Arabic · Unit 5 · Lesson 5
Food and Drink
One win: order a meal and talk about eating — what will you have? · some fish and rice, please · I prefer coffee · with milk · lunch is on the table · don't eat, sit down — and then say the same things about somebody else.
1. Ordering a meal — the plane dialogue
Page 2 is the whole skill of this unit in six exchanges. Watch it go by — press ▶ or step with ‹ › — and say each answer aloud before the caption. Both speakers are women, so every verb wears Unit 4's ـينَ:
What will you have to eat? — Some fish and rice, please. مِنْ picks up an -a before الـ: مِنَ الطَّعامِ.
And to drink? — Water, please. The thing you ask for ends in ـً, with no verb anywhere.
Which fruit would you prefer? — Dates or grapes. Unit 4's أَوْ becomes أَوِ before الـ.
Do you drink tea? — No, I prefer coffee. Asked with ـينَ, answered with the plain أُ I form.
Coffee with milk? — Yes, coffee with milk. Unit 4's بِـ was by (بِالحافِلَةِ); here it is with.
Anything else? — No, thank you. — You're welcome. Unit 3's شَيْئاً آخَرَ, and the reply عَفْواً that goes with شُكْراً.
2. The table
Three meals, and what goes on them. The names of the meals answer في — a use of في you have not had before: not a place, not a part of the day, but a meal.
| meal | Arabic | at that meal I eat … | |
|---|---|---|---|
| breakfast | الفَطور | آكُلُ في الفَطورِ السَّمَكَ | |
| lunch | الغَداء | آكُلُ في الغَداءِ اللَّحْمَ | |
| dinner | العَشاء | آكُلُ في العَشاءِ الدَّجاجَ |
Don't hear الفَطور as الفَجْر
الفَطور breakfast and Unit 2's الفَجْر dawn are different roots that sound alike at speed — and this unit puts them in the very same sentence shape. آكُلُ في الفَطورِ · أُصَلّي عِنْدَ الفَجْرِ . The ط is heavy and the ج is not; that is the whole difference.
Everything the husband finds on the table (page 3) — six nouns, each ending ـٌ, no verb at all. That is a complete Arabic sentence:
سَمَكٌ ولَحْمٌ ودَجاجٌ وأَرُزٌّ وسَلَطَةٌ وفاكِهَةٌ!
| on the table | Arabic | to drink | Arabic |
|---|---|---|---|
| fish | السَّمَك | water | الماء |
| meat | اللَّحْم | milk | الحَليب |
| chicken | الدَّجاج | tea | الشّاي |
| rice | الأَرُزّ | coffee | القَهْوَة |
| bread | الخُبْز | dates | التَّمْر |
| salad | السَّلَطَة | grapes | العِنَب |
| fruit | الفاكِهَة | food / drink | الطَّعام / الشَّراب |
3. Three people, one verb
Until now you have had I and you. Drill 2 and both reading passages on page 6 add he and she, and the machine is the same as ever — swap the letter on the front. Cells tagged beyond the book are not on any Unit 5 page; they are here so you can see the row is complete:
| meaning | I … | you (m.) / she … | he … | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| eat | آكُلُ | تَأْكُلُ | يَأْكُلُ | |
| drink | أَشْرَبُ beyond the book | تَشْرَبُ | يَشْرَبُ | |
| order | أَطْلُبُ beyond the book | تَطْلُبُ | يَطْلُبُ beyond the book | |
| prefer | أُفَضِّلُ | تُفَضِّلينَ | يُفَضِّلُ beyond the book | |
| sweep | أَكْنُسُ | تَكْنُسُ | يَكْنُسُ | |
| wash | أَغْسِلُ | تَغْسِلُ | يَغْسِلُ | |
| watch | أُشاهِدُ | تُشاهِدُ | يُشاهِدُ |
The plane dialogue puts prefer only to a woman, so the middle column shows تُفَضِّلينَ; the plain تُفَضِّلُ to a man is the same word without the ending, and is not on a Unit 5 page (the review paper after Units 5–6 supplies it: ماذا تُفَضِّلُ مِنَ الفاكِهَةِ؟).
One word, two people
The middle column does double duty. تَأْكُلُ is you (m.) eat on page 1 and she eats on page 6 — nothing in the word tells you which. Only the subject does:
ماذا تَأْكُلُ في الغَداءِ؟ — to a man · زَيْنَبُ تَأْكُلُ ثَلاثَ وَجَباتٍ — about a woman
To a woman you would say تَأْكُلينَ — Unit 4's ending, which is exactly what keeps the two apart when you are speaking.
4. Don't eat. Sit down.
Unit 3 gave you two commands as fixed phrases — اُدْخُلْ and تَفَضَّلْ. Unit 5 shows you how they are made, and drill 4 asks you to make your own. Two shapes:
do it — the bare command
اِجْلِسْ
Sit down. Strip the تَـ off the you-form and cut the
ending to nothing.
don't do it — لا + the cut ending
لا تَأْكُلْ
Don't eat. Keep the تَـ, put
لا in front, and cut the final -u.
The cut ending is the whole trick, and it is audible. Hear the pair:
| statement | order | |
|---|---|---|
| تَأْكُلُ الطَّعامَ | لا تَأْكُلِ الطَّعامَ | |
| تَشْرَبُ الحَليبَ | لا تَشْرَبِ الحَليبَ | |
| تَكْنُسُ الغُرْفَةَ | لا تَكْنُسِ الغُرْفَةَ | |
| تَغْسِلُ المَلابِسَ | لا تَغْسِلِ المَلابِسَ | |
| تُشاهِدُ التِّلْفازَ | لا تُشاهِدِ التِّلْفازَ |
Careful: Unit 4's لا أَنامُ I don't sleep keeps its -u, because it is a statement about yourself, not an order. Same لا, different job — and the ending is what tells them apart.
You may have noticed the order column ends in -i, not in nothing. On its own the book writes لا تَأْكُلْ with the ending cut clean off — but the moment a word starting with الـ follows, a small vowel appears to join them. That is the next section, and it is the same thing happening four times in this unit.
5. The joining vowel
Arabic will not let two silent letters collide. When a word ends in a silent consonant and the next word starts الـ, a vowel slips in between to carry you across. This unit does it four times — and once you hear it as one rule, all four stop being exceptions:
The plane dialogue and drill 7. مِنْ is the odd one: it joins with -a, not -i.
Unit 4's or, joining with -i — the usual choice.
The reply you have said since Unit 1 — that -u on عَلَيْكُمُ is the joining vowel, nothing more. A ـكُمْ ending joins with -u.
The order you just learned. Alone it ends silent; in front of الـ it joins with -i.
So the ending you say depends on what comes next, not on the word itself. Say each pair aloud and hear the join do its work: مِنْ فَضْلِكِ · مِنَ الطَّعامِ — اِجْلِسْ · لا تَشْرَبِ الشّايَ
6. Three words that refuse their ending
Three times this unit, a word ends where you would not expect. It is not a misprint — some Arabic words simply never take tanwīn (the doubled ending you hear as -un, -an, -in), and use a bare -a where -in is due. Read the three and notice what is missing:
Both are “I am / you are + adjective”. سَمينٌ takes its -un; جَوْعانُ gets a plain -u.
شَيْئاً takes -an; the word describing it, آخَرَ, takes a bare -a.
After وَزْنُ the next word should end -i. زَيْنَبَ gives -a instead.
You do not need the rule that generates this list, and the book does not give one. What you need is the habit: when a word ends in a bare -a or -u where you expected tanwīn, it is one of these, not an error. Copy what you hear.
7. Sixty kilos, a hundred kilos
The two men weigh themselves, and the number in front changes the ending of the word behind it:
11 – 99 → one of it, ending -an
٦٠ كيلاً
سِتّونَ كيلاً — sixty kilo, singular, ending -an
100 → one of it, ending -in
١٠٠ كيلٍ
مِائَةُ كيلٍ — a hundred of kilo, ending -in
Both are singular — Arabic does not say “sixty kilos”. Only Unit 3's 3–10 band takes a plural: ثَلاثَ وَجَباتٍ three meals. Three bands, three endings; they are laid out side by side in the numbers chapter.
8. Three new placing words
| word | new because | the book's line | |
|---|---|---|---|
| عَلى | first free use — it was only inside السَّلامُ عَلَيْكُم | الغَداءُ عَلى المائِدَةِ | |
| بِـ | Unit 4's by (بِالحافِلَةِ) now also means with | القَهْوَةَ بِالحَليبِ | |
| مِنَ | مِنْ takes an -a before الـ | مِنَ الطَّعامِ · مِنَ الشَّرابِ |
And one compound: لِـ for + ماذا what = لِماذا why? . All four join the ledger in the prepositions chapter, which now covers Units 1–5.
9. Build it yourself
Tap chips right-to-left, say it aloud as you build. The later ones are whole exchanges — build both roles.
“Lunch is on the table.”
الغَداءُ عَلى المائِدَةِ.
في الفَطورُ
“I eat three meals a day.”
آكُلُ ثَلاثَ وَجَباتٍ في اليَوْمِ.
وَجْبَةً ثَلاثُ
“Don't eat. Sit down.”
لا تَأْكُلْ. اِجْلِسْ.
تَأْكُلُ لَدَيْنا
“I'm very hungry.”
أَنا جَوْعانُ جِدّاً.
جَوْعانٌ كَثيرٌ
“Where are you going, Salim? — To the restaurant.”
أَيْنَ تَذْهَبُ يا سالِمُ؟ إِلى المَطْعَمِ.
عَلى أَذْهَبُ
“What will you (to a woman) have to eat? — Some fish and rice, please.”
ماذا تَطْلُبينَ مِنَ الطَّعامِ؟ بَعْضَ السَّمَكِ والأَرُزِّ مِنْ فَضْلِكِ.
تَطْلُبُ مِنْ فَضْلِكَ
“Do you (to a woman) drink tea? — No, I prefer coffee.”
هَلْ تَشْرَبينَ الشّايَ؟ لا، أُفَضِّلُ القَهْوَةَ.
تُفَضِّلينَ أَشْرَبُ
“How many meals do you eat in a day? — I eat one meal.”
كَمْ وَجْبَةً تَأْكُلُ في اليَوْمِ؟ آكُلُ وَجْبَةً واحِدَةً.
وَجَباتٍ ثَلاثَ
“Why? — We have guests. — Where are the guests?”
لِماذا؟ لَدَيْنا ضُيوفٌ. أَيْنَ الضُّيوفُ؟
ماذا الضُّيوفَ
“Would you (to a woman) like anything else? — No, thank you. — You're welcome.”
هَلْ تُريدينَ شَيْئاً آخَرَ؟ لا، وشُكْراً. عَفْواً.
تُريدُ آخَرٌ
“Qasim eats three meals a day, and Salim drinks tea.”
قاسِمٌ يَأْكُلُ ثَلاثَ وَجَباتٍ في اليَوْمِ، وسالِمٌ يَشْرَبُ الشّايَ.
تَأْكُلُ يَشْرَبينَ
“What do you weigh? — 60 kilos.” (say the number)
ما وَزْنُكَ؟ سِتّونَ كيلاً.
كيلٍ مِائَةُ
10. Quick check
“Coffee with milk” is:
- القَهْوَةَ في الحَليبِ
- القَهْوَةَ مِنَ الحَليبِ
- القَهْوَةَ بِالحَليبِ
- القَهْوَةَ عَلى الحَليبِ
Which one tells somebody not to eat?
- لا تَأْكُلُ
- لا تَأْكُلْ
- لا آكُلُ
- لا يَأْكُلُ
In زَيْنَبُ تَأْكُلُ الدَّجاجَ, تَأْكُلُ means:
- I am eating chicken
- you are eating chicken
- he is eating chicken
- she is eating chicken
“Sixty kilos” is:
- سِتّونَ كيلاً
- سِتّونَ كيلٍ
- سِتّونَ كيلو
- سِتّونَ كيلاتٍ
Which word will never take tanwīn?
- سَمين
- جَوْعان
- نَحيف
- قَليل
“What will you have to drink?” starts:
- ماذا تَطْلُبينَ مِنْ الشَّرابِ
- ماذا تَطْلُبينَ مِنِ الشَّرابِ
- ماذا تَطْلُبينَ مِنَ الشَّرابِ
- ماذا تَطْلُبينَ مِنُ الشَّرابِ
Say aloud, as the air hostess and then the passenger: “What will you have to eat?” — “Some fish and rice, please.”
ماذا تَطْلُبينَ مِنَ الطَّعامِ؟ — بَعْضَ السَّمَكِ والأَرُزِّ مِنْ فَضْلِكِ.
Say aloud: “That's a great deal. I eat one meal.” — “That's very little.”
هَذا كَثيرٌ جِدّاً. أَنا آكُلُ وَجْبَةً واحِدَةً. — هَذا قَليلٌ جِدّاً.
Say aloud what is on the table — six things, no verb.
سَمَكٌ ولَحْمٌ ودَجاجٌ وأَرُزٌّ وسَلَطَةٌ وفاكِهَةٌ!
11. Where this came from
- Class textbook (Al-Arabiyyah Bayna Yadayk, Book 1), Unit 5 — the restaurant dialogue p.1, the plane dialogue p.2, the guests dialogue p.3, the structure summary p.4, the pair-work model p.5, the two reading passages p.6. Photos in your library. Two print points are flagged in the dialogue reader: page 6's second passage swaps قاسِم and سالِم relative to page 1, and two exercises are both numbered ٥.
- Word readings and glosses verified against Wiktionary's Arabic entries (2026-09-10). Three catches worth knowing: the dictionary's first sense for غَداء is breakfast, not lunch (the older tradition put it in the morning — this book is unambiguous, but the word is not); bare سلطة is سُلْطَة “power, authority” all the way down, with salad nowhere in sight; and bare أرز is first أَرْز “cedar”, which is why the book bothers to vowel it الأَرُزّ. It also caught that أُفَضِّلُ shares its consonants with the elative أَفْضَل “better”, that العَشاء dinner is spelt like العِشاء the night prayer, and that السَّمَك، الدَّجاج، التَّمْر، العِنَب are collectives rather than plurals — details in the vocabulary set's notes.
- Wikipedia — Arabic grammar and Arabic verbs (read 2026-09-10): the jussive behind both اِجْلِسْ and لا تَأْكُلْ, and the third-person prefixes.
- Wikipedia — the Arabic definite article and Arabic grammar (read 2026-09-10): التِقاءُ السّاكِنَيْنِ, the rule behind §5 — two silent letters may not meet, so a joining vowel appears before الـ (usually -i; مِنْ takes -a and a ـكُمْ ending takes -u). The book prints all four forms without naming the rule.
- Wikipedia — diptotes (read 2026-09-10): the class of words behind جَوْعانُ، آخَرَ، زَيْنَبَ. Named here only as “words that refuse their ending”; the book does not introduce the term.
Next: the Unit 5 flashcard deck (47 cards — the food words are most of it), then speak all three dialogues and both readings in the dialogue reader, and read the new sections of the prepositions chapter and the numbers chapter before class. Anything unclear? Bring it to your teacher — in class.