You’re likely already familiar with transition words in your own language. Also known as “signpost words”, words like “therefore”, “however”, and “indeed” often let you know the direction somebody’s written words and speech are headed in.
Arabic is no different and uses transitions or “signpost” words as well to let you know exactly where you’re going when reading or listening to Arabic.
And that’s our subject for today – transition words in Arabic. Once you’re done with this lesson, you’ll always know what direction you’re headed in your Arabic language journey.
Conjunctions
Conjunctions are used to join words or sentences together. Similar to what you learned from “Conjunction Junction” (if you know, you know), only Arabic uses words that are a little different from what you remember from Schoolhouse Rock.
Conjunctions | Examples |
English | Transliteration | Arabic | English | Transliteration | Arabic |
and | /wa/ | وَ | He works Saturday and Sunday. | /yaʻmalu issabta wa ilʼaHad/ | يَعمَلُ السَّبتَ وَالأَحَد. |
so/and | /fa/ | فَ | He studied every day, so he passed the exam. | /kaana yadrusu kulla yawmin fajtaaza ilimtiHaan/ | كانَ يَدرُسُ كُلَّ يَومٍ، فَاجتازَ الامتِحان. |
then | /thumma/ | ثُمَّ | Go straight, then take a left at Mecca Street. | /ittajih lilʼamaami thumma inʻaTif yasaaran ʻinda shaariʻi makkah/ | اتَّجِه لِلأَمامِ، ثُمَّ انعَطِف يَسارًا عِندَ شارِعِ مَكَّة. |
or
| /ʼaw/ | أَو
| You can have either cake or ice cream for dessert. | /yumkinuka tanaawulu ilkaʻki ʼaw ilbooDHati littaHliyah/ | يُمكِنُكَ تَناوُلُ الكَعكِ أوِ البوظَةِ لِلتَّحلِيَة. |
or (for questions) | /ʼam/ | أَم
| Should I stay or should I go? | /ʼayajibu ʻalayya ʼan ʼabqaa ʼam ʼarHal/ | أَيَجِبُ عَلَيَّ أَنْ أبقَى أَم أَرحَل؟ |
Retractations
These are words in Arabic where you’re thoughts start to go in the opposite direction that they were previously going.
Conjunctions | Examples |
English | Transliteration | Arabic | English | Transliteration | Arabic |
but | /lakin/ | لَكِن | I would make pancakes, but I can’t cook. | /ʼawaddu ʼan ʼaSnaʻa ilfaTaaʼir lakinnee laa ʼujeedu iTTabkh/ | أَوَدُّ أَن أَصنَعَ الفَطائر، لَكنِّي لا أُجيدُ الطَّبخ. |
but (after negation) | /bal/ | بَل | He didn’t want to visit Beirut, but he found it beautiful when he arrived. | /lam yakon yureedu ziyaarata bayroota bal ilqaahirah/ | لَم يَكُن يُريدُ زِيارَةَ بَيروتَ، بَلِ القاهِرة. |
however | /maʻ THalik/ | مَع ذلك… | He loved shawerma; however, he never found a good restaurant outside Amman. | /kaana yuHibbu ishaawirmata wa maʻ THalika lam yajid maTʻaman jayidan khaarija ʻammaan/ | كانَ يُحِبُّ الشَّاوِرمَةَ؛ وَمَع ذَلِكَ، لَم يَجِد مَطعَمًا جَيِّدًا خارِجَ عَمَّان. |
however/ nevertheless | /ʼillaa ʼanna/ /ghayr ʼanna/
| إلَّا أنَّ \ غَير أنَّ | She never studied; nevertheless, she always got good grades. | /lam tadrus qaTTu ʼillaa ʼannahaa kaanat taHSulu daaʼiman ʻalaa darajaatin jayidah/ | لَم تَدرُس قَطُّ؛ إلَّا أنَّها كانَت تَحصُلُ دائمًا عَلى دَرَجاتٍ جَيِّدَة. |
on the other hand | /min naaHiyatin ʼukhrah/
/ʻalaa iljaanibi ilʼaakhar/ | مِنْ ناحِيَةٍ أُخْرى \ على الجانبِ الآخَر | You could study Egyptian Arabic; on the other hand, you could study Iraqi Arabic. | /yumkinuka diraasatu illughati ilʻarabiyyati billahjati ilmaSriyyati wa min naaHiyatin ʼukhraa yumkinuka diraasatahaa billahjati ilʻiraaqiyyah/ | يُمكِنُكَ دِراسَةُ اللُّغَةِ العَرَبِيَّةِ بِاللَّهجَةِ المَصرِيَّةِ، وَمِن ناحِيَةٍ أُخرَى، يُمكِنُكَ دِراسَتَها بِاللَّهجَةِ العِراقِيَّة. |
reasoning words
Here are transition words in Arabic for giving reasons that continue your thought:
Conjunctions | Examples |
English | Transliteration | Arabic | English | Transliteration | Arabic |
because | /liʼanna/ | لِأنَّ
| I was late because there was a traffic accident. | /laqad taʼakhartu liʼannahu kaana hunaaka Haadithun muroorey/ | لَقَد تَأَخَّرتُ لأَنَّهُ كانَ هُناكَ حادِثٌ مُرورِيّ. |
because of | /bisababi/ | بِسَبَبِ
| Because of the rain, I had to buy an umbrella. | /idhTurirtu lishiraaʼi miDHallatin bisababi ilmaTar/ | اضطُرِرتُ لِشِراءِ مِظَلَّةٍ ,بِسبَبِ المَطَرِ. |
to / in order to | /li/ | لِ
| He had to study hard to get into Harvard. | /kaana ʻalayhi ʼan yadrusa bijiddin lilwuSooli ʼilaa jaamiʻati haarfaard/ | كانَ عَليهِ أَن يَدرُسَ بِجِدٍّ لِلوُصولِ إلى جَامِعَةِ هارفارد.
|
in order to | /kay/
/likay/ | كَي \ لِكَي
| In order to speak Arabic well, you have to practice every day. | /likay tataHaddatha ilʻarabiyyah bishaklin jayyidin ʻalayka ʼan tatadarraba kulla yawm/ | لِكَي تَتَحَدَّثَ العَرَبِيَّةَ بِشَكلٍ جَيِّدٍ، عَلَيكَ أَن تَتَدَرَّبَ كُلَّ يَوم.
|
as | /Haythu/ | حَيْثُ | 'and he provides for him from he could never imagine’ | /waqaftu Haythu waqafa SaaHibee/
/irjiʻ min Haythu ʼatayt/ | وَقَفتُ حَيثُ وَقَفَ صاحِبِي / ارجِع مِن حَيثُ أَتَيت |
since (reason) | /bimaa ʼanna/ | بِما أنَّ | You must have some free time since the exams are over | /laa budda ʼanna ladayka waqta faraaghin bimaa ʼanna ilimtiHaanaati qad intahat/ | لا بُدَّ أَنَّ لَدَيكَ وَقتَ فَراغٍ بِِما أَنَّ الامتِحاناتِ قَد انتَهَت. |
therefore | /THalika/ | ذَلِكَ | You are learning Arabic with Kaleela; So you learn it the right way. | /ʼanta tataʻallamu illughata ilʻarabiyyati maʻa kaleelata liTHalika faʼinnaka tataʻallamuhaa biTTareeqati iSSaHeeHah/ | أَنتَ تَتَعَلَّمُ اللُّغَةَ العَرَبِيَّةِ مَعَ كَليلَةَ؛ لِذلِكَ فَإنَّكَ تَتَعَلَّمُها بِالطَّريقَةِ الصَّحيحَة. |
based on that | /binaaʼan ʻalaa THalika/ | بِناءً عَلى ذَلِكَ
| You studied very hard, so based on that you speak Arabic well. | /laqad darasta bijiddin wa binaaʼan ʻalaa THalika faʼanta tataHaddaTHu ilʻarabiyyata jayyidan/ | لَقَد دَرَستَ بِجِدٍّ، وَبِناءً عَلى ذَلِك فَأَنتَ تَتَحَدَّثُ العَرَبِيَّةَ جَيِّدًا.
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Words for addition
These are words used to add more information and also continue the thought forward:
Conjunctions | Examples |
English | Transliteration | Arabic | English | Transliteration | Arabic |
too/also | /ʼaydhan/ | أَيضًا | I like coffee and donuts, too. | /ʼanaa ʼuHibbu ilqahwata wa ilkaʻka ilmuHallaa ʼaydhan/ | أَنا أُحِبُّ القَهوَةَ وَالكَعكَ المُحَلَّى أَيضًا. |
too/also/as well as | /kaTHalik/ | كَذَلِك | He is studying mathematics as well as engineering. | /yadrusu irriyaadhiyyaati wa kaTHalika ilhandasah/ | يَدرُسُ الرِّياضِيَّاتِ وَكَذَلِكَ الهَندَسَة.
|
in addition to | /bilʼidhaafati ʼilaa/ | بالإضافَةِ إلى | In addition to Arabic, I speak English and Spanish. | /bilʼidhaafati ʼilaa illughati ilʻarabiyyati ʼataHaddathu ilʼingleeziyyati wa ilʼisbaaniyyah/ | بِالإضافَةِ إلى اللُّغَةِ العَرَبِيَّةِ، أَتَحَدَّثُ الإنجليزيَّةِ والإسبانِيَّة. |
besides | /ʼilaa jaanib/ | إلى جانِب | Besides Beirut, I have also visited Marrakech. | /ʼilaa jaanibi bayroota qumtu ʼaydhan biziyaarati marraakish/ | إلى جانِبِ بَيرُوتَ، قُمتُ أَيضًا بِزِيارَةِ مَرَّاكِش. |
Well, there they are – all of the transition words you need to keep your Arabic going in the right direction. Once you master these, you’ve mastered one of the greatest tools in speaking or writing in any language.
Along with the signpost words above, let the Kaleela Arabic language learning app help you learn Arabic the right way as it guides you through everything you need to learn about the Arabic language from the Arabic alphabet to speaking in Arabic dialects. Visit our website to learn all about how you can download the app today – only from kaleela.com.
