How to say "to cross" in Arabic
CognateMeaningto cross
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
عَبَرَ
ʿabaraעבר
عبر
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
עבר
avarأَڤَار
How the two words are related
Cognate
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Arabic root
ع-ب-رHebrew root
ע-ב-רRoot ע-ב-ר / ع-ب-ر is identical in both languages: ʿabara is עבר. Some trace עברי, 'Hebrew,' to this very root — 'the one who crossed over' (the river, tradition says) — though the etymology of the name itself is still debated.
Learn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
قْطع
qṭeʿקטעDarija says qṭeʿ ('cut') for crossing: qṭeʿ ṭ-ṭrīq — 'cross the road'.
In a phrase
عَبَرَ النَّهْر
ʿabara an-nahrעבר א-נהרHe crossed the river