The Role of Automata in the History of Technology; in Technology and Culture Vol 5 by S A Bedini pp 24-42; at p. 29. Talking about time is one really great way to practice your ordinal numbers. If you’ve forgotten what they look like, here they are now: English That’s pretty surprising, to be honest, because you’d think that time words would be one of the things you would prioritize in a new language. Of course, not everybody is as exact when telling the time in Arabic as to say the precise minute. Many people may respond more vaguely, so these are also some phrases you should know.

In fact, why not practice giving the time in Arabic right now? Drop us a comment with the current time in Arabic below! The word for night in Arabic is ليل and pronounced as Layl. The Arabic word for night is written as ليالى and the pronunciation is layaal. Evening in Arabic You wouldn’t believe how many tourists get confused and frustrated at bus stations, taxi stands, airports, and train terminals all over the world simply because they don’t understand how to talk about time in the local language. Truth in images from the technical drawings of al-Jazari by J A Aiken, Campanus of Novara, 1994; pp. 325-359; at p. 344. Colloquial dialects use cardinal numbers for the hours and minutes, so they’ll be a little different from the numbers listed above, but not too different.

4. Throughout the Day

If you’re doing a tour of several Arabic-speaking countries, you should of course be aware of these differences and perhaps even become acquainted with these helpful phrases: The phrase for sunrise in Arabic is pronounced as Shurooq a’shams and written شروق الشمس. Day in Arabic But it still always just seems like something to learn later—until your taxi driver is laughing at you because you misheard what time the bus leaves, and now you’re four hours too late for the last bus out of town. The Arabic word for day is written يوم and pronounced as Yaum. Days in Arabic is written أيام and pronounced ayyam. Night in Arabic

Finally is masā’. This refers to the evening, when shadows get longer and people have dinner or go out for walks in the cooler air. So if you’re pressed for time and going to speak a particular Arabic dialect, simply learn the numbers and the words for half and quarter, and you’re pretty much all set! 4. Throughout the Day Arabic has a handy grammatical feature called the “dual,” which counts exactly two of something. So when we say “five oh two,” we don’t need to specify the number either. Using the dual form of “minute” is a way to say that explicitly.There are several words to describe the general time of day in Arabic. However, the underlying culture of these words may be rather different than what you’ve gotten used to in your own language. So that’s why we’ve put together this article. It includes everything you need to know about asking for the time in Arabic, plus some interesting things you might not have considered before. Also keep in mind that we have an article about how to talk about dates in Arabic—another important topic you’ll want to know for your trip. Introduction to the History of Science Vol.11 Part II by George Sarton, Baltimore, William and Wilkins company, 1931, p.632. We’ve put these into the context of simple sentences so that you can see how the concepts are expressed in Arabic. You’ll find out pretty soon that not everything translates directly between Arabic and English! الآن ( al-ʾān) — Now Perhaps, [Aiken says] most important from the point of view of understanding more about the perceptual and intellectual context of Renaissance perspective and of medieval technical drawings, al-Jazari’s illustrations express a fundamental need for the visual communication of useful information about material reality in an age when pictures are most closely associated with the aspatial, the iconic, and the other-worldly.” Jane Andrews Aiken*

And the best part about learning to tell time in another language is that you get opportunities for practice literally every day.However, there are some intricacies—and yes, shortcuts too—that make telling time in Arabic an exciting intellectual challenge.

For that reason, we have to deal with time zones. The common Arabic word for “time zone” is تَوقيت. Next is, logically, afternoon, or baʿd al-ẓuhr. Again, we’re talking about a roughly four-hour period here when the sun is beginning to get a little lower in the sky, and people are generally finishing up their work day.

Minute in Arabic is pronounced Daqeeqah and written as دقيقة while minutes in Arabic language is pronounced as daqaa’iq and written دقائق. Second In Arabic The Arabic word for daytime is written as النهار and the pronunciation is Annahaar. Morning in Arabic In time, over time, out of time—it seems like you can make phrases out of any preposition in English! But notice, though, that in Arabic things are often worded differently. في الوَقت المُحَدَّد ( fī al-waqt al-muḥaddad) — On time When discussing minutes after the hour, we use the ordinal time as well. More occasions to practice your Arabic numbers!