Arabic Prepositions (Huruf al-Jarr)

Level: Beginner. Prepositions are the small words that tell you where, from where and to where. In Arabic they do one extra thing English never asks of them: they change the ending of the noun that follows. Learn that single habit and prepositions become easy.

The rule

A preposition is a word like “in”, “from” or “to” that links a noun to the rest of the sentence. In Arabic they are called حُرُوف الجَرّ (ḥurūf al-jarr) — literally “the letters of dragging”, because they “drag” the next noun into one particular case.

A case is the ending a noun takes to show its job in the sentence. The case that a preposition forces is the genitive — الجَرّ (al-jarr), also called المَجْرُور (al-majrūr). You hear and see it as the vowel -i (the mark called kasra) on a definite noun, or as -in (kasra tanwīn) on an indefinite one.

So the noun البَيْت (al-bayt, “the house”) on its own ends in -u when it is a subject, but after a preposition it becomes البَيْتِ (al-bayti): فِي البَيْتِ (fī al-bayti) = “in the house”. Nothing else in the phrase moves — only that final vowel.

Two of these words, بِ (bi) and لِ (li), are not separate words at all — they are prefixes written joined to the following word, like بِالقَلَمِ (bi-l-qalami, “with the pen”) and لِلوَلَدِ (lil-waladi, “for the boy”).

The common prepositions

Example sentences

1. الكِتَابُ فِي الحَقِيبَةِ.
   al-kitābu fī al-ḥaqībati.
   The book is in the bag.
   noun after fī ends in -i
2. أَنَا فِي البَيْتِ.
   anā fī al-bayti.
   I am in the house.
3. هُوَ مِنْ مِصْرَ.
   huwa min miṣra.
   He is from Egypt.
   Miṣr is diptote: -a, not -i
4. خَرَجْتُ مِنَ المَدْرَسَةِ.
   kharajtu mina al-madrasati.
   I came out of the school.
5. نَذْهَبُ إِلَى السُّوقِ.
   nadhhabu ilā as-sūqi.
   We go to the market.
6. الكِتَابُ عَلَى الطَّاوِلَةِ.
   al-kitābu ʿalā aṭ-ṭāwilati.
   The book is on the table.
7. القِطَّةُ تَحْتَ الكُرْسِيِّ.
   al-qiṭṭatu taḥta al-kursiyyi.
   The cat is under the chair.
   taḥta works the same way
8. أَكْتُبُ بِالقَلَمِ.
   aktubu bi-l-qalami.
   I write with the pen.
   bi- is prefixed
9. ذَهَبْتُ بِالسَّيَّارَةِ.
   dhahabtu bi-s-sayyārati.
   I went by car.
10. هَذَا الكِتَابُ لِلوَلَدِ.
    hādhā al-kitābu lil-waladi.
    This book is for the boy.
    li- + al- = lil-
11. نَتَكَلَّمُ عَنِ السَّفَرِ.
    natakallamu ʿani as-safari.
    We are talking about the trip.
12. أَسْكُنُ مَعَ عَائِلَتِي.
    askunu maʿa ʿāʾilatī.
    I live with my family.
13. المَاءُ فِي الكُوبِ.
    al-māʾu fī al-kūbi.
    The water is in the cup.
14. نَظَرْتُ إِلَى القَمَرِ.
    naẓartu ilā al-qamari.
    I looked at the moon.
15. الصُّورَةُ عَلَى الجِدَارِ.
    aṣ-ṣūratu ʿalā al-jidāri.
    The picture is on the wall.
16. جِئْتُ مِنْ بَيْتٍ قَرِيبٍ.
    jiʾtu min baytin qarībin.
    I came from a nearby house.
    indefinite: -in tanwīn

Notice the pattern every time: the preposition stays fixed, and the noun right after it ends in -i (definite) or -in (indefinite).

Common mistakes

• ❌ فِي البَيْتُ (fī al-baytu) → ✅ فِي البَيْتِ (fī al-bayti). After a preposition the noun must take the genitive -i, never the subject ending -u.
• ❌ مِنْ بَيْتٌ (min baytun) → ✅ مِنْ بَيْتٍ (min baytin). An indefinite noun after a preposition shows the genitive as -in tanwīn, not -un.
• ❌ لِ البَيْتِ (li al-bayti) as two words → ✅ لِلبَيْتِ (lil-bayti). بِ (bi) and لِ (li) attach to the following word; they are never written apart.
• ❌ أَكْتُبُ مَعَ القَلَمِ (aktubu maʿa al-qalami) for “I write with a pen” → ✅ أَكْتُبُ بِالقَلَمِ (aktubu bi-l-qalami). Use بِ (bi) for the instrument “with”; مَعَ (maʿa) means “together with” a companion.
• ❌ هُوَ مِنْ مِصْرِ (huwa min miṣri) → ✅ هُوَ مِنْ مِصْرَ (huwa min miṣra). A few words (diptotes) like مِصْر (Miṣr) show the genitive as -a, not -i.

A short conversation

— سَامِي (Sāmī): أَيْنَ الكِتَابُ؟ — ayna al-kitābu? — Where is the book? — لَيْلَى (Laylā): الكِتَابُ عَلَى الطَّاوِلَةِ. — al-kitābu ʿalā aṭ-ṭāwilati. — The book is on the table. — سَامِي (Sāmī): وَأَنْتِ، مِنْ أَيْنَ أَنْتِ؟ — wa-anti, min ayna anti? — And you, where are you from? — لَيْلَى (Laylā): أَنَا مِنَ الأُرْدُنِّ. — anā mina al-urdunni. — I am from Jordan.

Every noun after a preposition — الطَّاوِلَةِ (aṭ-ṭāwilati), الأُرْدُنِّ (al-urdunni) — carries the genitive -i.

Usage notes

• The preposition never changes. Only the noun after it moves to the genitive; the preposition itself has no endings to learn.
• مِن (min) and عَن (ʿan) before ال (al-). To keep speech smooth, their silent vowel becomes -i before “the”: مِنَ البَيْتِ (mina al-bayti), عَنِ الكِتَابِ (ʿani al-kitābi).
• فِي (fī) covers “in” for both place and time: فِي الصَّبَاحِ (fī aṣ-ṣabāḥi) = “in the morning”.
• عَلَى (ʿalā) and إِلَى (ilā) end in a long vowel written with a silent yāʾ; they do not themselves change, only the noun after them does.
• Pronouns attach too. A pronoun after a preposition joins it directly: لَهُ (lahu, “for him”), مِنْهُ (minhu, “from it”), عَلَيْهِ (ʿalayhi, “on it”) — see the attached-pronouns lesson.

Compared with the idāfa

A kasra (-i) on a noun does not always mean a preposition is present. In the possessive idāfa — the “X of Y” structure — the second noun is also genitive: بَابُ البَيْتِ (bābu al-bayti) = “the door of the house”. The difference is that an idāfa has no preposition between the two nouns, while a prepositional phrase always starts with one of these little words. Compare فِي البَيْتِ (fī al-bayti, “in the house”) with the idāfa بَابُ البَيْتِ (bābu al-bayti, “the house’s door”), and read the full Arabic idāfa lesson. For how the final vowels work in the first place, revisit the definite article ال (al-).

Quick recap before you practise.

Practice

Practice

Arabic prepositions practice

Try each one, then press Check. No sign-up, nothing is sent anywhere — it all runs in your browser.

1 What does a preposition do to the noun that follows it?

puts it in the nominative (-u) puts it in the genitive (-i / -in) makes it a verb adds the definite article

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puts it in the genitive (-i / -in) — ḥurūf al-jarr put the next noun into the genitive: -i (definite) or -in (indefinite).

2 Which is correct for 'in the house'?

فِي البَيْتُ (fī al-baytu) فِي البَيْتِ (fī al-bayti) فِي البَيْتَ (fī al-bayta) فِي بَيْتٌ (fī baytun)

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فِي البَيْتِ (fī al-bayti) — After فِي (fī) the definite noun takes -i: فِي البَيْتِ (fī al-bayti).

3 Give the genitive ending — 'on the table': عَلَى الطَّاوِلَ__ (type the transliteration of the whole word).

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Hint: definite noun after a preposition ends in -i

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aṭ-ṭāwilati — عَلَى الطَّاوِلَةِ (ʿalā aṭ-ṭāwilati): the genitive -i after the preposition.

4 Order the words: 'We go to the market.'

السُّوقِ (as-sūqi)نَذْهَبُ (nadhhabu)إِلَى (ilā)

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نَذْهَبُ (nadhhabu) إِلَى (ilā) السُّوقِ (as-sūqi) — Verb, then the preposition إِلَى (ilā), then the genitive noun السُّوقِ (as-sūqi).

5 Match each preposition to its meaning.

• فِي (fī) Match for فِي (fī) — choose — fromin / insideto / towardswith / by (an instrument)
• مِن (min) Match for مِن (min) — choose — fromin / insideto / towardswith / by (an instrument)
• إِلَى (ilā) Match for إِلَى (ilā) — choose — fromin / insideto / towardswith / by (an instrument)
• بِ (bi) Match for بِ (bi) — choose — fromin / insideto / towardswith / by (an instrument)

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• فِي (fī) → in / inside
• مِن (min) → from
• إِلَى (ilā) → to / towards
• بِ (bi) → with / by (an instrument)

فِي (fī) in, مِن (min) from, إِلَى (ilā) to, بِ (bi) with/by.

6 Write 'for the boy' as one word (li + al-walad), transliteration.

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Hint: li- and al- merge

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lil-waladi — لِ (li) + الوَلَد (al-walad) = لِلوَلَدِ (lil-waladi), with genitive -i.

Quiz

Check yourself

Arabic prepositions quiz

12 questions · pick an answer and you'll see straight away if it's right.

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1. 1The Arabic name for prepositions is…

   A أَفْعَال (afʿāl) B حُرُوف الجَرّ (ḥurūf al-jarr) C أَسْمَاء (asmāʾ) D ضَمَائِر (ḍamāʾir)
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   حُرُوف الجَرّ (ḥurūf al-jarr) — Prepositions are حُرُوف الجَرّ (ḥurūf al-jarr), the 'letters of dragging'.

2. 2A preposition puts the noun after it in the…

   A nominative B accusative C genitive D no case
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   genitive — The noun after a preposition is genitive — المَجْرُور (al-majrūr).

3. 3The genitive of a definite noun is shown by…

   A -u B -a C -i (kasra) D -un
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   -i (kasra) — A definite genitive noun ends in -i, e.g. البَيْتِ (al-bayti).

4. 4Which is correct for 'from the school'?

   A مِنْ المَدْرَسَةُ (min al-madrasatu) B مِنَ المَدْرَسَةِ (mina al-madrasati) C مِنْ مَدْرَسَةٌ (min madrasatun) D مِنْ المَدْرَسَةَ (min al-madrasata)
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   مِنَ المَدْرَسَةِ (mina al-madrasati) — مِن (min) adds -a before ال (al-), and the noun is genitive: مِنَ المَدْرَسَةِ (mina al-madrasati).

5. 5An indefinite noun after a preposition ends in…

   A -un B -an C -in (tanwīn) D nothing
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   -in (tanwīn) — Indefinite genitive is -in tanwīn: مِنْ بَيْتٍ (min baytin).

6. 6Which two prepositions are written joined to the next word?

   A فِي and مِن (fī and min) B بِ and لِ (bi and li) C إِلَى and عَلَى (ilā and ʿalā) D مَعَ and عَنْ (maʿa and ʿan)
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   بِ and لِ (bi and li) — بِ (bi) and لِ (li) are one-letter prefixes: بِالقَلَمِ (bi-l-qalami), لِلوَلَدِ (lil-waladi).

7. 7'With the pen' (as an instrument) is…

   A مَعَ القَلَمِ (maʿa al-qalami) B بِالقَلَمِ (bi-l-qalami) C فِي القَلَمِ (fī al-qalami) D لِلقَلَمِ (lil-qalami)
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   بِالقَلَمِ (bi-l-qalami) — بِ (bi) marks the instrument 'with'; مَعَ (maʿa) is 'together with' a companion.

8. 8Why is فِي البَيْتُ (fī al-baytu) wrong?

   A wrong preposition B the noun should be genitive -i, not -u C فِي (fī) needs a verb D البَيْت (al-bayt) cannot follow فِي (fī)
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   the noun should be genitive -i, not -u — After a preposition the noun is genitive: فِي البَيْتِ (fī al-bayti).

9. 9لِ (li) + الوَلَد (al-walad) becomes…

   A لِ الوَلَدِ (li al-waladi) B لِلوَلَدِ (lil-waladi) C لَوَلَدِ (la-waladi) D لِوَلَدٌ (li-waladun)
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   لِلوَلَدِ (lil-waladi) — li- and al- merge into لِلـ (lil-): لِلوَلَدِ (lil-waladi).

10. 10'About the book' is…

    A عَنِ الكِتَابِ (ʿani al-kitābi) B عَنْ الكِتَابُ (ʿan al-kitābu) C عَلَى الكِتَابَ (ʿalā al-kitāba) D فِي الكِتَابٌ (fī al-kitābun)
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    عَنِ الكِتَابِ (ʿani al-kitābi) — عَن (ʿan) takes -i before ال (al-), and the noun is genitive: عَنِ الكِتَابِ (ʿani al-kitābi).

11. 11Complete with the genitive — 'to the market': إِلَى ____ (transliteration of 'the market').
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    as-sūqi — إِلَى السُّوقِ (ilā as-sūqi): genitive -i after the preposition.

12. 12A kasra (-i) on the second noun of بَابُ البَيْتِ (bābu al-bayti) is caused by…

    A a preposition B the idāfa (possession) C a verb D nothing — it is a subject
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    the idāfa (possession) — There is no preposition here; the idāfa also puts its second noun in the genitive.

Recap cheat-sheet

Next

• Contrast it with the possessive idāfa construction
• Attach pronouns to prepositions in attached pronouns
• Back to the Arabic grammar section