My mother used to tell me that the English words “please” and “thank you” go a long way, meaning that using polite words will help you get what you want from other people. Thinking about this, I guess that is pretty much true in any language or culture. So, that’s the idea behind this post: how to say Please and Thank you in Arabic so that you can go a long way in your Arabic language learning.

In Arabic, the words لو سمحت (law samahat) and من فضلك (min fadhlik) can both mean “please”, but there are other words for Please in Arabic. All of them can be used in different situations. For example, let’s say you’re in a restaurant and you want someone to pass the salt. You could say من فضلِكَ (min fadhlika) for a male and من فضلِكِ (min fadhliki) for a female. Or you could use لو سمحت (law samaht) for a male and لو سمحتِ (law samahti) for a female. In another situation, let’s say you are in dire need of some help with something. In this case, you would say أرجوكَ (‘arjooka) for a male and أرجوكِ – (‘arjooki) for a female. Both literally mean “I beg you!” So, no matter the situation, you can still be polite by using these words for Please in Arabic and Thank you in Arabic.



Moving on to “thank you”, there are probably just as many words for this a there are Arabic dialects


Here are just a few ways you can say it:

femArabicTransliterationTo/From a male/femaleEnglish
شكراًshukraanFrom both male and femaleThank you
أَشْكُرُكَ
أَشْكُرُكِ		‘ashkuruka
‘ashkuruki		To a male
To a female		 I thank you
مَشْكُور
مَشْكُورة		mashkoor
mashkoorah		From a male
From a female		You are thanked
مُتَشَكِّر
مُتَشَكِّرة		mutashakker
mutashakkerah		From a male
From a female		I’m all thanks to you.
(Used mostly in Egypt)
شَاكِرٌ لكَ
شَاكِرةٌ لكَ		shakerun laka
shakeratun laka		From a male to a male
From a female to a male		I’m thankful for you
شَاكِرٌ لكِ
شَاكِرةٌ لكِ		shakerun laki
shakeratun laki		From a male to a female
From a female to a female		I’m thankful for you
بِتْشَكَّرَك
بِتْشَكَّرِك		betshakkarak
betshakkarik		To a male
To a female		I’m thanking you
(Used in the Levant region)
جَزاكَ اللهُ خَيْرًا
جَزاكِ اللهُ خَيْرًا		jazaaka illahu khayran
jazaaki illahu khayran		To a male
To a female		May Allah reward your goodness
مُمْتَنٌ لكَ
مُمْتَنةٌ لكَ		mumtannun laka
mumtannatun laka		From a male to a male
From a female to a male		Much appreciated
(Used mostly in the Levant region)
مُمْتَنٌ لكِ
مُمْتَنةٌ لكِ		mumtannun laki
mumtannatun laki		From a male to a female
From a female to a female		Much appreciated
(Used mostly in the Levant region)
ما قَصَّرْت
ما قَصَّرتِ		ma qassart
ma qassarti		To a male
To a female		You didn’t give me less than expected

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