Palestinian Words and Phrases: 100 Words + 20 Slang

Quick answer The most useful Palestinian Arabic words are short everyday ones: shu (what), wein (where), biddi (I want, بدّي), mnih (good), hallaʾ (now), ktir (a lot, very), fi / ma fi (there is / there isn't). The expressions you hear most are yalla (let's go), khalas (done), tfaddal (here you are), yislamu idek (thanks, يسلمو إيديك) and yaʿtik el-ʿafye, said to anyone at work. The first 40 words and all 20 expressions are below; the PDF has all 100 words with a 7-day plan.

What are the most common Palestinian words?

The 100 words on this sheet are grouped by what they do in a sentence, not by alphabet: little words and pronouns, questions and time, people and places, food and drink, verbs, and describing words. Here are the first forty in their Jerusalem and Ramallah pronunciation, the ones you will hear in your first hour in any Palestinian home or café.

The other sixty words (family, places, food, the verbs you need first and the adjectives) are in the PDF in the same layout, with three tick boxes next to every word for the 7-day plan.

Palestinian phrases, expressions and slang you hear every day

Words get you understood; expressions make you sound like you belong. These twenty come up constantly in Palestinian conversation. Many of them have a fixed reply, and using the reply is what really impresses people: say sahtein to someone eating and they answer ʿala ʾalbak; say yaʿtik el-ʿafye to a shopkeeper and you will hear allah yʿafik.

How is Palestinian different from Standard Arabic and other dialects?

Compared with Modern Standard Arabic, a good share of the everyday words change: "what" is madha in MSA and shu in Palestinian, "now" is al-an versus hallaʾ, "I want" is uridu versus biddi, "there isn't" is la yujad versus ma fi. The sounds shift too: in Jerusalem the letter ق becomes a glottal stop (ʾahwe, coffee), and many words end in -e (madrase, school). Villagers often say k for ق and ch for k, and in the south you hear g. Within the Levant, Palestinian is closest to Jordanian city speech and very close to Lebanese and Syrian: you will meet small differences like biddi versus Lebanese baddi, hada versus hayda, and a hard English j in Palestine where Beirut and Damascus soften it. Egyptian is further away (eh for "what", ʿayiz for "want"), but these 120 words will carry you through most conversations anywhere in the Levant.

How the 7-day plan on the sheet works

About 20 minutes a day. Days 1 to 5 take the 100 words in blocks of 15 to 25, with built-in reviews on day 3 and day 5. Day 6 is the 20 expressions, each learned together with its reply. Day 7 is the whole list plus the sentence page: 15 sentences built only from the list, to read aloud and translate. Every word has three tick boxes, D1, D3 and D7: cover the pronunciation and English, say the word, then tick. To turn the words into sentences, use worksheet 4 on verbs; if you are just starting, begin with worksheet 1 on greetings. For more vocabulary across dialects see common Arabic words and Arabic greetings and responses, or compare all three dialects on the Levantine Arabic worksheets page.

What's inside the PDF

• 100 numbered words in six groups: little words and pronouns, questions and time, people and places, food and drink, verbs, describing words. Arabic script, Palestinian pronunciation and English side by side
• 20 everyday expressions and slang (yalla, khalas, tfaddal, yislamu idek, yaʿtik el-ʿafye, ya zalame, bitjannin …) with when to use them and the fixed replies
• A 7-day plan (about 20 minutes a day) with tick boxes and two built-in review days, plus three tick boxes per word for spaced repetition
• 15 sentences built only from words in the list, with Arabic script, to read aloud and translate
• Exercises: opposites, odd one out, "what do you say?" situations for pair work, build your own sentences, a Day-7 self-test out of 40
• A Jerusalem pronunciation box with the village and southern variants, and an answer key with teacher notes on a separate page

How to use it on your own

Follow the plan on page 1: about 20 words a day, each said out loud three times and put into one sentence you could use this week. Day 6 is the 20 expressions; learn each with its reply. On Day 7 read the 15 sentences and do the 40-word self-test; 32 hits or more means the starter pack is done.

How to use it in class

Works as a running vocabulary programme over seven lessons: one group as a 10-minute warm-up with choral repetition, then pairs quiz each other from the English column. Part 2 (expressions) is best taught as role-play: shop, kitchen, guest at the door. Ex. 4 turns that into a pair exercise with eight situations. The sentence page (Ex. 1) is the test: reading all 15 fluently and translating eight shows the core vocabulary is in place. Answer key and teacher notes on the last page.

Preview

Page 1 is above. Here are the other pages; click one to open it full size.

Frequently asked questions

What are the most common Palestinian Arabic words?

The top of the list is small everyday words: ana (I), inta / inti (you), shu (what), wein (where), lesh (why), hallaʾ (now), bukra (tomorrow), biddi (I want), fi (there is), mish (not), mnih (good), ktir (a lot, very), shwayy (a little). Most of them differ from Standard Arabic, which is why a dialect list is worth learning separately. The first 40 are on this page.

What are common Palestinian slang words and expressions?

The ones you hear every day are yalla (let's go), khalas (done, enough), yaʿni (I mean), wallah (really), ʿan jad? (seriously?), ya zalame (man!, between friends), habibi (mate, dear) and bitjannin (amazing). Politeness phrases matter just as much: tfaddal (here you are), yislamu idek (thank you, lit. bless your hands), sahtein (enjoy your meal) and yaʿtik el-ʿafye, said to anyone who is working.

How do you say "I want" in Palestinian Arabic?

biddi, as in biddi ʾahwe, I want coffee. It changes its ending for other people: biddak (you, m), biddik (you, f), biddo (he), bidha (she). After biddi a verb loses its b-: biddi ashrab, I want to drink. In Lebanon you will hear baddi with a.

Is Palestinian Arabic the same as Jordanian or Lebanese?

They are close relatives in the Levantine family and speakers understand each other easily. Urban Palestinian and Jordanian city speech are nearly the same. Differences with Lebanese are mostly small words and sounds: biddi vs baddi, hada vs hayda, and a hard j in Palestine where Beirut has the s of "pleasure". Most words on this sheet are understood across the whole Levant.

Is this word list free?

Yes. Download the PDF, print it and copy it as often as you like for personal use and in class. Please keep the Yallah Speak credit in the footer.