# عبارة عن



## Abu Fahm

I have often wondered what this means exactly. Could you please explain how عبارة عن should be used.

Regards


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## Masjeen

Well, (عبرة عن) is a Misprint it must be like this عبرت عن

 it means:
(she/it) Expressed>>> عبرت 
on/about >>> عن

عبرت عن سعادتها= she/it Expressed her happiness about
عبرت عن غضبها=she/it Expressed her Anger about


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## Abu Fahm

Thanks for your reply but I spelled it correctly.

I have heard used to describe something similar to something else

Hiya 3ibara 3an Stadium.


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## Masjeen

ok  you mean عبارة عن..
المشروع عبارة عن مبنى تجاري

بس بصراحة انا مو عارف شلون أترجمها
لازم واحد  يحصل لها نظير باللغة الإنجليزية
انا ما عرف


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## L.2

It depends on the context but I'd translate it as is/are or maybe consist.
المنزل عبارة عن ثماني غرف
The house consists of eight rooms.



> Hiya 3ibara 3an Stadium


 
I don't know what does _Stadium_ mean but you can say, she is Stadium.


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## suma

I'd respectfully disagree with L2 in regards to how best to translate this into English.
عبارة عن means "expression for" "way of saying" "for all intents and purposes" "de facto"

Hiya 3ibara 3an Stadium= _It's a stadium for all intents and purposes._
_It's basically a stadium._

You get the feel for it with more expamples in context.


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## !mma

We use (عبارة عن) in arabic to help us in  definitions
Ex: 
المشروع عبارة عن مبنى تجاري
=
The project is a commercial building


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## MikaelP

Hello everyone,

I just came across this text on the internet:

عمرك طلبت فرابتشينو احمر؟!

اي مشروب احمر من ستاربوكس عباره عن اصباغ من حشرة!! 

شوف اللينك...

I understand the phrase means the following:
"have you ever ordered a red frapuccino at Starbucks? Any red drink from Starbucks contains bug-based dye."

Can anyone confirm the exact meaning of عبار  ? From the context I believe it means "contains", but I'm not sure. The root ع ب رisn't usually related to the idea of content or containing...

Thanks for your help!
Mikael

[Moderator's Note: Merged with a previous thread]


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## cherine

Welcome to the forum 

As the others said in the previous discussion, you can translate it as "consists of", "is made of", "is basically" or simply the verb "to be".


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## jack_1313

I find the expression "tantamount to" reflects the meaning well most of the time.


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## aurelien.demarest

Hi guys,

I think I my sentence it suits perfectly which "_was basically_" as suggest by @cherine 
Is that correct?

أعطت شهرزاد لُعبةً كهدية الى إبنها وكانت عبارة عن سيارةَ إطْفاءِ

Thanks
Aurélien


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## cherine

Actually, I would translated with the verb to be: she gave her son a toy, it was a fire truck. (Fr: Elle a donné son fils un jouet; c'était un camion de pompier. Ou: un jouet: un camion de pompier)


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## analeeh

I agree with Cherine - عبارة عن here is just 'is'. Of course, you could argue that in English 'is basically' - much like عبارة عن in a lot of cases - is ultimately a variation on 'is' which is identical in meaning with just 'is'. But that's another question.

(I actually wonder if عبارة عن originally was used to mean 'consists of' only, in the sense of discussing multiple parts - this is the only sense in which عبارت از, the Persian borrowing, is used, and it seems to make sense - and then eventually came to be used in the sense of just 'is', as well)


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## Ibn Nacer

In that case, why not just say this: وكانت سيارة إطفاء without عبارة عن ?

PS : Does the use of the particule al kâf (in أعطت شهرزاد لُعبةً كهدية ) is not a wrong modern use ?


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## HZKhan

Interestingly, the phrase has been calqued into Persian, Turkish and Urdu.


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## aurelien.demarest

thanks guys for the explanation


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## cherine

Ibn Nacer said:


> In that case, why not just say this: وكانت سيارة إطفاء without عبارة عن ?


There's usually more than one way to express the same idea. It doesn't make one of the options more correct, even if one is more concise or sound more natural.
The sentence we have can be said in an even shorter form: أعطت شهرزادُ ابنَها لعبةً سيارةَ إطفاء or أعطت شهرزاد ابنَها سيارةَ إطفاءٍ لعبةً هديةً.


> PS : Does the use of the particule al kâf (in أعطت شهرزاد لُعبةً كهدية ) is not a wrong modern use ?


It is not wrong, the use of the kaaf is very common/widespread in modern usage, even when it's superfluous.


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## Ibn Nacer

Merci Cherine.

Pour la particule al kâf, on en avais parlé mais je ne sais plus dans quel fil... Est-ce comme quand on dit : "Il travaille comme professeur" ?


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## cherine

Oui c'est ça يعمل كمدرس, quoiqu'il y ait plusieurs qui trouvent cet usage incorrecte et qu'il ne faut dire que يعمل مدرسًا.


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## Matat

Ibn Nacer said:


> In that case, why not just say this: وكانت سيارة إطفاء without عبارة عن ?
> 
> PS : Does the use of the particule al kâf (in أعطت شهرزاد لُعبةً كهدية ) is not a wrong modern use ?



Speaking from a technical standpoint, كانت سيارة إطفاء is the correct way to say it, and adding the عبارة عن is actually incorrect. Saying كانت عبارة عن سيارة إطفاء technically means "It was an expression of a fire truck". This is a common mistake made in modern language. This link discusses this: http://www.reefnet.gov.sy/Arabic_Proficiency/72.htm

You are also write about the هدية part. There shouldn't be a كاف. This is called الكاف الدخيلة. The sentence should instead say أعطت شهرزادُ ابنَها لعبةً هديةً له "Shehrezad gave her son a toy as a gift to him"

The word ابن is the مفعول به (indirect object)
The word لعبة is the مفعول به ثان (direct object)
The word هدية would be a حال.

However, in modern language  كانت عبارة عن سيارة إطفاء and كهدية , though not technically correct, are understood to mean the same thing.


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## Ibn Nacer

Merci Cherine et Matat.


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