محطة
“محطة” (махатта) — station in Arabic. Noun, level A1, topic — transport. One 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. In a live sentence: “المحطة قريبة” — The station is close. Written with the characters م, ح, ط, ة. One of 14 words in the set “transport” in the Arabic course.
In short
| Written in Arabic | محطة |
| Read in Latin letters | махатта |
| Translation | station |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
One 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
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.
- المحطة قريبةаль-махатта карибаThe station is close
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.
- حافلةхаафилаbusLiterally "the carrier woman" — from the verb "to carry". One word for the city bus and the intercity coach alike
- قطارкитаарtrainThe t is emphatic. From the verb "to cut": the train "cuts" its way
- 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 “station” in Arabic?
One 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
- 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 “station” in Arabic?
«محطة», read “махатта”. In a live sentence: “المحطة قريبة” — The station is close. Noun, level A1, from the set “transport”; written with the characters م, ح, ط, ة.
How is “محطة” written in Latin letters?
махатта. 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?
One 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. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.