Lesson 4 · أَيْنَ
Where? In, on, from, to
Ask أَيْنَ؟ (ayna, where?) and answer with a preposition. After فِي (in), عَلَى (on), مِنْ (from) and إِلَى (to), the end of the noun changes from -u to -i: الْبَيْتُ becomes فِي الْبَيْتِ (in the house).
Learn with pictures
Tap a picture to hear the sentence.
Examples
أَيْنَ الْكِتَابُ؟aynal-kitaabu?Where is the book?
الْكِتَابُ عَلَى الْمَكْتَبِal-kitaabu ʿalal-maktabiThe book is on the desk
الْوَلَدُ فِي الْبَيْتِal-waladu fil-baytiThe boy is in the house
الْقَلَمُ فِي الْحَقِيبَةِal-qalamu fil-ḥaqiibatiThe pen is in the bag
أَنَا مِنْ بَاكِسْتَانَanaa min baakistaanaI am from Pakistan
ذَهَبَ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِdhahaba ilal-masjidiHe went to the mosque
أَيْنَ مُحَمَّدٌ؟ayna muḥammadun?Where is Muhammad?
هُوَ فِي السُّوقِhuwa fis-suuqiHe is in the market
Key points
- أَيْنَ الْكِتَابُ؟ Where is the book? الْكِتَابُ عَلَى الْمَكْتَبِ The book is on the desk.
- This -i ending is called jarr. You will hear it in every Arabic sentence with a preposition.
- When al- comes after a vowel, its a- is not pronounced: فِي الْبَيْتِ is said fil-bayti.
Practice
Tap a question to see the answer.
Say “The book is in the house”.
الْكِتَابُ فِي الْبَيْتِ al-kitaabu fil-bayti
Ask “Where is the pen?”
أَيْنَ الْقَلَمُ؟ aynal-qalamu?
Fix the ending: فِي الْمَسْجِدُ
فِي الْمَسْجِدِ fil-masjidi
After a preposition the noun ends in -i.