1
فِي، عَلَى، مِن، إِلَى
Arabic A2 · Unit 6
GoalUse the four basic prepositions: in, on, from and to.
New words
فِي (fī) · inعَلَى (ʿalā) · onمِن (min) · fromإِلَى (ʾilā) · toحَدِيقَة (ḥadīqa) · gardenمَكْتَبَة (maktaba) · libraryسُوق (sūq) · marketطَاوِلَة (ṭāwila) · table
Explanation
Prepositions are small words that come before a noun. فِي means “in”, عَلَى means “on”, مِن means “from” and إِلَى means “to”. مِن ends in a consonant, so before الْ it takes a short helping a: مِنَ الْمَدْرَسَة (mina l-madrasa). The pair مِن … إِلَى … shows a way: “from … to …”. A ى at the end is read ā: عَلَى is ʿalā and إِلَى is ʾilā.
| Word | Meaning | Example | Say |
|---|---|---|---|
| فِي | in | فِي الْحَدِيقَة | fī l-ḥadīqa |
| عَلَى | on | عَلَى الطَّاوِلَة | ʿalā ṭ-ṭāwila |
| مِن | from | مِنَ الْمَدْرَسَة | mina l-madrasa |
| إِلَى | to | إِلَى الْمَكْتَبَة | ʾilā l-maktaba |
Worked examples
Where are things? Listen and repeat.
Karim
أَيْن أَنْتِ؟
Salma
أَنَا فِي الْمَكْتَبَة.
Karim
مِن أَيْن الْكِتَاب؟
Salma
هُوَ مِنَ الْمَدْرَسَة.
A way from one place to another.
Class activity
Say where you are and where you go. Write five sentences about your day: where you are (فِي …), where you go (إِلَى …), where you come from (مِن …), and where one thing is (عَلَى …). Use the places of the lesson and the ones you know from Part A.
Practice
1
Press Listen. Which preposition do you hear: فِي, عَلَى, مِن or إِلَى?
عَلَى (ʿalā), “on”: the phrase is عَلَى الشَّجَرَة, “on the tree”.
2
Write in Arabic: “in the library”.
فِي الْمَكْتَبَة
3
The picture shows a school. Write “to the school”.
إِلَى الْمَدْرَسَة (ʾilā l-madrasa)
4
The picture shows a house. Write “in the house”.
فِي الْبَيْت (fī l-bayt)
5
Choose the preposition: أَنَا ___ الْحَدِيقَة. (I am in the garden.)
فِي: أَنَا فِي الْحَدِيقَة.