مكتب
“مكتب” (мактаб) — office in Arabic. Noun, level A1, topic — buildings and premises. From the verb "to write": the office is "the place of writing", as the desk is maktab. One word for the study and the desk — context tells them apart. In a live sentence: “المكتب كبير” — The office is big. Written with the characters م, ك, ت, ب. One of 25 words in the set “buildings and premises” in the Arabic course.
In short
| Written in Arabic | مكتب |
| Read in Latin letters | мактаб |
| Translation | office |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
From the verb "to write": the office is "the place of writing", as the desk is maktab. One word for the study and the desk — context tells them apart
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.
- المكتب كبيرаль-мактаб кябирThe office is big
Nearby words: buildings and premises
Where to go and what is done there. These words are read off a sign more often than they are spoken.
- مطعمматʿамrestaurantFrom the root "to eat": matʿam is literally "a place of eating". The same root as taʿaam — food
- مقهىмахкаcoffeehouseBuilt on qahwa. Sitting for hours over one cup is the norm here, not an abuse of it
- ميدانмайданa square (plaza)The word crossed into many languages through Turkish; a square was the place where people gathered, and the name kept the job
- متجرматджарshopFrom taajir — a merchant: matjar is "the merchant’s place". Shops close for lunch and in the evening — the hours are not printed on the sign
- سوقсуукmarketThe covered bazaars of Baghdad and Damascus are suuqs; the word also names the whole trading quarter of a city
- صيدليةсайдалийяpharmacyThe s here is emphatic — saydaliyya said with a press. The ta marbuta on the end
- مصرفмасрафbankFrom the verb "to exchange (money)": a bank is "the place of exchange". The street exchange desk is called by the same word
- 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
- بسطةбистаcounterLiterally "a spread": at an eastern market the goods lie not on a shelf but on a counter covered with cloth. Both the counter and the market around it live by this word
- بقاليةбакаалияgrocery (dry goods shop)The same word that traveled into European languages as the grocer’s trade: a shop of dry goods. The little shop by the house where one gets bread, milk and eggs
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “buildings and premises”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “office” in Arabic?
From the verb "to write": the office is "the place of writing", as the desk is maktab. One word for the study and the desk — context tells them apart
- How do you say “bank” in Arabic?
From the verb "to exchange (money)": a bank is "the place of exchange". The street exchange desk is called by the same word
- How do you say “a square (plaza)” in Arabic?
The word crossed into many languages through Turkish; a square was the place where people gathered, and the name kept the job
- How do you say “grocery (dry goods shop)” in Arabic?
The same word that traveled into European languages as the grocer’s trade: a shop of dry goods. The little shop by the house where one gets bread, milk and eggs
- How do you say “pharmacy” in Arabic?
The s here is emphatic — saydaliyya said with a press. The ta marbuta on the end
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 “office” in Arabic?
«مكتب», read “мактаб”. In a live sentence: “المكتب كبير” — The office is big. Noun, level A1, from the set “buildings and premises”; written with the characters م, ك, ت, ب.
How is “مكتب” written in Latin letters?
мактаб. 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?
From the verb "to write": the office is "the place of writing", as the desk is maktab. One word for the study and the desk — context tells them apart. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.