The Five Colleges Center for World Languages has a sizeable collection of Arabic language learning videos available for free online, including a library of Arabic grammar videos. They were designed to assist students who are self-studying the language, so they are an excellent stand-alone resource as well as a helpful supplement to a structured curriculum. The Arabic grammar videos are each 5-10 minutes long and cover a single grammar topic in either fusha or a colloquial dialect. While the videos are primarily in English, each one includes multiple examples in Arabic to illustrate the grammar concept. If you’re following a standard curriculum, the videos are split into 1st year, 2nd year, and 3rd year Arabic grammar topics.

أن و إن

To give you a taste of their offerings, we’ve put together a little study guide about the use of أن and إن in colloquial Arabic, based on one of their Arabic grammar videos that we have embedded below.

In formal Arabic, أن is used to mean “that” in multi clause sentences and usually has a suffix pronoun attached (ي، -ك، -ها، -ه etc.). In colloquial Arabic, however, the rules are far more flexible and most speakers will just use أنه without conjugating for a specific pronoun. There also isn’t a standardized way to write أنه in colloquial dialects so sometimes it’s written with kasra on the alif (إ), a fatha on the alif (أ), or a shadda on the ن , depending on the local pronunciation. Sometimes it’s written with a و instead of a ه as well.

Once you start listening for it, you’ll notice that أنه gets thrown into a lot of conversations to extend a sentence and join ideas together.

Here are some examples:

Did you know that our friend is going to get married?
عرفتو انه رفيقنا رح يتجوز؟

She said that she likes her new job
قالت انه بتحب شغلها الجديد

He remembers that I don’t like to drink coffee
بتذكر انه ما بحب اشرب القهوة

For more FC videos, visit our post about the LangMedia CultureTalk series