Buildings and premises in Arabic
25 words in Arabic on the topic “buildings and premises”: مطعم — restaurant, مقهى — coffeehouse, ميدان — a square (plaza), متجر — shop.
25 words on the topic
- 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
- مستشفىмусташфааhospitalLiterally "the place of treatment" — from the same verb as tabiib. The walk-in clinic and the doctor’s office are yaada, and in the mustashfaa one is treated lying down
- مكتبмактабofficeFrom 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
- جامعةджамиʿаuniversityLiterally "the gathering one": a university gathers students and sciences in one courtyard. The same base as jumʿa — Friday, the day of gatherings
- مدرسةмадрасаschoolFrom dars — a lesson: the school is "the place of study", and the ma- prefix makes a place out of a verb, as in matbakh. The word is familiar worldwide from the Arabic names of schools and academies
- بريدбариидmailBoth the office, the mail service and the post in general. Electronic mail is bariid iliktroni, but in conversation almost everyone lives in messengers
- محطة الحافلاتмахаттат аль-хаафилаатbus station"The station of the buses" — on the model of the familiar fuel station, mahattat al-waquud. In the plural: there are many buses
- مرسىмарсааpierFrom the verb "to drop anchor": the place where a boat is tied. The bigger port has another name — miinaaʾ
- مكتب الصرافةмактаб ас-сарафаexchange officeLiterally "the office of exchange": the familiar "office" plus sarfa — from sarf al-ʿumla, currency exchange. A desk with a window — and the money is changed
- حديقة الحيوانхадиикат аль-хайаваанzooLiterally "the garden of animals": the park you know — hadiiqat ʿamma — plus the beasts, and you have a zoo
- سيركсиркcircusA Latin word, like in the European languages: the circus wanders the Mediterranean with its tent. You will recognize the sound at once
- محطة الإطفاءмахаттат аль-итфааʾfire stationLiterally "the station of extinguishing": from the verb "to put out". Not the police and not the hospital — the fire has a station of its own
- مغسلة السياراتмагсаля ас-саййаараатcar washThe familiar maghsala — the laundry; hang the cars on it and you have a car wash. They are washed with the same verb "to wash"
- وكالة سياحيةвикааля сийяхийяtravel agencyWakaala you met as a power of attorney: an agency and an errand share the root "to entrust". Tickets and trips are sold exactly there
- الشارع الرئيسيаш-шаариʿ ар-раʾисийmain streetRaʾiisiy is from raʾiis — a chief: the main street is the chief over all the others. The shops stand exactly on it
- شباك التذاكرшаббаак ат-тазаакирticket windowLiterally "the window of the tickets": the ticket office is a latticed window, shabbaak. The same root as shubbaak — a shutter
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How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
- المطعم هناаль-матʿам хунаThe restaurant is here
- المقهى قريب من البيتаль-махка кариб мин аль-бейтThe coffeehouse is close to home
- الميدان كبيرаль-майдан кябирThe square is big
- المتجر هناаль-матджар хунаThe shop is here
- السوق كبيرас-суук кябирThe market is big
- الصيدلية هناكас-сайдалийя хунаакаThe pharmacy is over there
What is worth knowing about these words
مطعم (матʿам) — restaurant. From the root "to eat": matʿam is literally "a place of eating". The same root as taʿaam — food.
مقهى (махка) — coffeehouse. Built on qahwa. Sitting for hours over one cup is the norm here, not an abuse of it.
ميدان (майдан) — a square (plaza). The word crossed into many languages through Turkish; a square was the place where people gathered, and the name kept the job.
متجر (матджар) — shop. From 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.
Test yourself
Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than recognizing a familiar word — and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “restaurant” in Arabic?
From the root "to eat": matʿam is literally "a place of eating". The same root as taʿaam — food
- 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 “mail” in Arabic?
Both the office, the mail service and the post in general. Electronic mail is bariid iliktroni, but in conversation almost everyone lives in messengers
- How do you say “car wash” in Arabic?
The familiar maghsala — the laundry; hang the cars on it and you have a car wash. They are washed with the same verb "to wash"
- How do you say “shop” in Arabic?
From 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
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
Where to go and what is done there. These words are read off a sign more often than they are spoken.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- 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.
- Study spread over days wins not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “restaurant” in Arabic?
«مطعم», read “матʿам”. From the root "to eat": matʿam is literally "a place of eating". The same root as taʿaam — food. It is one of 25 words in the set “buildings and premises” — the rest are in the table above.
How many words for buildings and places do you need to start?
The whole set on this page is 25 words, but there is no need to start with all of it: the words you will need in the next few days are enough. Take them a few at a time — five to seven new ones per session.