Parts I and II have given you the bases upon which you can attain a considerable measure of
ability in Arabic, especially as far as reading in concerned. The items in those two parts are absolutely
essential and must become ingrained in your mind. Part III of this book complements Parts I and II in
several ways. First it will discuss some Arabic words and phrases which appear fairly often in Modern
Standard Arabic, but not all of which are discussed in the standard introductory texts. Many of these
words and phrases are also found in the Hans Wehr dictionary, but students do not feel comfortable
relying on the dictionary for the definitions and uses of many of these words. Therefore, I am including them in Chapter One of this part of the book for the student’s reference. You may wish, from time to time, to just sit down and read parts of this chapter. In future editions of this book, Chapter One of Part III may be greatly expanded.
Part III also includes presentations of a few significant grammar items deliberately not presented in
Parts I and II. Although these items are important, total mastery of them is not necessary in order to be
able to read Arabic effectively. For example, there is a chapter on cardinal and ordinal numbers. Most
students reading this book already know the numbers, but will be very weak in the grammar related to the numbers. However, even if your grammar is weak, you can usually understand the difference between three airplanes and thirty-three airplanes. Thus, I did not want to bog you down in previous parts of the book with the grammar of numbers when there were so many other grammar-related times which needed to be covered which directly relate to understanding the language. For the same reasons, other items such as colors and telling time are discussed in this part of the book.
A third item in this part of the book is the discussion of several issues related to efficient learning of
Arabic. For example, there is a discussion of the mechanics of using the Hans Wehr dictionary. When
you finish Parts I and II and your grammar is up to par, you can read anything you like. However you are
going to need your dictionary. I recommended at the start of this book that the chapter on the dictionary
be read shortly after you start working with this book. If you have not read that chapter yet, you might
want to do it now.
Chapter Six is a discussion of how to be a good Arabic student along with comments on how to better read and listen to the language. Chapter Six also presents some comments on learning colloquial Arabic. I also recommended at the start of this book that you look at this chapter as soon as possible. So you may want to take the time to read it now, if you have not already done so.
Chapter Seven is comprised of verb charts for the various categories of Arabic verbs, with a focus on
verb types which are problematic in various forms. For example, while sound verbs in Forms I-X are
presented, hollow verbs are presented only for those forms in which the student is likely to have
difficulty.
The last chapter in the book is the annotated key. If you have done any of the exercises in the book, you are probably already familiar with the key.