arabe
/a.ʁab/masculine
Arabic in French is arabe.
arabe is the word for the Arabic language. It can also function as an adjective meaning of, from or pertaining to Arab countries or cultural behaviour.
Meaning: language (name)
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
When using the word as a noun to refer to the language, it is typically used with the definite article, often contracted as l'arabe. To say someone is speaking or writing in Arabic, use the preposition en followed by the language name without an article, as in en arabe. As an adjective, arabe is invariable in gender, meaning it stays the same for both masculine and feminine nouns. However, when describing plural nouns, it becomes arabes.
How do you pronounce it?
The word has 2 syllables and is pronounced /a.ʁab/.
What mistakes should you avoid?
Do not capitalize the word for the language or the adjective in French, unlike in English. Only capitalize arabe if it is the first word in a sentence.
Did you know?
- In French, the word arabe is capitalized when used as a noun to describe a person, but it remains lowercase when it describes the language or is used as an adjective.
- The French language has absorbed many words from arabe through the Middle Ages, such as sucre for 'sugar' and algorithme for 'algorithm'.
- In French literature and cinema, the term un arabe can carry heavy colonial connotations depending on the context, moving far beyond a simple description of nationality.
Examples in context
- Il parle en arabe.He speaks Arabic.This sentence demonstrates how to say someone speaks Arabic using the form arabe.Tatoeba #1851148 by Rovo, translation #435004 by lukaszpp
- C'est un nom arabe.It's an Arabic name.This sentence uses arabe as an adjective to describe a name.Tatoeba #8817579 by Aiji, translation #5927076 by mailohilohi
- Sami a appris l'arabe.Sami learned Arabic.This sentence shows the use of arabe as the language name.Tatoeba #6809779 by GB3, translation #6809713 by OsoHombre
- J'ai toujours été fasciné par la langue arabe et j'aimerais l'apprendre.I have always been fascinated by the Arabic language, and I would like to learn it.
- Nous avons discuté de différentes variantes de l'arabe lors de notre voyage au Moyen-Orient.We discussed various variants of Arabic during our trip to the Middle East.
- 106 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lucas and Emma are discussing their language studies at a cafe.
- LucasTu étudies l'arabe en ce moment ?Are you studying Arabic at the moment?
- EmmaOui, j'apprends l'arabe pour mon voyage.Yes, I am learning Arabic for my trip.
- LucasC'est un cours d'arabe très difficile ?Is it a very difficult Arabic course?
- EmmaUn peu, mais c'est passionnant.A little, but it is fascinating.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “arabic” translations and entries arabe, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
