TAKE A BREAK 2

Lets take a minute to talk about how the comparative and superlative forms of adjectives are formed.
These two forms are used to express degrees of a certain property when comparing two or more items.
The Arabic comparative is formed by adding the prex a- to the beginning of an adjectivefor example,
afDal (better), aswaa (worse), ashTar (more skillful ). The comparative form can be used as an adverb,
as in uhibbu hDha afDal (I like this better), or as an adjective, followed by the preposition min (from),
as in ar-riyDa afDal min an-nuzha (Sports are better than walking). The Arabic superlative form is
constructed by adding the denite article al to the comparative form, for example: al-afDal (the best), al-
aswaa (the worst), al-ashTar (the most skillful ).

ONE MORE TIME

Okay, lets put everything youve learned so far together into complete sentences. Youll hear the English
rst, and then the Arabic, which you should repeat for practice.

I love the sea. uHibbu al-baHr.

I love swimming in the sea. uHibbu as-sibHa l-baHr.

I also love swimming in the lake. uHibbu ayDan as-sibHa l-buHayra.

But swimming in the river is better. wa lakin as-sibHa l-nahr afDal.

I also love the desert and the forest. uHibbu ayDan as-SaHra wal-ghaba.

But the sea is the best! wa lakin al-baHr huwa al-afDal!

BRING IT ALL TOGETHER

Now lets bring it all together and add a little bit more vocabulary and structure.

I am spending the day at the beach with my aqDi al-yaum ala shTi al-baHr maa aSdiq.
friends.

We love swimming in the sea. naHnu nuHebb as-sibHa l-baHr.

And walking on the seashore. wan-nuzha ala shTi al-baHr.

In the afternoon we will play a sports game. bad aDH-DHuhr sanalaab mubara riyDiya.

Maybe a game of basketball. rubbama mubarat kurat as-salla.

Ahmeds team is very skillful. farq aHmed shTir jiddan.

But my team is better. lakin farq afDal.

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