أربعة
“أربعة” (арбаʿа) — four in Arabic. Numeral, level A0, topic — numbers and counting. In the middle sits the ayn — that squeezed throat. The numbers from three to ten are built alike: plural noun, opposite gender. In a live sentence: “أربعة من فضلك” — Four, please. Written with the characters أ, ر, ب, ع, ة. One of 57 words in the set “numbers and counting” in the Arabic course.
In short
| Written in Arabic | أربعة |
| Read in Latin letters | арбаʿа |
| Translation | four |
| Part of speech | numeral |
| Level | A0 |
Why it looks that way
In the middle sits the ayn — that squeezed throat. The numbers from three to ten are built alike: plural noun, opposite gender
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- أربعة من فضلكарбаʿа мин фадликFour, please
Nearby words: numbers and counting
A price, the change, a house number, the time you agreed on, the floor. Numbers are the first thing you have to catch by ear — and the first thing people say fast.
- واحدвахидoneThe number follows the noun: kitaab waahid — one book. To the feminine — wahida
- اثنانиснаанtwoTwo is a number of its own kind: with it the noun goes into the dual, with -aan on the end. Baytaan — two houses
- ثلاثةсалясаthreeFrom three on the noun goes into the plural, and the number itself takes the opposite gender: thalaatha kutub — three books
- خمسةхамсаfiveThe same kh as in khubz. Khamsa is both five and the palm-shaped charm: five fingers of a hand
- ستةситтаsixThe shadda tt is held long: sit-ta. The ten grows from the same root: sittuun — sixty
- سبعةсабʿаsevenThe same ayn as in arbaʿa. Saturday is sabt — the word looks alike but is another one
- ثمانيةсамаанияeightStarts with the interdental s, the same as in thalj — ice. A long word: four syllables, all of them audible
- تسعةтисʿаnineLooks like sabʿa — the difference is the first letter, t against s. Shops open at nine, and the word is heard on every corner
- عشرةʿашараtenStarts with the ayn — that squeezed throat. The base of the tens: twenty is ʿishrun, a hundred is miʾa
- أحد عشرахад ʿашарelevenLiterally "one-ten": Arabic numbers from eleven to nineteen are pairs of words. The clock uses them too: at eleven o’clock is fi as-saaʿa ahad ʿashar
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “numbers and counting”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “four” in Arabic?
In the middle sits the ayn — that squeezed throat. The numbers from three to ten are built alike: plural noun, opposite gender
- How do you say “eight” in Arabic?
Starts with the interdental s, the same as in thalj — ice. A long word: four syllables, all of them audible
- How do you say “three” in Arabic?
From three on the noun goes into the plural, and the number itself takes the opposite gender: thalaatha kutub — three books
- How do you say “eleven” in Arabic?
Literally "one-ten": Arabic numbers from eleven to nineteen are pairs of words. The clock uses them too: at eleven o’clock is fi as-saaʿa ahad ʿashar
- How do you say “seven” in Arabic?
The same ayn as in arbaʿa. Saturday is sabt — the word looks alike but is another one
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “four” in Arabic?
«أربعة», read “арбаʿа”. In a live sentence: “أربعة من فضلك” — Four, please. Numeral, level A0, from the set “numbers and counting”; written with the characters أ, ر, ب, ع, ة.
How is “أربعة” written in Latin letters?
арбаʿа. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
In the middle sits the ayn — that squeezed throat. The numbers from three to ten are built alike: plural noun, opposite gender. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.