Learn Arabic › A1 › عَن
عَن
about (concerning) /ˈʕan/
particleA1#24 most common
Also: from, away from / off, for (in search of)
Example sentences
هَذَا الْكِتَابُ عَنِ الْحُبِّ.
This book is about love.
سَأَلَ الْمُعَلِّمُ عَنِ الْوَاجِبِ.
The teacher asked about the homework.
بَحَثْتُ عَنْ مِفْتَاحِي فِي كُلِّ مَكَانٍ.
I searched for my key everywhere.
عَبَّرَ الشَّاعِرُ عَنْ مَشَاعِرِهِ بِكَلِمَاتٍ بَسِيطَةٍ.
The poet expressed his feelings in simple words.
تَخَلَّى عَنْ حُلْمِهِ بَعْدَ سَنَوَاتٍ مِنَ الْمُحَاوَلَةِ.
He gave up his dream after years of trying.
عَجَزَ الْعُلَمَاءُ عَنْ تَفْسِيرِ هَذِهِ الظَّاهِرَةِ الْغَرِيبَةِ.
The scientists were unable to explain this strange phenomenon.
Word family
عَنِّيabout / from me (عَنْ + ـِي)
عَنْهُabout / from him (عَنْ + ـهُ)
عَمَّاabout what / concerning that (عَنْ + مَا)
عَمَّنْabout whom (عَنْ + مَنْ)
Etymology
عَنْ is one of the primitive Arabic prepositions (ḥurūf al-jarr), inherited rather than derived from a verbal root. Its core spatial sense is 'away from, off', which broadened metaphorically to 'about, concerning'. It traces to a Proto-Semitic preposition reconstructed as *ʿan 'from, about'.
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