Arabic for Nerds

While textbooks insist on the precise articulation of ṣād (ص), ḍād (ض), ṭāʾ (ط), and ẓāʾ (ظ), spoken Arabic tells a different story. Through vivid anecdotes of his respected teacher at the University of Exeter, guest author Andrew Cunningham explores how these rigid rules may soften in everyday conversation.

A CLASSIC | How Many Roots Are There in the Arabic Language? Counting all Arabic roots (جُذُورٌ) is complex due to incomplete data. This article estimates their number using major dictionaries like Hans Wehr (approx. 3,000 roots) and Lisan al-Arab (over 9,000 roots), and discusses the mathematically possible combinations (21,952, or 6,332 with restrictions), offering insights into Arabic morphology. #Grammar  https://yalla.li/ijs36

A CLASSIC | Hijri to Gregorian Converter: The Easiest Way to Convert Islamic Dates Converting Hijri (Islamic) years to Gregorian (Western) years can be tricky, but a simple approximation formula helps. This article explains the lunar Hijri calendar, provides an easy mathematical formula for conversion (Year Gregorian ≈ Year Hijri × 0.97 + 622), and offers online tools for precise date transformations. #Islam  https://yalla.li/sz3ht

If you read Arabic for Nerds and use Google, one quick click can help us stay visible in search — especially as AI snippets and scrapers make life harder for independent websites.

A CLASSIC | Listen or Enjoy? That is the ت Ever sent a text message that went a bit sideways? In Arabic, sometimes a single, tiny letter can be the difference between telling someone to 'Listen up!' and wishing them 'Enjoy!'. #Errabic https://yalla.li/j59uv

A CLASSIC | How to Use Prepositions for Emphasis in Arabic: بِ and مِنْ Arabic uses various devices to convey emphasis, including common prepositions like بِ (bi) and مِنْ (min) as "extra letters." This article explains how these prepositions lose their original directional meaning and instead serve to intensify the word that follows them, helping you add emphasis to your Arabic sentences. #Grammar #Translation  https://yalla.li/q40x1

Banking expert Andrew Cunningham shares how playing dominos with native Egyptians helped him master Arabic numbers. He discusses his love for the Egyptian dialect, the elegant "Sisters of Kana," and weaving the language into his global career.

A CLASSIC | How to Emphasize Nouns in Arabic Using the "Pronoun of Separation" - ضَمِير الْفَصْل Arabic uses ضَمِير الْفَصْل (the pronoun of separation) to emphasize a noun. This article explains how adding a corresponding personal pronoun after the noun you want to highlight provides emphasis, effectively separating the subject from the predicate and adding clarity or focus to the sentence.  #Grammar  https://yalla.li/0m3mz

Trying to fix an Arabic typo can create a new one. On a Cairo street sign, a well-meant Hamza correction left one Hamza too many — turning a small spelling fix into a small spelling fight. Thanks to this sharp catch by Marnix Demesmaeker, let’s unpack the glottal-stop rules behind it.

Feminine subject, masculine verb? Yes, it happens in Arabic grammar. Learn the specific situations and types of feminine nouns where this unexpected agreement occurs.

A CLASSIC | Subject-Verb Agreement in Arabic: Do Verbs Agree with "Many" or the Noun? Subject-verb agreement in Arabic can be tricky, especially with quantifiers like العديد من ("many") and كُلّ ("all"). This article explores the concept of the "logical subject," clarifying whether verbs should agree with the quantifier (grammatical subject) or the noun that follows it (semantic/logical subject), providing examples and classical vs. common usage. #Grammar #Translation  https://yalla.li/dfj85

A CLASSIC | Gender matters When the internet went down on an airplane, a message appeared that raised grammatical questions. #Errabic https://yalla.li/inwtt

A CLASSIC | 7 Arabic Words That Trigger the Jussive Mood (Majzūm - مَجْزُوم) Arabic has only two main tenses, making verb mood crucial for expressing probability. This article focuses on the jussive mood (مَجْزُوم), explaining the أَدَوات جازِمة (jussive triggers) like إِنْ, مَتى, مَنْ, ما, and أَيُّ. Learn how these words make verbs end in sukūn or elide weak letters in conditional sentences. #Grammar #Translation  https://yalla.li/upn9w

A CLASSIC | Why Do Some Arabic Nouns Have Two Plurals? The Minor and Major Plural Explained Arabic features a special plural form called "minor plural" (جَمْع الْقِلّة), used for small numbers (3-10), contrasting with the "major plural" (جَمْع الْكَثْرة) for larger quantities. This article clarifies when to use forms like أَشْهُر vs. شُهُور for "months" and provides rules and examples for these distinct plural patterns, often overlooked but present in classical texts. #Grammar  https://yalla.li/1weem

English uses one obscene root for everything, but Arabic splits the "F-word" into two worlds: the sanitized MSA of subtitles (تبًا, اللعين) and the raw dialect of the street (like the root ن-ي-ك). Learn why Netflix subtitles delete 48% of curses and how Arabs actually swear.

A CLASSIC | How to Say "Me" in Arabic: A Guide to Accusative Pronouns (like إِيّايَ) While rare in everyday speech, Arabic expresses "me" (إِيّايَ) and other direct/indirect objects using specific accusative (مَنْصُوب) and genitive (مَجْرُور) forms of personal pronouns, such as إِيّاهُ ("him") or إِيّاكَ ("you"). This article illustrates these literary constructions and their applications, including the Quranic phrase إِيّاكَ نَعْبُدُ (Thee alone we worship). #Grammar #Translation  https://yalla.li/sqis5

A CLASSIC | Mind the Hamza A sign in the Saudi desert warns drivers about camels, but doesn't stop at mistakes itself. #Errabic https://yalla.li/jv6t1