Grammar · Building Sentences · 7 min

The Little Words Are Cognates Too

בְּ, לְ, מִן, עַל, תַּחַת — Arabic's prepositions are the ones you grew up with

Grammar words — prepositions, particles, the connective tissue of a sentence — are usually where a foreign language feels most foreign. Not here. Hebrew and Arabic share not just roots but the actual little words: the same בְּ, the same לְ, the same מִן, the same עַל. This lesson is mostly a homecoming.

Meaning	Arabic	Translit	Hebrew	Relationship
in / with / by (prefix)	بِ	bi-	בְּ־	the same proclitic particle
to / for (prefix)	لِ	li-	לְ־	the same proclitic particle
from	مِن	min	מִן / מִ־	identical — Hebrew מִ־ is מן worn down
on / about	عَلَى	ʿalā	עַל	the same word
with	مَعَ	maʿa	עִם	same two consonants, swapped order
under	تَحْتَ	taḥta	תַּחַת	identical
between	بَيْنَ	bayna	בֵּין	identical
to / toward	إِلَى	ilā	אֶל	the same word
in / inside	فِي	fī	—	learn it fresh (but see the tip below)

Core prepositions, side by side

Prepositions in sentences

الْكِتَاب عَلَى الطَّاوِلَة
אל-כתאב עלא א-טאולהal-kitāb ʿalā aṭ-ṭāwila
The book is on the table.
הספר על השולחן هَاسِفِر أَل هَاشُولْخَانhasefer al hashulkhan
עַל ↔ عَلَى, and كتاب shares כ-ת-ב with כתב. Note the nominal sentence again: no "is."
أَنَا مِن حَيْفَا
אנא מן חיפאanā min ḥayfā
I am from Haifa.
אני מחיפה أَنِي مِخِيفَاani mekheifa
אֲנִי ↔ أَنَا, מִן ↔ مِن — the entire sentence is cognates.
الْقِطَّة تَحْتَ الْكُرْسِيّ
אל-קטה תחת אל-כרסיal-qiṭṭa taḥta al-kursī
The cat is under the chair.
החתולה תחת הכיסא هَاخَاتُولَا تَاخَات هَاكِيسِيhakhatula takhat hakise
תַּחַת ↔ تَحْتَ is exact — and כיסא ↔ كرسي are both descendants of Akkadian kussû.
بَيْنَ الْبَيْت وَالْمَدْرَسَة
בין אל-בית ואל-מדרסהbayna al-bayt wa-l-madrasa
between the house and the school
בין הבית והמדרסה (בית הספר) بِين هَابَايِت ڤِهَامَادْرَاسَا (بِيت هَاسِفِر)bein habayit vehamadrasa (beit hasefer)
בֵּין ↔ بَيْنَ — and the "and" is וְ ↔ وَ, yet another shared little word.

Attach a pronoun — it's the Hebrew endings again

Both languages refuse to say "to me" as two words. They fuse the pronoun onto the preposition: לִי, לְךָ, לוֹ — and لِي, لَكَ, لَهُ. These are not parallel systems; they are the same system, with the same suffixes, inherited from the same ancestor. Watch how close the table is.

Person	Arabic	Translit	Hebrew
to me	لِي	lī	לִי
to you (m.)	لَكَ	laka	לְךָ
to you (f.)	لَكِ	laki	לָךְ
to him	لَهُ	lahu	לוֹ
to her	لَهَا	lahā	לָהּ
to us	لَنَا	lanā	לָנוּ
to them (m.)	لَهُم	lahum	לָהֶם

لِ "to / for" with pronoun endings, next to Hebrew לְ־

Hebrew לוֹ and לָהּ look shorter, but they are contractions of the very forms Arabic still pronounces: *lahu → לוֹ, *lahā → לָהּ. That dot in לָהּ — the mappiq — is the fossil of the ه you hear in لَهَا. And لَهُم is simply לָהֶם, unchanged.

עִמִּי, עִמְּךָ — "with" and its endings

مَعِي
מעיmaʿī
with me
עִמִּי إِيمِيimi
The same two consonants as עִם, swapped — and the same ־ִי ending doing the same job.
مَعَكَ
מעךmaʿaka
with you (m.)
עִמְּךָ إِمْخَاimkha
مَعَنَا
מענאmaʿanā
with us
עִמָּנוּ إِيمَانُوimanu
עִמָּנוּ — as in עִמָּנוּאֵל, "God is with us."
السَّلَام عَلَيْكُم
א-סלאם עליכםas-salām ʿalaykum
Peace be upon you.
שלום עליכם شَالُوم أَلِيخِمshalom aleikhem
The most famous greeting in each language is the same sentence: שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם ↔ اَلسَّلَام عَلَيْكُم, morpheme for morpheme.

Putting it together

أَنَا فِي الْبَيْت
אנא פי אל-ביתanā fī al-bayt
I am at home.
אני בבית أَنِي بَابَايِتani babayit
هٰذَا لَكَ
האד'א לךhādhā laka
This is for you.
זה לך / זה בשבילך زِي لِخَا / زِي بِشْڤِلْخَاze lekha / ze bishvilkha
الْقَهْوَة بِالْحَلِيب
אל-קהוה באל-חליבal-qahwa bi-l-ḥalīb
coffee with milk
קפה בחלב كَافِي بِخَالَاڤkafe bekhalav
חָלָב ↔ حَلِيب, with ח↔ح exactly as the sound laws predict — and the same בְּ doing "with."
مِنَ الصَّبَاح إِلَى الْمَسَاء
מן א-צבאח אלא אל-מסאאmin aṣ-ṣabāḥ ilā al-masāʾ
from morning to evening
מהבוקר עד הערב مِهَابُوكِر أَد هَائِرِڤmehaboker ad ha'erev
מִן ↔ مِن and אֶל ↔ إِلَى — the Biblical pair מִן... אֶל... in modern working clothes.