Learn Arabic › A1 › ال
ال
the /ˈʔal/
particleA1#248 most common
Example sentences
البيت كبير.
The house is big.
الشمس مشرقة اليوم.
The sun is shining today.
فتحت الباب ودخلت الغرفة.
I opened the door and entered the room.
الطالب الجديد يدرس في الجامعة.
The new student studies at the university.
الكتاب الذي قرأته الأسبوع الماضي كان ممتازاً.
The book that I read last week was excellent.
العدل أساس الملك، والظلم يخرّب العمران.
Justice is the foundation of rule, and injustice ruins civilization.
Word family
أل التعريفthe definite article (its grammatical name)
اللام الشمسيةthe 'sun' lām, the article assimilated before sun letters
اللام القمريةthe 'moon' lām, the article pronounced before moon letters
همزة الوصلthe elidable hamza that opens the article
الذيrelative pronoun built on the article
Etymology
Arabic 'al-' is the definite article. It is always written as a prefix and never stands on its own. Its deeper origin is debated, but many Semitists trace it to an early Central Semitic deictic element. Some link it to the Hebrew article 'ha-', though that connection is not settled.
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