Thank you and hello in ArabicWith pronunciation, and the replies you'll hear back
Arabic changes a lot from country to country, so this page sticks to the words that work everywhere, from a Cairo taxi to a Dubai mall. Five of them will carry you through most of a trip. Here are 18 phrases people actually use in the Middle East and North Africa, in the order worth learning them. The replies you will hear back are included too.
"Thank you" in Arabic
شكراً
SHOOK-ran
shukran
Understood in every Arabic-speaking country. Nothing else you learn will pay off this fast.
Thank you
شكراً
SHOOK-ran
shukran
Hello (peace be upon you)
السلام عليكم
as-sa-LAA-mu a-LAY-koom
as-salamu alaykum
Works in every country, at any time of day.
Excuse me / please
لو سمحت
law sa-MAHT
law samaht
To a woman it becomes law samahti (law sa-MAH-tee).
Yes / No
نعم / لا
NA-am / laa
na'am / laa
No thank you
لا شكراً
laa SHOOK-ran
laa shukran
The polite way to end a sales pitch. Smile and keep walking.
The respelling is an approximation. Arabic has sounds English simply does not have, including the ع in some words and the throaty ح and خ. A respelling gets you close enough to be understood, not close enough to sound local, and nobody expects the second one. The bigger issue is that written Arabic and the spoken dialect of each country are far apart, so everything here is deliberately limited to words that travel well. If a phrase does not land, show the Arabic script instead.
Five phrases is genuinely enough for Arabic
You do not need to work through a phrasebook before you go. Almost everything a traveller says falls into these five shapes, and they are listed under "Start with these five" above.
- Thank you … The one you will use most. If you learn a single word, make it this one.
- Hello … Said the moment you walk into a shop. Whether you say it changes how you are treated.
- Excuse me … Some languages split calling someone over and apologising into different words. Check the list above.
- How much is it? … Needed for every purchase and every meal. If you miss the number, ask them to show it.
- I don't understand … Without this you end up nodding along and walking off in the wrong direction.
Getting these five automatic beats memorising twenty. Twenty phrases you have to search your memory for are worth nothing at the moment you need them.
The greeting has a fixed reply, and it reverses the word order
When you say as-salamu alaykum (peace be upon you), the answer is always wa alaykum as-salam (and upon you, peace). It is not a variation, it is the reply, and it flips the two halves of the phrase. Learn to recognise it and the first exchange of every conversation stops being a surprise. It also works at any hour, so you never have to guess between good morning and good evening. Say it walking into a small shop and you will watch the temperature of the room change.
The hard part is not speaking, it is understanding the reply
Almost every phrasebook only covers what you say. What actually stops people is the second after they finish talking, when the other person answers. How many of you. For here or to go. Card or cash. Go quiet and the exchange dies. Nod along and you get the wrong thing.
The good news is that the replies are a small, predictable set. Choose "You hear" in the list above and you will see only the ones that actually come back at you in the Middle East and North Africa. Reading them once before you go is most of the work.
If you still cannot catch it, ask them to write it down. Numbers and place names are far easier to read than to hear.
Say it clearly rather than say it perfectly
Arabic has sounds English simply does not have, including the ع in some words and the throaty ح and خ. A respelling gets you close enough to be understood, not close enough to sound local, and nobody expects the second one. The bigger issue is that written Arabic and the spoken dialect of each country are far apart, so everything here is deliberately limited to words that travel well. If a phrase does not land, show the Arabic script instead.
The usual failure is not a wrong vowel, it is going quiet because you are unsure. Keep it short, say it at normal volume, and finish the phrase in one breath. Everyone can tell you are a visitor attempting Arabic, and if it does not land they will simply ask again. Copy the written form to your phone so you have something to show when speaking does not work.
Other languages
FAQ
Q.How do you say thank you in Arabic?
شكراً, pronounced roughly SHOOK-ran. Understood in every Arabic-speaking country. Nothing else you learn will pay off this fast. If you learn one word before you travel, make it this one. It works at the till, when someone gives you directions, and when someone gives up a seat.
Q.Will the pronunciation guide alone get me understood?
Arabic has sounds English simply does not have, including the ع in some words and the throaty ح and خ. A respelling gets you close enough to be understood, not close enough to sound local, and nobody expects the second one. The bigger issue is that written Arabic and the spoken dialect of each country are far apart, so everything here is deliberately limited to words that travel well. If a phrase does not land, show the Arabic script instead.
Q.How much should I learn before I go?
Five phrases. Thank you, hello, excuse me, how much is it, and I don't understand. That covers nearly every situation a traveller hits. Getting those five automatic matters far more than adding a sixth, because at the moment you need them there is no time to think.
Q.Why bother when I have a translation app?
For getting something done, the app wins. People still learn a few words because it changes how they are treated. In a 2025 Preply survey of 1,526 US adults, 47 percent of those who used the local language said locals treated them better, 80 percent said learning phrases before a trip is important, and 58 percent actually did it. A greeting is less about transferring information and more about signalling that you made an effort.
Q.I can ask the question, but I cannot understand the answer.
That is the most common way this goes wrong, and it is why this page includes the other side. Choose "You hear" in the list above to see only what gets said back to you in the Middle East and North Africa. There are not many variations: how many of you, eat in or take away, card or cash. Reading them once removes most of the surprise.
Q.Does this work offline?
Yes. Everything runs in the browser, with no account and nothing sent to a server. Open it once before you fly and it will usually still be there on the plane or in a dead zone. You can copy any phrase and show the screen when speaking does not work.
Reading a phrase is not the same as saying it
You can recognise every phrase on this page and still freeze at the counter, because there is no time to think. Inko lets you say Arabic out loud to an AI for 60 seconds a day, and afterwards it shows you what you could have said instead. A week before you fly is enough to make a difference.