Arabic learners can be confused about the time of day in Arabic sayings as they are used to having just two periods in the day, which are morning and evening. In Arabic, specifically in Islam, our day times are divided according to the five prayer times. Curious to discover more? Keep reading this blog to learn Arabic sayings of different daytimes, the Islamic word for time, and how to master the Arabic language in the shortest time.
What Is the Islamic Word for Time?
Time as a general concept in Arabic and Islam means “Waqt وقت”, you can use this word to refer to the following:
- Once you are asked about the time “What time is it?”, you can reply “It’s 1:30 PM, referring to “Waqt Al zaheera وقت الظهيرة”.
- For asking about time “when” we say “Mata متى” to know the time of this thing I am asking about “waqt or time”. For instance, when I ask about the time of Sara’s getting out of school I say “When does Sara get out of school? In Arabic “Mata takhrog Sara mn al madrasa متى تخرج سارة من المدرسة؟” so you can simply use “mata” to ask about “waqt”.
But if you mean by “time” the number of repeating something, like “How many times do you go to the club? Just one time.” this meaning in Arabic meets the word “Maraa مرة” you can say:
-“km maraa tzhab ela al nady كم مرة تذهب إلى النادي؟”
-“maraa مرة”
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What Do Arabs Say in the Morning?
Keep in mind Arabs must greet them and say hello once you see them otherwise they will think they are not welcome. In English, you can say good morning or have a great day in the morning. Whatever, in Arabic, we have many equivalents for this phrase.
Common Arabic Morning Expressions
Generally, you can use “Assalamu Alaikum السلام عليكم” which means “peace be upon you” any time throughout the day to greet someone or to start up a conversation. Here are the most common expressions in Arabic you can say in the morning:
Sabah Al Khair صباح الخير
This is the equivalent of “Good morning”, this one is the most commonly used by Arabs. It literally means your morning is full of goodness and well. If someone says “Sabah Al Khair صباح الخير” you can answer “Sabah Al Noor صباح النور”, which literally means your morning is full of light. If you want a wider grasp of the Arabic alphabet, basic grammar, and essential vocabulary, you can join Arabic language course that will help you master them.
In different Arab countries, you can hear this greeting in different ways, they can say “Assakom blkheer عساكم بخير”, This is a slang term that is used in Gulf countries.
In other countries, like Morocco, you can come across the word “Allah Yesbhkom blkheerالله يصبحكم بخير” which means may Allah make your morning happy and good.
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Time of Day in Arabic Sayings
Arabs divide their day depending on the timings of the five daily prayers. They primarily determine their times on a day according to the prayer time. For instance, you can find a man who says “Well, I will meet you after Al-Maghrib”. So, using the times of prayer to express the time of Day in Arabic sayings is widely common.
Vocabularies of Time in Arabic:
Around the world, we have fixed known times that are:
- The morning, which we call in Arabic “Sabah صباح”. This time is from 6:00 AM to 12:00 PM.
- Afternoon, which we call in Arabic “Baad alzur بعد الظهر” and this extends to around 6:00 PM.
- Evening, which we call it in Arabic “Al-Masaa المساء”, it starts from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM.
- Night, which we call it in Arabic “Al-Layl الليل”, typically takes the rest of the day until the next day at 6:00 AM.
Arabs, commonly use the above-mentioned times plus the times of prayers in their speech about time. Let us first take a look at the five obligatory prayers:
- The first prayer that we have is “Salat Al-Fajrصلاة الفجر“It’s on dawn and before sunrise.
- In the mid-day we “Salat Al-Zuhrصلاة الظهر“ when the sun passes its highest, around 12 AM or 1 PM.
- And on the end of the afternoon, we have “Salat al-Asr صلاة العصر”, it’s about 3 PM or 4 PM.
- Directly after sunset, we have “Salat Al-Maghrib صلاة المغرب”, usually it’s at 5, 6, or 7 PM it depending on Winter time and summer time.
- Finally, “Salat Al-Isha صلاة العشاء”, which is between sunset and midnight.
Let me demonstrate how prayer times can influence Muslims’ schedules; typically Arabs, especially Muslims, use these times during their speech to express the particular times they mean. For instance, instead of saying “I will finish up my work after Salat Al-Isha صلاة العشاء” rather than saying “I will finish up my work today in the evening”. You can conclude the particular time, maybe after 7 or 8 PM.
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Expressions and Phrases about Time
Here are some important vocabulary and expressions that are reliable for speaking your mind and expressing anything you want to say related to time.
Units of Time
First, let’s start with the essential vocabulary words that are related to time, the time units:
- “Sana سنة” that means a year.
- “usbuu3 أسبوع”, which means a week.
- “youm يوم”, which means a day.
- “saa3a ساعة”, which means an hour.
- “dakeka دقيقة”, which means a second.
- “lahza لحظة”, which means a moment.
They are the most important vocabularies that are related to time.
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Important Expressions About Time in Arabic
We have gathered important expressions that you can’t dispense with in your daily life:
- If you want to inform someone this is the time to leave you can use:
- “Now is the time toحان الوقت ل”
- Asking someone to hurry up, you can use this expression:
- “time is running out الوقت يداهمنا”
- If you want to tell someone “It’s still happening so far”, you can say:
- “so far, until now إلى الآن”
- If you want to say this thing certainly will happen, you can say:
- “sooner or later عاجلًا أم آجلًا”
- To greet someone in the morning, you can say:
- “Good Morning صباح الخير”
- To greet someone in the evening, you can say:
- “Good evening مساء الخير”
- To greet someone before sleeping, you can say:
“sleep tight تصبح على خير”
- To greet someone any time, you can say:
“Peace be upon you السلام عليكم”
or
“Hello أهلًا وسهلًا”
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Talking about Hours
Taking about hours in Arabic differs from any other language. In Arabic, they count the hours and say the time in ordinal numbers, so they say it’s the first hour instead of saying it’s one, the second hour instead of two, the third hour instead of 3, and so on. In this way, you find talking about hours in Arabic as follows:
1-one o’clock:
“الساعَة الوَاحِدَة al-sa3a al-waḥidah”
2-two o’clock:
“الساعَة الثانِيَة al-sa3aa al-thanya”
3-three o’clock
“الساعَة الثالِثَة al-sa3aa al-ṯhaliṯha”
4-four o’clock:
“الساعَة الرابِعَة al-sa3aa al-rabe3a”
5-five o’clock:
“الساعَة الخامِسَة al-sa3aa al-khamesa”
6-six o’clock:
“ الساعَة السادِسَة al-sa3aa al-sadesa”
7-seven o’clock:
“الساعَة السابِعَة al-sa3aa al-sabe3a”
8-eight o’clock:
“الساعَة الثامِنَة al-sa3aa al-thamena”
9-nine o’clock:
“الساعَة التاسِعَة al-sa3aa al-tase3a”
10-ten o’clock:
“ الساعَة العاشِرَة al-sa3aa al-ashera”
11-eleven o’clock:
“الساعَة الحادِيَةَ عَشَرَة al-sa3aa al- hadeyat ashr”
12-twelve o’clock:
“الساعَة الثانِيَةَ عَشَرَة al-sa3aa al-thaneyat ashr”
Notably, most Arab countries follow the 12 hours system in timing, you need to know the equivalents of AM and PM:
- AM means in Arabic “صباحًا sabahan”.
- PM means in Arabic “Masaan”.
Now, you are supposed to be aware of how to talk about Hours in Arabic. But what if you are the person who wants to ask about the time or hour, and you say “كم الساعة kaam alsa3aa” that means “What time is it?”.
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Talking about Minutes and Seconds
Talking about minutes is easier than talking about hours as we can simply mention the number of minutes after the hour. A minute in Arabic is called “daqiqa” and the plural noun of it is “daqaek”, so when it’s 1:03 we say “al-waḥidah wa thalath daqaek”.
More Examples for Talking about Hours and Minutes:
- 2:08
Al-thaneya wa thmany daqaek الثانية وثماني دقائق
- 7:30
Al-sabe3a wa thalathoon daqiqa السابعة وثلاثين دقيقة
- 9: 45
Al-tase3a wa arb3 wa khamsoon daqiqa
We can also use the expressions “wal-rubʿ” to refer to a quarter of an hour and “wal-nisf” to refer to half an hour. For instance, at this time 1:30, we can say it like “Al-waḥidah wa thalathoon daqiqa” or “Al-waḥidah wal-nesf” They mean the same, which is “الواحدة وثلاثون دقيقة”.
Test yourself and write in the comments what time it is and we will let you know if it’s correct or not.
“attach here the picture of the clock”
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Time of day in Arabic sayings for friends
With friends, you can talk more conveniently than talking in general with people at work or talking to strangers. You can use the expressions that we have mentioned above or use the ones that are more casual and suitable for talking to friends, here you are:
- In the morning, you can say “Have a good day” by just saying “yess3ed sabahak يسعد صباحك”, which will be kind and cheerful in this early time of the day.
- You can use the same expression for the evening, which means “have a good night” by just saying “yessed messak يسعد مسائك”.
- There are informal ones that you can freely use with your friends.
- Saha al-yesmeen صباح الياسمين or messa al-yesmeen مساء الياسمين means good morning or good evening but With greater warmth and affection.
- At any time of the day, you can say the equivalent meaning of “hello”, which is “marhaba مرحبا” to greet your friends.
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Conclusion
After this blog, we hope you no longer struggle with a time of day in Arabic sayings. Just focus on the main vocabulary words we have mentioned with some practice, you will master expressing them smoothly.
FAQ
Are there equivalent phrases for each greeting in English?
The Arabic language is distinguished by its extensive and diverse vocabulary so it allows you to express every emotion you feel and greet people in different ways.
Is it hard to study the time of day in Arabic?
Practice makes perfect, you need just to keep rehearsing. AI-Walid Academy will support you to master it.
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