# Here's how you say "where" in Arabic.



## Ali Smith

שלום!

If I were teaching Arabic to someone and wanted to say, "Here's how you say 'where' in Arabic." how would I say it? My guess is either:

הנה איך אומרים "היכן" בערבית.
הנה איך שאומרים "היכן" בערבית.

Are both correct? If so, is there a difference between the two?

אני מודה לכם מאוד


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## slus

ככה אומרים "איפה" בערבית


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## Ali Smith

Thank you! Are the sentences I suggested unidiomatic?


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## amikama

Ali Smith said:


> Are the sentences I suggested unidiomatic?


Yes, they sound unnatural.


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## slus

הנה איך is literal translation from English 
היכן is high register and a bit archaic.

BTW how you say 'where' in Arabic depends on your dialect, but you probably know it better than me.


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## elroy

slus said:


> ככה אומרים "איפה" בערבית


 Can you say this before you say the Arabic word?


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## slus

Yes. 
ככה אומרים "איפה" בערבית: וויין


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## elroy

Thanks!  In English you can only use “here’s” if you say the word after; if you say the word first, you can say “that’s.” 

*Here’s *how you say... : “wēn”.
“wēn”: *that’s* how you say...

It looks like ככה works in both cases.


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## slus

It works both ways, and if you want a higher register, you can replace ככה with כך.


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## Ali Smith

Thank you! Can you also replace it with כה _ko_? I believe that's as formal as כך _kakh_.


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## slus

You can, but it's archaic. כך is much more common.


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## Ali Smith

slus said:


> Yes.
> ככה אומרים "איפה" בערבית: וויין


I thought that when referring to something that follows you always used כה. When referring to something that’s already been said you use ככה or כן. At least that’s how it is in classical Hebrew.


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## Abaye

Ali Smith said:


> I thought that when referring to something that follows you always used כה. When referring to something that’s already been said you use ככה or כן. At least that’s how it is in classical Hebrew.


This is inaccurate. If by "classical Hebrew" you mean (also) the bible, Strong's says:


> ככה: just so, referring to the previous or following context:—after that (this) manner, this matter, (even) so, in such a case, thus.
> 
> כה: properly, like this, i.e. by implication, (of manner) thus (or so); also (of place) here (or hither); or (of time) now:—also, here, hitherto, like, on the other side, so (and much), such, on that manner, (on) this (manner, side, way, way and that way), mean while, yonder.


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## Drink

Ali Smith said:


> I thought that when referring to something that follows you always used כה. When referring to something that’s already been said you use ככה or כן. At least that’s how it is in classical Hebrew.



This hypothesis does not seem to have any correlation with how these words are actually used in the Bible.


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