حافلة
“حافلة” (хаафила) — bus in Arabic. Noun, level A1, topic — transport. Literally "the carrier woman" — from the verb "to carry". One word for the city bus and the intercity coach alike. In a live sentence: “الحافلة كبيرة” — The bus is big. Written with the characters ح, ا, ف, ل, ة. One of 14 words in the set “transport” in the Arabic course.
In short
| Written in Arabic | حافلة |
| Read in Latin letters | хаафила |
| Translation | bus |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
Literally "the carrier woman" — from the verb "to carry". One word for the city bus and the intercity coach alike
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.
- الحافلة كبيرةаль-хаафила кябираThe bus is big
Nearby words: transport
Bus, metro, taxi, stop, station. These are words you need to recognize in writing — off a departure board and off a sign.
- قطارкитаарtrainThe t is emphatic. From the verb "to cut": the train "cuts" its way
- محطةмахаттаstationOne word for the station and the stop: mahattat al-qitaar — the railway station, mahattat al-haafila — the bus stop. The shadda tt is held long
- سيارة أجرةсаййаара уджраtaxiLiterally "a car for hire": ujra is the fare. You hail one by voice, the way people do at stations
- موقفмавкифbus stopYou have met the harness mawqif al-haafila — the bus stop; here the word stands alone. Mawqif is also the position of a car in a parking lot
- راكبраакибpassengerLiterally "the riding one": the one who got into the transport. By ear do not mix it with muraakib — the controller: the vowel is longer and the person is another
- مقعدмакʿадseatFrom the familiar yajlis — to sit: the place where one sits. Maqʿad qurb an-naafida — a window seat — you have already assembled
- مقبضмукаббадhandrailFrom "to hold": what the hand grabs. The door handle is the same word: at home and on the bus one grabs the miqabbad
- مفتشмуфаттишticket inspectorLiterally "the one who examines": the one who looks things over. The luggage at the border is checked by the same muftiish — the trade is one
- أجرةуджраfareYou have already paid sayyaarat ujra — the taxi is literally "a hire car"; ujra is the payment itself. How much is it — kam ujrat ar-rihla?
- مكتظмуктаттpacked (crowded)From takthaaf — a crush: so many people that riding is tight. A kin of the familiar traffic jam, izdihaam muruuriyy — the same squeeze, only standing still
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “transport”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “bus” in Arabic?
Literally "the carrier woman" — from the verb "to carry". One word for the city bus and the intercity coach alike
- How do you say “handrail” in Arabic?
From "to hold": what the hand grabs. The door handle is the same word: at home and on the bus one grabs the miqabbad
- How do you say “taxi” in Arabic?
Literally "a car for hire": ujra is the fare. You hail one by voice, the way people do at stations
- How do you say “packed (crowded)” in Arabic?
From takthaaf — a crush: so many people that riding is tight. A kin of the familiar traffic jam, izdihaam muruuriyy — the same squeeze, only standing still
- How do you say “seat” in Arabic?
From the familiar yajlis — to sit: the place where one sits. Maqʿad qurb an-naafida — a window seat — you have already assembled
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 “bus” in Arabic?
«حافلة», read “хаафила”. In a live sentence: “الحافلة كبيرة” — The bus is big. Noun, level A1, from the set “transport”; written with the characters ح, ا, ف, ل, ة.
How is “حافلة” written in Latin letters?
хаафила. 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?
Literally "the carrier woman" — from the verb "to carry". One word for the city bus and the intercity coach alike. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.