Ways to say it
| Arabic | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| خُضَر | ḵuḍar | feminine, plural |
| خُضَار | ḵuḍār | masculine, plural |
| خَضْرَاوَات | ḵaḍrāwāt | feminine, plural |
| بَقْلَة | baqla | feminine |
The terms for vegetable refer to plants raised for their edible parts. While the noun refers to the food itself, if you want to describe someone as a vegetarian or something as being plant-based, you should use the adjective نَبَاتِيّ. For example, you can ask هل لديكم أطباق نباتية؟ to ask, "Do you have vegetarian dishes?"
Which one should you use?
There are several ways to express vegetables depending on the grammatical context. خُضَر and خَضْرَاوَات are both feminine plurals, whereas خُضَار is a masculine plural. While خُضَر and خُضَار are broken plurals, خَضْرَاوَات is a sound feminine plural often used in more formal or technical contexts.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The form خُضَر is a broken plural that is grammatically treated as feminine. The form خُضَار is a broken plural that is grammatically treated as masculine. The form خَضْرَاوَات is a sound feminine plural.
How do you pronounce it?
ḵuḍar
Did you know?
- The Arabic words for vegetables like خُضَر and خُضَار are derived from the root word for the color 'green'.
- Historically, the term بَقْلَة was used in ancient texts to describe any small plant that grew from the earth.
- The word نَبَاتِيّ is used for both a 'vegetarian' person and a 'plant-based' product, covering two distinct English concepts with one term.
Examples in context
- أنا أشتري خُضَر طازجة كل يوم.ana ashtarī khudar ṭāzija kull yawm.I buy fresh vegetables every day.
- هذه خُضَر محلية من المزرعة.hādhihi khudar maḥalliyya min al-mazra'a.These are local vegetables from the farm.
Example conversation
Ziad and Maryam are in the kitchen preparing a meal.
- زياد Ziadيا مريم، هل لدينا خُضَر كافية للطبخ؟yā Maryam, hal ladaynā khudar kāfiya lil-ṭabkh?Maryam, do we have enough vegetables for cooking?
- مريم Maryamنعم، لقد اشتريت خُضَر كثيرة من السوق.na'am, laqad ishtaraytu khudar kathīra min al-sūq.Yes, I bought many vegetables from the market.
- زياد Ziadممتاز، هل يمكنني مساعدتك في تقطيعها؟mumtāz, hal yumkinunī musā'adatuki fī taqṭi'ihā?Excellent, can I help you chop them?
- مريم Maryamشكراً لك يا زياد، هذا لطف منك.shukran laka yā Ziyād, hādhā luṭfun mink.Thank you Ziad, that is kind of you.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “vegetable” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
