Let Us Talk Basics in Arabic: Giving and Receiving advice in Arabic
Dina Sarayra 11/28/2021
About Arabic language
What are we doing today?
We will learn how to give and receive advice in Arabic. In Arabic, the word for advice is naseeha. There are multiple types of problems people can have. For example, work-related problems, family-related problems, friend-related problems etc.
Let’s use a work related example. Imagine you hand in your work late and your coworker comes up to you and advices you. They could start their advice with naseehati hiya which means ‘my advice is’. The word advice in Arabic is feminine which is why we used the feminine pronoun hiya after it.
Another way to say it is ‘ansahuka ann…’ which means ‘I advise you to…’. However, if they wanted to advise you to not do something, they can say ‘la ansahuka ann’ where la means no. This translates to ‘I do not advise you to’. There are more ways to advise in Arabic. Another way is by saying ‘try to’ or ‘you should’ which are ‘hawel ann’ and ‘yajib ann’, respectively. This is when you are directly giving the advice. However, these two are less friendly than saying ansahuka ann.
You Need to Sound Nice
One way to appeal to someone while advising is by saying ‘if I were in your place’ as that appeals to their emotions. The way to say this is ‘law kuntu makanak…’. However, if you wish to advise people, you have to improve your Arabic vocabulary and learn Arabic expressions as well. That way, you could explain problems in Arabic and advice as well.
Back to our example, if you tend to give in your work late, your coworker could advise you to organize your time. This can be said as ansahuka ann tunathim waqtaka.
However, now you have to reply to him! Well what do you say?! Thank you of course. The way you could say this is: shukran. However, that’s too dry. You have to show appreciation for the advice. So make sure to at least say “shukran ‘ala al naseeha”. This means thank you for the advice.
There’s more!
In Arabic, we tend to say God willing to things we hope to do or happen. The way we say this is in sha’ Allah. This is a very common Arabic expression which is appropriate to this situation. Another response you could say is ‘I’ll think about it’ which can be said like this: sa’ufakeru fil amr’. This is also a polite response.
Don’t agree? That’s fine
But… what if you don’t really agree with their advice? Well, you could say “shukran ‘ala al naseeha walaken”. That translates to ‘thank you for the advice but…’. Again, you have to have enough Arabic words stored in your head to be able to complete these Arabic sentences yourself!
Make sure to buy an Arabic dictionary and that you learn about Arab culture and expressions. There are plenty of colloquial ways of giving and receiving advice in Arabic in the Middle East, however, these will do! They will also be understood by most Arabic speakers. So, don’t forget to work on your Arabic vocabulary!
Liked reading what we have for you? Great! Kaleela is exactly what you need for your Arabic-learning journey. Our courses cover everything you need PLUS we have an app that you can take everywhere with you. Excited much? Click here to learn Arabic the right way.
Get updates & special offers
Subscribe to our newsletter
Most Read
- Meaningful Arabic Quotes That’ll Get You Through Your Day
- Love Is In The Air – Express Your Love With These Sweet Arabic Words
- Arab Times – Telling The Time In Arabic
- The Arabic Alphabet – Tips On How To Pronounce The Difficult Letters
- Syrian Dishes – 10 Of Syria’s Most Delicious Main Dishes
- Basic Words in Arabic – The Most Commonly Used
- All You Need to Know About Animals in Arabic: Names, Sounds, and Movements
- Days In Arabic – Learn To Say The Days Of The Week
- Arabic Prepositions – Commonly Used In Everyday Conversation
- A Look At Capital Cities Of Arab Countries – A Complete List