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Common Prepositions

Location and direction

Prepositions take the genitive

A noun after a preposition is in the genitive case (ـِ / ـٍ).

📊 Core prepositions
Arabic Meaning Translit
في in fii
على on 'ala
من from min
إلى to ila
مع with ma'a
عن about/from 'an
💬 Examples
في البَيتِ
fi al-bayti
in the house
📝 Note the kasra ending
على الطاوِلةِ
'ala aṭ-ṭaawilati
on the table
📝 Genitive after على
Direction: من and إلى

من means 'from', إلى means 'to'.

💬 Examples
من البَيتِ إلى المَدرسةِ
min al-bayti ila al-madrasati
from home to school
📝 Pair of directional prepositions
ذَهَبتُ إلى السوقِ
dhahabtu ila as-suuqi
I went to the market
📝 Motion toward
Attached prepositions

بـ (with/by) and لـ (for/to) attach directly to the following word.

💬 Examples
بِالقَلَمِ
bil-qalami
with the pen
📝 بـ prefixed
لِلوَلَدِ
lil-waladi
for the boy
📝 لـ + ال merge