Vocabulary Cards — Session 40: I have...

Print this page. Cut along the dotted lines. Each card is index-card sized. Carry them in your pocket. Look at one card during car rides, snack time, before bed.

Card 1

Say it: IN-dee Means: I have

🎨 Picture: A child holding something close to their chest — a backpack, a stuffed animal, a sandwich.

Use it when: You want to tell someone what's yours. You're showing off a new toy. You're answering "what's in your bag?"

This one little word does a LOT of work in Arabic. It's how you say "I have" — no extra verbs needed. Just indi + the thing.

Card 2

Say it: IN-dee AKH Means: I have a brother

🎨 Picture: Two kids on a balcony, one taller, one shorter, sharing a bowl of watermelon.

Use it when: Someone asks about your family. You're introducing yourself at school. You're telling teta about a new cousin.

To say "I have a sister," swap in ukht — عِندي أُخت.

Card 3

Say it: IN-dee ki-TAAB Means: I have a book

🎨 Picture: A child curled up on a couch with a book open on their lap, afternoon light coming through the window.

Use it when: You're packing your school bag. Someone asks what you're reading. You want to show baba the new book from the library.

Card 4

Say it: IN-dee ha-ya-WAAN Means: I have a pet (literally: "I have an animal")

🎨 Picture: A child on an apartment floor with a cat curled in their lap. Or a small dog. Or a fish tank in the background.

Use it when: Kids at school ask about pets. You're telling jiddo about the new kitten. You're FaceTiming a cousin and want to show off your fish.

No pet? You can say ما عِندي حَيَوان — ma indi hayawan — "I don't have a pet." (See the next card!)

Card 5

Say it: MA IN-dee Means: I don't have

🎨 Picture: A child with empty hands turned up, shrugging, with a little smile.

Use it when: Someone asks if you have something — and you don't. "Do you have a pencil?" Ma indi. "Do you have gum?" Ma indi.

The word ما (ma) is the little "no/not" that flips a sentence to its opposite. Stick it in front of indi and boom — opposite meaning.

Card 6

Say it: IL-ak (to a boy) / IL-ik (to a girl) Means: You have

🎨 Picture: Two kids face to face on a school bench. One is handing the other a snack.

Use it when: You're asking a friend what they have. You're handing something to someone — "this is for you." You're playing a game and it's their turn.

In Levantine, we change the ending depending on who we're talking to:

• To a boy: ilak — إِلَك
• To a girl: ilik — إِلِك

Tiny difference, big deal. Listen for it when grown-ups talk!

A bonus card — letter of the day

Card 7 (bonus)

Say it: NOON (the letter's name) Sound: n — like in nut, nest, noor

🎨 Picture: A little bowl with one dot floating above it. That's the letter shape — a smile with a dot.

Use it when: You spot it in words you already know! It's in عِندي (indi), in حَيَوان (hayawan), in نون (its own name!).

Look for the little dot above a smile shape. That's nun.

How to use these cards

1. Build sentences on the fridge. Put indi on the left, then line up akh, kitab, hayawan next to it. Mix and match.
2. Play "indi / ma indi." One person names a thing. The kid answers indi or ma indi — fast as they can. Snack? Indi. Dragon? Ma indi.
3. Use ilak / ilik at the table. When you pass something to your kid: "Hada ilak" (this is for you). When they pass something back: "Hada ilik."
4. Don't translate every word. Use indi in your real sentences. "Indi a meeting at 3." "Indi a headache." Kids absorb it.

A note for the grown-ups

In English, "I have" needs the verb "to have." In Arabic — there's no verb. Just indi (literally: "at me"). It feels strange at first, then it feels natural, then it feels obvious.

When your kid says "Indi homework," don't correct it back to English. Celebrate it. That's a real Arabic sentence — mixed, alive, theirs.

Yalla Arabic · Vocabulary Cards · Session 40