Responding to Greetings

Paired Phrases

Most greetings in Arabic require fixed responses. Therefore, greetings are learned in pairs: the original greeting and the required reply.

Original Greeting

أهلا وسهلا
'ahlan wa sahlan
Hello

Reply

أهلا بيك
أهلا بيكِ
'ahlan biik
'ahlan biiki
Hello to you (m)
Hello to you (f)

Please take note of this as you study the phrases and vocabulary for this unit.