At the market: fruit, vegetables and quantities

Fruit and vegetables

Quantities are an iḍāfa: the measure first, then the food ending in -in. كِيلُو تُفَّاحٍ – a kilo of apples, نِصْفُ كِيلُو – half a kilo, كِيسُ بَصَلٍ – a bag of onions, زُجَاجَةُ مَاءٍ – a bottle of water, عُلْبَةُ جُبْنٍ – a box of cheese.

أُرِيدُ نِصْفَ كِيلُو طَمَاطِمَ وَكِيسَ خِيَارٍ.I’d like half a kilo of tomatoes and a bag of cucumbers.

Ask the seller, the بَائِع, with بِكَمْ and the kilo: بِكَمْ كِيلُو الْمَوْزِ؟ Here the food has الـ because you mean those bananas on the stall. Good produce is طَازَج – fresh; with ة for a feminine word.

بِكَمْ كِيلُو الْمَوْزِ؟ – عَشَرَةُ جُنَيْهَاتٍ. الْمَوْزُ طَازَجٌ الْيَوْمَ!How much is a kilo of bananas? – Ten pounds. The bananas are fresh today!