How to say "repentance" in Arabic
CognateMeaningrepentance
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
تَوْبَة
tawbaתובה
توبة
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
תשובה
tshuvaتْشُوڤَا
How the two words are related
Cognate
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Arabic root
ت-و-بHebrew root
ת-ו-בTawba doesn't map onto Hebrew שוב directly — it maps onto Aramaic תוב, 'to return' (Jewish Aramaic uses it for repentance too). שוב and תוב are themselves cognates across the Hebrew/Aramaic ש/ת divide (compare שלוש/תלת, 'three'). Three steps, one ancient root: tawba – תוב – תשובה.
Related Hebrew word:תוב (ארמית)tuv (aramit)تُوڤ (أَرَامِيت)
Learn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
تُوبَة
tōbaתובהThe aw flattens to ō; tōba! on its own is Cairo's never again!
In a phrase
بَاب التَّوْبَة
bāb at-tawbaבאב א-תובהthe gate of repentance