Prepositions / حُرُوف الجَرّ

In Arabic, the noun governed by a preposition will always come after it and be in genitive form. The actual prepositions in Arabic حُروف الجَرّ are particles that are not subject to noun cases.

List of prepositions /قائِمة حُروف الجرّ 

Prepositions (الضَمائِر)
with	بِـ (بالمُعَلِّمِ)
for/to (for the teacher)	لِـ (لِلمُعَلِّمِ)
as / like (like the teacher)	كَـ (كَالمُعَلِّمِ)
about	عَنْ
to/towards/until	إِلى
from/of/than	مِنْ
in/inside/within/at	في
up to/until/till	حَتّى
since/from	مُذْ \ مُنْذُ
on/over	عَلى
wāw to swear in the name of…	وَ + اِسْم ← واو القَسَم
tāʾ to swear in the name of…	تَـ + اِسْم ← تاء القَسَم
Particles to express the exception (see dedicated page on that)	عَدا / خَلا / حاشا

Note: prepositions consisting of only one letter are attached to the words following them.

Prepositions: contexts of use

Particle بِـ

• With/by (instrument):

He came by car	جاءَ بِسَيّارةٍ
He is boxing with his gloves	يُلاكِمُ بِقُفازاتِهِ

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• At, in, during (temporal or spatial continuity):

At the university	بِالجامعةِ
During the evening	بِالمَساءِ

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• To take an oath:

By God!	بِاللّهِ
On my honor!	بِشَرَفِي

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• Preceded by إِذا (= and suddenly): 

إِذا بِهِ…

and suddenly he…

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• In combination with other words:
  • → Prepositional groups: بِدونِ / بِغَيْرِ / بِلا = without
  • → Interrogatives: بِمَ؟ = with what ?
  • → Adverbs: بِسُرْعة = quickly (with speed) / بِالضَبْط = exactly

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 Particle لِـ

• For, to, because (purpose and cause):

I studied for the exam	دَرَسْتُ لِلاِمْتِحان
That’s because	لِذَلِكَ…

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• Express possession:

لَهُم كِتابٌ

They have a book (litt. => to them a book)

Note: Takes the fatḥa instead of the kasra when used with a pronoun (except for the 1st person singular pronoun ي )   

لَهُ (for him)

Note 2: Before a noun is preceded by the definite article (ال – أَداة التَعْرِيف), the ا of the article disappears:

  لِلْمُعَلِّمِ = for the teacher

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• Express possibility/permission, with أَنْ:

لَكُم أَنْ تَأْخُذوا ذَلِكَ

You can take that / You have the right to take that

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• Express dependency or relationship (when annexation is difficult):

مُنَظَّمةُ الأُمَمِ المُتَّحِدةِ لِلطُفُولةِ

The United Nations Children‘s Fund (UNICEF)

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• In combination with other words:
  • Prepositional group: لِأَجْلِ = in order to
  • Interrogatives: لِماذا؟ = why?
  • Conjunction: لأَنَّ = because

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Particle كَـ

• Like, as:

He is speaking to us as a politician	يُخاطِبُنا كَرَجُلٍ سِياسيٍّ
The girl is beautiful like the full moon	الفتاة جميلةٌ كَالبَدْرِ

• In combination with other words:
  • Relative clause: كَمَن/ كَالذي = like the one…
  • Adverbial expression: كَذَلِكَ = also / as well / likewise
  • Conjunction: كَأَنّ = as if / كَما = like (followed by a relative clause)

Note: Particle كـ can’t be followed by a pronoun (as opposed to مِثْل which can be followed by one)

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Particle عَنْ

• About:

تَحَدّثَ عَنْ اِبنِ سينا

He talked about Avicenna

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• Estrangement, separation or detachment:

بَعِيدًا عَنْ

Far from

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• Express the origin. Style very much used in classical resources like collections of hadith or khabar when mentioning the isnād (chain of transmitters of the information).

حَدَّثَنَا ‌اللَّيْثُ، عَنْ ‌خَالِدٍ، عَنْ ‌سَعِيدِ بْنِ أَبِي هِلَالٍ، عَنْ ‌نُعَيْمٍ الْمُجْمِرِ قَالَ…

Al-Layth told us, on the authority of Khalid, on the authority of Saeed bin Abi Hilal, on the authority of Naeem Al-Mujmar who said…

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• Generally used with verbs عَنْ has other values attached to it:
  • Research and exposure: كَشَفَ عن = to unveil / بَحَثَ عن = to look for
  • Defense: دافَعَ عَنْ = to defend

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• In combination with other words:
  • Adverbial expression: عَنْ قَرِيب = shortly
  • Interrogative: عَمَّنْ؟ = about who? / عَمَّ؟ = about what?

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Particle إِلى

• To, towards, until (time and place):

He goes to school	يَذْهَبُ إلى المَدْرَسة
From now till infinity	مِنْ الآنَ إِلى الأَبَدِ

Note: Becomes إِلَيْـ when a pronoun is attached to it

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Particle مِنْ

• From, of, that (time and place):

He came from the city	جاءَ مِنْ المَدينةِ
From now till infinity	مِنْ الآنَ إِلى الأَبَدِ
A door made of wood	بابٌ مِنْ خَشَبٍ

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• Comparison (than):

This is better than that	هذا أَحْسَنُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ
He is bigger than him	هو أَكْبَرُ مِنْهُ

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• In combination with other words:
  • Prepositional group: مِنْ أَجْلِ = in order to / مِنْ قِبَلِ = from (someone)
  • Adverbial expression: عَنْ قَرِيب = shortly
  • Interrogative: مِمَّنْ؟ = from who? / مِنْ أَيْنَ؟ = from where?
  • Expressions with adjectives and أَنْ or أَنَّ:
    • مِنْ الأحْسَنَ أَنْ = It is better that…
    • مِنْ المُمْكِنِ أَنْ = It is possible that…

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Particle فِي

• In, inside, at (time and place):

We are at home	نَحْنُ فِي البَيْتِ
The appointment is at 10 am	المَوْعِدُ في الساعة العاشِرة صَباحًا

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• About, concerning:

ما رَاْيُكَ فِي ذَلِكَ؟

What do you think about that?

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Particle حَتَّى

• Until, up to:

أَكَلَ السَمَكةَ حَتَّى رَأْسِها

He ate the fish up to its head

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Note: Can also mean ‘even/also’ but when adopting this meaning حَتّى isn’t anymore a preposition (حَرْف جَرّ), and consequently doesn’t influence the noun case of the noun following it:

أَكَلَ السَمَكةَ حَتَّى رَأْسَها

He ate the fish even its head

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Particle مُنْذُ / مُذْ

• Since/from:

He has been studying Arabic since his childhood.	يَدْرُسُ العَرَبِيّةِ مُنْذُ طُفولتِهِ
I’ve known him for six months.	أَعْرِفُهُ مُنْذُ سِتَّةِ أَشْهُرٍ

Note: Can’t be followed by a pronoun. 

Note 2: The مُذْ form is more archaïc and not very much used.

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Particle عَلى

• Above/upon/on:

Peace be upon you	السَلامُ عَلَيْكُمْ
The cushion is on the bed	الوِسادةُ عَلى السَرِيرِ

Note: Similarly to إِلى, the particle على becomes عَلَيْـ when a pronoun is attached to it

• Against:

{they think that every shout is against them} Qur’an [al-Munafiqoon : 4]	يَحْسَبُونَ كُلَّ صَيْحَةٍ عَلَيْهِمْ} القرآن [المنافقون : 4]}
He got angry at him	ِغَضِبَ عَلَيْه
He condemned him (litt. He judged against him)	حَكَمَ عَلَيْهِ

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• Express duty/obligation:

(يَجِب) عَلَيْكَ أَنْ تَفْعَلَ كَذا You have to do this

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• In combination with other words:
  • Adverbial expressions: عَلى الإطْلاقِ=absolutely,by no means / عَلى حِسابِ = at the expense of
  • Conjunctions: عَلى أَنَّ = however, though / عَلى أَنْ = at the condition of
  • Interrogatives: عَلامَ؟ = why? in what purpose?
  • Prepositional group: عَلى حَسَبِ = depending on…