GoalUse the pronouns I, you (man), you (woman), he and she.
New words
أَنَا (ʾanā) · Iأَنْتَ (ʾanta) · you (to a man)أَنْتِ (ʾanti) · you (to a woman)هُوَ (huwa) · heهِيَ (hiya) · she
Explanation
A pronoun is a small word that stands for a person, like “I” or “she”. ʾAnā means “I”. Arabic has two words for “you”: ʾanta speaks to a man and ʾanti speaks to a woman. Only the last vowel is different: a fatha for a man and a kasra for a woman. Huwa means “he” and hiya means “she”. Their last vowel is part of the word, so it is always written and said, even at the end of a sentence; only noun endings are left off, as in unit 6. Say ʾanta as ʾan-ta, with the n and the t side by side.
Arabic
Say
Meaning
أَنَا
ʾanā
I
أَنْتَ
ʾanta
you (man)
أَنْتِ
ʾanti
you (woman)
هُوَ
huwa
he
هِيَ
hiya
she
Worked examples
Layla
أَنَا لَيْلَى، وَأَنْتَ؟
Karim
أَنَا كَرِيم
Layla and Karim give their names. Layla says ʾanā Laylā, wa ʾanta? and Karim says ʾanā Karīm.
Huwa is for a boy or a man, hiya for a girl or a woman. Press each card.
You (to one person) has two forms. Look at the last vowel.
Class activity
Point and say. Point at yourself and say ʾanā. Point at a friend and say ʾanta or ʾanti. Look at photos of people in a book or on a screen and point at them: huwa for a man or boy, hiya for a woman or girl. Say the right word each time.
Practice
1
Press Listen. Is it a word for a place, or a pronoun like I, you, he or she?
…
A place word: هُنَا (hunā), “here”. Pronouns are the words of this lesson.
2
You are talking to your woman teacher. Which word do you use for “you”: أَنْتَ or أَنْتِ?
أَنْتِ (ʾanti).
3
Write in Arabic: “he” and “she”.
هُوَ and هِيَ.
4
Karim is a boy. Which pronoun is right for him: هُوَ or هِيَ?
هُوَ (huwa), “he”.
5
What is the only difference between أَنْتَ and أَنْتِ?
The last vowel: a fatha (a) for a man, a kasra (i) for a woman.
