English to Lebanese Arabic (and Syrian, Jordanian)
English to Lebanese Arabic, Syrian or Jordanian: type a sentence below and get the Levantine line a friend in Beirut or Damascus would send, in the tone you need. Harakat, the Standard Arabic version, transliteration and a Listen button appear under it. Free, no account, nothing stored.
Translations are generated by an AI model and can be wrong; the Standard Arabic line is there so you can compare. Up to 1000 characters at a time.
What you get on this page
- English in, Levantine out. The selector is set to Levantine, which covers Lebanese, Syrian, Jordanian and Palestinian speech in one setting.
- The MSA line under the dialect, so you can send the formal form when the occasion calls for it.
- A note under the result when the model assumed the gender of the person you address; vowel marks, transliteration and Listen on every line; free, no sign-up.
English to Lebanese Arabic: choosing the tone
Levantine has a built-in politeness scale that English leaves to intonation. A request to a stranger starts with law sama7t; the same request to a friend starts with feek, can you, or simply the verb. Thanks go from shukran to yislamu, and for someone who cooked or helped with their hands, yislamu eedayk. Between partners the vocabulary changes again: 7abeebi, 7ayaati (my life), and ishta'tillak for I miss you.
Gender is grammatical: every you and every present verb has a form for a man and one for a woman, so ween-ak and ween-ik both mean where are you. Put the person in brackets, (to my wife), (to a coworker, formal), and the translator chooses the ending and the politeness together. Without a hint it assumes a man and says so in the note.
Ten Levantine lines for everyday texting
The requests, thanks and messages to someone close that people most often type here. Lebanese and Syrian forms are the same in all ten; Amman says the same words with a hard g for qaf.
| You want to say | Arabic (harakat) | How it reads | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Can you help me? | فِيك تْسَاعِدْنِي؟ (m.) / فِيكِي تْسَاعْدِينِي؟ (f.) | feek tsaa3idni? / feeki tsaa3deeni? | feek = can you, friendly |
| The bill, please | الحِسَاب لَو سَمَحْت | il-7isaab law sama7t | law sama7ti to a woman |
| Bless your hands (after a meal) | يِسْلَمُو إِيدَيْك (m.) / يِسْلَمُو إِيدَيْكِي (f.) | yislamu eedayk / eedayki | the cook's thank-you |
| I miss you | اِشْتَقْتِلَّك (m.) / اِشْتَقْتِلِّك (f.) | ishta'tillak / ishta'tillik | to a man / to a woman |
| My love | حَبِيبِي (m.) / حَبِيبْتِي (f.) | 7abeebi / 7abibti | 7ayaati, my life, is as common |
| Are you okay? | إِنْتَ مْنِيح؟ (m.) / إِنْتِ مْنِيحَة؟ (f.) | inta mnee7? / inti mnee7a? | |
| What are you doing? | شُو عَم تَعْمِل؟ (m.) / شُو عَم تَعْمْلِي؟ (f.) | shuu 3am ta3mil? / ta3mli? | 3am marks right now |
| How's it going? | شُو أَخْبَارَك؟ (m.) / شُو أَخْبَارِك؟ (f.) | shuu akhbaarak? / akhbaarik? | literally: what's your news |
| Where are you? | وِينَك؟ (m.) / وِينِك؟ (f.) | weenak? / weenik? | |
| Take care of yourself | دِير بَالَك عَلَى حَالَك (m.) / دِيرِي بَالِك عَلَى حَالِك (f.) | deer baalak 3ala 7aalak / deeri baalik 3ala 7aalik | goodbye between people who care |
Tips for English to Syrian or Lebanese Arabic
- Write the way you would say it, not the way you would write an email: I'm on my way rather than I am currently en route.
- Say who it is for. (to my mother-in-law) and (to a friend) produce different sentences from the same English.
- Numbers, times and names can stay in English; Arabic script and Arabic names are covered on the name in Arabic page.
- When the MSA line and the dialect line differ a lot, the dialect one is for chat and the MSA one for anything written down.
- Lebanese typing often uses Latin letters with 2 for the glottal stop (2addeesh); the transliteration line here uses the same digits, so you can copy it into a chat.
Google Translate from English to Lebanese Arabic
Google Translate does not offer Lebanese, Syrian or any other Levantine variety, and most general translators output Standard Arabic only, so I'm coming now becomes anaa qaadim al-aan instead of the jaaye halla' a Beiruti would type. Standard Arabic is readable everywhere, but in a family chat it sounds like a newsreader. For the full comparison and a longer phrase table see the Lebanese Arabic translator page; the Egyptian equivalent is at English to Egyptian Arabic, and English to Arabic is the place for formal text.
Frequently asked questions
Is English to Lebanese Arabic the same as English to Syrian Arabic?
Nearly. Both are Levantine and the translation is the same in grammar and almost all words; the Lebanese pronounce a few vowels differently and mix in French words such as bonjour.
Does Google Translate English to Lebanese Arabic?
No. Google returns Modern Standard Arabic without vowel marks. This page returns Levantine with harakat and shows the MSA line beside it.
How do I get the feminine form?
Add (to a woman) after your English. The result uses inti and the -i or -ik endings, and the note under the result confirms it.
Can I type the result in Latin letters in a chat?
Yes. Copy the transliteration line; it uses the 3, 7 and 2 digits that Lebanese and Syrian chats use.
How much text can I translate at once?
Up to 1,000 characters per request, around 150 words, inside a daily free limit for the whole site.