Words English took from Arabic

1. 1
   coffee/ˈkɑːfi/iAlso said ˈkɔːfi.

   noun

   A hot dark drink made from ground roasted beans.
2. 2
   sugar/ˈʃʊɡər/

   noun

   The sweet white stuff added to food and drinks.
3. 3
   jar/dʒɑːr/

   noun

   A container with a wide mouth and no handle, usually glass.
4. 4
   cotton/ˈkɑːtən/iAlso said ˈkɔːtən.

   noun

   Cloth woven from the fibers of the cotton plant.
5. 5
   saffron/ˈsæfrən/

   noun

   Dried orange-red threads from a crocus flower, used to flavor and color food.
6. 6
   apricot/ˈeɪprəˌkɑːt/

   noun

   A small soft orange fruit with a stone in the middle, a bit like a little peach.
7. 7
   amber/ˈæmbər/

   adjective

   Having a warm brownish yellow color.
8. 8
   henna/ˈhenə/

   verb

   To color your hair with a reddish brown plant dye.
9. 9
   hazard/ˈhæzərd/

   verb

   To offer a guess you may well have wrong.
10. 10
    tambourine/ˌtæmbərˈiːn/

    noun

    A small round drum with metal discs in the rim that jingle when you shake it.

The sentences

1. Do they sell the coffee beans by weight here?

2. How much is the bag of brown sugar?

3. Could I have that big jar of honey please?

4. Are these market bags made of thick cotton?

5. Is the saffron cheaper at the next stall?

6. I'll take a bag of the dried apricot halves.

7. The honey in that jar looks really amber.

8. Do people still henna their hair around here?

9. I'd hazard a guess that these are cheaper.

10. That little tambourine would make a good gift.

Pronunciation

• sugar/ˈʃʊɡər/

  Starts with a sh sound, not an s.

• apricot/ˈeɪprəˌkɑːt/

  First syllable rhymes with ape, and the stress sits there: AY-pruh-cot.

• tambourine/ˌtæmbərˈiːn/

  The stress lands on the last syllable: tam-buh-REEN.

Questions

What do I say to check the price of saffron?

You can ask 'Is the saffron cheaper at the next stall?' to see if it's less at another stand.

What does 'hazard' mean in this scene?

Here 'hazard' means to offer a guess you might have wrong, as in 'I'd hazard a guess that these are cheaper.'

How do I ask for that big jar of honey?

Say 'Could I have that big jar of honey please?'