8 Best Arabic Grammar Books for Beginners and Beyond

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Ranking among the most widely-spoken languages worldwide, Arabic is a rich and incredibly useful language with a very complex literary and poetic history.

On top of that, it carries significant cultural importance as the liturgical language of Islam, which motivates many of the thousands of Muslims that decide to take up Arabic each year.

All this makes Arabic very desirable for many people but, unfortunately, also fairly intimidating. This especially extends to the grammar, which has a reputation for being opaque and highly complex while also differing a lot from the kinds of Indo-European languages that most learners are familiar with.

This is why I created today’s quick guide on top-quality Arabic grammar books for learners! I separated all of my picks into skill categories, so you will have no trouble finding something useful no matter your experience level.

Note that the majority of the books below will focus on Classical or formal Arabic (fusha), as that is the most universal and standardized form of the language. Dialect-specific grammars are rare and in the case of some dialects, completely non-existent, though I will mention some, where appropriate.

Let’s take a look at them all, shall we?

Best Arabic grammar books for beginners

1. Arabic: An Essential Grammar

Developed as a quick and no-frills intro, Arabic: An Essential Grammar was developed with both classroom contexts and self-teaching students in mind.

It contains a pronunciation guide (based on common Modern Standard Arabic pronunciation), introductory chapters on the Arabic script, and even includes a few sections that you can use to practice handwriting.

All in all, I find this one of the most convenient and readily accessible Arabic grammar books for foreigners. It gives you a solid foundation in the inner workings of MSA-style Arabic even if you have zero prior experience.

What I like about this book:

• Genuinely beginner-friendly, making it easy to pick up useful Arabic grammar from scratch
• Helpful guides on pronunciation, reading, and writing
• Plenty of examples and references with English explanations for all important concepts

2. Arabic Verbs & Essentials of Grammar

This book is intended to help students progress from the level of a bare beginner to that of an early-intermediate learner. It’s a fairly compact read at not more than 140 pages, and most of the book is divided into two sections – one dealing with core grammar concepts and the other dealing with the use of verbs in different tenses, cases, and conjugation patterns.

Overall, Arabic Verbs & Essentials of Grammar is a highly useful and well-regarded Arabic grammar book, particularly for novice learners. Its approach isn’t very thorough, but the target audience can only benefit from that.

What I like about this book:

• Teaches both fundamentals and useful verb conjugations
• Neatly structured and easy to use as a reference book

3. Basic Quranic Arabic Grammar

For those who are devoting themselves to the study of Arabic grammar for reading and understanding the Quran and its spiritual significance, there is no better beginner-level resource than Basic Quranic Arabic Grammar.

While not the most recent nor the most popular reference grammar for Quranic Arabic, it is by far one of the highest-quality examples that I have come across personally that’s specifically directed toward beginners.

Some prior knowledge of Modern Standard Arabic is expected at times, but I think most novices will still get by just fine thanks to the book’s forgiving and easy-to-follow style.

What I like about this book:

• The best entry-level introduction to the grammar of the language of the Quran
• Generous descriptions and explanations of core concepts, especially those contrasting the modern language

Best Arabic grammar books for intermediate learners

4. Keda Mazbuut

If you have already been studying Arabic, specifically the Egyptian dialect, for some time and wish to delve deeper into the grammar of the spoken language, this is one of the best grammar books out there.

Keda Mazbuut assumes that you have a certain reference framework of Classical Arabic grammar to compare to, but otherwise proceeds to introduce you to all the important grammatical features of Egyptian in a straightforward fashion.

Pronunciation exercises (available via bundled audio) and intensive grammar drills round out the picture, making Keda Mazbuut a really effective resource and one of the best grammar books for learning spoken Egyptian Arabic that I have read!

What I like about this book:

• Makes the jump from MSA to Egyptian fun and engaging
• Scaling difficulty works well
• Tons of effective exercises in both written and audio forms

5. The Grammar Book for Levantine Dialects

Published by the Levantine Institute of Tripoli, Lebanon, this Arabic grammar textbook is meant for speakers of Maghrebi dialects and/or MSA who wish to quickly and efficiently familiarize themselves with the unique grammar of the Levantine varieties of Arabic (mostly Jordanian, Syrian, Lebanese, and Palestinian).

Because the book covers a whole group of dialects, it doesn’t go too in-depth, and it prioritizes quality over quantity. Every bit of new information is drilled with the help of grammar exercises, all of which are in written Arabic (with some transliterations).

This, coupled with the amount of existing MSA knowledge that the book expects of its reader, makes it a rather challenging pick for beginners, but one that should be intensely rewarding for those who are already familiar with the Classical or Modern language and wish to graduate towards a colloquial dialect from the Levant region.

What I like about this book:

• Presents an excellent all-round guide to the world of Levantine Arabic grammar
• Exercises cover pronunciation, conjugations, common expressions, and more
• Great overview of critical features relevant to day-to-day speech

6. Arabic for Nerds 1: Fill the Gaps

This Arabic grammar book, along with its more challenging sequel, is one of the very few recent examples of a thorough, detailed resource on Arabic (fusha) grammar specifically for intermediate students.

The author recommends it to readers who have been studying the Arabic language for at least two years, so don’t expect nearly as much hand-holding as you would get from an entry-level grammar book.

There are also no exercises to be found in this one. That’s a curious choice, but one that makes more and more sense as you keep going.

All in all, Arabic for Nerds is just what the title implies – a highly technical, low-level overview of the grammar fundamentals and base rules that make the language tick, described in a manner that is both challenging and fun to read for the intermediate learner.

What I like about this book:

• Unique take and delivery compared to other grammar books
• Fun to read, especially if you enjoy learning about grammar
• Skips exercises and practical work in favor of deep theory (though some might see this as a con)

Best Arabic grammar books for advanced learners

7. A Grammar of the Arabic Language

This one’s a classic. No, I mean it! First published in 1896, A Grammar of the Arabic Language was written by William Wright, an English-born Orientalist who had a huge influence on modern linguistic literature on the Arabic language.

His grammar book, nowadays still often referred to as Wright’s Arabic Grammar, is the gold standard among gold standards. It’s a giant 800-plus page tome, usually distributed in two volumes, and it goes over every single grammatical detail you could ask for.

From high-level concepts to extreme details and debates on fringe conjugations that are mostly Classical in nature and hardly used anymore, Wright’s Grammar has got it all.

This is not so much a book you would use for regular self-study. Rather, it’s the end-all, be-all if you’re looking for a comprehensive and super-detailed reference grammar to fall back on whenever you need it.

Just do your back a favor and don’t carry it around too much!

What I like about this book:

• It’s the most comprehensive grammar on Classical and Modern Standard Arabic you’ll ever find
• Perfect reference on nearly any grammar topic, no matter how obscure
• Challenging enough for the advanced student without being overwhelming in any way

8. Arabic Grammar Unlocked: A Complete Study of the Ajurroomiyyah

For students of Classical Arabic grammar and those who focus on the study of Arabic grammar for understanding the Quranic language, the Ajurroomiyyah needs no introduction.

Apart from the Quran itself, it’s the defining text of Arabic grammar from the Classical period. Unfortunately, it’s also a mouthful, even for advanced students and native speakers, so a guide is a must for the dedicated.

This is one of the best. Arabic Grammar Unlocked loudly promises “no-fluff content across 300+ pages”, and that’s exactly what you get. Simple, to-the-point explanations and structural overviews of concepts covered in the Ajurroomiyyah, step by step, chapter by chapter.

You even get quotes straight from the original text, with explanations and translations side-by-side right where you need them!

What I like about this book:

• Excellent descriptions and side-by-side explanations of passages from the original work
• Perfectly tailor-made for students of Classical Arabic
• Quizzes and review sections, along with detailed commentary in simple language

Conclusion

No matter your level of expertise or familiarity with the Arabic language in any of its many forms, I hope that this selection of excellent Arabic grammar books can help you out and serve as a guide for your learning!

Of course, no grammar book, no matter how well-written, can ever single-handedly supercharge your learning progress. Panaceas don’t exist in the realm of learning languages, unfortunately!

That’s why I recommend you check out some of our other features on learning Arabic, including the best apps, online courses, and the best (non-grammar) literature to study with!