عَرَبَة
ʕarabafeminine
The English phrase 'shopping cart' is عَرَبَة (ʕaraba) in Arabic. Wiktionary also lists تُرُولِّي (turūllī).
Meaning: conveyance used to carry items while shopping (noun)
Ways to say it
| Arabic | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| عَرَبَة | ʕaraba | feminine |
| تُرُولِّي | turūllī | masculine |
The term for a conveyance used to carry items while shopping is عَرَبَة. You can also use the more specific formal term عربة تسوق to mean 'shopping cart', عربة تسوق كبيرة for 'big shopping cart' or عربة تسوق صغيرة for 'small shopping cart'.
Which one should you use?
تُرُولِّي is a colloquial loanword from English or French used to refer specifically to a shopping trolley.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In the Gulf region, عربة تسوق is the commonly used term for a shopping cart.
How does it change in a sentence?
To specify a 'shopping' cart, the noun عَرَبَة is often followed by the genitive construction التَّسَوُّقِ (of shopping), resulting in عَرَبَةُ التَّسَوُّقِ.
How do you pronounce it?
The pronunciation of عَرَبَة is ʕaraba.
Did you know?
- While عَرَبَة is used for a shopping cart, it is also the standard word for a baby carriage or stroller. Context is the only way to tell if someone is shopping for groceries or pushing a child.
- The word عَرَبَة can also refer to a train carriage or a railway car in a formal context, showing that the term expands from a small hand-cart to a massive locomotive vehicle.
- In some North African dialects, تُرُولِّي is borrowed from the French 'trolley' rather than English, reflecting the deep colonial linguistic influence of France in the Maghreb region.
Examples in context
- أين عَرَبَة التسوق؟ayna 'arabatu at-tasawwuq?Where is the shopping cart?
- أحتاج إلى عَرَبَة جديدة.ahtaju ila 'arabatin jadidah.I need a new cart.
Example conversation
Yousef and Layla are entering a supermarket.
- يوسف Youssefهَلْ نَحْتَاجُ إِلَى عَرَبَةٍ يَا لَيْلَى؟hal naḥtāju ilā ‘arabatin yā Laylā?Do we need a cart, Layla?
- ليلى Laylaنَعَم، سَنَشْتَرِي أَشْيَاءَ كَثِيرَةً اليَوْمَ.na’am, sanashtarī ashyā’a kathīratan al-yawm.Yes, we will buy many things today.
- يوسف Youssefحَسَنًا، سَأَبْحَثُ عَنْ عَرَبَةٍ خَالِيَةٍ.ḥasanan, sa-abḥathu ‘an ‘arabatin khāliyah.Okay, I will look for an empty cart.
- ليلى Laylaشُكْرًا لَكَ يَا يُوسُف.shukran laka yā Yūsuf.Thank you, Yousef.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “shopping cart” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
