GoalPoint at things with هَذَا, هَذِهِ, ذَلِكَ and تِلْكَ and say what they are.
New words
هَذَا (hādhā) · this (m)هَذِهِ (hādhihi) · this (f)ذَلِكَ (dhālika) · that (m)تِلْكَ (tilka) · that (f)بَاب (bāb) · doorكُرْسِيّ (kursī) · chairدَفْتَر (daftar) · notebookمِفْتَاح (miftāḥ) · key
Explanation
To point at something near, say هَذَا for a masculine thing and هَذِهِ for a feminine thing. To point at something far, say ذَلِكَ for masculine and تِلْكَ for feminine. Put the pointing word first and the noun after it: هَذَا بَاب means “this is a door”, and هَذِهِ سَيَّارَة means “this is a car”. Choose the pointing word by the gender of the noun. In هَذَا, هَذِهِ and ذَلِكَ the first syllable is long (hā-dhā, hā-dhi-hi, dhā-li-ka), although no alif is written; some books add a small alif on top (هٰذَا). These words keep their last vowel even at the end of a sentence, like ʾanta and huwa.
Distance
Masculine
Feminine
near (this)
هَذَا
هَذِهِ
far (that)
ذَلِكَ
تِلْكَ
Worked examples
Near things: this is a door, this is a chair, this is a car.
Far things: that is a notebook, that is a table, that is a key.
هَذِهِthis (f)+حَقِيبَةbag
A sentence in steps: this (f) + bag.
Class activity
Point and say. Walk around your home and point at six things you know in Arabic. Say هَذَا for masculine words and هَذِهِ for feminine words when the thing is near you. Then step back and say ذَلِكَ or تِلْكَ for things that are far away. Write three of your sentences on paper, for example هَذَا بَاب.
Practice
1
Press Listen. Is the first word هَذَا (masculine) or هَذِهِ (feminine)?
هَذِهِ (feminine). The sentence is هَذِهِ مَدْرَسَة (hādhihi madrasa), “this is a school”.
2
Which word do you use for a far feminine thing: ذَلِكَ or تِلْكَ?
تِلْكَ (tilka).
3
Write in Arabic: “this is a key”.
هَذَا مِفْتَاح
4
The picture shows a chair. Which sentence is correct: هَذَا كُرْسِيّ or هَذِهِ كُرْسِيّ?
هَذَا كُرْسِيّ. كُرْسِيّ is masculine.
5
The picture shows a window, far away. Say “that is a window” in Arabic.
