Level A1

Describing Things - Core Adjectives

15 words · ~15 min

Grammar focus

Arabic adjectives follow the noun they describe and must agree in gender, number, and definiteness. For example, 'kitab kabir' (a big book) vs 'al-kitab al-kabir' (the big book). Adjectives must match the gender of the noun: 'kabir' (big, masculine) becomes 'kabira' (big, feminine).

Lesson overview

Describing Things - Core Adjectives is a level A1 lesson of 15 words: 15 adjectives. Its words come from 14 Arabic roots, listed below with links to each root family.

Builds on: This & That - Demonstratives & First Nouns (A1)
Leads to: Adjectives - Size & Age (A1)
Previous lesson: Nature, People & The World Around Us (A1)
Next lesson: Connecting Words - Prepositions & Conjunctions (A1)

Word list

Arabic	Meaning	Type	Root
كَبِيرٌ kabīrun	big / large / old (in age)	adjective	ك-ب-ر
صَغِيرٌ ṣaghīrun	small / little / young	adjective	ص-غ-ر
جَدِيدٌ jadīdun	new	adjective	ج-د-د
قَدِيمٌ qadīmun	old / ancient	adjective	ق-د-م
جَيِّدٌ jayyidun	good	adjective	ج-و-د
جَمِيلٌ jamīlun	beautiful / handsome	adjective	ج-م-ل
صَعْبٌ ṣaʿbun	difficult / hard	adjective	ص-ع-ب
سَهْلٌ sahlun	easy	adjective	س-ه-ل
طَوِيلٌ ṭawīlun	long / tall	adjective	ط-و-ل
قَصِيرٌ qaṣīrun	short	adjective	ق-ص-ر
حَارٌّ ḥārrun	hot	adjective	ح-ر-ر
بَارِدٌ bāridun	cold	adjective	ب-ر-د
كَثِيرٌ kathīrun	many / much / a lot	adjective	ك-ث-ر
قَلِيلٌ qalīlun	few / little	adjective	ق-ل-ل
سَعِيدٌ saʿīdun	happy	adjective	س-ع-د

Themes these words belong to: Adjectives (15), Basics (13), Nature (2)