Arabic adjectives perform an important linguistic function – they specify the noun. Learning adjectives greatly enriches the vocabulary and helps to communicate freely in the language.
From this lesson you will learn the basic rules of adjectives in Arabic and learn more than 40 basic adjectives selected for the beginner level, such as: big, small, old, young, new, old and many more.
At the end of the lesson you will find a quiz to help you remember the new vocabulary.
If you don’t know the Arabic alphabet yet check our post Arabic alphabet – All you need to know to write in Arabic
Introduction to Arabic adjectives
There are a few rules to keep in mind when using Arabic adjectives. Below you will find the most important ones, which are useful at the beginner level.
Important: Arabic adjectives always come after the noun. For example: البيت الأبْيَض [The White House] – Although in English the word white comes before the noun, in Arabic the adjective comes after it.
Adjectives in Arabic follow the nouns in everything – either the noun is masculine or feminine, indefinite or definite, singular, plural dual etc.
It means that if the noun is definite (ال -al) like in our example البيت الأبْيَض the adjective has to be definite as well.
The same rule applies to gender. The following list of adjectives contains adjectives of the masculine gender.
In order for the adjective to be feminine, we must add ta marbuta [ة] at the end of it. For example: جَميل [jamiil] (beautiful masculine) – جَميلة [jamiila] (beautiful feminine).
Speaking of adjectives, it is a good idea to learn the names of colors, which will make it easier for you to describe items in Arabic at a beginner level.
If you don’t know the colors yet, check out our post Colors in Arabic.
Another useful post, in the case of adjectives, is our post Nationalities in Arabic. Check out how to form nationalities from the names of countries and learn the names of nationalities in Arabic.
Arabic adjectives list
Learn the names of basic adjectives in Arabic. Learn how to say ugly, beautiful, fat, thin, old, young, etc. in Arabic. Each Arabic word on the list has its pronunciation written next to it.
If you are intermediate or advanced learner go to -> Advanced Arabic Adjectives.
| English | Arabic | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Beautiful | جَميل | jamiil |
| Ugly | قَبيح | qabiiH |
| Old | قَديم | qadiim |
| New | جَديد | jadiid |
| Hot | ساخِن | saakhin |
| Cold | بارِد | baarid |
| Big | كَبير | kabiir |
| Small | صَغير | Saghiir |
| Cheap | رَخيص | rakhiiS |
| Expensive | غالي | ghaali |
| Good | جَيِّد | jayyid |
| Bad | سَيِّء | sayyi’ |
| Long | طَويل | Tawiil |
| Short | قَصير | qaSiir |
| Early | مُبَكِّر | mubakkir |
| Late | مُتَأَخِّر | muta’akhkhir |
| Many/ much | كَثير | kathiir |
| Little | قَليل | qaliil |
| Important | مُهِمّ | muhimm |
| Different | مُخْتَلِف | mukhtalif |
| Busy | مَشْغول | mashghuul |
| Clean | نَظيف | naDhiif |
| Dirty | وَسِخ | wasikh |
| Hard/ difficult | صَعْب | Sa3b |
| Easy | سَهْل | sahl |
| Old | كَبير | kabiir |
| Young | صَغير | Saghiir |
| Weird | غَريب | ghariib |
| Strong | قَوِيّ | qawiy |
| Weak | ضَعيف | Da3iif |
| Tall | طَويل | Tawiil |
| Short | قَصير | qaSiir |
| Fat | سَمين | samiin |
| Thin | نَحيف | naHiif |
| Poor | فَقير | faqiir |
| Rich | غَنِيّ | ghaniy |
| Heavy | ثَقيل | thaqiil |
| Light | خَفيف | khafiif |
| Fast | سَريع | sarii3 |
| Slow | بَطيء | baTi’ |
| Lazy | كَسول | kasuul |
| Sad | حَزين | Haziin |
| Happy | مَسْرور | masruur |
| Boring | مُمِلّ | mumill |
| Smart | ذَكِيّ | dhakiy |
| Stupid | غَبِيّ | ghaniy |
Arabic adjectives Quiz
Quizzes are a great tool to practice your vocabulary. All the Arabic vocabulary lists on our website contain quizzes at the end of each lesson, to help you remember newly learned words. To check more Arabic Quizzes go to -> Selfarabic – Arabic Vocabulary Quizzes
Arabic adjectives Quiz
Check how well you know basic Modern Standard Arabic adjectives.
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