1.1.

THREE KINDS OF WORDS

Learning Objectives

- Learn the three components of all Arabic words

- Be able to define Ism, Fil, and Harf and give examples of each

Lesson Review
Arabic is made up of three types of words. Every word in Arabic will fall under one of these
three categories:
1. : An Ism can be a person, place, thing, idea, adjective, adverb, and more. Lets look at
some examples:
a. Person: Muhammad, Fatima, he, she, I, we
b. Place: New York, Texas, Egypt
c. Thing: car, building, desk, pen, bag (any item or object)
d. Ideas are things we have names for but cant touch. Examples: happiness, love,
patience, education, reflection
i. Note that words that end in ing can also be ideas, given the appropriate
context. Examples: I love learning, I like writing
e. Adjectives describe things. Examples: big masjid, small desk, handsome vase,
ugly carpet, beautiful car, happy cat, sad person
f. Adverbs describe an action being done. Examples: running quickly, eating slowly,
worked sleepily, will exercise happily
2. : A Fil is a word which is always in the past, present, or future tense. Fils are similar
to verbs in English but not exactly the same.
a. Examples of Fils in English: ran, created, eating, reads, will write
3. : A Harf is a word that does not make sense unless there is another word after it.
a. Examples of Harfs in English: in, at, for, with, to

1
BayyinahTV