Food Words in Arabic

Written by Amel B.

About this Arabic food words activity

This activity teaches 100 food words in four groups of 25: fruits, vegetables, foods and dishes, and drinks. Learn shows each word as a card with a picture, the Arabic word, the English name and a pronunciation guide, with a button to hear it. Match asks your child to pair six pictures with six Arabic words. Quiz shows a picture and asks for its Arabic word from four choices. The pictures are emoji, so they show typical foods, and the audio uses your device's Arabic voice, which varies between devices.

A few words from each group

In order: apple, banana, orange, grapes, strawberry, watermelon. Carrot, potato, tomato, cucumber, onion, garlic. Bread, rice, chicken, fish, egg, cheese, honey. Water, tea, coffee, juice, milk, hibiscus tea.

One fruit or many?

Many Arabic fruit and vegetable words name the whole group, and adding ة gives one item: تُفَّاح (apples) becomes تُفَّاحَة (one apple), and مَوْز (bananas) becomes مَوْزَة (one banana). The activity mostly shows the single-item form, but you will also hear the group form, for example when someone says أُحِبّ التُّفَّاح (I like apples).

Words change from place to place

Food words are where dialects differ most. A tomato is طَمَاطِم in Egypt and the Gulf but بَنْدُورَة in the Levant. A potato is بَطَاطِس in some places and بَطَاطَا in others. The word لَبَن can mean milk in some countries and a yogurt drink in others. If a word on this page is not the one your family uses, that is normal, so teach both.

Words with Arabic roots

Some everyday English food words trace back to Arabic. “Coffee” is generally traced to قَهْوَة (qahwa) through Turkish and other languages, and “aubergine”, a British word for eggplant, comes from بَاذِنْجَان (baadhinjaan) by way of European languages. Children enjoy hearing that a word has traveled.

At the table

• بِسْمِ اللَّه — “In the name of God”, said by Muslims before eating, and الحَمْدُ لِلَّه afterwards.
• تَفَضَّل (to a man) or تَفَضَّلِي (to a woman) — “please, help yourself”.
• أَنَا جَائِع — I am hungry. أَنَا عَطْشَان — I am thirsty.
• أُرِيد مَاء — I want water.

A simple learning plan

1. Week 1. Learn five words from one group each day in Learn mode, and say each one aloud.
2. Week 2. Play Match using words your child already knows, then try the Quiz.
3. Later. Move to a new group and use one of the sentences above at each meal.

Away from the screen

• Kitchen labels. Stick Arabic labels on foods in the kitchen.
• Shopping trip. Name fruit and vegetables in Arabic as you choose them.
• Fruit salad. Ask for each fruit in Arabic as you prepare it together.

Frequently asked questions

How do you say “food” in Arabic?

طَعَام (ta'aam) or أَكْل (akl). Common words are خُبْز (bread), أَرُزّ (rice), دَجَاج (chicken) and سَمَك (fish).

What are common fruit names in Arabic?

Apple تُفَّاحَة, banana مَوْزَة, orange بُرْتُقَالَة, grapes عِنَب, watermelon بِطِّيخ and dates تَمْر.

What are common vegetable names in Arabic?

Carrot جَزَر, potato بَطَاطِس, tomato طَمَاطِم, cucumber خِيَار, onion بَصَل and garlic ثُوم.

How do you say drinks in Arabic?

Water مَاء, tea شَاي, coffee قَهْوَة, juice عَصِير and milk حَلِيب. Hibiscus tea, كَرْكَدِيه, is a popular cold drink in several countries.

Which dishes are in the activity?

They include فَلَافِل (falafel), حُمُّص (hummus), كَبْسَة (kabsa, a spiced rice dish), شَاوِرْمَا (shawarma) and طَاجِين (tagine, a slow-cooked North African stew).

Why do fruit words sometimes end in ة?

The ending marks one single item. تُفَّاح means apples in general and تُفَّاحَة means one apple.

Why do some Arabic words for the same food differ between countries?

Everyday Arabic varies by region, and many foods have a standard word and local ones. Both are correct.

Explore more Arabic activities