Arabic time words: اليَوْمَ، غَداً، أَمْسِ، الآنَ, parts of the day (صَباحاً، مَساءً), the days of the week counted from Sunday, telling the time with السّاعَةُ الثّالِثَةُ, and why most time phrases take the accusative instead of a preposition.
I can say when something happens - today, tomorrow, yesterday, in the morning, on Thursday, next week - ask and tell the time, and arrange a meeting by the clock or by the prayer times.
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
أنا مشغول اليوم.
I am busy today.
سأسافرُ غداً.
I will travel tomorrow.
ذهبتُ إلى السوق أمس.
I went to the market yesterday.
يوم الجمعة عطلة.
Friday is a holiday.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
English says "on Friday", "in the morning", "last week", with a preposition each time. Arabic usually needs none: a noun that tells you when simply goes into the accusative. That is where the -an of غَداً (tomorrow), صَباحاً (in the morning) and مَساءً (in the evening) comes from.
| الآنَ - now | اليَوْمَ - today |
| غَداً - tomorrow | أَمْسِ - yesterday |
| صَباحاً - in the morning | مَساءً - in the evening |
| ظُهْراً - at midday | لَيْلاً - at night |
| الأُسْبوعَ القادِمَ - next week | الشَّهْرَ الماضِيَ - last month |
A preposition is not wrong: في الصَّباحِ means the same as صَباحاً. Two endings are worth a second look. غَداً is غَد with the accusative -an; after a preposition or بَعْدَ it becomes genitive: بَعْدَ غَدٍ - the day after tomorrow. أَمْسِ is different: it ends in a fixed -i and never takes -an.
Five of the seven days are numbers, and the count starts on Sunday, "the first". Days take the article.
| الأَحَدُ - Sunday ("the first") | الخَميسُ - Thursday ("the fifth") |
| الاِثْنَيْنِ - Monday ("the second") | الجُمُعَةُ - Friday ("the gathering") |
| الثُّلاثاءُ - Tuesday ("the third") | السَّبْتُ - Saturday (the sabbath) |
| الأَرْبِعاءُ - Wednesday ("the fourth") | يَوْمَ الخَميسِ - on Thursday |
Monday is given here as الاِثْنَيْنِ, the form you will usually hear and read; in careful grammar its nominative is الاِثْنانِ.
"On Thursday" is يَوْمَ الخَميسِ: يَوْم in the accusative and the day after it, no preposition. في يَوْمِ الخَميسِ is also correct. Friday is the day of the congregational noon prayer, hence its name. In Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and most of the Gulf the weekend is Friday and Saturday; the UAE moved to Saturday-Sunday in 2022, and Morocco, Tunisia and Lebanon keep Sunday as the day off.
The hour is an ordinal number: السّاعَةُ الثّالِثَةُ - three o'clock, literally "the third hour". "At five" is في السّاعَةِ الخامِسَةِ, or again with no preposition: السّاعَةَ الخامِسَةَ. Ask كَمِ السّاعَةُ؟ - what time is it? and مَتى؟ - when?
Across much of the Arab world the day is also divided by the five prayers, and people arrange to meet "after the maghrib", the sunset prayer: بَعْدَ المَغْرِبِ, قَبْلَ الظُّهْرِ - before the midday prayer. بَعْدَ (after) and قَبْلَ (before) are followed by a noun in the genitive, like the first word of any idafa.
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises
Practice Exercisesأنا مشغول اليوم.
I am busy today.
اليوم (al-yawm) = today. It functions as a time adverb placed at the end of the sentence.
سأسافرُ غداً.
I will travel tomorrow.
غداً (ghadan) = tomorrow. The tanween fatha (اً) marks it as an adverb in the accusative case.
ذهبتُ إلى السوق أمس.
I went to the market yesterday.
أمس (ams) = yesterday. Unlike غداً, أمس never takes tanween: it ends in a fixed -i, أَمْسِ (amsi). السوق = the market.
يوم الجمعة عطلة.
Friday is a holiday.
الجمعة (al-jum'a) = Friday (from جَمَعَ 'to gather' - the day of congregational prayer). In Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and most Gulf states the weekend is Friday-Saturday; the UAE moved to Saturday-Sunday in 2022, and Morocco, Tunisia and Lebanon keep Sunday as the day off.
نَلْتَقي يَوْمَ الخَميسِ بَعْدَ المَغْرِبِ عِنْدَ بابِ المَسْجِدِ.
We'll meet on Thursday after the sunset prayer at the mosque door.
يَوْمَ الخَميسِ - on Thursday: يَوْمَ is accusative and needs no preposition. بَعْدَ المَغْرِبِ - after the sunset prayer, a time taken from the day's rhythm rather than the clock.
أَشْرَبُ القَهْوَةَ صَباحاً وَالشّايَ بِالنَّعْناعِ مَساءً.
I drink coffee in the morning and mint tea in the evening.
صَباحاً (ṣabāḥan) and مَساءً (masā'an): the accusative -an turns "morning" and "evening" into "in the morning" and "in the evening", with no preposition.
وَصَلْنا إِلى مَرّاكُشَ الأُسْبوعَ الماضِيَ.
We arrived in Marrakesh last week.
الأُسْبوعَ الماضِيَ - last week: both words are in the accusative and there is no preposition, just as English says "last week" without one.
الدُّكّانُ مُغْلَقٌ الآنَ، يُفْتَحُ السّاعَةَ الخامِسَةَ.
The shop is closed now; it opens at five o'clock.
The hour is an ordinal, "the fifth hour", and here it is an accusative of time with no في: السّاعَةَ الخامِسَةَ. يُفْتَحُ is passive: literally "it is opened".
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Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises
§ 44 (a) (p. 109): "By the adverbial accusative is designated: (a) The time in or during which an act takes place"; Wright's examples include "one day", "the whole day", "whether he came here yesterday or today", "he will give you the book tomorrow" and "in the evening". This is why غَداً, صَباحاً and يَوْمَ الخَميسِ need no preposition.
§ 364 (pp. 288-289): the accusative is "the adverbial case κατ' ἐξοχήν in Arabic", the adverbial case par excellence; the common examples Wright lists include الآنَ (now), اليَوْمَ (today) and غَداً (tomorrow), and the pair صَباحَ مَساءَ, morning and evening.
§ 364, Rem. a (p. 290): in أَمْسِ, "yesterday", "the kesra is not the mark of the genitive, but merely a light vowel, added to render the pronunciation more easy". This backs the rule that أَمْسِ keeps its -i and never takes tanwin.
Chapter 11, "Adverbs and adverbial expressions" (pp. 276-297), is the modern reference treatment of MSA adverbs, the adverbial accusative of time among them. Cited from the publisher's catalogue record (chapter title and pages); the chapter text was not consulted.