في البداية
“في البداية” (фи аль-бидяая) — at first in Arabic. Adverb, level A2, topic — time, days and hours. The familiar bidyaaya, a beginning, under a preposition: "in the beginning". You already know "firstly" — that one is about the order of arguments, this one about the course of the story. In a live sentence: “في البداية درست العربية” — At first I studied Arabic. Written with the characters ف, ي, ا, ل, ب, د, ا, ي, ة.
In short
| Written in Arabic | في البداية |
| Read in Latin letters | фи аль-бидяая |
| Translation | at first |
| Part of speech | adverb |
| Level | A2 |
Why it looks that way
The familiar bidyaaya, a beginning, under a preposition: "in the beginning". You already know "firstly" — that one is about the order of arguments, this one about the course of the story
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.
- في البداية درست العربيةфи аль-бидяая дэрасту аль-ʿарабийяAt first I studied Arabic
Nearby words: time, days and hours
Today, tomorrow, in the morning, at six. You cannot arrange to meet without these — let alone understand the answer.
- ساعةсааʿаhourBoth the unit of time and the device: a wristwatch is also saaʿa. Kam as-saaʿa? — what time is it?
- يومйаумdayThe same yawm as in the Quran’s "day of judgement". The days of the week are counted "first", "second"… after Friday
- اليومаль-йаумtodayLiterally "the day". The article has glued on for good, and the phrase has become one adverb
- غداгаданtomorrowThe gh is the gargled one (غ), close to the French r; the sound stretches, and in speech the word comes out ghaadan
- أمسамсyesterdayA short word with a hamza at the front. "Yesterday" does not change the verb: the past tense has said it already
- صباحсабаахmorningKnown from sabah al-khayr. The morning in Arab countries starts early: the market comes alive before the heat
- مساءмасааeveningKnown from masaa al-khayr. The evening begins at sunset, and after noon nobody says "morning" anymore
- ليلлайлnightThe same word as in "A Thousand and One Nights". Layla — "a night" with the ta marbuta — is a woman’s name from the same source
- فطورфутуурbreakfastFrom the root "to break": breakfast breaks the pause of the night. "For breakfast" is fi al-futuur; the same word names the evening meal of the fasting month
- غداءгадааlunchThe main meal of the day, around one or two: the heat sets the schedule. The word shares a root with ghaadan: ghadwa is noon, when the sun stands high
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “time, days and hours”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “at first” in Arabic?
The familiar bidyaaya, a beginning, under a preposition: "in the beginning". You already know "firstly" — that one is about the order of arguments, this one about the course of the story
- How do you say “evening” in Arabic?
Known from masaa al-khayr. The evening begins at sunset, and after noon nobody says "morning" anymore
- How do you say “today” in Arabic?
Literally "the day". The article has glued on for good, and the phrase has become one adverb
- How do you say “lunch” in Arabic?
The main meal of the day, around one or two: the heat sets the schedule. The word shares a root with ghaadan: ghadwa is noon, when the sun stands high
- How do you say “morning” in Arabic?
Known from sabah al-khayr. The morning in Arab countries starts early: the market comes alive before the heat
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 “at first” in Arabic?
«في البداية», read “фи аль-бидяая”. In a live sentence: “في البداية درست العربية” — At first I studied Arabic. Adverb, level A2, from the set “time, days and hours”; written with the characters ف, ي, ا, ل, ب, د, ا, ي, ة.
How is “في البداية” written in Latin letters?
фи аль-бидяая. 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?
The familiar bidyaaya, a beginning, under a preposition: "in the beginning". You already know "firstly" — that one is about the order of arguments, this one about the course of the story. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.