تكلم
“تكلم” (такаллама) — to speak in Arabic. Verb, level A1, topic — verbs. "I speak" is atakallamu. A language takes the article: atakallamu al-ʿarabiyya — I speak Arabic, with no preposition in sight. In a live sentence: “أتتكلم العربية قليلا” — I speak a little Arabic. Written with the characters ت, ك, ل, م. One of 111 words in the set “verbs” in the Arabic course.
In short
| Written in Arabic | تكلم |
| Read in Latin letters | такаллама |
| Translation | to speak |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
"I speak" is atakallamu. A language takes the article: atakallamu al-ʿarabiyya — I speak Arabic, with no preposition in sight
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.
- أتتكلم العربية قليلاатакалламу аль-ʿарабиййа кадыляанI speak a little Arabic
Nearby words: verbs
I want, I can, I am going, I know. The verb holds a sentence together: a few of the most frequent ones cover more everyday talk than a long list of nouns.
- أريدуридI wantAfter it the noun comes with no preposition: urid qahwa — I want coffee. The polite request is built like this: urid… min fadlik
- أحبухиббI loveThe shadda bb is a long b. After it the noun takes the article: uhibb al-qahwa — I love coffee
- ذهبзахабаto goIn the dictionary the verb stands in the past: dhahaba — he went. "To go" and "to ride" are one verb; the manner comes from the setting
- أكلакалаto eatThe past again in the dictionary: akala — he ate. "I eat" is aakul, and the first a in it is long
- شربшарибаto drink"I drink" is ashrab. The same verb covers smoking: one "drinks a cigarette", word for word
- قرأкараʾаto read"I read" is aqraʾu, and the hamza on the end holds: the vowel is not swallowed. Quran — the same root: "a reading aloud"
- عَمِلَʿамилаto workBegins with the ayn. "I work" is aʿmal, and the same word means "to do": "what do you do?" asks both the job and the action
- يجبяджибI mustAn impersonal "one must": there is no subject pronoun with it. "One must work" is yajib an aʿmal
- سكنсаканаto live"I live" is askunu. The same root in sukkaan — residents, population — and in maskiin — residential
- يملكйамликto ownThe bookish "to possess". In everyday life nobody says "to have": "I have" is ʿandi, literally "at me". Yamlik lives in listings and papers
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “verbs”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to speak” in Arabic?
"I speak" is atakallamu. A language takes the article: atakallamu al-ʿarabiyya — I speak Arabic, with no preposition in sight
- How do you say “to work” in Arabic?
Begins with the ayn. "I work" is aʿmal, and the same word means "to do": "what do you do?" asks both the job and the action
- How do you say “to go” in Arabic?
In the dictionary the verb stands in the past: dhahaba — he went. "To go" and "to ride" are one verb; the manner comes from the setting
- How do you say “to own” in Arabic?
The bookish "to possess". In everyday life nobody says "to have": "I have" is ʿandi, literally "at me". Yamlik lives in listings and papers
- How do you say “to read” in Arabic?
"I read" is aqraʾu, and the hamza on the end holds: the vowel is not swallowed. Quran — the same root: "a reading aloud"
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 speak” in Arabic?
«تكلم», read “такаллама”. In a live sentence: “أتتكلم العربية قليلا” — I speak a little Arabic. Verb, level A1, from the set “verbs”; written with the characters ت, ك, ل, م.
How is “تكلم” written in Latin letters?
такаллама. 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?
"I speak" is atakallamu. A language takes the article: atakallamu al-ʿarabiyya — I speak Arabic, with no preposition in sight. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.