, he wrote; مَكْتَبٌ, a desk or an office; مَكْتَبَةٌ, a library or bookshop. The prefix مَـ makes a place: the place of writing.
The same prefix is in مَدْرَسَةٌ, school, the place of studying; مَطْبَخٌ, kitchen, the place of cooking; and مَسْجِدٌ, mosque, the place of prostration. When a new word starts with مَـ, it is often a place, and the three consonants after it tell you what happens there.
What to learn after these hundred
Put the words into short sentences as soon as you can: “this is a big house”, “where is the school?”. Then read short texts at your level and collect words from them. A word met in a sentence you understood stays longer than a word from any list, including this one.
Eight words from the list that open a family
Each of these stands for a pattern. Learn the pattern and several other words in the table explain themselves.
- A root: كَتَبَ — to write
- A place word: مَكْتَبٌ — office
- The same prefix: مَدْرَسَةٌ — school
- A tool word: مِفْتَاحٌ — key
- The colour shape: أَحْمَرُ — red
- The adjective shape: كَبِيرٌ — big
- A number inside a day: الْخَمِيسُ — Thursday
- Feminine without ة: يَدٌ — hand
| Theme | Arabic | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| pointing & question words | هَذَا | hādhā | this |
| pointing & question words | ذَلِكَ | dhālika | that |
| pointing & question words | هُنَا | hunā | here |
| pointing & question words | مَا | mā | what |
| pointing & question words | مَنْ | man | who |
| pointing & question words | أَيْنَ | ayna | where |
| pointing & question words | مَتَى | matā | when |
| pointing & question words | كَيْفَ | kayfa | how |
| pointing & question words | كَمْ | kam | how many |
| pointing & question words | لِمَاذَا | limādhā | why |
| family | أَبٌ | ab | father |
| family | أُمٌّ | umm | mother |
| family | اِبْنٌ | ibn | son |
| family | بِنْتٌ | bint | girl |
| family | أَخٌ | akh | brother |
| family | وَلَدٌ | walad | boy |
| family | رَجُلٌ | rajul | man |
| family | اِمْرَأَةٌ | imraʾa | woman |
| family | طِفْلٌ | ṭifl | child |
| family | عَائِلَةٌ | ʿāʾila | family |
| days & time-basics | الْأَحَدُ | al-aḥad | Sunday |
| days & time-basics | الْاِثْنَيْنِ | al-ithnayn | Monday |
| days & time-basics | الثُّلَاثَاءُ | ath-thulāthāʾ | Tuesday |
| days & time-basics | الْأَرْبِعَاءُ | al-arbiʿāʾ | Wednesday |
| days & time-basics | الْخَمِيسُ | al-khamīs | Thursday |
| days & time-basics | الْجُمُعَةُ | al-jumuʿa | Friday |
| days & time-basics | السَّبْتُ | as-sabt | Saturday |
| days & time-basics | الْيَوْمَ | al-yawm | today |
| days & time-basics | أَمْسِ | ams | yesterday |
| days & time-basics | غَدًا | ghadan | tomorrow |
| colors | أَحْمَرُ | aḥmar | red |
| colors | أَزْرَقُ | azraq | blue |
| colors | أَخْضَرُ | akhḍar | green |
| colors | أَصْفَرُ | aṣfar | yellow |
| colors | أَبْيَضُ | abyaḍ | white |
| colors | أَسْوَدُ | aswad | black |
| colors | بُنِّيٌّ | bunnī | brown |
| colors | رَمَادِيٌّ | ramādī | grey |
| colors | وَرْدِيٌّ | wardī | pink |
| colors | بُرْتُقَالِيٌّ | burtuqālī | orange (color) |
| food & drink | طَعَامٌ | ṭaʿām | food |
| food & drink | خُبْزٌ | khubz | bread |
| food & drink | مَاءٌ | māʾ | water |
| food & drink | لَحْمٌ | laḥm | meat |
| food & drink | سَمَكٌ | samak | fish |
| food & drink | أَرُزٌّ | aruzz | rice |
| food & drink | فَاكِهَةٌ | fākiha | fruit |
| food & drink | حَلِيبٌ | ḥalīb | milk |
| food & drink | شَايٌ | shāy | tea |
| food & drink | قَهْوَةٌ | qahwa | coffee |
| home & rooms | غُرْفَةٌ | ghurfa | room |
| home & rooms | مَطْبَخٌ | maṭbakh | kitchen |
| home & rooms | حَمَّامٌ | ḥammām | bathroom |
| home & rooms | بَابٌ | bāb | door |
| home & rooms | نَافِذَةٌ | nāfidha | window |
| home & rooms | سَرِيرٌ | sarīr | bed |
| home & rooms | طَاوِلَةٌ | ṭāwila | table |
| home & rooms | كُرْسِيٌّ | kursī | chair |
| home & rooms | مِفْتَاحٌ | miftāḥ | key |
| home & rooms | ضَوْءٌ | ḍawʾ | light |
| body | رَأْسٌ | raʾs | head |
| body | وَجْهٌ | wajh | face |
| body | عَيْنٌ | ʿayn | eye |
| body | أُذُنٌ | udhun | ear |
| body | أَنْفٌ | anf | nose |
| body | فَمٌ | fam | mouth |
| body | يَدٌ | yad | hand |
| body | قَلْبٌ | qalb | heart |
| body | رِجْلٌ | rijl | leg |
| body | قَدَمٌ | qadam | foot |
| everyday places | بَيْتٌ | bayt | house |
| everyday places | مَدْرَسَةٌ | madrasa | school |
| everyday places | جَامِعَةٌ | jāmiʿa | university |
| everyday places | سُوقٌ | sūq | market |
| everyday places | شَارِعٌ | shāriʿ | street |
| everyday places | مَدِينَةٌ | madīna | city |
| everyday places | مَسْجِدٌ | masjid | mosque |
| everyday places | مَكْتَبٌ | maktab | office |
| everyday places | مَكْتَبَةٌ | maktaba | library |
| everyday places | بَلَدٌ | balad | country |
| core verbs | أَكَلَ | akala | to eat |
| core verbs | شَرِبَ | shariba | to drink |
| core verbs | ذَهَبَ | dhahaba | to go |
| core verbs | جَاءَ | jāʾa | to come |
| core verbs | قَالَ | qāla | to say |
| core verbs | كَتَبَ | kataba | to write |
| core verbs | قَرَأَ | qaraʾa | to read |
| core verbs | سَمِعَ | samiʿa | to hear |
| core verbs | فَهِمَ | fahima | to understand |
| core verbs | عَرَفَ | ʿarafa | to know |
| core adjectives | كَبِيرٌ | kabīr | big |
| core adjectives | صَغِيرٌ | ṣaghīr | small |
| core adjectives | جَيِّدٌ | jayyid | good |
| core adjectives | جَدِيدٌ | jadīd | new |
| core adjectives | قَدِيمٌ | qadīm | old (thing) |
| core adjectives | طَوِيلٌ | ṭawīl | tall |
| core adjectives | قَصِيرٌ | qaṣīr | short |
| core adjectives | كَثِيرٌ | kathīr | many |
| core adjectives | قَلِيلٌ | qalīl | few |
| core adjectives | جَمِيلٌ | jamīl | beautiful |
How many Arabic words does a beginner need?
A few hundred common words are enough to start reading short graded texts with help. The first level of Fasaha’s course has 490 words, and this list is about a fifth of it.
Are these words Fusha or dialect?
Fusha, the written Arabic of books, news and the Qurʼan. Most of them are also understood in the dialects, although everyday speech sometimes prefers another word.
Why do the words end in -un?
The mark ـٌ at the end of a noun is pronounced -un and means the noun is indefinite, like “a” in English. It is dropped at a pause, so a word said alone has no -un.
What are the days of the week in Arabic?
الْأَحَدُ Sunday, الْاِثْنَيْنِ Monday, الثُّلَاثَاءُ Tuesday, الْأَرْبِعَاءُ Wednesday, الْخَمِيسُ Thursday, الْجُمُعَةُ Friday, السَّبْتُ Saturday. The first five are the numbers one to five.
Should I learn Arabic words with transliteration?
Use it to check a sound, not to read. The vowel marks in the Arabic column carry the same information, and reading from them is the skill you are building.
Where are the numbers?
They are a theme of the same course and have a guide of their own on this blog, with both sets of digits and the counting rules.
Sources
About Fasaha
Fasaha is a reading-first Arabic app for Fusha. Its vocabulary course teaches 2,343 words in 84 themes from A1 to B2, and every word in the app opens into its meaning, root and pattern.
- The hundred words in this guide are taken from the A1 level of the course, with the glosses the app shows in each language.
- Words saved from reading come back for spaced review inside the sentence they were met in.
- Available on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android, with the interface in 17 languages.
- Free to start; Premium opens the full library.
Keep reading
- The Arabic alphabet: 28 letters, four shapes each, and your first words: A table of all 28 letters in their four positions, the dot families that make them easier than they look, and nine first words in the order Fasaha’s Reading Key teaches them.
- The 20 Qurʼanic words to learn first: a list for readers who memorised without understanding: Twenty of the most frequent words in the Qurʼan, with verified occurrence counts, for readers who memorised the text as children and never learned what it says.
- Arabic–English dictionary apps for learners: which show the root, and how to look a word up: An Arabic lookup has three hidden steps: remove what is attached, find the root, choose among words spelled alike. What each kind of dictionary does for you, with eight words that hide their root.