When you meet an unknown word, read the sentences around it for clues. The clue may be a cause, an opposite, an object or a repeated idea, and it tells you enough to keep going.
This lesson follows resolving pronoun reference. Afterwards, build a reviewed topic vocabulary set to remember the new words.
What clues should I look for?
Look at the sentence before and after the unknown word. Ask what must be true for the whole passage to make sense.
- Cause or result: a word may be explained by what comes before or after it.
- Object or action: what the person does or uses, as in the second example.
- Contrast: a sentence that says “but” or “however” points to an opposite.
Worked example 1: a cause and result
كانتِ الغرفةُ مظلمةً جدًّا، فأشعلَ أبي المصباحَ ليرى الطريقَ.
(The room was very ___, so my father switched on the lamp to see the way.)
Clue. He switched on a lamp in order to see. A lamp is needed when it is hard to see, so the room was dark. The word مظلمة means dark.
Worked example 2: an object
كان الجوُّ باردًا، فلبسَ الولدُ معطفًا ثقيلًا وقفازينِ.
(The weather was cold, so the boy put on a heavy coat and ___.)
Clue. In cold weather a boy wears warm items next to a coat. The word قفازين means gloves.
The mistake that costs marks
Some students guess from how the word looks, or from a similar word they know, and ignore the sentence. Both guesses below use the same starting word مظلمة.
| Guess | Based on | Result |
|---|---|---|
| bright | a half-remembered word | contradicts “switched on the lamp” |
| dark | the cause and result in the sentence | fits the whole passage |
The fix is to test every guess by reading the whole sentence with the guess in place.
Check yourself
What does يستريحُ probably mean here?
كان الطريقُ طويلًا، فشعرَ سامي بالتعبِ وجلسَ تحتَ شجرةٍ يستريحُ.
(The road was long, so Sami felt tired and sat under a tree ___.)
Answer
It means “rests”. The clues are the long road, the tiredness, and the act of sitting under a tree. Someone who is tired after a long walk sits to rest.
What to study next
Next, practise showing which words in the passage back up your answer. Continue with supporting an answer with the relevant Arabic evidence, then try the reading practice set.
If you want a teacher to go through your own reading texts with you, see online one-to-one Arabic tuition.