Arabic A1, Unit 8: Where are you from?

Where are you from?

Arabic A1 · Unit 8

GoalAsk where someone is from and answer with the country or the nationality.

New words

مِن (min) · fromأَيْن (ʾayn) · whereمِن أَيْن أَنْتَ (min ʾayn ʾanta) · where are you from? (to a man)مِن أَيْن أَنْتِ (min ʾayn ʾanti) · where are you from? (to a woman)الْأُرْدُن (al-ʾurdun) · Jordanالْعِرَاق (al-ʿirāq) · Iraqأَمْرِيكَا (ʾamrīkā) · Americaالْيَمَن (al-yaman) · Yemen

Explanation

To ask where someone is from, say min ʾayn ʾanta to a man and min ʾayn ʾanti to a woman. Min means “from” and ʾayn means “where”. Question words come back in unit 12; for now learn the whole question. Answer with a pronoun, min and the country: ʾanā min miṣr. Before الْ, مِن takes a fatha: ʾanā mina l-ʾurdun, “I am from Jordan”. You can also give your nationality: ʾanā ʾurdunī. For other people use huwa, hiya, hum or hunna in the same sentence.

Dina

مِن أَيْن أَنْتَ؟

Tariq

أَنَا مِنَ الْعِرَاق. وَأَنْتِ؟

Dina

أَنَا مِن مِصْر

Worked examples

The question changes only at the end: ʾanta for a man, ʾanti for a woman.

Omar

مِن أَيْن أَنْتِ؟

Mona

أَنَا مِنَ الْيَمَن

Omar

أَهْلًا وَسَهْلًا

Omar meets Mona. Read: min ʾayn ʾanti? ʾanā mina l-yaman. ʾahlan wa sahlan!

Sentence	Say	Meaning
هُوَ مِن تُرْكِيَا	huwa min turkiyā	he is from Turkey
هِيَ مِن رُوسِيَا	hiya min rūsiyā	she is from Russia
هُم مِن مِصْر	hum min miṣr	they are from Egypt
نَحْنُ مِن أُوزْبَكِسْتَان	naḥnu min ʾūzbakistān	we are from Uzbekistan

The same pattern with other pronouns.

Class activity

Interview. Ask family or friends where they are from, in Arabic. If nobody speaks Arabic, play both parts: choose a name from unit 7 and a country from this unit. Write three lines with all the vowels: ismī …, ʾanā min …, ʾanā …ī. Read the lines aloud.

Practice

Press Listen. Who is being asked: one man, one woman, or a group?

…

Write in Arabic: “I am from Egypt.”

Ask a woman where she is from.

Read aloud and translate: هُنَّ مِنَ الْعِرَاق.

Make a sentence with هِيَ, مِن and الْيَمَن.

Pronouns, sentences without a verb, countries

Where are you from?