Free lesson Level A1 · Lesson · Unit: In the City

On, under, next to: prepositions of place

Where exactly?

WordMeaningExample
تَحْتَunderتَحْتَ السَّرِيرِ
فَوْقَabove, overفَوْقَ الْبَابِ
أَمَامَin front ofأَمَامَ الْمَدْرَسَةِ
وَرَاءَbehindوَرَاءَ الْمَسْجِدِ
بِجَانِبِnext toبِجَانِبِ الْفُنْدُقِ
بَيْنَbetweenبَيْنَ الْبَيْتِ وَالسُّوقِ

After every one of these words the noun ends in -i: فِي الْبَيْتِ, أَمَامَ الْمَدْرَسَةِ. They also take the pronoun endings you know from the family words – أَمَامَكَ “in front of you”, بِجَانِبِهِ “next to him”. خَلْفَ means the same as وَرَاءَ.

الْقِطَّةُ تَحْتَ الطَّاوِلَةِ، وَالْكِتَابُ عَلَى الْكُرْسِيِّ.The cat is under the table, and the book is on the chair.

Sides: يَمِين (yamīn) is the right, يَسَار (yasār) the left, وَسَط (wasaṭ) the middle. You say عَلَى الْيَمِينِ – on the right, عَلَى الْيَسَارِ – on the left, فِي وَسَطِ الْمَدِينَةِ – in the city centre.

الْبَنْكُ عَلَى الْيَمِينِ، وَالْمَقْهَى أَمَامَكَ.The bank is on the right, and the café is in front of you.

Words in this lesson

WordMeaningExample
فِيinالْكِتَابُ فِي الْغُرْفَةِ
The book is in the room.
عَلَىonكِتَابٌ عَلَى سَرِيرٍ
a book on a bed
تَحْتَunder, belowتَحْتَ الشَّجَرَةِ
under the tree
فَوْقَabove, overفَوْقَ الْبَيْتِ
above the house
أَمَامَin front ofأَمَامَ الْبَابِ
in front of the door
وَرَاءَbehindوَرَاءَ الْبَابِ
behind the door
خَلْفَbehind, at the back ofخَلْفَ الْمَدْرَسَةِ
behind the school
بِجَانِبِnext to, besideبِجَانِبِ الْمَطْعَمِ
next to the restaurant
بَيْنَbetweenبَيْنَ الْمَسْجِدِ وَالْكَنِيسَةِ
between the mosque and the church
يَمِينright (side)الْبَابُ عَلَى الْيَمِينِ.
The door is on the right.
يَسَارleft (side)الصَّيْدَلِيَّةُ عَلَى الْيَسَارِ.
The pharmacy is on the left.
وَسَطmiddle, centreوَسَطُ الْمَدِينَةِ
the city centre

Exercises

This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:

  • multiple choice: 2
  • fill the gap: 3
  • match the pairs: 1
  • build the sentence: 1
  • translate the sentence: 2
  • listen and type: 1

Try the first one

Which word means “under, below”?

  1. تَحْتَ
  2. فَوْقَ
  3. بَيْنَ
  4. أَمَامَ

The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.

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