How to say "to live, be alive" in Arabic
CognateMeaningto live, be alive
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
ḥayiyaחיי
حيي
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
khaiخَاي
How the two words are related
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Arabic root
ح-ي-يHebrew root
ח-י-הSame root as חי, 'alive', and חיים, 'life': ḥayiya is the verb hiding behind both. Raise a glass — לחיים would be understood on either side of the border, and the rallying cry يحيا الوطن! runs on the very same root as תחי המדינה.
Learn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Levantine · Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria
Everyday speech (and much of everyday MSA) prefers ʿāsha for 'lived'; ḥayiya reads as classical/literary.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
Cairo, too, says ʿāsh.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
Darija: ʿāsh.
In a phrase
He lived for many years