How to say "near, close" in Arabic
CognateMeaningnear, close
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
qarībקריב
قريب
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
karovكَارُوڤ
How the two words are related
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Arabic root
ق-ر-بHebrew root
ק-ר-בSame root as Hebrew karov (קרוב) — and in both languages it also means a relative: krovim in Hebrew, aqārib in Arabic. Hebrew krav (קרב), 'battle', is this root too: combat is what happens up close.
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
Urban Levantine turns qāf into a glottal stop: arīb.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
Cairo's diminutive shape: ʾurayyib.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
In a phrase
the house is near here
Feminine
The root family
ق-ر-بק-ר-ב· nearness
קרוב and qarīb both mean "near" AND "a relative" — the double meaning survives intact in both languages. The sacrifices match too: קרבן and qurbān are both the offering you bring near. And taqrīban "approximately" preserves a fossilized tanwin — one of the few places you still hear Classical Arabic's old -an ending in everyday speech.
- قَرِيب qarībnear; a relativeקָרוֹבnear; a relative — both senses shared
- تَقْرِيبًا taqrībanapproximately, almost
- قَرَّبَ qarrabahe brought nearקֵרֵבhe brought near
- قُرْبَان qurbānoffering, sacrificeקָרְבָּןsacrifice — what is brought near
- قَرَابَة qarābakinshipקִרְבָהcloseness, kinship