إلى اليسار
“إلى اليسار” (иля аль-ясаар) — to the left in Arabic. Adverb, level A1, topic — asking the way. The partner of ila al-yamiin. The long aa in the middle is what keeps the pair apart by ear — listen for it. In a live sentence: “المقهى إلى اليسار” — The coffeehouse is to the left. Written with the characters إ, ل, ى, ا, ل, ي, س, ا, ر. One of 18 words in the set “asking the way” in the Arabic course.
In short
| Written in Arabic | إلى اليسار |
| Read in Latin letters | иля аль-ясаар |
| Translation | to the left |
| Part of speech | adverb |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
The partner of ila al-yamiin. The long aa in the middle is what keeps the pair apart by ear — listen for it
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.
- المقهى إلى اليسارаль-махка иля аль-ясаарThe coffeehouse is to the left
Nearby words: asking the way
Right, left, straight on, how far. You ask the way rarely — and always at the moment when there is no time to work it out.
- أين؟айна؟where?It opens the question. For "where to" there is another word, ila ayna, and Arabic keeps the two strictly apart
- هناхунаhereThe opening h is the light one, a plain breath. The partner hunaaka — there — differs by one syllable
- هناكхунаакаthereThe long aa at the end points into the distance: "here" and "over there" are told apart by one vowel
- إلى اليمينиля аль-яминto the rightLiterally "to the right one". Yamiin is both the right hand and the right side: table manners rest on the right hand
- إلى الأمامиля аль-амаамstraightLiterally "forward". The Arabic "straight" is "ahead, without turning", and that is how it is understood
- قريبкарибcloseThe antonym is baʿiid, far. To the question "is it far?" a short qariib is the best answer
- بعيدбаʿидfarThe ayn in the middle — the squeezed throat. "It is far" in answer to "where?" is also the polite apology for a hard address
- كيف أصل إلىкейфа асиль иляhow do I get toLiterally "how do I arrive to": an Arab asks in the first person. The familiar asil and ila already add up into the question
- وصلвасаляto arriveWasaltu — I arrived — you have said already; now the verb stands on its own. Where to is answered by ila: wasaltu ila al-funduq
- في الجهة الأخرىфи аль-джиха аль-ухраon the other sideLiterally "in the other side": the familiar jiha — a side — plus "other". Across the road means on that side
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “asking the way”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to the left” in Arabic?
The partner of ila al-yamiin. The long aa in the middle is what keeps the pair apart by ear — listen for it
- How do you say “far” in Arabic?
The ayn in the middle — the squeezed throat. "It is far" in answer to "where?" is also the polite apology for a hard address
- How do you say “there” in Arabic?
The long aa at the end points into the distance: "here" and "over there" are told apart by one vowel
- How do you say “on the other side” in Arabic?
Literally "in the other side": the familiar jiha — a side — plus "other". Across the road means on that side
- How do you say “close” in Arabic?
The antonym is baʿiid, far. To the question "is it far?" a short qariib is the best answer
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 “to the left” in Arabic?
«إلى اليسار», read “иля аль-ясаар”. In a live sentence: “المقهى إلى اليسار” — The coffeehouse is to the left. Adverb, level A1, from the set “asking the way”; written with the characters إ, ل, ى, ا, ل, ي, س, ا, ر.
How is “إلى اليسار” written in Latin letters?
иля аль-ясаар. 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 partner of ila al-yamiin. The long aa in the middle is what keeps the pair apart by ear — listen for it. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.