Arabic Dutch translator: Dutch to Arabic

Arabic Dutch translation, Dutch to Arabic, starts in the box below: type Dutch, choose the Arabic your reader speaks, and press Translate. You get Arabic script with full harakat, the Standard Arabic line, a Latin transliteration and a Listen button. Free, no account, nothing stored.

What you get on this page

• Dutch to Arabic in Standard Arabic or in Moroccan (Darija), Levantine, Iraqi, Egyptian, Gulf or Saudi.
• Every short vowel written on the result, with the Standard Arabic version under any dialect output.
• Transliteration in Latin letters (3 for ayn, 7 for the hard h) and a Listen button using the Arabic voice on your device.
• Up to 1,000 characters per request; the swap arrow gives you Arabic to Dutch.

Why Arabic Dutch translation is tricky

In the Netherlands and Flanders the Arabic you are most likely writing to is Moroccan Darija, with Syrian Levantine a close second since 2015. Darija is far from the Standard Arabic of a course book: "I want" is بْغِيت (bgheet) in Darija and أُرِيدُ (ureedu) in Standard Arabic. Choose the dialect first. Then watch four things:

• Je and u. Arabic has no polite "you"; أَنْتَ (anta) and أَنْتِ (anti) serve for everyone, and respect goes into titles and phrases like مِنْ فَضْلِكَ (min fadlik).
• De and het become masculine and feminine. Arabic also marks gender on the verb and on "you", so ben je moe? has a form for a man and one for a woman; say which, or read the note the tool adds.
• Word order. Dutch pushes the verb to the end of a subordinate clause (omdat ik moe ben); Arabic keeps it near the front or, as here, drops it (لِأَنِّي مُتْعَب, li'annee mut3ab).
• Sounds. Dutch g and ch are close to Arabic خ and غ, which helps with pronunciation, but Dutch has no ع or ح and Arabic has no p or v: Peter becomes بِيتَر. The shared words suiker, koffie, matras, cijfer and algebra came through Spanish, Italian or French and rarely match the modern Arabic term.

Example sentences

Tips for better results

Pick Moroccan for Moroccan-Dutch families and, as the nearest option, for Algerians and Tunisians; Levantine for Syrians; Standard Arabic for a gemeente letter, a notice or a reader you do not know. Say whether you are addressing a man or a woman when the Dutch sentence hides it. One clause per request beats a long nested sentence. Dutch names go into Arabic by sound; the name in Arabic page lets you check the spelling before you use it. The English to Moroccan Arabic page lists Darija phrases with harakat, Moroccan Arabic explains how Darija differs from Standard Arabic, and Arabic transliteration explains the Latin letters under every result.

Frequently asked questions