How to say "to break" in Arabic
False friendMeaningto break
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
كَسَرَ
kasaraכסר
كسر
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
שבר
shavarشَاڤَار
How the two words are related
False friend
Sounds like a Hebrew word but means something else — handle with care.
Arabic root
ك-س-رA pure coincidence worth savoring: kasara, 'he broke', lines up letter for letter with Hebrew כשר, 'kosher, fit, proper' — the very opposite of broken. No comparative link is known between them; it's just three letters that wandered to opposite meanings.
Related Hebrew word:כשרkasherكَاشِر
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
هرّس
herresהרסDarija's break is herres.
In a phrase
كَسَرَ الزُّجَاج بِالْخَطَأ
kasara az-zujāj bi-l-khaṭaʾכסר אז-זג'אג' באל-ח'טאHe broke the glass by accident