In light of the Gaza and Ukrainian wars, we’ve selected vocabulary related to the theme of “war”, suited for the Elementary (A2) level.

EnglishArabic [Singular/مفرد]TransliterationArabic [Plural/جمع]Transliteration
warحَرْبٌḥarbحُرُوبٌḥurūb
hospitalمُستَشْفَىmustashfāمُستَشْفَيَاتٌmustashfayāt
patientمَرِيضٌmarīḍمَرْضَىmarḍā
foodطَعَامٌṭaʿāmأَطْعِمَةٌaṭʿimah
waterمَاءٌmā’مِيَاهٌmiyā’h
tentخَيْمَةٌkhaymahخِيَامٌkhiyām
familyعَائِلَةٌʿā’ilahعَائِلاتٌʿā’ilāt
houseمَنْزِلٌmanzilمَنَازِلُmanāzil
afraidخَائِفٌkhā’ifخَائِفُونَkhā’ifūn
schoolمَدْرَسَةٌmadrasahمَدَارِسُmadāris
ambulanceسَيَّارَةُ اِسْعَافٍsayyārat ‘isʿāf
tankدَبَّابَةٌdabābahدَبَّابَاتٌdabābāt
missileصَارُوخٌṣārūkhصَوَارِيخُṣawārīkh
helpمُسَاعَدَةٌmusā‘adahمُسَاعَدَاتٌmusā‘adāt
areaمَنْطِقَةٌmanṭiqahمَنَاطِقُmanāṭiq
civilianمَدَنِيٌّmadanīمَدَنِيُّونَmadaniyyūn
injuredمَجْرُوحٌmajrūḥجَرْحَىjarḥā
justiceعَدَالَةٌ‘adāla
educationالتَّعْلِيمal-ta‘līm

Quizlet flashcard: https://quizlet.com/gb/931627277/theme-war-flash-cards/?i=28xyiz&x=1jqt

Here are some useful example sentences for each of the words above.

Example | المثالTranslation الترجمة
الحَرْبُ مُخِيفَةٌ.The war is scary.
هُنَاكَ مُسْتَشْفَيَاتٌ كَثِيرَةٌ فِي المَدِينَةِ.There are many hospitals in the city.
هَذَا الرَّجُلُ مَرِيضٌ.This man is sick.
أَنَا آكُلُ طَعَامًا لَذِيذًا.I am eating delicious food.
المَاءُ مُهِمٌّ لِلْحَيَاةِ.Water is important for life.
نَصَبْنَا خَيْمَةً فِي الغَابَةِ.We set up a tent in the forest.
أَنَا أَعِيشُ مَعَ عَائِلَتِي.I live with my family.
مَنْزِلِي جَمِيلٌ.My house is beautiful.
الأَطْفَالُ خَائِفُونَ مِنَ الصَّوَارِيخِ.The children are afraid of the rockets.
أَذْهَبُ إِلَى المَدْرَسَةِ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ.I go to school every day.
جَاءَتْ سَيَّارَةُ اِسْعَافٍ بِسُرْعَةٍ.An ambulance arrived quickly.
الدَبَّابَةُ تَسِيرُ فِي الشَّارِعِ.The tank is moving in the street.
سَمِعْتُ صَوْتَ صَارُوخٍ فِي اللَّيْلِ.I heard the sound of a rocket at night.
أَحْتَاجُ إِلَى مُسَاعَدَةٍ فِي الدِّرَاسَةِ.I need help with my studies.
أَسْكُنُ فِي مَنْطِقَةٍ هَادِئَةٍ.I live in a quiet area.
المَدَنِيُّونَ يُرِيدُونَ السَّلَامَ.The civilians want peace.
يُعَالِجُ الطَّبِيبُ الجَرْحَى.The doctor treats the wounded.
يَجِبُ أَنْ تَكُونَ هُنَاكَ عَدَالَةٌ لِلْجَمِيعِ.There should be justice for everyone.
التَّعْلِيمُ مُهِمٌّ لِلْمُسْتَقْبَلِ.Education is important for the future.

Key tips for learning vocabulary:

  • Memorise the vocabulary, there is no way around it! It gets easier with time and practice.
  • When memorising nouns and adjectives, make sure you learn the plural forms.
  • When learning a verb, learn the past, present and verbal noun forms. (Bonus: learn the imperative (giving orders) form. E.g. جَلَسَ، يَجْلِسُ، اِجْلِسْ/جُلوسٌ (he sat, he sits, sit!/sitting). This will accelerate your learning and help you make less mistakes. It’s tiresome in the beginning, but you will get used to it and thank yourself later!
  • Put your vocabulary into context by putting them into example sentences which makes the meaning clear. Check with a teacher if the sentences are correct and go through them when you’re memorising the vocabulary, this will help you remember the word better. Alternatively, you can look for ready-made sentences (e.g. this is easy if you’re taking words from a reading comprehension text)
    • Example:
      [1] I arrived at the party late
      [2] The party had finished because I arrived late
    • The second sentence is a more meaningful representation of the word “late” because if I were to read the sentence without knowing the meaning of “late”, I could give a reasonable guess as to what it meant.