Learn Saudi Arabic (Hijazi) الحجازي
The Arabic of Jeddah, Mecca and Medina — a crossroads dialect shaped by centuries of pilgrims and traders.
Lessons
Structured lessons covering greetings, family, food, travel and more.
Phrases
How to say hello, thank you, happy birthday and the rest, with audio and the forms for a man, a woman or a group.
Stories
Read and listen to Saudi Arabic (Hijazi) stories with translation and a vocabulary glossary.
Vocabulary
Search the word database, hear each word, and save it to your review deck.
Start Here
How to learn Saudi Arabic: why Hijazi is the place to start, what to learn first, and how long each stage takes.
Verb Conjugations
Full conjugation tables for 72 common verbs, every tense, affirmative and negative.
Conversation Practice
Talk to the AI tutor in Saudi Arabic (Hijazi) and get corrections as you go.
Where Saudi Arabic (Hijazi) is spoken
Hijazi is spoken in the western region of Saudi Arabia, in Jeddah, Mecca, Medina and Taif. Because Jeddah has always welcomed people from everywhere, Hijazi is one of the easiest Saudi varieties for other Arabs to understand.
What makes Saudi Arabic (Hijazi) different
ث and ذ become ت and د
thalaatha (three) is talaata and haadha (this) is haada. Hijazis also write them that way in casual messages.
b- for the present, 7a- for the future
baktub means "I write" and 7aktub "I will write", much like Egyptian. That makes Hijazi a natural step for anyone who already knows some Egyptian Arabic.
da7een, eesh and abgha
da7een (now), eesh (what), feen (where) and abgha (I want) are the everyday words you hear first in Jeddah.
marra means "very"
7ilu marra means "very nice". The word that means "once" elsewhere is the Hijazi intensifier, and you will hear it in almost every conversation.
How Saudi Arabic (Hijazi) compares
Practice the basics
8 questions, half of them spoken out loud. Free, no account needed.
Common questions
Is Hijazi the same as Saudi Arabic?
Saudi Arabia has several dialects. Hijazi is spoken in the west (Jeddah, Mecca, Medina); Najdi in the centre around Riyadh; and Gulf-style dialects in the east. Hijazi is the most widely understood outside the country.
Is Hijazi close to Egyptian Arabic?
In some ways, yes: both use b- for the present and ha-/7a- for the future, and many words overlap. Hijazi keeps ق as a "g" and has its own vocabulary like da7een and eesh.
How do you say "how are you" in Saudi Hijazi?
kaifak? (كيفك) to a man and kaifik? to a woman. The answer is usually il-7amdulillah, tamaam (praise God, fine).