Prepositions in Arabic

Prepositions in Arabic are called حُروفُ الجَرّ [Huruuf ul-jarr] and they are crucial for forming proper sentences.

Preposition is a word used before a noun, that shows a relation between one word to another. Today you will learn Arabic prepositions and rules that apply when you use them.

List of prepositions in Arabic

In Arabic there are two types of prepositions- separate and attached. The prepositions precede the nouns.

Word after preposition in Arabic: the noun after the preposition is called مَجرور [majruur] – it changes its case from nominative to genitive.

The above means that if the preposition precedes the indefinite noun the last letter of this noun changes from two dammahs to two kasrahs (see example with the letter siin: سٌ -> سٍ ). If it precedes the definitive noun it analogously changes from dammah to kasrah (سُ -> سِ ).

If you are not familiar with Arabic short vowels read: short vowels in Arabic.

The separate prepositions

There are 5 main separate prepositions in Arabic. Below you can find all of them along with the correct pronunciation and examples of useful ready phrases.

English	Arabic	Pronunciation
from, of, than	مِنْ	min
up to, to, at	إلى	ilaa
about, on behalf of, away from	عَنْ	3an
above, on, upon	عَلى	3alaa
in, at, with	في	fii

Examples with the preposition min مِنْ

• مِنْ فَضْلِكَ [min faDlika] – if you please
• مِنْ قَبْلِ [min qabli] – before
• أكْثَرُ مِنْ – [aktharu min…] – more than…
• مِنْ ثَمَّ [min thamma] – therefore, thus
• مِنْ غَيْرِ [min ghayri] – without

Examples with the preposition ilaa إلى

• إلى أَنْ [ilaa an] – untill, till
• إلى الغَدِ [ilal ghadi] – till tomorrow
• إلى مَتى [ilaa mataa] – till when?
• إلى الأمامِ [ilal amaami] – forward, ahead
• إلى الأَبَدِ [ilal abadi] – forever

Examples with the preposition 3an عَنْ

• عَنْ قَليلٍ – next [3an qaliilin]
• عنْ حَقٍّ – rightly [3aan haqqin]

Examples with the preposition 3alaa عَلى

• عَلى سَبيلِ المِثالِ – for example [3alaa sabiilil mithaali]
• عَلى كُلِّ حالٍ – anyway [3alaa kulli Haalin]

Examples with the preposition fii في

• في ساعَةٍ [fii saa3atin] – in an hour
• في المَساءِ [fil masaa’i] – in the evening
• في الصَّباحِ [fiS-SabaaHi] – in the morning

See also: basic Arabic adjectives for beginners.

The attached prepositions

There are 3 attached prepositions in Arabic, which are also letters of the Arabic alphabet – ba, ka and laam.

English	Arabic	Pronunciation
with, by, in	بِ	bi
like, such as	كَ	ka
to, for	لِ	li

Arabic prepositions 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

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