Days of the week are important to learn when you first start learning Arabic. This article will serve as a complete beginner’s guide that will cover the seven days of the week.
It will also include their pronunciation, the meaning of the Arabic names of weekdays, real-life phrases with the new Arabic vocabulary and even variations in how to pronounce the days in Arabic across the Arabic-speaking world.
Let’s start with the main names of the days.
List of Days of the Week in Arabic in MSA
Day in English
Arabic Week Order
Transcription
Day in Arabic
Saturday in Arabic
Weekend
as-sabt
السَّبت
Sunday in Arabic
First day of the week
al-ʾaḥad
الأَحَد
Monday in Arabic
Second day of the week
al-ithnayn
الإِثنَين
Tuesday in Arabic
Third day of the week
ath-thulāthāʾ
الثُلاثاء
Wednesday in Arabic
Fourth day of the week
al-arbiʿāʾ
الأَربِعاء
Thursday in Arabic
Last day of the week
al-khamees
الخَميس
Friday in Arabic
Weekend
al-jumʿa
الجُمعَة
Learn the Days of the Week in Arabic with AlifBee
Weekend Days in Arab Countries
Weekend days in many Arab countries differ from the Western standard of Saturday & Sunday, largely because of the religious significance of Friday in Islam.
Most Arab countries, like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Syria, take Friday and Saturday as their weekend because Friday (يوم الجمعة) is the main day of prayer in Islam. That means that Sunday is the first day of the week, and that the working week usually runs Sunday to Thursday.
However, a few countries follow the global Saturday–Sunday weekend. For example, the UAE shifted to this schedule in 2022, and countries like Lebanon already follow it.
In many places, even if Friday is a working day, businesses still adjust their hours for the Friday prayer because it is the most important day for muslims.
Arabic Names of the Week Days and Arabic Numbers
The names of the week days come from numbers. Notice the similarity and how both use the same stem. Linking the names with Arabic numerals will help you remember the days and their right order in the week.
Number
Day of the week
Arabic Number
السبت — as-sabt
-
One
الأحد — al-ʾaḥad
واحد — wāḥid
Two
الاثنين — al-ithnayn
اثنين — ithnayn
Three
الثلاثاء — ath-thulāthāʾ
ثلاثة — thalātha
Four
الأربعاء — al-arbiʿāʾ
أربعة — arbaʿa
Five
الخميس — al-khamees
خمسة — khamsa
Five
الجمعة — al-jumʿa
-
Real-Life Phrases with the Days of the Week
This area of Arabic is foundational, like the alphabet, numbers, telling the time, Arabic greetings and other basic Arabic sentences.
This means once learnt, you take it with you in your language learning journey. So to make it easier for you to use the days of the week accurately, we have compiled real-life phrases that work with almost all days.
English Phrase
Transcription
Arabic Phrase
Last Saturday
al-sabtu al-māḍī
السبت الماضي
Next Sunday
al-aḥadu al-qādim
الأحد القادم
Every Monday
kullu ithnayn
كل اثنين
Tuesday evening
masāʾu ath-thulāthāʾ
مساء الثلاثاء
Week
usbūʿ
أسبوع
Weekend
ʿuṭlatu nihāyati al-usbūʿ
عطلة نهاية الأسبوع
The weekly holiday / the weekend break
al-ʿuṭlah al-usbūʿiyyah
العطلة الأسبوعية
Friday (Day)
yawmu al-jumuʿah
يوم الجمعة
Days of the Week in Different Arabic Dialects
What we have learned so far are the names of the week days in modern standard Arabic, which you will find in writing and formal settings and hear on the news.
But here are essential variations in case you had a trip to an Arabic-speaking country and wanted to use the right dialect and learn how to say days of the week like a local.
English
MSA Arabic
Egyptian Arabic
Levantine Arabic
Gulf Arabic
Maghrebi Arabic
Sunday
الأَحَد - al-ʼaḥad
اِلْحَد - el-ḥad
اِلأَحَد - el-ḥad
الأَحَد - il-aḥad
الحَد - el-ḥed / ɛl-ḥd
Monday
الاِثنَيْن - al-ithnayn
الاِتْنين - el-itnēn
اِلتَّنين - it-tnēn
الاِثنَيْن - il-ithneyn
اتّنين - tnīn / t-nēn
Tuesday
الثُلاثاء - ath-thulāthāʾ
التَلات - et-talāt
اِلتَّلاتة - et-taalāth
اِلثَّلاثا - ith-thulāthā
تلات - tlāt / t-lāt
Wednesday
الأَرْبِعاء - al-arbiʿāʾ
الأَرْبَع - el-arbaʿ
اِلأَرْبَعا - el-arbaʿa
الأَرْبَع - il-arbaʿ
لارْبع - larbʿa
Thursday
الخَمِيس - al-khamīs
الخَمِيس - el-khamīs
الخَمِيس - el-khamīs
الخَمِيس - il-khamīs
الخَمِيس - l-khamīs
Friday
الجُمُعة - al-jumʿah
الجُمْعَة - el-gomʿa
الجُمْعة - el-jumʿa
الجُمْعة- il-jumʿa
جُمْعة - jəmʿa / jmʿa
Saturday
السَّبْت - as-sabt
السَّبْت - es-sabt
السَّبْت - is-sabt
السَّبْت - is-sabt
اِلسّبْت - s-sbt
Final Word
Now that we have covered all you need to know about days of the week in Arabic, start practicing them on your own by simply planning your week and writing your plans for every day.
Then you can either write a simple paragraph or speak shortly about your plans for next week with the new words you learned.
For beginners, there is no need to make full sentences in Arabic for this exercise. It is enough to say the day and the activity you have (you can even say it in your native language).
And if you need more practice with the days of the week and other basics of the Arabic language, download the AlifBee App and get the benefit of audio, assessments, reading Arabic, and training with AI.
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