How to learn Arabic grammar?

Arabic is a Semitic language that first emerged in the 1st to 4th centuries CE. It is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. It is named after the Arabs, a term initially used to describe peoples living in the Arabian Peninsula bounded by eastern Egypt in the west, Mesopotamia in the east, and the Anti-Lebanon mountains and Northern Syria in the north, as perceived by ancient Greek geographers.  The ISO assigns language codes to thirty varieties of Arabic, including its standard form, Modern Standard Arabic, also referred to as Literary Arabic, which is modernized Classical Arabic.  Arabic is widely taught in schools and universities and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government and the media. Arabic, in its standard form, is the official language of 26 states, as well as the liturgical language of the religion of Islam, since the Quran and Hadith were written in Arabic.

In order to learn a new language, there are some important steps needed to master it like: learning the alphabets, vocab, numbers and grammar. That’s the same with Arabic! In this article, we will show you how to learn Arabic Grammar in a few steps.

Why should you learn Arabic Grammar?

In order to practice Arabic, you must learn the grammar of that language which is called in Arabic “Nahw نحو” , it is mostly like the system that manages the written and spoken Arabic.

Grammar simply is the study of the words you have learnt and how to create sentences, simply it’s the language’s structure, so to learn a language you must know the basics of its grammar.

Why is Arabic grammar so hard?

Some people who learn Arabic express that learning Arabic grammar is too hard, actually learning Arabic is not that easy because it’s a language that contains more than 12 million words, too many expressions and grammatical features,  let’s compare it with English for example:

In English, for the verb “Write” we say:

I/You/We write, He/She writes 

But in written and Spoken Arabic there are about 6 or more expressions for the pronouns of the verb “Write” which are:

I write: ana aktub أنا أكتُب 

You write: anta taktub أنت تكتُب for males & ante takuben أنت تكتبين for females

We write: nahnu naktub نحن نكتُب 

He writes: howa yaktub هو يكتُب 

She writes: heya taktub هي تكتُب 

Here are some simple steps to start your studying:

1. Learn Arabic basics such as words, phrases and sentences
2. Know the grammatical inflections which are more detailed look on words
3. Identify reflection and diptotes which are representations of the words
4. Study further rules like plurals, genders and numbers

There are plenty of resources, exercises, approaches and methods to studying grammar.

Rather than prescribing one specific approach, I’ll give you a few ideas based on what worked for me.

Buy a comprehensive grammar book.

Academic language courses often shy away from a “big picture” approach. By surveying grammar early in your studies and coming back to it repeatedly over time, you’ll actually understand what it is you’re practicing and you’ll learn new concepts much more quickly.

I recommend choosing a book that is organized by topic, not alphabetically. Books organized by topic are designed to offer you a bird’s-eye view of the language, while dictionary books are designed exclusively for reference.

Read through the entire book without expectations.

People get scared or overwhelmed by stuff they don’t understand.

Don’t let grammar get under your skin.

When you get your grammar book, give the entire book a real read. Don’t expect to soak much of it up or even understand half of it.

So why do a read-through, then? Because each time you come across these concepts in your future studies, they’ll trigger memories of what you’ve read. New concepts won’t be so new and vague.

Practice sentence and word constructions on your own.

When I studied, I was pretty darn interested in the language. So it wasn’t hard for me to practice on my own and enjoy concocting sentences directly from the grammar book. But if that’s not your style, you can also buy an exercise-based grammar book or a separate textbook to get material.

Once you dig into the book, you’ll realize how simple it is to conjugate words in Arabic and build basic sentences.

Practice speaking and listening with natives.

And while you’re talking with natives, be sure to ask questions during conversations.

There’s nothing more exhilarating than hanging out with Arabic people and conversing in their native language.

For me, speaking and listening was the practice that I needed to internalize grammar and vocabulary. If you don’t have access to natives, you can use audio-based courses, online courses, self-study courses, movies, anime and Arabic TV shows as a substitute.

Language Learning: Theory vs. Practice

A theory-based approach teaches the big picture through language systems, such as grammar or vocabulary, while a practice-based approach improves language skills, such as speaking or reading, through specific exercises.

If your academic studies focus on practice, then perhaps the best way to balance that out is with theory.

And if it’s so easy to learn Arabic grammar and there are so many benefits to learning it early on, shouldn’t you take care of it as soon as possible?

Hopefully, you can see the benefits of learning grammar upfront and now know how to learn Arabic grammar painlessly.

Of course, too much emphasis on grammar alone will leave you knowledgeable in structure but deficient in certain skills. But an approach that balances theory and practice can help you save time, eliminate obstacles and—most importantly—become more fluent.

Good Luck!!!