Dates in Arabic – Everyone knows that learning numbers in another language is not fun. Many language teachers, fluent and expressive English users, have fallen back on their native tongues to quickly count out handouts.
We are sorry to inform you that the numbers are easy. dates are what you need to be concerned about. Particularly Arabic dates.
Have you ever read through an article in a foreign tongue and then just mentally read it in English? You didn’t know how to say them. Everyone knows.
For some practice, if you are not comfortable reading Arabic numerals aloud, see our article on numbers Arabic. A strong foundation in number-reading is important before you start to learn Arabic dates.
Table Of Contents
- Arabic Dates and Reading
- Reading Years Aloud
- Reading Months Aloud
- The Week In Arabic
- Reading Days Aloud
- Putting It All Together
- How to Talk About Dates in Arabic
- Conclusion: How ArabicPod101 Can Help You Master Arabic
Suggested Read:
Arabic Dates: Reading and Writing
The easy part. What Arabic date format is it?
We will start with the numbers on paper. You don’t need to know how to read them yet. Take baby steps.
As with most dates around the globe, Arabic dates look like this: date/month/year. February 15, 2019 appears as 15/2/2019.
You are likely to be familiar with the Arabic alphabet. And you may have also learned about the numerals used in Arabic. The Eastern Arabic numerals would look like this: 2019/2/15/ (15/2/2019).
You’ll be able to recall that the Arabic numerals of the West are very popular in the Arab world. However, when Eastern Arabic numerals are used they are written in running text left-to-right. So far, it’s all good. Let’s now see how to date in Arabic. Let’s get on with the reading.
Reading Years Aloud
Let’s see, you can read dates in Arabic.
Suggested Read:
Reading Months Aloud
Dates in Arabic – It’s time for you to take a deep breath and enjoy months of Arabic. This is one of very few occasions when your knowledge can be transferred directly from English. For now.
Have a look at the table to see what you think.
| January | يناير |
| February | فبراير |
| March | مارس |
| April | أبريل |
| May | مايو |
| June | يونيو |
| July | يوليو |
| August | أغسطس |
| September | سبتمبر |
| October | أكتوبر |
| November | نوفمبر |
| December | ديسمبر |
Dates in Arabic -It’s time for you to take a deep breath and enjoy months of Arabic. This is one of very few occasions when your knowledge can be transferred directly from English. For now.
These dates are familiar and friendly because most Arab countries use the Gregorian Calendar for official governmental business. It is easy to say dates in Arabic using this calendar system.
What’s the catch? You’ll find other calendars in other countries, or the same calendar with a different etymology.
It is still common in the Levant to refer to the months using their Aramaic-derived names, rather than the Latin ones. These are how they look.
| January | كانون الثاني | |
| February | شباط | |
| March | آذار | |
| April | نيسان | |
| May | أيار | |
| June | حزيران | |
| July | تموز | |
| August | آب | |
| September | أيلول | |
| October | تشرين الأول | |
| November | تشرين الثاني | |
| December | كانون الأول | |
Dates in Arabic – The Islamic calendar is also widely used in religious and secular contexts in Saudi Arabia. It is a lunar calendar, which starts at 622 CE. The month and year are very different from the solar calendar. It’s the year 1440 for most of 2019.
Most people are familiar with Ramadan, the holy month. Now it’s time to learn more.
| Approximate English Meaning | Arabic | Arabic Pronunciation |
| محرم | muḥarram |
| سفر | safar |
| ربيع الأول | rabīʿ al-ʾawwal |
| ربيع الثاني | rabīʿ al-ṯānī |
| جمادي الأول | ǧamādī al-awwal |
| جمادى الثاني | ǧamādī al-ṯānī |
| رجب | raǧab |
| شعبان | šaʿbān |
| رمضان | ramaḍān |
| شوال | šawwal |
| ذو القعدة | ḏū al-qiʿdah |
| ذو الحجة | ḏū al-ḥiǧǧah |
This is a lot of time to remember! Do not stress about learning them now. Just be aware that they will be mentioned at some point in your Arabic studies. It’s important to be able to comprehend them.
4. The Week in Arabic
Dates in Arabic – After months of hard work, you can finally breathe a sigh relief when you look at the days in the week. The Sunday is the “first day”, and the four following are simple numbers.
Friday and Saturday are given special names but they might not seem too familiar to you.
| English | Arabic |
| Sunday | الأحد |
| Monday | الإثنين |
| Tuesday | الثلاثاء |
| Wednesday | الأربعاء |
| Thursday | الخميس |
| Friday | الجمعة |
| Saturday | السبت |
It’s possible you have noticed it: the English word “Saturday” is very similar to ” Sabbat” as they both refer to “day of rest”.
When is the ( usbu ) or the “weekend?”
Usually, Friday. In the Middle East Friday and Saturday, or Thursday and Friday respectively, are the official weekends that schools and offices are closed.
Other countries with a Muslim majority consider Saturday and Sunday to be the official weekend. Fridays are a long day, so there is no break between noon and midday to allow for everyone to worship. For example, this is true in Turkey and Indonesia.
5. Reading Days Aloud
You might not be a native English speaker but you may not have thought about how we actually pronounce the dates. You’ve probably taught English. And you know how bizarre and arbitrary it can seem. May 17,? The first day of August? September third
6. All of it together
Let’s use what we know so far to practice reading Arabic dates names. You’d use the phrase “Today is …”” to talk about today’s date.
