How to say "to open" in Arabic

Cognate

Meaningto open

Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic

فَتَحَ

fataḥaפתח

فتح

Hebrew · Modern Hebrew

פתח

patakhپَاتَاخ

How the two words are related

Cognate

Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.

Arabic root

ف-ت-ح

Hebrew root

פ-ת-ח

fataḥa = פתח, letter for letter, and miftāḥ (key) is exactly מפתח. Even the vowel names match: Arabic fatḥa and Hebrew patach are both the 'opening' vowel.

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On the street

How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.

Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes

حلّ

ḥellחל

Darija's 'to open' is ḥell (literally 'untie'): ḥell l-bāb — 'open the door'.

In a phrase

فَتَحَ الْبَاب

fataḥa al-bābפתח אל-באב

He opened the door

More words from this root

openmaftūḥمَفْتُوحפתוח
keymiftāḥمِفْتَاحמפתח