3
Buses, cars and trains
Arabic A1 · Unit 18
GoalName ways to travel and say how you go with بِ.
New words
حَافِلَة (ḥāfila) · busقِطَار (qiṭār) · trainطَائِرَة (ṭāʾira) · planeدَرَّاجَة (darrāja) · bicycleأَرْكَب (ʾarkab) · I ride, I takeبِالْحَافِلَة (bi-l-ḥāfila) · by busبِالْقِطَار (bi-l-qiṭār) · by trainبِالسَّيَّارَة (bi-s-sayyāra) · by car
Explanation
To say how you travel, put بِ in front of the word with الْ. بِالْقِطَار means “by train”. The letter بِ is written joined to the word and it means “by” or “with”. With a sun letter the l is silent: بِالسَّيَّارَة is read bi-s-sayyāra. The verb أَرْكَب means “I ride” or “I take”, as in أَرْكَب الْحَافِلَة. To ask how someone travels, use كَيْف: كَيْف تَذْهَب؟ means “how do you go?”.
| Transport | Arabic | By… |
|---|---|---|
| bus | حَافِلَة | بِالْحَافِلَة |
| train | قِطَار | بِالْقِطَار |
| plane | طَائِرَة | بِالطَّائِرَة |
| bicycle | دَرَّاجَة | بِالدَّرَّاجَة |
Worked examples
A bus (حَافِلَة) and a train (قِطَار).
Nour
كَيْف تَذْهَب إِلَى الْمَدْرَسَة؟
Omar
أَذْهَب بِالْحَافِلَة. وَأَنْتِ؟
Nour
أَذْهَب بِالْقِطَار.
Three sentences. Read each one, then listen.
Class activity
How do you travel? Write five places: school, market, park, library, station. Under each one write how you go there, for example أَذْهَب إِلَى السُّوق بِالسَّيَّارَة. If you never go by one of them, choose another way. Read your list aloud.
Practice
1
Press Listen. Is it a bus, a train, or neither?
…
Neither. It is سَفِينَة (safīna), “a ship”.
2
The picture shows a bicycle. Say “I go by bicycle”.
أَذْهَب بِالدَّرَّاجَة
3
The picture shows a plane. Say “by plane”.
بِالطَّائِرَة
4
Ask a man: “how do you go to the university?”.
كَيْف تَذْهَب إِلَى الْجَامِعَة؟
5
How do you read بِالْحَافِلَة: bi-l-ḥāfila or bi-ḥ-ḥāfila?
bi-l-ḥāfila. ح is a moon letter, so the l is said.