GoalGreet someone and answer a greeting at any time of the day.
New words
السَّلَام عَلَيْكُم (as-salām ʿalaykum) · hello (peace be with you)وَعَلَيْكُمُ السَّلَام (wa ʿalaykumu s-salām) · and peace be with you (the reply)مَرْحَبًا (marḥaban) · helloأَهْلًا (ʾahlan) · hi, welcomeأَهْلًا وَسَهْلًا (ʾahlan wa sahlan) · welcomeصَبَاح الْخَيْر (ṣabāḥ al-khayr) · good morningصَبَاح النُّور (ṣabāḥ an-nūr) · good morning (reply)مَسَاء الْخَيْر (masāʾ al-khayr) · good evening
Explanation
Arabic has one common greeting for every time of the day: as-salām ʿalaykum, “peace be with you”. The reply is wa ʿalaykumu s-salām, “and peace be with you”. Marḥaban and ʾahlan are lighter ways to say hello, and ʾahlan wa sahlan welcomes a guest. In the morning say ṣabāḥ al-khayr, “morning of goodness”. The reply plays with the words: ṣabāḥ an-nūr, “morning of light”. In the evening say masāʾ al-khayr, and the reply is masāʾ an-nūr. Read the -an at the end of marḥaban and ʾahlan as you see it.
Worked examples
Karim
صَبَاح الْخَيْر
Layla
صَبَاح النُّور
Karim meets Layla in the morning. He says ṣabāḥ al-khayr and she answers ṣabāḥ an-nūr. Read each line, then press the top button to hear the talk.
The same pattern works in the evening: masāʾ al-khayr, and the reply masāʾ an-nūr.
السَّلَامas-salām+عَلَيْʿalay+كُمkum
The long greeting is three small words: as-salām “peace”, ʿalay “on”, kum “you (all)”. So it means “peace on you”.
Class activity
Greeting round. Greet three people, or three toys, one after the other. Say as-salām ʿalaykum to the first and answer for them. Say ṣabāḥ al-khayr to the second and answer ṣabāḥ an-nūr. Say masāʾ al-khayr to the third. Then write the three pairs on paper with all the vowels.
Practice
1
Press Listen. Is the speaker asking a question or giving a greeting? Do you remember the meaning from unit 6?
…
A question: كَيْف الْحَال (kayf al-ḥāl), “how are you?”. You will practise the answers in lesson 2.
2
Karim says السَّلَام عَلَيْكُم. What do you answer?
وَعَلَيْكُمُ السَّلَام (wa ʿalaykumu s-salām).
3
Which greeting goes with the sun and which with the moon: صَبَاح الْخَيْر or مَسَاء الْخَيْر?
The sun goes with صَبَاح الْخَيْر (good morning). The moon goes with مَسَاء الْخَيْر (good evening).
4
Read aloud and say what it means: أَهْلًا وَسَهْلًا.
