حرب
ḥarb/ħarb/Egyptian Arabic, feminine
To say war in Arabic, use حرب (ḥarb), the word for an armed conflict. If unsure, use حرب. Wiktionary also lists حَرْب (ḥarb) and مُحَارَبَة (muḥāraba).
Meaning: conflict involving organized use of arms (noun)
Ways to say it
| Arabic | Romanization (Wiktionary) | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| حرب | ḥarb | /ħarb/ | Egyptian Arabic, feminine |
| حَرْب | ḥarb | feminine | |
| مُحَارَبَة | muḥāraba | feminine |
حَرْب refers to the state of war or to a specific conflict. To say war on something, such as war on corruption, put the preposition عَلَى after it, as in حَرْبٌ عَلَى.
Which one should you use?
حَرْب means a war. مُحَارَبَة (muḥāraba) is more often about the act of fighting or the process of struggling against something.
Is it said differently in some regions?
Egyptian Arabic uses the same word حرب.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
حَرْب is grammatically feminine, so words that refer back to it take feminine forms. The verb to wage war is حَارَبَ, and the phrase شَنَّ حَرْبًا is the standard way to say to launch or wage a war.
How do you pronounce it?
It is pronounced /ħarb/, one syllable, starting with a breathy h sound made deep in the throat.
Did you know?
- The Arabic word حَرْب shares an ancient ancestor with the Hebrew word for 'sword', חֶרֶב.
Examples in context
- إن أرادت حربا، فها هي حربها.If she wants a war, she's got a war.حربا appears twice, and the feminine pronoun on حربها refers back to the war.Tatoeba #5818288 by OsoHombre, translation #5817665 by OsoHombre
- أعلنت الجزائر حربا ضد الفساد.Algeria has declared war on corruption.حربا is the object of the verb declared, with ضد meaning against.Tatoeba #11664137 by dididodo, translation #8578861 by Amastan
- أعلنت تلك الدولة حربا ضد جارتها.The country declared war against its neighbor.Again حربا follows the verb declared to say a country went to war.Tatoeba #9840369 by OsoHombre, translation #47839 by Zifre
- نشهد حالياً حربًا على الإرهاب في العديد من الدول العربية.We are currently witnessing a war against terrorism in many Arab countries.
- شهدت هذه المدينة المعركة الأخيرة بين الجيشين المتحاربين.This city witnessed the last battle between the warring armies.
- 14 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends are discussing a history documentary.
- مريم Maryamهل شفت الفيلم اللي عن الحرب؟hal shoft el film elly 'an el harb?Did you see the movie about the war?
- أحمد Ahmedأيوه، كانت حرب صعبة جداً.aywa, kanet harb sa'ba geddan.Yes, it was a very difficult war.
- مريم Maryamفعلاً، الحرب غيرت تاريخ المنطقة.fe'lan, el harb ghayyar tarikh el mantiqa.Indeed, the war changed the history of the region.
- أحمد Ahmedده حقيقي، التاريخ مبيتنسيش.da ha'ee'y, el tarikh mabyetnesish.That is true, history is not forgotten.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “war” translations and entries حرب, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries حرب, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
