Spoken in Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.

The written language

• Arabic is written from right to left.
• Spelling is phonetic. 58
• No distinction is made between upper and lower case.53

Sentence structure and word order

• Under the influence of the Qur’an (Koran), writers aim at rhythmical balance and coordination, with the split between subject and predicate occurring midway in a sentence. 37e
  
• Arabic favors coordination over subordination, sentences often begin with And or So. 31c
• Basic word order in Classical Arabic is V-S-O: the verb precedes the subject: *Hoped the committee to solve the problem. (The committee hoped to solve the problem.) 37c, 62b Colloquial Arabic is S-V-O.
• Arabic uses a that clause where English uses infinitive: *I want that you stay. (I want you to stay.) 61c

Nouns and pronouns

• Personal pronouns are often added to verbs: *My father he lives in California. (My father lives in California.) 62f.
• Relative pronoun makes no human/nonhuman distinction, and pronoun object is retained in a restrictive relative clause: *Here is the student which you met her last week. (Here is the student whom you met last week.) 46a, 46i, 62f
• Singular noun is used after a numeral above ten: *He has eleven cousin. (He has eleven cousins.) 58a, 60b

Verbs and verbals

• No equivalent of auxiliary do: *You have a brother? (Do you have a brother?) 41c
• No verb be in present tense: *They going to the movies. (They are going to the movies.) Where the post office? (Where is the post office?) 38c
• No modal verbs. 61b
• No gerund or infinitive forms. 61
• Perspective of tense and time is very different from English. 41d–41h
• Past perfect is formed with be: *They were eat. (They ate.) 41d, 41f
• Reported speech retains tense of original: *She said she is leaving. (She said she was leaving.) 41i
• Simple present tense covers meaning of simple and progressive in English: *She working now. (She works now.) *She working every day. (She is working every day.) 41e.

Adjectives and adverbs

• Adjectives follow noun: *a book interesting long. (a long, interesting book) 45a

Articles

• No indefinite article: *He is student. (He is a student.) 60
• Definite article is used for days of the week, some months, some place names, and in many idiomatic expressions: *He went to the Peru. (He went to Peru.) *He is still in the bed. (He is still in bed.) 60f