Arabic · Unit 2 · Lesson 2
The Family
One win: show a family photo and walk through it aloud — this is my father, he's an engineer; this is his mother… — switching correctly between “my” and “his”, and between “he” and “she”.
1. The family, in pairs
Unit 2's words come in male/female pairs — the ة from Lesson 1 is doing the same work. Press, listen, repeat:
He-side
والِد · جَدّ · عَمّ · اِبْن · أَخ
father · grandfather · paternal uncle · son · brother
She-side
والِدَة · جَدَّة · عَمَّة · اِبْنَة · أُخْت
mother · grandmother · paternal aunt · daughter · sister
عَمّ is precise
عَمّ is your father's brother specifically — Arabic has a different word for your mother's brother (it comes later in the book; don't borrow عَمّ for him).
2. My father, his father — the suffix does it
Unit 2 quietly introduces its biggest idea: possession is a suffix, not a separate word. Two endings only in this unit (Unit 2, page 5, drill 6):
- والِدي
- والِدَتي
- جَدِّي
- عَمِّي
- والِدُهُ
- والِدَتُهُ
- جَدُّهُ
- عَمُّهُ
my father / his father · my mother / his mother · my grandfather / his grandfather. Notice والِدَتي — the ة opens into ت before any suffix (same reason Lesson 1's صَديقَة became صَديقَتي).
That's how the book walks the Prophet's ﷺ family tree (Unit 2, page 2): هَذا والِدُهُ عَبْدُ الله · وَهَذِهِ والِدَتُهُ آمِنَة — “this is his father ʿAbdullāh, and this is his mother Āmina.” These two endings are all you need for now; the full set of “your/her/our…” comes later in the course.
3. Asking who and where
مَنْ؟ who?
مَنْ هَذا؟ — هَذا أَخي عِيسَى
Who is this? — This is my brother ʿĪsā.
أَيْنَ؟ where?
أَيْنَ سَعِيدٌ؟ — سَعِيدٌ في الغُرْفَةِ
Where is Saʿīd? — Saʿīd is in the room.
مَنْ who ≠ مِنْ from
Same two letters as Lesson 1's مِنْ “from” — only the vowel differs: مَنْ (man, “who?”) vs مِنْ (min, “from”). The dictionary lists both under one spelling; the vowel mark is the whole difference.
“In” is في + place: في الحَمّامِ · في الغُرْفَةِ · في المُصَلَّى · في المَسْجِدِ — in the bathroom · the room · the prayer room · the mosque.
4. First verbs: يـ he, تـ she
The fajr dialogue (Unit 2, page 3) brings the course's first verbs. You only need to hear one switch: the verb starts with يـ when he does it, تـ when she does (Unit 2, page 5, drill 3):
- يَقْرَأُ
- يُصَلِّي
- يَتَوَضَّأُ
- تَقْرَأُ
- تُصَلِّي
- تَتَوَضَّأُ
reads · prays · performs wudu. Put together: سَعِيدٌ في الغُرْفَةِ يَقْرَأُ القُرْآنَ — Saʿīd is in the room reading the Qur'an. That's the unit's sentence shape: person + في + place + verb.
Three names built to confuse you
سَعْد (Saʿd) · سَعِيد (Saʿīd) · سَعِيدَة (Saʿīda) — two brothers and a sister, deliberately near-identical. If you can hear these three apart, the unit's listening goal is met.
5. Fixed phrases of the unit
- admire ما شاءَ الله!
meaning
mā shāʾ Allāh — said when admiring something (here, the family photo).
- honour صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ
meaning
Peace and blessings be upon him — said after mentioning the Prophet ﷺ.
- call يا والِدي!
meaning
O my father! — يا goes before any name or title when you address someone.
- go هَيّا بِنا إِلى المَسْجِدِ
meaning
Let's go to the mosque — هَيّا بِنا let's go · إِلى to.
6. Count six to ten
سِتَّة 6 · سَبْعَة 7 · ثَمانِيَة 8 · تِسْعَة 9 · عَشَرَة 10
7. Build it yourself
Same rules as Lesson 1: tap chips right-to-left, say it aloud as you build. The later ones are whole exchanges — build both roles.
“This is my father, and he is an engineer.”
هَذا والِدي وَهُوَ مُهَنْدِسٌ.
والِدُهُ هَذِهِ
“This is his mother, Āmina.”
هَذِهِ والِدَتُهُ آمِنَة.
والِدَتي هَذا
“Saʿīda is in the prayer room, praying.”
سَعِيدَةُ في المُصَلَّى تُصَلِّي.
يُصَلِّي سَعِيدٌ
“Where are the children?” — then answer: “Saʿd is in the bathroom.”
أَيْنَ الأَوْلادُ؟ سَعْدٌ في الحَمّامِ.
مَنْ إِلى
“This is a picture of my family.”
هَذِهِ صورَةُ أُسْرَتي.
هَذا أُسْرَتُهُ
“Who is this? — This is my mother, and she is a doctor.”
مَنْ هَذِهِ؟ هَذِهِ والِدَتي وَهِيَ طَبِيبَةٌ.
هَذا طَبِيبٌ
“This is his father ʿAbdullāh, and this is his grandfather.”
هَذا والِدُهُ عَبْدُ الله وَهَذا جَدُّهُ.
جَدّي والِدي
“Where is Saʿīd? — Saʿīd is in the room reading the Qur'an.”
أَيْنَ سَعِيدٌ؟ سَعِيدٌ في الغُرْفَةِ يَقْرَأُ القُرْآنَ.
تَقْرَأُ المُصَلَّى
“Here it is — the coat, father.”
هَذا هُوَ المِعْطَفُ، يا والِدي.
هِيَ النَّظّارَةُ
“This is his aunt Ṣafiyya, and this is his daughter Fāṭima.”
هَذِهِ عَمَّتُهُ صَفِيَّة وَهَذِهِ ابْنَتُهُ فاطِمَة.
عَمُّهُ ابْنُهُ
“Saʿd is in the bathroom doing wuḍūʾ.”
سَعْدٌ في الحَمّامِ يَتَوَضَّأُ.
تَتَوَضَّأُ سَعِيدَةُ
8. Quick check
“This is his grandfather” is:
- هَذا جَدِّي
- هَذا جَدُّهُ
- هَذِهِ جَدَّتُهُ
- هَذِهِ جَدَّتي
“She is reading” is:
- هُوَ يَقْرَأُ
- هِيَ يَقْرَأُ
- هُوَ تَقْرَأُ
- هِيَ تَقْرَأُ
Which asks “who is this?” (pointing at a woman)?
- مَنْ هَذِهِ؟
- مِنْ هَذِهِ؟
- مَنْ هَذا؟
- أَيْنَ هَذِهِ؟
Say aloud: “my paternal aunt” — then “his paternal aunt”.
عَمَّتي — عَمَّتُهُ (the ة opens to ت before the suffix)
Say aloud: “Saʿīd is in the room reading the Qur'an.”
سَعِيدٌ في الغُرْفَةِ يَقْرَأُ القُرْآنَ.
9. Where this came from
- Class textbook (Al-Arabiyyah Bayna Yadayk, Book 1), Unit 2 — family-photo dialogue p.1, the Prophet's ﷺ family tree p.2, the fajr dialogue p.3, numbers p.4, drill tables p.5. Photos in your library.
- Word readings and glosses verified against Wiktionary's Arabic entries (2026-08-23). The check confirmed توضأ “to perform ablution” and caught that the bare spellings of نظارة (telescope first), جدة (Jeddah) and حمام (pigeon) are ambiguous without vowels — details in the vocabulary set's notes.
Next: the Unit 2 flashcard deck, then speak all three dialogues in the dialogue reader — the Prophet's ﷺ family tree is sixteen lines of pure هذا/هذه + suffix practice. Anything unclear? Bring it to your teacher — in class.