Gulf Arabic vs Saudi Arabic
Good, with some adjustment. Gulf speakers and Hijazis understand each other well, but Hijazi sounds closer to Egyptian: b- for the present, 7a- for the future, eesh for "what" and da7een for "now". Gulf Arabic has abi, waayid and il-7een instead.
The differences, side by side
| Gulf Arabic | Saudi Arabic | |
|---|---|---|
| The letter ق | Hard g — قهوة is gahwa | Hard g — قلب is galb, قهوة is gahwa |
| The letter ج | Often y — جديد is yideed, دجاج is diyaay | Soft j — جديد is jadeed; ث and ذ become ت and د |
| Present tense | Bare form: اكتب (aktib), "I write" | b- prefix: باكتب (baktub), "I write" |
| Future tense | بـ (ba-/bi-) or راح: بكتب, راح اكتب | ح- prefix: حاكتب (7aktub), "I will write" |
| Negation | ما before the verb: ما أدري; مو before adjectives | ما before the verb: ما أدري; مو before adjectives |
| "What?" | شو (shu) / شنو (shinu) | إيش (eesh) |
| "Now" | الحين (il-7een) | دحين (da7een) |
| "I want" | أبي (abi) | أبغى (abgha) |
| "Good" | زين (zain) | كويس (kwayyis) |
The same phrases in both
| English | Gulf Arabic | Saudi Arabic |
|---|---|---|
| hello | هلا hala | هلا hala |
| how are you? | شلونك؟ shloonak? | كيفك؟ kaifak? |
| thank you | مشكور mashkoor | شكرا shukran |
| happy birthday | عيد ميلاد سعيد 3eed meelaad sa3eed | عيد ميلاد سعيد 3eed meelaad sa3eed |
| good morning | صباح الخير sabaa7 il-khair | صباح الخير sabaa7 il-khair |
| good evening | مسا الخير masa il-khair | مسا الخير masa il-khair |
| goodbye | مع السلامة ma3a is-salaama | مع السلامة ma3a is-salaama |
| please | لو سمحت law sama7t | لو سمحت law sama7t |
| excuse me | لو سمحت law sama7t | لو سمحت law sama7t |
| I'm sorry | آسف aasif | آسف aasif |
| yes and no | إي ولا ee w-la | أيوا ولا aiwa w-la |
| my name is... | إسمي ismi | إسمي ismi |
Which one should you learn?
Hijazi if you are heading to Jeddah, Mecca or Medina. Khaleeji for the UAE and the smaller Gulf states. For Riyadh and eastern Saudi Arabia, Khaleeji is actually the closer of the two.
Practice Gulf Arabic phrases
8 questions, half of them spoken out loud. Free, no account needed.