Very and a little: the degree of a feature
Arabic measures the degree of a feature with a short ruler: qaliilan — a little, kathiiran — much, jiddan — very. All three are adverbs, and they stand after the verb or the feature: yalʿab kathiiran — plays a lot. For example: “الفيلم ممتع جدا” — The film is very interesting. A rule from the Arabic course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Arabic measures the degree of a feature with a short ruler: qaliilan — a little, kathiiran — much, jiddan — very. All three are adverbs, and they stand after the verb or the feature: yalʿab kathiiran — plays a lot.
jiddan has one habit people trip on: it does not glue onto the word but keeps its distance — jayyid jiddan — very good, haar jiddan — very hot. It is stricter here than in English.
The comparison you know from the prices: akbar — bigger, arkhas — cheaper. It is assembled inside the word — the prefix "a-" on the root — and demands "than" through min: akbar min miqaasii — bigger than my size.
An evaluating word is set at the head of the phrase: rubbamaa — maybe, hasanan — fine, good. And jayyidan after the verb tells how it is done: yalʿab jayyidan — plays well.
Table
| in English | Arabic | example |
|---|---|---|
| a little | قليلا — qaliilan | أكتب قليلا — aktubu qaliilan |
| much | كثيرا — kathiiran | يلعب كثيرا — yalʿab kathiiran |
| very | جدا — jiddan | جميل جدا — jamiil jiddan |
| bigger | أكبر — akbar | أكبر من مقاسي — akbar min miqaasii |
| cheaper | أرخص — arkhas | أرخص من ذلك — arkhas min dhaalika |
| maybe | ربما — rubbamaa | ربما غدا — rubbamaa ghadan |
By example
- الفيلم ممتع جداаль-фильм мумтиʿ джидданThe film is very interesting
- الكرة أكبر من هذهаль-курра акбар мин хазихиThe ball is bigger than this one
- أجري قليلا كل صباحаджри кадыляан куль сабаахI run a little every morning
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Very and a little: how does it work in Arabic?
Arabic measures the degree of a feature with a short ruler: qaliilan — a little, kathiiran — much, jiddan — very. All three are adverbs, and they stand after the verb or the feature: yalʿab kathiiran — plays a lot.
What does it look like in a Arabic example sentence?
“الفيلم ممتع جدا” (аль-фильм мумтиʿ джиддан) — The film is very interesting. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.