LinguaTwo kinds of uncle
| Side | Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|---|
| the father’s side | عَمّ | عَمَّة |
| the mother’s side | خَال | خَالَة |
| grandparents | جَدّ | جَدَّة |
| grandchildren | حَفِيد | حَفِيدَة |
English has one “uncle”; Arabic has two. Your father’s brother is عَمّ (ʿamm), his sister عَمَّة. Your mother’s brother is خَال (khāl), her sister خَالَة. So “my uncle” is either عَمِّي or خَالِي – you always say which side.
There is no single word for “cousin”: you say “son of my uncle”, an iḍāfa. ابْنُ عَمِّي (ibnu ʿammī) – my cousin, son of my father’s brother; بِنْتُ خَالِي (bintu khālī) – my cousin, daughter of my mother’s brother. The “my” sits on the last word only.
اِبْنُ عَمِّي طَالِبٌ فِي الْقَاهِرَةِ.My cousin (my father’s brother’s son) is a student in Cairo.
جَدِّي وَجَدَّتِي فِي بَيْتِ عَمَّتِي.My grandfather and my grandmother are at my aunt’s (father’s sister’s) house.
Grandparents: جَدّ (jadd) and جَدَّة (jadda). Grandchildren: حَفِيد (ḥafīd) and حَفِيدَة (ḥafīda). All your relatives together are أَقَارِب (ʾaqārib).
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| عَمّ | uncle (father’s brother) | عَمِّي مُهَنْدِسٌ. My uncle is an engineer. |
| عَمَّة | aunt (father’s sister) | عَمَّتُكَ فِي الْمَطْعَمِ. Your aunt is in the restaurant. |
| خَال | uncle (mother’s brother) | خَالُهُ مِنْ تُونِسَ. His uncle is from Tunisia. |
| خَالَة | aunt (mother’s sister) | خَالَتِي مُدَرِّسَةٌ. My aunt is a teacher. |
| اِبْنُ عَمِّي | my cousin (son of my father’s brother) | اِبْنُ عَمِّي صَدِيقِي. My cousin is my friend. |
| بِنْتُ خَالِي | my cousin (daughter of my mother’s brother) | بِنْتُ خَالِي فِي لُبْنَانَ. My cousin is in Lebanon. |
| جَدّ | grandfather | جَدُّهَا طَبِيبٌ قَدِيمٌ. Her grandfather is a doctor of the old days. |
| جَدَّة | grandmother | جَدَّتُكِ هُنَا. Your grandmother is here. (to a woman) |
| حَفِيد | grandson | هٰذَا حَفِيدِي سَمِيرٌ. This is my grandson Samir. |
| حَفِيدَة | granddaughter | حَفِيدَتُهُ طِفْلَةٌ. His granddaughter is a little girl. |
| أَقَارِب | relatives | أَقَارِبِي فِي سُورِيَا. My relatives are in Syria. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- fill the gap: 2
- match the pairs: 1
- build the sentence: 1
- translate the sentence: 2
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Which word means “aunt (father’s sister)”?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.