Week 2 · Unit 1: Meeting People & Describing Things
أَنَا وَأَنْتَ
Pronouns — Introducing Yourself
With just seven small words — the independent pronouns — you can now say who is doing the talking in any nominal sentence. Pair them with a handful of identity nouns and you can introduce yourself completely, still without a single verb.
Every Arabic passage has a small circle button — tap it to hear it read aloud by a native-sounding voice; tap again straight away to hear it slowly.
Before you start: the course is taught in vowelled Arabic script, and the readings and exercises use no transliteration, so you need to be able to read Arabic letters with their vowel marks. Can you sound out this line?أَهْلًا وَسَهْلًا يَا صَدِيقِي، الْبَيْتُ جَمِيلٌ جِدًّا.If you can, even slowly, you’re ready. If the letters themselves are new to you, learn to read them first and then start here. Already know some Arabic? The free placement test suggests which week to start from.
BY THE END OF THIS WEEK YOU WILL BE ABLE TO
Use all seven independent pronouns: أَنَا، أَنْتَ، أَنْتِ، هُوَ، هِيَ، نَحْنُ، هُمْ
Introduce yourself: name, identity, and where you're from
Ask “what is your name?” and “where are you from?” as fixed expressions
Read the opening pronoun of one of the Qur'ān's shortest sūrahs
TEACHER NOTES
Pacing: 45 min
Prerequisite check: Week 1's greetings should be fluent before adding pronouns.
Watch out for: Gender agreement (أنتَ/أنتِ) trips up beginners immediately — drill it in isolation first.
01 — LISTEN & REPEAT
حِوَارٌDialogue
Two new students meet for the first time. Listen twice, then read aloud.
I'm from Egypt. Our people are here in this country.
02 — CORE WORDS
الْمُفْرَدَاتُVocabulary
“مَا اسْمُكَ؟” and “مِنْ أَيْنَ أَنْتَ؟” are given here as fixed, ready-to-use expressions — you'll learn exactly how مَا and أَيْنَ work as question words in the next two weeks.
Arabic
Says
Meaning
Note
NEWأَنَا
anā
I
NEWأَنْتَ/أَنْتِ
anta / anti
you (m./f.)
NEWهُوَ/هِيَ
huwa / hiya
he / she, it (m./f.)
NEWنَحْنُ
naḥnu
we
NEWهُمْ
hum
they (m.)
NEWبَلَدٌ
balad
a country
Root ب-ل-د — also the name of Sūrat al-Balad.
NEWأَهْلٌ
ahl
family, people
Root أ-ه-ل — as in أَهْلُ الْكِتَابِ, ‘the People of the Book.’
NEWاسْمٌ
ism
a name
Root س-م-و — the same root that opens بِسْمِ اللَّهِ.
Also in this week's dialogue and reading. The dialogue also names Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Syria (مِصْر، الْأُرْدُنّ، الْمَغْرِب، سُورِيَا) — recognise them as country names for now, no need to memorise the spelling yet.
Arabic
Says
Meaning
Note
EARLYالْآنَ
al-ān
now
EARLYفِي
fī
in
Full preposition set arrives later, but you'll use this constantly before then.
EARLYهُنَاكَ
hunāka
there
Pairs with هُنَا, "here," from Week 1.
EARLYجِدًّا
jiddan
very
Goes after the adjective: جَمِيلٌ جِدًّا, "very beautiful."
EARLYأَيْضًا
ayḍan
also, too
EARLYأَحَدٌ
aḥad
someone; (with لا) no one
EARLYلَكِنْ
lākin
but
EARLYقُلْ
qul
say! (command)
Useful classroom word — you'll hear it a lot in exercises.
Qur’ān word-booster. These words turn up again and again in the Qur’ān — learn them here and more of every page will light up green in the Qur’ān reader.
Arabic
Says
Meaning
Note
NEWأَنْتُمْ
antum
you (all, m.)
≈136× in the Qur’ān
أَنْتُمْ — أَنْتُمْ is the plural of أَنْتَ — one word for a whole group (“you all”). Allah addresses people this way all the time in the Qur’ān.
O People of the Scripture, why do you disbelieve in the verses of Allah while you witness [to their truth]? — Qur’ān 3:70
03 — HOW THE LANGUAGE WORKS
رُكْنُ الْقَوَاعِدِGrammar Corner
Pronoun + noun = a complete sentence. Just as you saw in Week 1, no verb is needed — the pronoun is the mubtada’, and whatever follows is the khabar.
أَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ
anā Ibrahim I [am] Ibrahim.
هِيَ مِنَ الْأُرْدُنِّ
hiya mina-l-Urdunn She [is] from Jordan.
Arabic pronouns also show up as endings attached to other words — you already saw a hint of this in الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ. You'll formally learn attached (“possessive”) pronouns in Week 11, so for now, just focus on these seven free-standing ones.
Quick check: which pronoun would you use to say “we”? (نَحْنُ.)
04 — READING THE SOURCE
وَقْفَةٌ قُرْآنِيَّةٌQur'ān Connection
One of the shortest sūrahs in the Qur'ān opens with a pronoun you just learned.
SŪRAT AL-IKHLĀṢ — 112:1
قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ
Say: He is Allah, One.
قُلْ
qul
say (a command — more on this later)
هُوَ
huwa
He
اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ
Allāhu aḥad
Allah, One
Set aside قُلْ (a command form for later weeks) and the rest is your exact nominal pattern: هُوَ (pronoun, mubtada’) + اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ (the khabar) — “He [is] Allah, One.” This sūrah is often the very first one Arabic students memorise in full.
One more — the same pronoun هُوَ doing the same job in the most-recited verse in the Qur'ān.
Allah — there is no god but He, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer.
اللَّهُ
Allāh
Allah
لَا إِلَٰهَ
lā ilāh
there is no god
إِلَّا هُوَ
illā huwa
except He
الْحَيُّ
al-ḥayy
the Ever-Living
هُوَ here does the exact same job as in Week 2's examples — it simply stands in for a noun already mentioned (اللَّهُ), just like أَنَا, أَنْتَ and هِيَ stand in for people in your own sentences.
05 — SAY IT LIKE A NATIVE
عِبَارَاتٌ يَوْمِيَّةٌEveryday Phrases
Everyday expressions using pronouns.
أَنَا مِنْ هُنَا
anā min huna — I'm from here / a local
نَحْنُ أَصْدِقَاءُ
naḥnu aṣdiqā’ — we are friends
هُوَ صَدِيقِي
huwa ṣadīqī — he is my friend
هِيَ هُنَا
hiya huna — she is here
أَنْتَ عَلَى حَقٍّ
anta ‘alā ḥaqq — you are right
مَنْ أَنْتَ؟
man anta? — who are you?
نَحْنُ مِنْ نَفْسِ الْبَلَدِ
naḥnu min nafsi-l-balad — we're from the same country
هُمْ هُنَاكَ
hum hunāk — they are there
SKILLS PRACTICE
الِاسْتِمَاعُListening
Audio track 2.1
Aḥmad introduces himself to a new classmate. Listen first, script second.
Introductions. Introduce yourself with أَنَا + your name, then ask مَا اسْمُكَ؟ and مِنْ أَيْنَ أَنْتَ؟ — to a partner, or on your own. On your own? Play both parts aloud, then try the conversation partner at the end of this week: Ibrahim or Amira will answer you in Arabic.
Recycling round (open with Week 1). Before the introductions, greet exactly as in Week 1 (السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ، كَيْفَ حَالُكَ؟). Every week’s speaking practice opens the same way — greetings never get “used up.”
Letters
Word 1
Word 2
Tip
أَنْتَ vs أَنْتِ
أَنْتَ طَالِبٌ
أَنْتِ طَالِبَةٌ
The only difference between ‘you’ (m.) and ‘you’ (f.) is the final short vowel — listen closely.
Practise this with real people. In the live weekly class you do exchanges like this with Zuhayr and a partner. Book 2 free live lessons →
SKILLS PRACTICE
الْقِرَاءَةُReading
Read silently, then aloud
Read once for meaning, then aloud. Hover over or tap any word to check its meaning, or flip the switch to check whole sentences.
1. False — she’s from Jordan. 2. False — he’s from Egypt. 3. True — he says أَهْلُنَا هُنَا فِي هَذَا الْبَلَدِ.
SKILLS PRACTICE
قِرَاءَةٌ حُرَّةٌFree Reading
Tap or hover to check — no test, just read
A short passage using only words you've met so far. Just read for meaning — tap or hover any word if you get stuck. Flip the switch to check whole sentences instead of single words.
