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30 Common Opposites in Arabic with Examples

Posted by Ibnulyemen on Aug 3, 2017 in Pronunciation, Vocabulary

When learning a foreign language, a successful way to augment our vocabulary is through opposites.
These words are used to describe people and/or things, hence commonly known as adjectives. Even
though they have other names in Arabic grammar, for now look at this list, go over it periodically and
several times for speedier and lasting retention. Also, check this earlier post for more.

image by Ibnulyemen (from

)

Positive Negative Example

.

lawful Halaal
unlawful Haraam this is Halal meat.

.
a lot kathiir little qaliil
the rain is a lot today.

.
agreeable Tayiib
evil shirriir John is an agreeable man.

.
courageous
you are a courageous

coward jabaan
shujaa person.

.
generous kariim

stingy bakhiil Ahmed is very generous.

.
clean naDiif

dirty wasikh the street is clean.

.

sweet Hilw
bitter murr the tea is too sweet.

.

hot Haar
cold baarid the weather is hot today.

.



new jadiid old qadiim
the shirt is new.


new jadiid old qadiim
the shirt is new.

.
white abyaDH


black aswad the horse is white.

strong qawii


weak dhaiif the new boxer is strong.

.

slim rashiiq

fat samiin Sawsan is slim and pretty.

.

delighted


upset zalaan I am delighted with victory.
farHaan

.
hes delight with victory


happy saiid

unhappy Haziin
too.

!

full shabaan



hungry jawaan I am full, thank you!

.

simple basiiT
vicious khabiith Ali is a simple man.

.
unsuccessful

successful naajiH John is a successful man.

faashil

.


composed raziin

silly sakhiif hes certainly composed.

!


wise Hakiim

ignorant jaahil how wise of you!

.



light khafiif heavy thaqiil
the suitcase is light.

.


honest amiin
dishonest khaain what an honest man he is!

truthful Saadiq liar kadhdhaab he is always truthful.

.


likeable
unpleasant
Messi is a likable player.
maHbuub makrooh

.
expensive ghaalii

cheap rakhiiS housing is expensive in
New York.

easy sahl

difficulty Sab the test is easy today.

.
near qariib

far baiid the airport is near here.



.

here hunaa
there hunaak
I live here, in this building.

.
poor faqiir
rich ghanii
Sam is poor.

.

married


unmarried aazib Michael is married to Eva.
mutazawwij

wide waasi
narrow DHayiiq the street is wide.

Notes on pronunciation:

H T T
(capital h) = (capital t) = (capital t) =

D
kh =
= (capital d)

=
DH S
(capital dh) = (capital s) =
=
dh gh
(small dh) = (small gh) =

Note on Usage:

All the example sentences are nominal; therefore, adjectives are always used only in them. Normally, they occur in second
position which is called
khabar predicate, and the noun in the first position is called
mubtada subject or topic.

Exercise:

Attempt to use the negative adjectives in similar sentences.

Tags: adjectives, Arabic

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 About the Author: Ibnulyemen
Marhaban! I am from Yemen. I am a language teacher. I teach English and Arabic. Besides Arabic and English, I speak French
and some German. I have a strong flair for languages; most of my foreign language competency has been self-learning. For
Arabic, I have a strong command of its formal aspects. So, if you have any question about Arabic grammar or morphology, feel
free to ask any question you may have. In this blog, I will be leading you through Arabic language learning in a sequential and
interactive fashion. I will focus on Modern Standard Arabic. Arabic dialectal expressions and vocabulary will be highlighted
whenever pertinent to the topic of each post. Enjoy learning!

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