J.

Elihay
English translation: C arol Sutherland, Susan Fogg

Speaking Arabic
A Course in Conversational
Eastern (Palestinian) Arabic

B ook 3
Lessons 31-40

Minerva Publishing House

2010
Minerva Publishing House
P.O.B 7023 Jerusalem 91070, Israel
www.speaking-arabic.com

Copyright © 2010 by J. Elihay

All rights reserved by the publisher
ISBN 978-965-7397-18-3
Contents
Preface [5]
Lesson 31 1
Lesson 32 18
Lesson 33 33
Lesson 34 48
Lesson 35 67
Lesson 36 81
Lesson 37 94
Lesson 38 113
Lesson 39 127
Lesson 40 142
Key to the Exercises 159
Index of Vocabulary and Rules 177
Rules (indicated by a number
inside a square) 191
 Preface

In Book 3 w e’ll continue our journey along the highways and byways o f
colloquial Arabic. W e’ll explore all the basic problems, the various sentence
structures and most o f the remaining verb Forms.

A little practical advice:

a) Y ou’d do w ell to refresh your memory by taking another look at the Prefaces
to Books 1 and 2.

b) Once again: It’s vital to m ove forw ard, and not linger over every minor
detail. W e don’t want you to take months and months to get to the end o f the
course; it’s important to progress so that you get an overall picture o f the book’s
contents.

Try to study at the rate o f around one lesson a w eek.1 Best not to rush through a
whole lesson in one day, especially as the chapters in this book are longer and
more com plex. Small portions are better - for example:

- First course: Read the introductory section o f the lesson, listen to the
Conversation and take a quick look at the translation and the related footnotes.

- Second course: Go back over the introduction and listen to the Conversation
again. This time, try to say the words out loud together with the speakers, or at
least repeat each sentence after them. N ow it’s time for the Explanations, the
new and most interesting part o f the lesson, which will reveal the secrets o f the
structures used in the Conversation and make everything clear.

- Third course: Go back to the Explanations and read out loud the examples
they contain. Pay special attention to the L esson sum m ary in the box: it
contains the essence o f the lesson in just a few sentences; if you memorize
them, you can assume that you’ve absorbed the lesson.2 Now you can m ove on
to the Exercises, and do them in stages, too.

1. At the rate of dars wahad kull ’usbuc you’ll be able to get through the four books
in a year!
2. No, don’t try to be clever and make do with learning just the Lesson summary in the
box! It’s there to provide a summarized reminder of the material you have absorbed by
systematically working your way through the lesson.
- D on’t forget to listen to the recordings now and then throughout the day,
without consulting the printed text (this activity combines nicely with shaving
or peeling vegetables...).

You can create your own study schedule, and vary it according to your needs.
But don’t wait until you can remember everything from one lesson before
moving on to the next. The main thing is to keep going! You can always go
back over anything you’ve forgotten, and the more you revise old material the
better. You’ll remember and understand it even better in the light o f the new
things you’ve learnt.

A few more comments

The recordings:
In this book, before you hear the examples from the footnotes, the speaker says
“m u la h a zfit” , which means comments. These are recorded at the end o f each
lesson, for technical reasons.

The subjunctive:
When we provide verb forms in the present-future tense, and observe that they
behave in such-and-such a manner, don’t forget that the same applies to the
subjunctive, which, as you know, is identical to the present-future, except that it
doesn’t have b- in front o f it. This means that, when w e give you the paradigm
for the past and present-future tenses, you can form the subjunctive by
removing the initial b- (and, o f course, ba —> ’a).

D ifferent form s o f the sam e word:

You are already used to seeing the same word appearing in slightly different
variations, e.g., bint / binet, ’inte / ’inta, g u rfe / gurfa, m nikteb / bnikteb,
w ah ed / w ah ad , ’im m / ’um m , sin e / san e (and Sana, too), bikteb /
byikteb, ’ija / ’aja, doktor / daktor, the prefix i- / (e-), etc. The same thing
happens in English: think o f the different ways people pronounce “either,”
“often,” “tomato,” etc.

Sym bols
If you’ve forgotten any o f the symbols w e’ve been using in this course, go back
and take a look at pp. [7]-[9] in Book 1 and the Preface to Book 2.

[6]
D ictionary
You w ill notice that every now and again w e direct you to specific entries in the
Dictionary. The reference is to The Olive Tree Dictionary: A Transliterated
Dictionary o f Conversational Eastern Arabic (Palestinian ), by J. Elihay,
published by Minerva Publishing Hous: www.olive-tree-dictionarv.com

And now let’s set o ff on the next stage o f our journey with map and compass in
hand. Enjoy your trip!

[71
dars wahad u-talatTn
31
Lesson Thirty-One
In B ook 2 you learned Form 2 o f the verb (also known as f-2 or f a ccal), e.g.,
k a m m a l. Today w e ’re going to take a look at w hat happens to verbs like h a k a
and b ik i w hen they’re slotted into the f-2 pattern. You are already fam iliar with
the verb in the past tense and you w ill have realized that such verbs
com bine characteristics o f both the f a cca l form (such as the doubling o f the
m iddle letter o f the root) and o f paradigm s like h a k a , h a k e t... Now w e’re going
to review the entire conjugation.

The verb r a b b a = to bring up, raise, educate; to breed, rear

P a s t te n s e P r e s e n t-fu tu r e te n se
rabbet I raised ba-rabbi I raise / will raise
rabbet youm Slng raised bet-rabbi youmang raise...
rabbeti y o u slng raised bet-rabbi youm s,ng raise...
rabba he raised bi-rabbi he raises
rabbat she raised bet-rabbi she raises
rabbSnu we raised m en- / / ben-rabbi we raise
rabbetu youp[ raised bet-rabbu youpXraise
rabbu they raised bi-rabbu they raise

The active participle is m rabbi / m urabbi1 (f) m rabbye [m rabbyln /

mrabbln] = having brought up/having raised; educator; breeder.

The passive participle is m rabba (f) m rabbaye [mrabbayin] =

{well) brought up.
The verbal noun (VN) is tarbiye / tirbay or tirbaye;2 All three words obey
Rules [2] [8j
An additional example: the active participle o f I)abba {to hide / conceal) is
mljabbi:

1. This version, which starts with mu-, is more literary (see Book 2, p. 107, footnote 3).
2. The first word, tarbiye, can be translated as education, and it is used in schools,
psychology lectures, etc. The second, tirbaye, is closer to the English upbringing, as it
refers to education within the home, it-ta r b iy e j-h a d lse = modern education (as
opposed to old-fashioned methods), while SU hat-tirb5ye?! means What [kind of]
upbringing is that ?! tirbay to m um taze means He's been very well brought up <his
upbringing is excellent^ On the short form tirbay see Explanations 1.
 Lesson 31

■ ’inte m^abbi canni ’isi You*re hiding <having-hidden> something from me.
laqgto mljabbi halo I found him hiding <having-hidden himself>.
laqet il-waladwem^abbi Js-sakus I found the boy had hidden the hammer
<1 found the boy having-hidden... >.
Why did w e say, in the first sentence above, you 're hiding in the present tense?
Didn’t w e learn that the active participle usually indicates a completed action
(having done...)! W e did indeed, and this is the case here, too, as this sentence
does not describe the action o f someone who is just beginning to hide
something now - rather, it indicates that the person in question has been
concealing something for some time: he has hidden it in the past and continues
to hide it now.

Vocabulary
sawwa3 to arrange; to do sawwar to photograph
salla to entertain / amuse ta§wlr photography
tislay entertainment, amusement farja8 to show
salla4 to pray hiw3ye [jf] hobby
rabba5 to bring up / raise; to educate; l)alla to leave; to allow /
to grow (one’s hair, a beard) let; to stay / remain
samma to name / call (by name) calla to raise; to make louder
watta6 to lower; to make quieter s5t [’aswfit] voice; sound
sayyah7 to shout daqen [2] [5] chin; beard9
dal}l)an to smoke sigara [2 ] cigarette
tadljln [2] smoking [sagSyer] cigarettes

3. See Book 2, p. 76, footnote 11. The verb s a w w a means to straighten / put in order /
arrange, and hence also to do. In Galilee the f-3 form SSiwa is more often used than
f-2. We* 11be learning Form 3 in Lesson 34.
sawwi qamlsak = straighten your shirt (it's crooked/ it*s crumpled)!
?6s bidnajisawwi? What can we do /W h a t should we do?
4. Take care to distinguish between salla and salla. The second of the two (which
means to pray) starts with an emphatic S, which is followed by an emphatic a sound as
weighty as prayer itself. Remember that the noun Sttla means prayer (see Book 1,
Lesson 14, footnote 3.)
5-9. See next page.

2
 Lesson 31

Conversation

- su bidnajisawwi J-lgle? —What shall we do tonight

- §flf-elna ’isi bisalli.
- l)alll-na nilcab §adde!
- balas lucbjs-sadde!
ma-flfs *i§i fi-t-telfizyon?
- §adde, telefizy5n, ft-§ cindkom
tislay ger hadSl?
’ana bafaddel ’aqra ktib
’aw ’asmac muslqa.
m3 ffh ’ahla min hek hiwaye.
- kull wahad u-z5qo;
’ana bafaddel ir-radyo;
callij:-radyo!
mus sam0!!! §11 cam-(b)tihki.
- la’, wattl-ha,... u-watti
sdtak kaman,
bala§wetsayyeh h5k!
<what do we want to do.. .>?
—Find <look> us something entertaining.
—Let’s play cards!
—Let’s not play cards!
Isn’t there anything on television?
Cards, television, don’t you have any
other forms of entertainment <there are not
at you pastimes other than these>?
I’d rather <1 prefer to> read a book
or listen to music.
There’s no hobby better than that <there is
nothing more beautiful than such a hobby>!
—Each to his own <everyone and his taste>.
I prefer the radio.
Turn up the radio!
[We] can’t hear it <what it’s say in g .
—No, turn it down and lower
your voice, too,
don’t shout like that!

5. This verb also means to raise /b reed (of animals). However, if you’re talking about
raising crops, you have to use the verb Zarac.
6. The word wati means low, and b-SOt wSti = in a low voice. The comparative form
(cp) is ’awta (lower), see Book 1, Lesson 15, p. 98. A lower chair is kursi ’awta.
7. You’ll remember the word syah (shouting, shouts, uproar) from Lesson 8 (Book 1,
p.48). The verbsayyah (f-2) is derived from the same root; sometimes you will hear
the Form 1 verb sah [islh], which conjugates like jab [ijlb] and means to shout; to
crow, id-dlk bisth means the cock crows.
8. Conjugates like xabba, see Explanations 4.
9. The literary Arabic form of the word is daqen (f). He's gpt a long beard = daqno
tawlle <his beard is long>.
Lesson 31

- ta y y eb , b a tta lt a sa y y e h ; - OK, I won’t shout <I’ve stopped shoutingx

55d s ig a r a ... b etdal)5en?
- l a ’, m a badalj^en
/ m a b ada55en-s.
- il-h aq q m a cak, m uswem nth
las-sohha. ’iftah is-subbak,
^ alli jd-dul)l)Sn y e d a c.
Have <take> a cigarette... Do you smoke?
- No, I don’t smoke
- You’re right, [it’s] not good for your
<the> health. Open the window,
let the smoke <go> out.

biddi a sa w w ra k 101 —I want to take your photo

Ijalllk w a q e f, ’ahsan.
u -in ti... l a ’, m a jq u m l-s !
^alll-ki q a cd e n quddam o hek.
b asa w w er-k o m saw a.
sa w w er-n i ’ana kam an!
mk ’ana saw w artak !
Ijallik m ab su t!
m us rah JtfaijT n ajs-su w ar?
em bala, ta w w e l balak!
bukra rah-afaijflcom
ku ll is-su w a r illi cindi.
fth cindi talat cilab m alyan e [13J
farjl-ni ’a let it-ta sw lr12!
tfa d d a l, bass m aJtl)arreb-ha-s! —Here you are <please>, but don’t damage it!
<to photograph you>.
Stay standing, [that’s] better.
And youf... No, don’t get up!
Stay seated in front of him like that.
I’ll take your picture together.
—Take my picture, too!
—But I’ve taken your picture already!
That’s enough <keep you[rself] content>!
—Aren’t you going to show us the pictures?
—Of course I am, be patient
<lengthen your mind>!
Tomorrow I’ll show you all the
photos I’ve got. I’ve got
three full boxes.
—Show me the camera!

10. You already know the word Siira, which means photograph / picture; form / shape.
The verbal noun of sa w w a r is ta sw if (see Book 2, pp. 122-23) and its active
participle, m u sa w w er, means photographer. In the Conversation we have the
combination a sa w w e r + -ak = asaw (w )rak; on the weakening of the doubled
consonant here, see Book 2, p. 109, footnote 9.

11. q a cde = sitting, se a te d s,ne. On Ijalll- see Explanations 2.

12. You’re already familiar with the expression ’3 le h asb e (Book 2, p. 75);
’alet ta sw lr <photography machine> means camera - and you will sometimes hear
the English word (pronounced “k a m ara”) used in Arabic as well!

4
 Lesson 31

- majt^af-eg, dayer bali. —Don’t worry <don’t be afraid>, I’ll be

careful <I’m turning my mind>.
faijstoj-kom ara, sar I showed him the camera and he
yilcab ftha [14] ta Ijarrrab-ha. began to play with it until he broke it
laken ’ana sallaht-ha but I fixed it and went
w-ejje^t13 §awwaret flha back to taking photos with it
mitljil-’awwal. like before.

- morato Ijallafat14 walad, - His wife gave birth to a son [and]

sammato Fu’ad, cala ’isem sldo.. she named him Fuad after his grandfather
con the name of...>.
- u-jfima kamSn ’ijah // ’ajah -- And our neighbor had a son, too,
walad, sammSh Munir; [and] he named him Munir.
bacden ’ijato // ’ajato bint, Then he had a daughter,
samma-ha Warde. [and] he called her Warda.

- 1S§ mus haieq15? - Why haven’t you shaved?

betrabbi daqen? Are you growing a beard?
- ’aywa, barabbi daqen, - Yes, I am cgrowing a beard>,
u-m€trati betrabbi... 1-ewlad. and my wife is growing... the children.
betrabbI-hon\_emnIh. She’s bringing them up well.
’amma ’ibnjl-jiranwemdallac The neighbors’ son, however, is spoiled.
mus„emnlh iljalHlh It’s wrong cnot good> that they let him
yibki u-isayyeh, cry and shout and do anything he wants
u-yecmel kull illi blji cala balo. ceverything that comes on his mind>.
- ’immo ma btecraf_etrabblh. - His mother doesn’t know how to bring

13. On the use of the verb rijec in the sense of to go back to [doing] / do againy see
Book 2, Explanations 4, p. 67.
14. See Explanations 3.
15. halaq [yihleq] means to shave (oneself); to get a haircut. haieq means shaven /
having shaved, in accordance with the meaning of the active participle of most verbs
(Book 2, pp. 77-78). As this verb also means to get one’s hair cut, the noun hallaq
means barber, and hallaq sittat means hairdresser cladies’ barber>.
■ salonwehlaqa is a barber’s shop / hairdressing salon. For ladies’ hairdressing
salon you’ll hear salon saCer las-sittat cind mln^btihleq? means Where do you
get your hair cut?

-<5L
 Lesson 31

su hat-tirbUy h ay? him up. What kind of upbringing is that?

’am m a q illet tirb §y16! What bad manners <but a lack of
education^

Explanations - Part 1
1. tirbay or tirbaye?

As the noun endings -a y and -a y y are actually shortened forms o f -aye / -a y y e

they indicate that the noun in question is feminine, and so behaves in
accordance with Rule [§]; for example:
■ tirbayet ewladna our children's upbringing
tirbayto his upbringing

m ayy / m ayye water

m a y y e t nabec spring water
m a y y t j l- b lr the well water /th e water from the well

The complete forms o f these words are also used, and you will hear both imay
and mraye {mirror). Words like these follow Rule \9\.
2. Stay*..! L et...! Let’s...!
We saw in the Conversation that the expression stay (seated / where you are ,
etc.) is translated by using ^ alli-, e.g.,

16.qille means, literally, scarcity, shortage, i.e., that something is qalll {in short
■ supply) or, by extension lacking altogether. The expression caysln min qillet
il-mOt <alive from the lack of death> means just scraping a living / barely getting by.

6
 Lesson 31

■ I)allIkhon! Stay™ here cleave you[rself] here>!

tjallfld w a q fe! Stay* standing!
Ijallikom qacdm ! Staypl seated!

The last example shows us that the word ^ alll- is invariable, and does not
change when more than one person is addressed (w e don’t say “Ijallukom ”).
The same invariable form is used to create the imperative o f the 1st and 3rd
person: le t’s . . . ; let h im /h er/th em ...
■ ta y y eb , Ija llih o m u n ih u ! Fine, let them go! / Fine, they can go
as fa r as I ’m concerned!
^ a llm a jira tteb i l - ’oda! L et’s tidy the room!
Ijallma n iija c lal-m aw dQ c ! Let’s get back to the topic!
Ijallinajnjarreb! L et’s try!

3 . T h e r o o t I)-l-f
This root conveys the concepts o f remaining behind and replacing. It is the
source o f the English word caliph (Muhammad’s successor at the head o f the
Muslim nation), which com es from the Arabic word il-^altfa. Here are some
more expressions from the same root.

tjallaf [iljallef] to leave behind; to produce children

h iy y e l)allafat she gave birth
■ ’illi / m an l)a lla f m a m at He who has <produced> children never dies.

Like most proverbs, the final sentence above is in literary Arabic, and so the
word for he who here is man. This expression may be used when consoling a
family in mourning.

4. fa ija , ta cm a & C o.

When w e learned Form 2 (fa ccal) verbs, w e mentioned that the quadriliteral
verbs could also be included in this group, as talfan, taq am , etc. are
conjugated pretty much like kam m al (see B ook 2, p. 150).

This means that, apart from the f-2 verbs ending in -a / -i that you’ll learn in
this lesson, there are also quadriliteral verbs that conjugate like rabba. You’ve
met two o f them in this lesson. Compare:

7.
Lesson 31

he (past) I / you™ (past) he (pres-fut) they (pres-fut)

rabba he raised rabbet birabbi birabbu
faqa he showed faijet bifaiji, bifarju
tacma he fe d (trans) tacmet bitacmi, bitacmu
The verb fa ija has another interesting characteristic. Let’s take a look at the
following examples:
■ farj et sura lal-walad I showed a picture to the child / sh. the child a picture
faijeto sura I showed a picture to him / / showed him a picture
farjgt-ha lal-walad I showed i / to the child
faqetowyya-ha I showed him it

What do we learn from the sentences above?

- The first sentence in Arabic has the same structure as the first sentence in
English, above: I showed something to someone.
- The second Arabic sentence shows us that if the person in question is referred
to by an attached personal pronoun rather than a noun, the preposition 1- (to)
is dropped and w e say I showed him (as in the English sentence I showed him a
picture , above).
- The third Arabic sentence has no special features.
- In the fourth sentence w e can see that if both objects (both the person to
whom the thing is shown, and thing that is being shown) are referred to by
personal pronouns, the pronoun referring to the person is attached to the verb,
while the pronoun referring to the thing show n is attached to the particle iyyii-,
which you met in B ook 2, p. 114. This means that the word order is the same as
it usually is in English: I showed him it.
■ faija maktfibak la-marato He showed your letter to his wife
farj ah la-marato He showed it to his wife
faija-ha maktubak He showed her your letter
faij a-ha^yy&h fje showed her it

Try to construct similar sentences o f you own:

I showed the picture to the neighbors = faijSt is-sura lal-jiran
You can continue on your own:
I showed it to the neighbors See the Key to
I showed them the picture the Exercises at the
back of the book.
I showed them it

8
 Lesson 31

She showed her dress to her husband = faijat filS tan-ha la-joz-ha
Continue:
She showed itmto her husband
She showed him her dress
She showed him itm.

As there are other verbs that behave in the same way - for example, the verb to
give , which you’ll be learning soon - you’ll get a chance to play this type o f
Lego again in the future. From now on, whenever we meet a verb like this, w e’ll
send you to Rule [l5] at the end o f the book.

Vocabulary - Part 2
munasabe opportunity, occasion camel [cawamel] cause, factor
knls [kunos] synagogue harami [haramiyye] thief
gatta to cover ta cma [itacmi] to feed (trans)
waqqaf to stop (trans); to arrest sirke / §arike# firm, company
hidi17 [yihda] to calm down (intrans) [Sarikat] firms, companies
hadda to calm down (trans) tawqlf [2] arrest (n)
maclumat information cthings known> (§atta) sattat [19] to rain
wadda to bring; to take zS’er (2] [zuwwar] visitor"1
(somewhere)
’adda ’ila to cause / lead to qalaq / qalaq# anxiety

17. hidi [yihda] conjugates like nisi. Its active participle, hadi, means calm /having
calmed down. The f-2 verb from the same root is hadda [ihaddi], which means to
■ calm (someone else) down, and haddi ’acSfibak! means Get a grip / Pull yourself
together <calm your nerves>! This is what you say to wahad casabi (a highly-strung
person).

9
Lesson 31

Conversation - Part 2

- ’ahlan, ya ’abu Hanna18, - Hello, Abu Hanna!

§fl jab il-iiayafne19 ca-l-quds What has brought the Haifa-ites to Jerusalem?
- jlna bi-munasabet il-^d, —We’ve come for <on the occasion of...>
the holiday
u-rahna cala 1-eqyame 20 and we went to the Church of the Holy
Sepulcher.
u-intu, ya MGsa, wgn salletu And you, Musa, where did youpl [go to]
y5m is-sabt? pray on Saturday?
- ruhna ca-l-mabka21 u-sallena. —We went to the Western Wall and prayed.
’abQy kull yom bisalli hunak. My father prays there every day,
bass lamma bikttn22 tacban, but when he’s tired
bisalli fi l-eknls. he prays in the synagogue.
- sala maqbtlle! - May his prayer be accepted [by God]!
- minna23 u-minnak! - Both ours and yours <firom us and from you>!

- il-jame^emsakkar? —Is the mosque closed?

- ’a, yom il-jumca msakkar —Yes, on Friday it’s closed
laz-zuwwar. to visitors.

18. hanna is short for Yuhanna, the Christian form of the name John (from the
Hebrew Yohanan); the Muslim form of the name is Y a h y a .
19. hefawi [hayafne] = a native / resident o f Haifa. The plural form follows the
pattern D aO iD D e. We can add a number of similar words to the list: m a ru n i
[mawame] = Maronite; qudsi / maqdisi [maqadse] = Jerusalemite; beruti
[bayfirte] = a resident o f Beirut. The plural forms will be summarized in a special
lesson at the end of Book 4.
20. The word qyame means resurrection. In Arabic - as in Greek (Anastasis) - this
church is referred to as “the Church of the Resurrection.”
21. Also known in English as the Wailing Wall, a name echoed by the Arabic term
mabka (weeping-place). Muslims refer to the site as il-burfiq ^ / l-ebraq, after the
mount that bore Muhammad to Jerusalem, as he is traditionally supposed to have
tethered it beside the Wall.
22. See Explanations 5.
23. In Galilee people usually say minnena instead of minna.

10
 Lesson 31

hallaq ft*1 s a la , ca m -b isallu TThere’s a service <a prayei> at the moment,

s a la t id -d u h °r2425 th
they’re saying <praying> the midday prayer.

- h al-w alad kan d a y e c25
u-jucan
u-kan yibki, h a w a lt 26 ahaddlh,
qu lt-illo; “ ’ihda, ya sater,
m 3 tf)af,
’an a baw addlk ca -l-b e t..
ta cm eto u -w ad deto la -’im m o.
lb —Fine, now take this letter to the
- ta y y eb , halqgt w ad d i hal-m aktub
la-m udlr is-§irke / is-§arike#
- ^alllni a ^ a lles su g li
u-bacden baw addI-lowy y a h.
—This boy was lost and hungry
and he was crying. I tried to calm him
[and] I told him, “Take it easy, son ccalm
down, oh clever [one]>, don’t be
frightened, I’ll take you home.”
I fed him and took him to his mother,
manager of the firm.
—Let me finish my work,
and then I’ll take it to him.

- il-w a d cJ s - s iy a s i m uqleq, —The political situation is worrying,

la-budd i n n o j ’atter
ca la J -w a d cJ l-iq tisa d L
- ta b can, k u ll illi §ar
f i- lm u d d e j - ’a^lre b i’addi
la-tagyir il-ja w w , u-bisabbeb
qalaq cind in -n 3s. laken
hada b ass w a h ed m in il-caw am el
3l
illi ’addat li-hadajt-tagylr.
it must be affecting
<no escape [but] that it affect.. .>
the economic situation.
—Of course. Everything that’s happened
recently <in the last period> is leading
to a change of mood <air> and making
people worry ccausing worry at people>.
But this is just one of the factors
that have caused this change.

24. The five obligatory prayers in Islam are: salat is-Sllb°h (morning), id-dtlh°r
(noon), il-caser (afternoon), il-magreb (sunset) and il-cisa’ (about an hour and a
half after sunset). The word sal5^ [salawfit] is pronounced sala in colloquial
speech, but in the construct form it becomes salat (salat)...
25. See Book 2, Lesson 20, footnote 5: The active participle of the verb d S c means
lost <having-become-lost>.
26. The verb hSiwal (f-3) means to try/attempt. You’ll be learning f-3 in lesson 34.
Lesson 31

fi-§-§urta: A t the police station:

- klfwemsektuj-harami? — How did youpl catch the thief?
- (i)stalamna2728maclumat min —We received information from
wShad wil-maclumat someone, and the information
illi^stalamn3-ha ’addat we received led to the
’ila tawqlf il-harami. arrest of the thief.
laqenSh emljabbi halo fi maljzan We found him hiding <himself> in a store­
u-hallaq huwwe tahtjt-tawqlf. room and now he’s under arrest.

- sattat_emb3reh tfll in-nhar.
il-magreb battalat^tsatti,
u-fi-l-lel sarat id-dinya bard,
jibet battaniyye u-gattSt
il-walad.
- embayyen il-y5m kam3n
bid-hajtsatti, ma tinsI-S
toljdi samsiyye!
28
—It rained all day <the length of the day>
yesterday
In the evening it stopped raining,
and at night it got cold.
I took <brought> a blanket and covered
the boy up.
—It looks like rain today, too <it looks today
also it wants that-it-rain>. Don’t
forgetf to take an umbrella!

Explanations - Part 2_________________________________________

5. bakQn, bikun indicating a habitual action or permanent state

Take a look at the following examples:

hallaq ’ana rayeh I'm going now

lamma baruh When I go...

■ hallaq ’ana tacbSn Now Vm tired

lamma bakun tacban When I'm tired...

You are accustomed to seeing the (present)-future o f the verb kSn used to
indicate actions in the future (bakun m a b su t = VU be pleased), as you will
recall that the verb to be in Arabic has no paradigm in the present tense: w e just
say I here; you tired etc., instead o f la m here...

27. istalam (f-8) means to receive /get. You’ll be learning f-8 in Lesson 39.
28. See Explanations 6.

12
 Lesson 31

Nonetheless, baklln, betkttn, bikfln, etc. are sometimes used to designate

habitual actions in the present (usually after lam m a) or permanent fam ily
relationships. For example:
lamma bakttn fi-l-bst When I ’m at home...
’ana bakfin ’iben cammo 0a-. ..) I'm a cousin (of...)
m hodertak29 betkfln ’a^flha? Are you her brother; sir?

6. The world is raining!

You’ll remember from B ook 2 that “the world” (i.e., nature) is the subject o f
sentences that describe the vagaries o f the weather, the seasons o f the year and
the hours o f the day (see B ook 2, p. 64, footnote 8, and also, o f course, R ule
19). This is why the verb satta is always conjugated in the feminine singular,
even when the word id-dinya (f) does not actually appear in the sentence:

(± id-dinya) cam-betsatti I t’s raining <the world is raining>.

This Form 2 verb is used all over the country - and also in Lebanon and Syria -
but in Jerusalem people may also use a different verb derived from the same
root: ’asta, or, in actuality,’astat, as, o f course, it is always feminine. Y ou’ll
learn Form 4 in Lesson 36.

7. The root q-l-q

il-q alaq is a state o f disquiet, concern, anxiety or worry. The verb is q ileq
[yiqlaq], and the adjective derived from it is formed by adding the suffix -an
(see B ook 2, L esson 19, Explanations 3):

■ ’abuk qalqsin calsk = Yourfather's worried about you.

W e’ll explain the word m u q leq soon, when w e talk about Form 4 o f the verb
(in Lesson 35).

8. ’adda, wadda = to bring about; to take

The verb ’adda# [i’addi] means to bring about / lead to...(an action, a
decision, a situation, etc.), and it is follow ed by the preposition 1(a)- or, more
frequently, ’ila # (both o f which mean to / towards); ’adda, a literary Arabic
form, tends to raise the register o f speech and so attracts the literary Arabic

29. The word hfider, (f) h&dra [hadnn] means present; prepared, hadra (presencef
/ Honor) serves as a respectful form of address: hadertak <your presence> = sir;
hadrat il-w a z lr = his Honor the Minister.

13.
 Lesson 31

preposition ’ila. You will hear this verb used in interviews on the radio and TV,
in conversations between well-educated people, etc. As you progress in your
studies, you w ill com e across it more and more frequently.

But what about ’ad d a’s close relation w adda? This is really just the same verb
in colloquial guise, and it has a more everyday meaning: to take (somewhere).
Som e time ago, you learned another verb that w e translated into English as to
take : the verb ’aljad. But ’al)ad means take in the sense o f take possession o f /
take away [from], w hile w ad d a has more the sense o f to convey / take [to a
place]. And, w hile w e’re at it, here is another easily-learned verb that has the
same meaning as w adda: you are already familiar with the f-1 verb w isel (to
arrive ; see B ook 2, p. 95); w a ssa l, the Form 2 verb from the same root, means
<to cause to arrive>, i.e., to take (to a place).

■ btiqdarwetwassel-ni la-hunak? Can you take me there?

And a car-owning friend may offer:
*ana bawas(s)lak ! V ll take you!

Rem em ber: These explanations are not designed to enable you to make
immediate active use o f all the words you ’ve learned; they are intended
primarily to alert you, so that you’ll be able to pick out and identify these words
when you hear them in conversation or on TV. The exercises w ill help you to
begin to use them for yourselves.

9. la-budd
The expression la-budd means [it's] inevitable; [there*s] no choice; must /
have to. In longer sentences, la-budd is follow ed by m a or inno. Here are a
few examples:

■ ’iza kan lazem wa-la-budd I f it’s necessary and there's no choice...

<... and there’s no escapex
la-budd-majkun ffh sabab There must be a reason / There’s got
to be a reason!
la-budd-maJk u n marld He must be ill.

la-budd-majkun simec canha He must have heard o f h e r /o f it.

As usual, all these fascinating things can be summed up in a few sentences (see
the box below), which you would do w ell to repeat at the end o f the lesson, and
again in a few days’ time.

14
 Lesson 31

■ mulaljlja? id-dars
mayytjl-gasll the laundry water
Ijalll-hajjarreb! Let her try! / I’d like to see her try!
faijl-ni l-ektSb! Show me the book!
bafaijlkjyyah. I’ll show you it.

’ana bakfln ’iben cammo. I’m his cousin.

lamma bikfln tacban...
sattat id-dinya.
’ana qalqan calek.
waddl-lha hal-maktub!
h5da bi’addi la-tagyir.
la-budd-maJkiln marid.
Rabbet il-juzdan.
ma_tljabbIho-s!
’abfiy cam-bisalli.
waqqafuj-harami.
When he’s tired...
It rained.
I’m worried about you.
Take her this letter!
This leads to change.
He must be ill.
I hid the purse.
Don’t hide it!
My father’s praying.
They arrested the thief.

Exercises________________________________
In this book w e’ve added extra exercises to give you an opportunity to practice
the subjunctive, the conditional, the composite past tense, and dropping the
word illi.

A. Translate into English:

1. cindi sayyara, bawa§selkom ca-l-bSt.
2. ’ikteb hOn kull illi blji cala balak.
3. ma-lo cam-bisayyeh? qul-lo iwotti s5to.
4. Ijalllni ajarreb kaman marra.
5. wen 1-ektab illi fatjet-ni_yyah?
6. lamma betkfln marid, ’6§webtecmal?
7. il-mathaf^msakkar. mus rah-i^allunajifflt.
8. il-walad qal:.y3 mama, ^alllni atlac!
9. bass ’immo m3 ^allato (ma Ijallato-s) yetlac.
10. sar isayyeh. eshabo hawalujhaddflh.
11. bil-’a^er hidi u-battaljsayyeh.
Lesson 31

12. cam-betSatti, la zem j^ n gattijs-san ad lq (the boxes).

13. sattatwem bereh, ’ana gattet is-sanduq.
14. m anacfl-ni m in ta sw ir il-h a fle.
15. jaretna ta cm at 1-ew lad? - ’a , tacm at-hom .
16. h a d a j-k u r s i w a ti, bass hadak ’a w ta .

B. Complete the sentences

(Replace the English words with the appropriate expression in Arabic):

17. Sam ira sa w w a r a t-n i u-(she photographed youf sing) kam an.
18. cindo sayyfira, (fand he] took us) ca-l-bet.
19. bala§ (you shoutf smg), w a tti (yourf 551118voice)!
20. w en il-bin^t? (Did youpl let her) te d a c?
21. w en 1-ew lad? - (We let them) y e tla cu.
22. Ijod il-ja iid e, (take it) la-Sam ir.
23. il-jaride? (I took him it / 1 took it to him).
24. m us rah- (he let youf sing) tfuti.

C. Translate into Arabic:

25. Where’s the dog? - We let him <go> out.
26. Can you take me home?
27. Fine, let them try!
28. They want to take photographs <to photograph>. Don’t let them take photographs!
29. You can’t take photographs here <here forbidden the photography>.
And can’t you smoke either <and the smoking forbidden too>?
30. His mother’s worried about him, we must reassure <calm> her.
31. Do youf sing want me to show you his picture <you want that I show you....>?
32. As soon as I’m free (see Lesson 29, Explanations 3), I’ll show you itf smg.
33. There has to be another solution (hall)!

Before you move on to the next exercise, you might want to refresh your
memory by taking a look at Rule [20] at the end o f this book.
Please note that the subjunctive is not required in all the sentences below!

D. The subjunctive mood. Translate into Arabic:

34. When I entered the room, she lowered her voice.
35. When she goes into the boy’s room, she lowers her voice.
36. Tellmsing her to lower <that she lower> her voice.
37. The girl’s playing outside.

16
Lesson 31

38. Letf smg her play outside!

3 9 .1 know that he smokes in his room.
40. But he’s forbidden to smoke in my room <[it’s] forbidden that he smoke...>.
41. He shows the students what to do <how they [should] do>.
4 2 .1 asked him to show the students how he does [it] <that he show the students.. .>.

Before you start the next exercise, take another look at Lesson 27,
E xplanations 2, pp. 123-24, in Book 2 . ____________________________________

E. Conditional sentences and the composite past tense.

Translate into Arabic:
43. If youmsing like, I’ll show you [some] pictures.
44. If he were here, I’d show him [some] pictures.
45. If my mother were here, she would show us [some] pictures.
46. When we were children, Mother used to show us pictures.
47. If it were raining, I would cover the boxes.
48. When it rained I would cover the boxes.

Before you start the next exercise, take another look at Book 2, L esson 28,
Explanations 4, pp. 1 3 8 -3 9 .__________

F. Dropping the word illi. Translate into Arabic:

49. Where are the pictures that I took in the house?
50. I’ve also got pictures that I took outside.
51. There was a boy there who was shouting [and] his mother told him to be quiet.
52. There are people who smoke everywhere, and there are people who don’t smoke
at all (Book 2, p.130).

Don’t forget to do the exercises in writing, and compare the result with the Key
to the Exercises at the back o f the book. Then read the corrected version out
loud.
 dars tenen u-talatin
32
Lesson Thirty-Two
We forged ahead in order to make the acquaintance o f the whole range o f
Arabic verb Forms, focusing particularly on f-2, or fa ccal. It was worthwhile to
acquire some very useful verbs, such as b a lla s, kam m al (to begin; to continue
/ complete) and t)alla, l)alllni (to lead to; allow me ...). It boosted our potential
to express ourselves - and to understand what w e hear, o f course - as w ell as
giving greater scope for interesting and varied exercises.

But did w e study all the types o f verb that belong to the first Form - f-1?
You’ll recall a few members o f the f-1 club: katab, n izel, jS b [ijib], s 3 f
[isQf], haka, and n isi. It seems w e left one out in our haste, however, and now
it’s time to fill the gap.

The verb habb, meaning to love / like, com es from the root h-b-b, which w e
have already encountered in words like hablbi. In most o f the paradigm o f the
verb, the two b sounds have merged into a doubled b-, and the doubling is
clearly heard, especially before a vowel: h ab b o = he loved him / it.

What characterizes this verb and others that have identical second and third root
letters? Simply that adding the past-tense suffixes -t, -ti, -na and -tu makes it
hard to pronounce, e.g., habb-t (hab-b-t). For this reason, a helping vowel -S is
inserted before the suffix, giving us habb-e-t, -ti, -na, -tu.

Let’s go over the whole paradigm and discover a few more interesting facts:

■ habbSt I liked/loved ba-hebb // ba-hobb I like /love

habbet bet-hebb // -hobb
habbeti bet-hebbi // -hobbi
habb bi-hebb // -hobb
habbat bet-hebb//-hobb
habbena men-hebb // benhobb
habbetu bet-hebbu // -hobbu
habbu bi-hebbu // -hobbu
N ote 1: A s usual in the past tense, the third person (he, she, they) is
distinguished from the others both in the placing o f the stress and the absence o f
the helping vow el -6. The reason is simple: when the added suffix begins with a
vow el (-at, -u) no additional vow el is necessary.
The main point is that he, she, and they are different, and that’s nothing new!

18
 Lesson 32

Note 2: At least you can be grateful that in the present-future (and the
subjunctive too, o f course) there is no problem; the form -hebb // -hobb does
not change, either as to pronunciation or stress.
And which vow el w ill the stressed syllable have? The table above presents two
possibilities: -hebb / / -hobb. When influenced by an emphatic letter (d, z, t, s),
the vowel in the present-future / subjunctive is usually -o, while in the past
tense the vowel w ill be - a and not -a (in accordance with the familiar rule, see
Book 1, p. 59, Explanations 4). Let’s compare:

sabb [isebb] to curse1

sa b b [isobb] to pour

You can check it out for yourself when you com e to the Vocabulary below.

However, there are a few verbs that contain no emphatic consonants, yet
“prefer” the vow el -o, for example:
daqq [idoqq] to b ea t/kn o ck2 in all areas
habb [ihobb] to love/like in Jerusalem
habb [ihebb] to love/like in Galilee, and elsewhere

There’s a final, less common type o f f-1 verb in which the vowel o f the past
tense persists even in the present-future, for example,
d a ll [id all] to stay; to continue
All this, o f course, is intended only to summarize and draw your attention to all
the possible variations. Naturally, you’ll be able to remember the details only
after some personal experience o f conversation with native speakers.

To complete the paradigm, we need only add the active and passive participles
which, as usual, are reminiscent o f those o f katab: kateb, maktub. Here are a
few examples:

1. biseb b -n i means he curses me. b iseb b -illi means he curses “to m e” someone
close to me, or my religion. In the heat of an argument, people do both We once
heard a boy who had fallen off a rebellious donkey shout at it: yin cal ’abuk, ya
’ib n j l- k a lb ! In other words, (May God) curse your father, son o f a dog! - la can, or
in colloquial speech (perhaps to weaken its force), n a cal means he cursed,-the subject
being God. m alcu n means cursed, damned, but also, a clever person / a cunning
rascal.
2. He knocked at a door, he knocked a nail into the wall; the heart beats, the bell rings,
daqq has all these meanings. '
3. To stay / remain (in a place; in a state of ...), and also tb continue (to do). See
Explanations 5.
 Lesson 32

hases hasse4 hassin feeling (m sing, f sing, pi)

hatet hatta hdttln having put (m sing, f sing, pi)
mahsus mahsuse4 mahsusui] fe lt (m sing, f sing, pi)
mahtut mahtata4 [mahtutln] put, placed (m sing, f sing, pi)
What a lot o f words to teach something that can be summarized in two lines:
habb, habbet, bi-hebbu; h abeb, m ahbub
hatt, hattet, bihottu; h atet, m ahtflt

Now for the Conversation, from which you’ll see that it’s all really very simple.

Vocabulary
daqq [idoqq] to knock; to ring bifq [3] [’abailq] jug, pitcher
halla [ihalli] f-2 to sweeten dall [idell] cala to indicate / show
sufra [2 ] dining table doll [idall] to remain; to continue
hatt [ihott] to put / place jaras (-s) [’ajras] bell
sabb [isobb] to pour cajjal [icajjel] f-2 to hurry
dabb [idobb] to collect; to pack §ar§af [§ar3sef] sheet; tablecloth
hall [ihell]5 to release; to solve qasad [yuqsod] to intend / mean
gallab f-2 to bother / t^arraj f-5 to finish (school) /
be a nuisance graduate
zahme [2] crush, overcrowding ’iqtirah [-h5t] suggestion, proposal
zyade [2] increase, extra; daltl [2 ] guide; proof,
excess, too much sign, indication

Conversation

daqq il-jaras. The [door]bell rings <rang>.

- ya YQsef, ruh sflf min - Yusef, go and see who’s

cam-bidoqq. ringing [the doorbell].
Yflsef bidall yilcab. Yusef continues to play.

4. The ending is -se or -ta, in accordance with Rule [7].

5. To untie (a horse), to release (an ox from the plough) ... and also to finish w ork/get
■ out o f school:' ayya
seca bethellu? means What time do you finish w ork/get out o f
school? il-yom hallena bakklr = Today we fin ish ed / got out early.

20
 Lesson 32

il-joras daqqJd-daqqajt-tanye. The bell rings a second time

<rings the second ring>.
- Yfisef, rQh ’iftah il-bSb! —Yusef, go and open the door!
il-walad bidallo mahallo (The child stays put <[in] his place>
ka’inno6 mus samec. as if he doesn’t hear.
kamSn daqqa. Another ring.)
- sfijs-slre7?! —What’s up with you <what’s the story>?
’akam min marra lSzem How many times do I have
anadxk8? maj5mect-es? fth to call you? Didn’t you hear? Someone’s
n3s cam-bidoqquJ-jaras. ringing cthere are people ringing
the doorbell>.
- ya mama, ma^me^-es —Mum, I only heard the third ring
’illajd-daqqajt-talte. <1 didn’t hear except the third ring>!
- sfl hal-kazzab! —What a fibber <what this liar>!
’iza hek, su carrafak inno If that’s the case, how did you know
daqqu talat marrfit? <what let you know> they rang three times?
yalla, ’iftah (qawfim) qawam! Go on, open up quickly!

’ahla u-sahla, mlt ’ahla Hello, a hundred welcomes

u-sahla, ya ’abu Samir!
mit’assef illi tawwalna
ta fatahna-lak il-bab.
- baslta! fakkart ma ft§ hada
fil-lbSt, ba^en^sme^t
’aswat min juwwa w-erje^t
daqqet kaman u-kaman.
efhemt inno mus sam0^ .
Abu Samir! Sorry we took so long
to open the door cthat we lengthened to
open.. .> for you.
—Never mind! I thought no-one was
home; then I heard voices
from inside and rang again
<1 returned I rang> and again. I realized
<understood> that nobody had heard
cthat [they] are not hearing>

6. k a ’in n o - as if. This is shortened to k in n o with the meaning apparently when

spoken in a “flat” unaccented tone at the end of a sentence: m is S5m ec k in n o = He
can’t <doesn’t> hear, apparently.
7. sjre [ T ] [ |] = matter, topic, sttjs -s lre ? ! means What’s going on here <what’s the
matter>? jib n a slrta k means We spoke about you <we brought up the topic of you in
■ conversation >. m a tjlb -eS Slret ’im m i! = Don’t bring up my mother! (in an argu­
ment between a couple, for example).
8. n a d a / n a d e t, b in a d i conjugates like fa ija , but is f-3, which you’ll learn shortly.
Lesson 32

- k lfwecrefet w 6n d a rn a? - How did you know where we lived

[where our house]?
- sa ’a lt nas fi-l-h a r a , - 1 asked people in the neighborhood,
dalluni cala bE tkom . [and] they showed me your house.

- tfa d d a l, h u q cod, lissa n a —Please, sit down. We haven’t had breakfast

bala ftur.
bidna niftar9 saw a. ya Y flsef,
hott is-su fr a 10!
- la ’ ! ’an a biddl-g agalleb-kom !
- yih! m a fi-g gala b e ’abadan11!
y a lla , ya Y O sef, cajjel!
hott sak ak ln 12 u-m acaleq
u -su w a k w-^shfln u -k u ll ’isi;
bass hott sa rsa f b il-’a w w a l,
yet <still we [are] without breakfast>.
Let’s <we want to> have breakfast together.
Yusuf, lay the table!
—No! I don’t want to put you to any trouble!
—Oh, it’s no trouble at all!.
Come on, Yusef, hurry up!
Put [out] knives and spoons
and forks, and plates, and everything;
but put on a tablecloth first,

9. ’ttftar (f-4) means to have breakfast. You’ll learn this verb Form soon, but you can
easily conjugate it in the past and the present-future tenses using fatah as your model:
’aftar-t, -na..., biftar.
10. Sllfra, or more often, Sllfra [2 ] means dining table, the table on which the meal is
set out. In this Lesson there are two very useful terms: h att is-sufra (to lay the table)
and dabb is-sufra (to clear the table). dabbBt il-kutob = I gathered up the books.
dabbet is-santa = I packed the suitcase.
11. ’a b a d means eternity, ’a b a d i means eternal, ’a b a d a n means never. In colloquial
speech this expression is used to mean not at all: - ft*1 m u s k ile ? - ’a b a d a n ,
’a b a d a n ... = - Is there a problem ? - No, not at all!
12. A (single) knife = sak k m e. The singular forms of the rest of the tableware occur
later in the Conversation.

22
 Lesson 32

majthott-eS ’iSi ra’san don’t put anything straight

calajt-tawle.
hattet sahnwezyade13 u-naqes
maclaqa u-S5ke kaman.
1SS 1-ebrTq mahtut hek cala
taraf it-tawle? maJhotto-S
hon! hotto fi-n-nuss, hek!
on to the table!
You’ve put out an extra plate and there’s a
spoon and fork missing, too.
Why is the jug sitting <placed> here like
that at the edge of the table? Don’t put it
here! Put it in the middle, like so!

After all these preparations, you can take a break, and study the second h alf
another time. B ut if y o u ’re hungry, carry on!

- tfaddal, ya ’abu Samir, §od,
ma biddak-S cazlme!
I)od tatli14! hada sawwenah
b-Idena, lof, habbeto?
- tayyebjtolr, ktlr habbeto!
- ’issa // halqet basobb Say la-kull
wahad; ’asobb-illak kaman?
- ’a, sobb-illi Swayy.
- sabbet iS-Say, bass ma
hallet5-S14 yacni, ma hattet fi*1
sukkar. ’inte hott sukkar
qadd-ma biddak.
- qul, ’ihkl-lna iSi.ldfhal
’a^flk? - ’ayy wahad?
—Please, Abu Samir, help yourself <take>,
you don’t need an invitation!
Take [some] jam! We made it ourselves
<with our hands>! How do <did>
you like it?
—Very good, I like <liked> it a lot!
—Now I’ll pour [out] tea for everyone;
shall I pour [some] for you, too?
—Yes, pour me a little.
— I’ve poured your <the> tea, but I haven’t
sweetened it, I mean, I haven’t put sugar
in it. [Just] you put [in] as much
sugar as you want.
—Speak, tell us some news <something>.
How’s your brother? - Which one?

13. zyade means addition. It is used mainly in the sense of surplus, extra, too much.
sarctftwezyade = You’ve spent too much (money). From the same root is derived the
verb zad [izld] = to add. Zldi Swayy! = A d d 1 sing a little! This provides an
opportunity to practice Rule [T|: zyade begins with two consonants, so sahen +
■ zyade —► sahnwezyade. Compare also sahen wise^ (a dirty plate) with
sahnwendlf (a clean plate), all conforming to Rule |T|.
14. Some words change their gender from place to place! ^tatli (jam) is pronounced
tatle in Galilee and is regarded as feminine, so you will hear h3y Sawen3-ha (f-3,
Lesson 34), habbet-ha, tayybe. The word Say (tea) is also feminine in Galilee, and
people say hallet-ha, hattet fi-ha sukkar.
 Lesson 32

ensft ’ismo! hadfik illi - I’ve forgotten his name! The one that
hfitet15 ncujtjarat16. wears <puts> glasses.
cindi ’iljwe tn€n hattln (labsln) - 1have two brothers [who] wear glasses;
ncujtjfirfit, ’ayy wahadwebtuq$od? which one do you mean?
- ’ana baqsod l-cmcallem... - I mean the teacher ...
- ha, Nabll, ma?bflt ?arwcmcallem, - Ah, Nabil, right, he’s become a teacher.
tijarraj17 min dttr il-mucallimln He finished <the> teacher’s training college
u-cayyanQh18 fi madrase and he’s been appointed to <they appointed
zglre fi-n-nfi$re. him in> a small school in Nazareth.
l-ewlad_ektlr bihebbflh. The children like him a lot.
- hada dalU innojncallem naje(i! - That shows <that’s proof> he’s a good
<successful> teacher.
wen sftken? biddi arflh ’azttro. Where does he live? I want to go and visit
lazem wahad idell-ni cala beto. him. Someone will have to point out his
house to me.
- bukra babcat-lak il-walad, - I’ll send the boy [over] tomorrow
birQh macak u-bidellak ca-l-b£t. [and] he’ll go with you and show you the
house.
- Sukran, eb-l)dterkom. - Thank you. Goodbye <by your leavo.
- mac is-salSme. - Goodbye <(go) with peace>.
yolla, ya Yflsef, 4obb i§-sufra! - Come on, Yusef, clear the table!

15. Both h8te{ (= having put [on]) and ldbes (= having put on) can be used in this
context. The verb libes [yilbas] = to put on (a dress).
16. The letters d and Z sound similar and their pronunciation is almost identical in rural
areas. For this reason the root n-z-r, signifying vision , gives us words like no^ra =
sight, view, attitude ; nazar = sight, opinion ; mouiZOT = view, sight, scene. But
nad^arftt [2 ] are glasses, spectacles (pronounced more like nO££drat in Jordan).
17. ttyarraj is a f-S verb that you'll learn in Lesson 36. In f-1, fjaraj [yuljroj] means
to go out. I)urttj# = [the action of] going out ; the colloquial version IjlUj \J \ = stools.
A doctor might ask: kffwc^lUjak? = What are yo u r stools like?
18. cayyan = he appointed. tacyui = appointm ent [to a p o st].
■ lissa ma ’ajfl-ni^-ta^In means I haven 7 been appointed y e t <still the appointment
didn’t come to me >.

24
 Lesson 32

- mourtitt m i fit* mahall fi-l-bds —Sometimes there’s no room on the bus,

u-badall wflqef to1 is-safar.
- 'ana kaman^mbCreb tfcdlfct
wftqfe, ckffrwctcebet. ’ana l)ftyfe
innoJ-y5m kamOn ikOn-f!*1
za^me. ca5an hek bcujall-ni
fi-l-bet, ’ahsan!
and I have to stand <remain standings
all the way <all the joumeyx
—Yesterday I had to stand, too;
I got very tired. I’m afraid it’ll be over­
crowded <there’ll be overcrowding>
today too, so [therefore] I'm staying
home, it’s better [that way]!

- ’iza flh muSkile, - If there's a problem, we must

lftzenv^ndawwer cala ball*
lfizem^nhell il-mu$kile.
- tayyeb, ’illi cindo (i)qtirah,
Ijalllh yihki. - *fl])er marra
’ana pallet il-muSkile la-hfili.
look for a solution. We’ve got
to solve the problem.
- OK, if anyone <whoevei> has a suggestion,
speak [up] <let him speak>! - Last time
I solved the problem by myself

hallfinaJ-mo5kile - hallSnO-ha. We've solved the problem - We’ve solved it.

halletQ-ha?! ma halletu-ha-§! You’ve solved it?! You haven’t solved it!

Explanations

1. hises, hatet and the meaning of the active participle

You may have noticed a difference in the translation of these two words:
hflses feeling (active part)
hatet having-put

2$
Lesson 32

In Book 2 , pp. 77-79, w e explained that in verbs that describe movement and
position, or the action o f the senses (e.g., s3 m e c, sayef), the active participle
indicates the immediate present, whereas in most other verbs it denotes an
action that has already taken place. That’s the reason for the difference between
the two verbs above. Let’s compare:
klf hSses hSlak? How are you feeling ?
’ana c5ded19 il-karfisi I ’ve counted the chairs <1 [am] having counted....>.

2. kabb or kabkab
Arabic has a neat way o f expressing repeated actions by doubling the syllables
in verbs with a doubled second root letter, as in the following examples:
Samm [iSemm] to smell / sniff
§am§am [iSamSem] to sniff around
il-kalb bi§am§em The dog sniffs around.

lamm [ilemm] to pick up (from the floor); to collect (donations)

lamlam [ilamlem] to gather together (scattered objects)

kabb [ikobb] to pour [away] (in a single motion)

kabkab [ikabkeb] to spill (in small quantities at intervals)

natt [inott] to jump /le a p

n atn at [inatnet] to bounce / jum p up and down

These doubled verbs conjugate like f-2 verbs or like tarjam (see Book 2,
Explanations 5, p. 150).
toraS [yutros] to sprinkle; to whitewash
tartaS [itarteS] to spray / splash

This is a colorful colloquial phenomenon and the range o f verbs o f this type
varies from place to place (the Lebanese dialect is particularly rich in them). For
example, the verb qarat, meaning to gnaw /crunch yields a variety o f
derivations: q arq at, qarqaS, q arm at, etc. Another example is:

bahas [yibhas] to dig

bahbaS [ibahbes] to rummage (among p a pers/in a drawer) in Galilee
bacba§ [ibacbes] to rummage in Jerusalem

19. See footnote 21.

26
 Lesson 32

b in atn et v ~ t
z -'' " '
/ ' / \
^/ \ •
natt n a tt’

3. sob b -illi = pour me!

By now you’re very familiar with the phenomenon: katabt + lak —» katabt-
illak
For exactly the same reason (to avoid the “tongue-twister” caused by three
successive consonants: katabt-1 ...), $obb + li gets a helping vowel and the
1- is doubled: sob b + li —> sob b -illi.

A further example: h att + lak —» h att-illak = he put [for] you.

But it is unnecessary to double the 1- after a single consonant, for example :

sa b b e |t]+ lak —> sabbSt-lak I poured <to> you

§ab b a § + li —» sa b b a t-li she poured <to> him

4. T h e m e a n in g s o f th e v e r b habb
The primary meaning o f habb is to love / like, when applied to both people and
things, in all the shades o f meaning, as shown by the following examples:

bahebbek y a ^ y u n i! I love you, darling <my eyes>!

k lf habbgt l-em jaddara? How did you like the majaddara
(a lentil and rice dish)?
ktlr h ab b et-h a! 7 liked it a loti

Another use, no less common and important, is equivalent to biddi and can be
used to translate the English expression to like to , for example:
’em ta b^thebbu tibdu? When would you like to start?
m a habbet ’abda balakom I didn't like to start without you.

cala h a d ijti-n u q ta bahebb On that point, I'd like to add a word.

’a d lf k ilm e

fib kam an ’is i bahebb ’aqtilo There’s something else I'd like to say.

There are situations when it feels more appropriate to use this verb rather than
biddi, biddak.

37
 Lesson 32

5. d o ll = to r e m a in / d a ll ca la ... = to in d ic a te
These two verbs are distinguished by the difference in their pronunciation. As
w e’ve already suggested, if you find it hard to make a distinction between d and
d, you can save the day by taking care to pronounce the a correctly (listen to the
recording). Perhaps you’ve noticed that in the word d a ll the doubled -1 is also
“darker” like the / in English ball or Russian balalaika, and - while w e’re at it -
in ’a lia and y a lla .
Let’s take a look at the different meanings o f these two verbs:
d a ll [id a ll] to remain / continue
■ b a d a ll hon / b a d a ll-n i hon. I ’m staying here.
d a llet la-h ali. I remained on my own.
bass h u w w e b id a ll yihki! But he goes on talking <he remains talking>!
Note the addition o f -ni to the verb for emphasis. You w ill also hear bet-dallak,
b id a llo but you can’t do this in all persons or tenses o f the verb; once again,
we just want you to be aware o f this phenomenon.

d a ll [idell] to point out /show ; to be a sign o f /

be indicative o f
■ hada b id ell cala cadam ihtim Sm 20. That shows a lack o f interest.
dallQni ca la J -ta riq . They showed me the way.
In this case, we have a direct object (-ni, not -li). The basic idea is they pointed
at and informed me ...
Another example:
■ ’ana badellak ca la J -m a h a ll I ’ll show you [where] the place [is].

6. hallet il-m u sk ile / h allet is-S3y

Don’t get confused and sweeten the problems w hile you solve the tea! You need
to make a distinction between the roots h-1-1 and h -l-a (the root o f hilu). Let’s
compare:
h all / h allet* he / / solved like habb habbet
h a lla / hallet* he / 1 sweetened like s a lla s a lle t
The two words * sound identical but the context prevents confusion, and in any
case, the similarity exists only in the past tense (except for the 3rd person
singular he). In the present-future, the distinction is clear:

20. cad am means lack [of], un-. It’s a very useful word in “educated” Arabic and we’ll
return to it later.

28
 Lesson 32

bahell, bihellu I solve; they solve

bahalli, bihallu I sweeten; they sweeten

Every time you encounter a verb o f the habb type where the second root letter
is doubled, your response should be a double one (in honor of the doubling...):
- First, conjugate it in the past tense, adding the link vowel -e. For example, if
you learn that to count is ca d d 21 [icedd], you know that I counted is cadd§t.
- Next, ask yourself what form the subjunctive takes (the one w e place in
square brackets) and note whether the vow el is e or o (or maybe a, although this
is quite rare). This form is generally given in the V ocabulary o f each lesson.
Then you can go on to build sentences in the subjunctive and present-future
tense, for example, with [i^ d d ]: lslz e m jc e d d u (they must count), bacedd lal-
ca§ara ( / count to ten), etc.

Now for another nukte for those o f you who enjoy a laugh. O f course, you can
postpone your laugh until tomorrow if you’re tired right now.

■ fih wShad baljll kan^mraSSeh. u-huwwe ma§i bi§-§5rec, laqajd-doktor;

q a l: yaret-ni as’alo h5n bi§-sarec, minSan ma adfac-lo-s masfiri. q a l:
marhaba ya doktor, lamma ’inte betkun^mrasSeh, ’eswcbtecmal?
id-doktor flhem qasdo u-qal-lo: ’ana, ya sldi, lamma bakunj^mrasseh,
baqohh22!
If you didn’t understand, here’s the translation:

A certain miser had a cold. As he was walking down the street he met <found>
the doctor. He said [to himself]: I’d like to consult him < if only I would ask
him> here in the street, so as not to pay him [any] money. He said: “Hello,
Doctor. When you have a cold, what do you do?” The doctor realized
<understood> his intention and said <to him>: “I, sir, when I have a cold, I
cough!”

21. You will remember the word cadad [’acdad] meaning number (Book 2, p. 78,
■ footnote 16). ’illi b t e d d il- cu si m us za y y illi byok el-h a = He who counts the
blows <the sticks> is not like the one who suffers <eats> them, which clearly means:
The watcher does not feel the same as the one who suffers. ca s a [cusi] = stick. His
stick = ca sa to .

22. qahh is another verb of the habb type; ehbflb dodd il-qahha = cough lozenges
ctablets against the cough>. As for lam m a bakun - this is another example of the
habitual present, which was discussed in Lesson 31, Explanations 5.

2SL
Lesson 32

m u la M a s id-dars

m in bidoqq il-jaras? Who rings the bell?

’an a daqqet talat daqqat
d allu n i cala betak
’an a badellak cala beto.
dallSt w a q e f
b id a ll m ah a llo ,
k a ’in n o m us sa m ec.
it-ta tli, k lf habbetuh?
m a habbet ’aruh balaki
bahebb ’a d lf k ilm e
bihobb inakket.
bihobbu b a ^ d .
h u w w e h a te t n ad d arat
h iy y e h a tta n ad d arat
hada, w en ahotto?
w en a h o tt-illa k jy y a h
hottih fi-l-q u m e
biddo ih ell il-m u sk ile
’ana h allet-ha
I rang three times.
They showed me your house.
I’ll show you his house.
I remained standing.
He stays [in] his place
as if he doesn’t hear.
The jam, how did you like it?
I didn’t like to go without you.
I’d like to add a word.
He likes telling jokes.
They love each other.
He wears glasses.
She wears glasses.
This, where should I put it?
Where should I put it [for] you?
Put it in the corner.
He wants to solve the problem.
I’ve solved it.

Exercises___________________________________
A. Translate into English:
1. bethebb tilcab §adde? - m a b a cr a f ’a lcab.
2. ta y y eb , b ala s is-sad d e!
3. m m d a llo cala betna?
4. kan-fih hunak marct d a lla to ca-l-b6t.
5. daqqgt ca-l-b2b?
6. ’a y w a , m b a y y en m a sim cu-§ u-m a hada-§ fatah-li.
7. u -d a llet w a q e f quddam il-bSb,
8. w -e jje ^ t daqqgt kam Sn m arra.
9. nslt w en hattSt in -n a d d a ro t tabaci.
10. hotthom d aym an fi n a fs jl-m a h a ll,

30
 Lesson 32

11. ’ah san m a td a lljstd a w w er calShom tul in-nhar!

12. ’an a qaca d et b ass 1-ewlSd d a llu w aq fin .
13. kSn fih cid d et m asak el, bass hallena-ha.
14. cadatan m en hell is-s6 ca talate. (See footnote 5)
15. dir balak, betkabkab.
16. f l h w ah ad cam -bidoqq ca-l-bab. ’iftah -lo!

B. Complete the sentences

(Replace the English words with the appropriate expression in Arabic):
17. had i m u sk ile. k lf bidkom (to solve it).
18. ya Sam ira, ’ask orek illi (you showed us) d a r il-m ul)tar.
19. hada (is indicative of) niyye tayybe.
20. k u ll y 6 m ’an a (finish-work) is-s8 ca ljam se.
21. wil-ewlad (get-out-of-school) is-seca talate.
22. les hattet (the purse) fi-l-jarur / fi-l-jarrar?
23. w 5n il-farse? w 5n (did you put it)?
24. tac3li! bafatjlki w en (we put it).
25. d aym an bahott il-ju zd an (in the drawer).

C. Translate into Arabic:

2 6 .1 always putm/f my glasses on my bed.
27. The table’s dirty (Lesson 16, footnote 13), I don’t knowm/f where to put the plates.
28. Why do you want to come with me? It’s better for you to <that you> stay here.
29. Hurry1" s,ng! We want to catch the bus.
30.1poured the milk into the sink (fi-1-majla).
31. Bemsing careful, you’re spilling [it],
32. He can’t solve all the problems.
33. Nobody can solve the problem.
34. Why are you"1s,ng cursing him?
35. [It’s] not good to curse him <that you curse him> like that <so>.

D. The subjunctive mood. Translate into Arabic:

36. Should I pour [away] the milk? No, don’t pour1"^ 51ng it [away]!
37. I’ll solve the problem! Would youmsing like me to solve the problem?
38. If he stays here" until five o’clock...
39. Tellf sing him to stay here until five o’clock.
40. Where should I put <put-to-youmsing> the newspaper for you? Where should I put
<put-to-you> itf?

34^.
Lesson 32

41. I’ll put the newspaper on the table for youmSlng.

42. All day she’s been coughing and coughing <she remains coughing>.
- No, now she’s stopped coughing.

E. Conditional sentences and the composite past tense.

Translate into Arabic:
43. If youf sing knock on the door, I’ll open [it] for you.
44. If youf sing were to knock on the door, I would open [it] for you.
45. If there were23 a bell, he would ring and I would open for him.
46. When he came to visit us, he used to ring the bell, and I would open for him.
47. If yourmsing father were here, he would solve the problem.
48. When he was Manager, he would solve the problem.
49. If you’d put the lid on, the water would have boiled.

F. Dropping the word illi. Translate into Arabic:

50. Who’s the woman that showed you"1s,ng our house?
51. There was a woman there who showed us your111house.
52. There are still things I’d have liked to write <it>.
53. The things I’d have liked to write <it> / I’d have liked to write <it> to youms,ng.
54. Where is the storeroom youm51118put the boxes (is-sanadlq) in?
55. I’m looking for a storeroom to put the boxes in.
56. Why did he put the box here? Tell him to put it in the comer.

23. I f there were (now)... Since we’re talking about the present, you can simply say:
la w f ih

32
 dars talate u-talatln
------------------------------------------------------------------------- 33
Lesson Thirty-Three
Today let’s take a break from verbs and explore a different area. In Book 2,
Lesson 27, E xplanations 1, you briefly met the verbal noun (VN) and learnt
some examples, such as tark, dorb, and d afeC (leaving; hitting and paying /
payment). N ow let’s add a new layer to our wall:
darb hitting
darbe a (single) blow
’ak el eating; food (in general)
’a k le a specific food, a dish

In Lesson 31 you heard the word ’akle, i.e. a specific dish, as compared to il-
’akel il-cara b i (Arab food in general). You can also say b acd j l - ’akel (after
eating). This points to a fairly general phenomenon: when you add the feminine
ending -e / -a / - a to a noun, its meaning becom es narrower and more specific.

Now let’s look at how this works in a completely different sphere: small
animals, fruit, trees and so forth. The angler in B ook 2, p. 18 almost caught “a
sam ake this big!”. Fish in general, however, or fish as food rather than a fish on
one’s plate, are referred to as sam ak, a masculine singular collective noun. For
example:
■ bSkol sam ak I eat fish (and not meat)
(cam -)barsom sam ak e I ’m drawing a fish (a specific one)

This gives us enough information to move on to today’s Conversation.

Vocabulary
naqqa [inaqqi] to choose (between) tam am exactly
l)idm e [tjadamat] service z6t [2] oil
fjudcuji [-jiyye] greengrocer, vegetable seller zetfin /zatfin olives (coll)
liheq [yilhaq] to catch; to pursue l)a§ab wood (material)
h a m m a s f-2 to roast (coffee etc.) Ijudra vegetables (coll)

Conversation .
- bet-hebb il - ’a k U l-carabi? - Do you like Arab food <the Arab food>?
- ektfr bahebbo. —I adore it clove it very much>.

33.
Lesson 33

- ’iza hek, biddi a tb o l}-la k 1
’ak le jd ld e.
en s a lla rolx,ethebb-ha.
rah -t5k ol ’a s a b ca k 2 w arah a.
- fa ta h tl-li n e f s i3!
- bass biddi m innak Ijidme.
- cala rfisi u -ce n i4!
- rOh §flf cind il-i}udaiji
’iz a ja b ljudra t f iz a 5;
jib -elna bandora u -b a sa l
u-m flz. u -m in cind il-b aq q §l
jib -eln a b6d u -q a h w e
u-zatiin kam an. m a cad -es
f l h cin (d )n a bil-m arra.
- to y y eb , ’issa / / halqgt b a ija c.
cind il-i}u d a iji:
- fP1 bandOra?
- ’3, fth, hunak fi-s-sa h h fira 6
naqqM ak kam habbe m llh a 7
—In that case <if so>, I'll cook you
a new dish.
I hope you’ll like it.
You’ll be licking your fingers
<you’U eat your fingers> after it!
—You’ve whetted <opened-me> my appetite!
—But I want you to do something for me
<1 want from you a service>.
—Willingly <on my head and eyes>!
—Go and see if the greengrocer has
<at the greengrocer if he has brought>
[any] fresh vegetables;
bring us tomatoes, and onions and bananas,
and at the grocer’s <from at the grocer>
get us eggs and coffee,
and olives too, we haven’t
any left at all.
—OK, I’ll be right back
<now I’m coming back>.
At the greengrocer's:
—Have you <are there> [any] tomatoes?
—Yes, we have <there are>, there in the crate.
Choose yourself a few good ones.

1. tabal) [yutbol}] means to cook. b tecraf tutbol)? means: Do you know how to
cook? tabbal) is a cook.
2. ’u sb a c [’a s a b e c] means finger. In accordance with Rule [6] it declines: ’a sfib ^ ,
’a s a b c-ak / -ek, -o , but ’a s a b e c-ha, -na, -kom , -hom .
3. See Book 2, p. 41, footnote 10.
4. cala rfisi is also used on its own.
5. You will also hear taza, from Turkish taze, which is invariable whether m, f or pi. It
is applied to bread, vegetables, fish, etc.
6. sahhfira [sahahlr] is a fruit / vegetable crate. You will also hear buksa [btlkas]
from English box.
7. m llh is the original literary Arabic word for the adjective good, and it also occurs in
colloquial Arabic; however m nlh is more common in urban speech.

34
 Lesson 33

- bass haddlk il-b an d ora - But these tomatoes are past their best
jn lja m m je ! <oveiripe>!
k lf betblc ’isu n ljam rn ej? How can you sell overripe stuff?
- tac3 l, Ijod m in h5n, hadol_em nah. - Come, take from here, these are good.
qaddes biddak? kam kilo? How much do you want? How many kilos?
- hat,etnen k ilo 8 -- Give [me] two kilos.
-b ik a f f i9? - Is [this] enough?
- zld kam an hab(b)t5n. -- Add a couple more.
- hay talat habbat, -- Here are three [more], that comes to
hek b lj i10 tnen k ilo u-nuss. <so it comes to> two and a half kilos.
- hat taiate k ilo m<5z u -k llo b a sa l, - Give [me] three kilos of bananas and a kilo
of onions,
w -icm e l-li l-ehs3b. and make me up <do to me> the bill.
- ’arbcin se k e l tam 8m . Forty shekels exactly.
- h a y y Ijamsln, cindak tu s r o f-li1'? - Here’s fifty. Have you got change
<is there at you that you give me change>?
- ’a y w a , h a y y ca sa r a . Yes, here’s ten.
’a llo u ca w w e d ca le k 12! May God compensate you!
- u-calgk. s a ^ d e 13! And you. Goodbye / Good evening!

8. You will also hear kflowen, and in some areas, kllten. See also Book 2, p. 5,
Explanations 2.

9. This word appeared in Lesson 1! But now you know where it belongs: with the f-2
verbs that end in -a, e.g., rabba (see Lesson 31). kaffa-ni = That was enough fo r me.
Another example concludes the Conversation.
10. blji is used like to come to; to come out in English, in other words, to result in. You
could say of an experiment: blji m nlh (m llh): It's coming out well / The results are
good. You could also use te le c (to com e/go out): t e l e ^ m n l h = It came out well.

11. s o r a f [y u sro f] means to spend; to change money (into another currency or small
change). sarrfif= moneychanger, m a sru f = expense, and in the plural il-m a sfirif =
the expenses / expenditure.

12. See Explanations 5.

13. sa ^ d = happy (cp ’a s cad). These two words are also used as male personal
names: S a ^ d and 9A s cad. sa ^ d e is used as a greeting, mainly by Christians, in the
afternoon or evening.
 Lesson 33

- sa^dQ jnbfirake! m ac is-sa la m e! - Good / Blessed evening! See you!

cind il-baqqal: At the grocer's:

- cindak q ah w e habb, —Have you got coffee beans,
qahw Q jnharnm asa? roast coffee?
- l a ’, kull w ahad b ih am m es-h a —No, everyone roasts them
fi beto. at home.
bass fib cindi q a h w e m ath fin e14. But I’ve got ground coffee.
- hat baket u-mICcg ra m / —Give [me] a packet and 100 grams
gram zatun. of olives.
- bass m iyye? § o d m lten! —Only 100 [grams]? Take 200!
h a z-za tu n a tek tlc5m n ah . These olives are very good.
- h at kam an caser b ed at. —Give [me] ten eggs, too.
h al-b ed a m aksura, This egg’s cracked <broken>,
gayyer-li_yyaha! exchange it for me.
- tfad d al! —Here you are cmake a favor [and take]>.
- m a m a ^ -s m asfiri. —I’ve no money on me <not with me money>,
b ad fa c-lak bukra. I’ll pay you tomorrow.
- b a s lta 15! —No problem!

b y etla c m in id-dukkan. He leaves the shop. The shopkeeper

il-b aq q al b ilh aq o16 runs after him <catches him up>:

14. ta h a n [yithan] = to grind. tahflne = flour mill (and also molar), m ath an et
q ah w e = coffee grinder.
15. b a slt is actually pronounced b a slt and means simple, hence insignificant / no big
■ deal, baslta! = that's sim p le/it's nothing/noproblem ! hott m ileh, ’isi b a s lt...
means Put [on some] salt, just a little... som eth in g simple, small>. The root is actually
b-S-t, but is generally pronounced b-S-t. It signifies to spread out; to extend, hence
b sa t [3] [busot], which means carpet, rug (something that is spread out), as well as
that familiar word m ab sfit / m ab su t which means pleased; healthy (literally spread
out, relaxed).
16. Remember lih eq [yilhaq] meaning to run after; to catch up with; to be in time to /
manage (to do something), see Book 2, p. 108, and top of p. 1101 didn't catch the bus.
■ balhaqak = I'll catch you up. m ^Jheqt-eS ’ak am m el = I didn't manage to finish.

36
 Lesson 33

- ya ’a!)tj> w en sSreh17? —Sir <oh brother>! What are you thinking of

enslt qahewtak!
- yislam u ’Idek / sa lle m T dek18!
- u-Idgk! m ac is-salS m e!
- ’a llc u sa llm a k !
<where are you rambling (in your thoughts)>?
You’ve forgotten your coffee.
—Thank you <(may God) preserve your hands>!
—You’re welcome <and your hands>. See you!
—So long!

- la-m ln il-lju b ze hay? —Whose is this bread <piece-of-bread>?

ya Y u s e f, la z e m tok ol t)ubeztak! Yusef, you’ve got to eat your bread!
§0f, ’u!)tak ’aklat !)ubzet-ha. Look, your sister has eaten her bread.
- ’an a m a bahobb-§ il-!)ubz —I don’t like brown <black> bread ...
il- ’a s w a d ...

- bidna t)asab lal-cam ara / cim ara. —We need <want> wood for building.
w en il-^ asabat illi kanu hon? Where are the planks <pieces of wood>
that were here?
- kam l)asabe biddak lat-tobfir19? - How many plank[s] do you want for the form?

17. sarah# = to herd; to wander / ramble, sareh, (f) sSrha = rambler (in the country
or in thought), preoccupied, distracted; kunt sareh = I was distracted.

18. See Explanations 4.

19. tobar =form(s) (mold/s for poured conprete, made from planks), it-tobarji is the
person who constructs these forms. The suffix -ji is Turkish and indicates a profession:
dllkkanji = shopkeeper, ljudaiji = greengrocer.

37^
 Lesson 33

- j i b kam an ^asabten / I)asbaten2021, - Bring another two <two-pianks>, hopefully

en sa lla bikaffO-na. <if God wills> that’ll do <they*ll be enough
for us>.

Explanations

1. On eggs and olives, ants and bees, water and trees ...
The Conversation above included some examples o f today’s topic:

jib -elna b8d Bring us eggs

fth hon b ed a / ca s er bedfit There’s an egg here; There are ten eggs here.

Several conclusions arise from these examples:

a) Some nouns denoting objects, materials, animals, fruit, vegetables and trees
can take three different forms:
The collective noun denotes an indefinite quantity or a substance (like hair in
English, which signifies the hair on one’s head or hair as a material) and is
always masculine singular. The single unit noun is formed by adding the
ending -e / -a / -a, and is therefore feminine singular. The plural o f paucity
indicates a limited quantity or number and ends in -at. This phenomenon is
summarized in Rule [TT] at the end o f the book, and in the Dictionary. Here are
a few more examples:
■ f|h hunSk Sajar2,1 There are trees there.
Ijalllna nuqcod taht iS-sajara Let’s sit under the tree.
q a ta c ’arbac Sajarat He felled fo u r trees.

birabbi nahel He keeps <raises> bees.

q a r sa to 22 n ah le A bee stung him.

20. The dual form of words comprising three short syllables is different in Galilee and
Jerusalem: § a s a b e _> Ijasab ten / / l)asbaten. j wo steps _ d a ra jte n // d aija te n .
Two trees = sajartS n // s a jra te n (see also footnote 21).

21. sajar, the literary Arabic form, is used* in the Jerusalem area. You will also hear
sajar, particularly in Galilee (and also in Lebanon and Syria).
■ 22. q ara s [yuqros] = to sting. A bee stung me is q arsatn i nahle, in accor­
dance with the familiar rule on stress shift - remember? Think back to Lesson 14,
Book 1, p. 91. One more example to confirm that collective nouns are m sing:
■ in-namiiS byuqrOS = Mosquitoes (as a species) sting.

38
 Lesson 33

fth nam Lekt!r fi-l-m atb a^ There are a lot o f ants in the kitchen.
s ilf han-nam lat ca la J -m o ze3 Look at these ants on the banana.
’ana m a b ak ol m oz. I don't eat bananas,
baqar cows, cattle
baq ara a cow
ham es b a q a ra t five cows
b) The same rule applies to a specific m aterial in an unspecified quantity, as
distinct from a piece o f the same material, for example:
jild leather
jild e a piece o f leather
hadld iron
hadlde a piece o f iron, an iron bar
I)ubez bread
tjubze a p ie c e / slice o f bread
hada m in §a§ab That's [made] o f wood.
hott IjaSabe zgjure! Put [in] a small piece o f wood
(to prevent something from rocking)!
§acro ’a b y a d His hair is w h ite/H e has white hair.
s a cra w ah a d e a (single) hair
talat §acrat three hairs
Now is the time to add a similar example (collective noun; single unit; several
units):
daraj (m sing!) steps, stairs
daraje a step / a (single) stair
5 a m es darajat five steps

This phenomenon is summarized in Rule (IT] at the back of the book and in the
Dictionary.

23. We haven’t actually researched whether or not ants like bananas (in-nam^l
■ bihebb il-m o z), but it’s a fact that banana skins make handy walkways for ants.

39k
 Lesson 33

c) A related case is the addition o f the ending -a t to a noun signifying a

substance, so as to denote a specific quantity o f it. For example:
la z e m tig lU -h a llb You should boil <the> milk (in general).
m in kabb24 hal-halibat? Who spilled this milk?
m a y y / m a y y e \9\ water
m ayy S t-k o m tay y b a t Your water (here in the village) is good!
The difference here is that there’s no single unit noun (e.g., there’s no such
word as halfbe). Note that this usage is not current in all areas, but worth
knowing about nonetheless.

You’ve learned several things from these examples and those in the
Conversation:
- The adjective qualifying the noun ending in -a t is also fem inine plural (not f
sing as per Rule [b ] ): h al-bedfit m aksurat = These eggs are cracked.
■ - From the phrase b ed a twekbfir you can spot something else: adjectives with
the pattern □ □ !□ use the same plural - - for both masculine and
feminine:
■ ulacLem n ah good boys
banaCenm ah good girls
Note: You can also speak about units by adding words like habbe (habbet
= an item o f..) , zerr (button; knob) and qar^n (horn) to the collective noun,
especially when that collective noun is feminine: h abbet banddra = a tom ato.
Look these words up in the D ictionary for examples. But be aware that a usage
common in one area can sound funny elsewhere.
2 . O n e w a lk , a p a r tic u la r h a ir c u t
When someone goes out for a walk, in Arabic he takes <sm ells> the air -
■ b ise m n u lh a w a . And h e’s right to do so because s a m m jl-h a w a m nlh las-
seh h a - Walking <smelling the air> is good f o r yo u r <the> health. §am m is the
V N and denotes walking in general, what walkers do, or the fact that people
walk. If you want to talk about a specific walk, as w e said at the start o f the
lesson, you need to add -e -> samme [§]:
■ Ijalllna n etla c sa m m et h a w a ! Let's go out fo r a walk!

And since w e ’re out for a walk, let’s visit our friend the barber, il-hallaq, and
observe that he’s expert at q a ss J s - s a Cer (cutting hair).

24. kabb = to pour away; to spill and also to throw away, k u b b o / kubblb = throw it
away!

40
 Lesson 33

q a ss is the VN (like sam m , above) and means cutting in general, but a haircut
is q a s s a [§ ], so you will hear, for example:

■ bijarreb qassa jdlde He's trying a new haircut.

qasset il-^anafes2526 a Beatles haircut <the Beatles haircut>

The walk has provided a further demonstration o f what you learnt at the start o f
the lesson about darb / darbe, and it has taught you a new verb: q a ss [iqoss]
meaning to cut (with scissors...).

3 . N o lo n g e r - b a tta l, m a-cad -s

In Arabic, someone who no longer does something “stops” doing it, or “doesn’t
return” to doing it. The verb b atta l is familiar to you from Lesson 27 (page
121, footnote 5); the other verb, c3d [icfid], meaning to return; to do s till/d o
again , conjugates like s a f and is followed by another verb.
What is the difference between the two expressions in the heading o f this
section? They can generally be used interchangeably with the same meaning,
but the sentence structure is different.
a. After m a-cad -s the verb is in the appropriate tense: past for past actions or
situations, subjunctive for the present and future.
b. After b a tta l, the verb is always in the subjunctive, even when talking about
the past.
A few examples w ill demonstrate the difference:
■ min y5 m -h a b a tta let arOh From that day on 1 stopped going
( = I no longer went).
’iza hek, b a tta lt aruh m a co. I f that*s the way it is <if so>, 77/ stop
<Tve stopped> going with him.
But:
■ m in y 5m -h a m acu d t-e§ ruhet . .. From that day on I didn 7 go any more
<1 didn't return I went>...
m a cad-§ sa ’a l-n i He no longer asked m e/H e stopped
asking me.
b a tta l y is ’a l-n i He no longer asked me /H e stopped
asking me <stopped that he ask>.

25. Plural of Ijunfuse = beetle.

26. 7 want to get my hair cut = biddi ahleq (Lesson 31, footnote 15); but there is a
less ambiguous expression: biddi aqoSS sacri = 7 want to get my hair cut <1 want to
cut my hair>.

41
 Lesson 33

Note that when w e add the negative particle -S, the word cad shortens as
explained in Rule f l8 |, and is pronounced m a cad-3 (or m a cSd-eg). The
examples above also show the verb’s conjugation; the full paradigm is:

m a cudt-e§ (or m a cudt, o f course)

m a cudtf-§ / m a cad-s / m a cadat-§
m a cudna-§ / m a cudtu-§ / m a cadu-§

At this stage, you can use the verb batted + subjunctive, if you find that easier.

4. My hands, your feet, his ears...

The expression sa llem ’Tdek(i)!, which you encountered in the Conversation,
is used when thanking som eone for anything done with the hands (work, help,
handing something to the speaker). This expression requires a two-fold
grammatical explanation:
a. H ie word s a lle m is short for a llc u s a lle m ’Idek (M ay God) preserve yo u r
hands / keep y o u r hands well. In the flow o f speech, the verb “loses its head”
There’s a similar expression where the same thing happens; when thanking
■ someone for help, or for a gift, people say katter IjSrak! This is short for
a llcu k a tter Ijerak (-rek) meaning M ay G od increase y o u r bounty / good!
katter is easily identified as f-2, from the same root as our old friend ktSr.
Another nice expression that includes this verb is:
■ ’a llcu k a tter m i n ’am talak / -lek I f only there were more people like you
<may God multiply those-like-you>!
A further form o f blessing “on the hands” is yislam u ’Tdek(i)! meaning: M ay
yo u r hands be preserved; on the verb sile m (f-1 ), see B ook 2, Lesson 27,
footnote 8.
b. It’s no less important at this point to look at hands and feet and understand
what happens to the word TdBn, the dual form o f ’id (hand), which also serves
as the ordinary plural ( ’arbac TdSn means fo u r hands).
When the attached pronouns are added to the word ’TdSn, the final -n is dropped
and w e get:
’Tdayy(e), ’Idek, ’Tdeki, ’Ideh, Td5ha
’Idena, TdSku//-kom , ’Idghen//-hom

Feet, ears and e y e s b eh a v e in the sam e m a n n er

42
 Lesson 33

’ijer [’ijren] foot; leg

’ijra y y (e),’ijrek, ’ijreki, ’ijr€h, ’ijreha
’ijrena, ’ijreku//-kom , ’ijrehen//-hom
dan [dinen] ear
d in a y y (e), din€k, dingki, dineh, dingha, -n a ...
ce n [ cin e n ]27 eye
cin a y y (e ), cin ek , cineki, cin eh, cineha, -n a ...
All four words are feminine, e.g. dan w ah ad e.

Since the dual form serves as the ordinary plural, how can you show you mean
two hands? Simply insert -t- before the -6n ending:

b il-’Idten with <the> two hands / with both hands

’ijert5n, dinten two legs; two ears

By now your head w ill be splitting and your eyes popping, so you can pick up
your feet and dash out for a breath o f fre sh a ir . .. sam m et haw a.

5, ca w w a d / ca w w a d

In literary Arabic ciw a d # means instead o /(b a d a l in colloquial Arabic). In this

Lesson the root c-w -d has given us the f-2 verb ca w w a d 1 -... ca n ... meaning
to com pensate (som eone) fo r ... and the V N is ta cw ld [tacw ld at] meaning
com pensation. A few examples:

■ jfiri ca w w a d -li can id-darar My neighbor compensated me fo r the damage.

biddi aca w w e d -la k canno I want to compensate you fo r it.
b y e tla c-lo ta cwTdat He is entitled to compensation <(from this
situation) go out to him compensations:^

Don’t confuse this verb with caw w ad , which means to accustom / get
(som eone ) used to... which has an “ordinary” -d as its third root letter:
■ lazeiTLetcawwed il-walad You’ve got to accustom the child
caiajtl-nadafe. to <the> cleanliness.
’abuy cawwad-ni My father got me used to doing good.
cala camal il-^er.

27. You know from the expression yawcyu n i! in the previous lesson that this word has
another plural. cyiin is more common in Galilee (and in nearby Lebanon). The -n is not
dropped: biddi a fh a s weCyu n ak = I want to examine your eyes.

43
 Lesson 33

Note that the root letter -d in the first verb affects the vow els, which are -a not -
a; but this is a familiar old tune!

One further remark to help you remember the meaning o f the second o f these
two verbs: you get used to something through making a habit o f i t You have
been familiar with some words from this root since Lesson 12: cade (habit,
custom) and cadatan (usually), as well as the verb cad in Explanations 3
above. N ow let’s complete the picture with the adjective cJidi (usual), which
w e’ll meet in the coming lessons.

Since w e’ve been talking about cookery today, let’s have a proverb that seems
to be a universal truth:

■ ’iza kitn U -tab b a^ In , ebtinehreq it-tabl}a

Too many cooks spoil the broth <if were many the cooks, the food will burn>.
Note that after ’iza the verb can be in the past tense, even when it indicates an
action or situation in the present or future. If we go tomorrow can be translated
either as ’iza benrflh bukra or ’iza rahna bukra.
Y ou’ll learn the verb inharaq (f-7) in Lesson 40.

With no connection whatsoever to the present lesson, here are a few useful illustrations.
How do you say: fla t and thick/fla t and thin - round and thick / round and thin

v h a d a jljln

I saw a snake this thick

il-§ u m °l = the thickness (of something flat) cthus its thickness>!
it-tu 5 ° n = the thickness (of something round)

44
 Lesson 33

m u lo M a s ld-dars

il - ’a k U lcarab i <the> Arab food

’a k ie jd ld e a new dish
talat darajat three steps
id -d araj^ n d lf The stairs are clean.
biddi b sd / sitt bedfit I want eggs / six eggs.
hada m in jild That’s [made] of leather.
h o ttjild e Put [in] a piece of leather / a gasket
q arsat-n i n ah le A bee stung me.
in -n ah el byuqros Bees sting.
te lcu sam m et h a w a They went out for a walk.
b atta l y is ’aln i / He no longer asked me / He stopped
m a ca d -e§ s a ’aln i asking me.
yislam u Id6k! Thank you! (For something done
sa lle m ’Id£k /-ki! with the hands)
katter l)5rak Arek! Thank you! (For help, a gift...)
’im esk o b il-’IdtSn! Hold it with both hands!
ca w w a d -li can id-darar He compensated me for the damage.
ca w w ad -n i ca l^ ji-n a d a fe He accustomed me to cleanliness.

Exercises_____________________________
A. Translate into English:
1. ’iza bidna nilhaq il-b o s, I3zem_en cajjel.
2. ’iz a j h e q n a j - b a s , m n fisal q a b U s-se ca sitte.
3. w -iza m ^Jheqna-hb-s?28
4. l£s m a cadd5t-§ il-m a sa ri?
5. is-suffcr bi°edd ir-rukkab29
6. lazenx,enhott g w a y y et zet.

28. Is this word hard to pronounce? As usual, the answer is to break it down into
syllables: m a l- h eq- na- hos, and repeat it, slowly at first, then speeding up. Try it
again in a few more days and you’ll be surprised how much easier it feels.
29. ir-rukkab = the passengers (in bus, taxi, train etc.), see Book 2, p. 32, rikeb.
rakeb is a rider (on a horse, bicycle) or a passenger in a vehicle.

45^
Lesson 33

7. m in y5m h a b a tta lt ’adal)l)en.

8. su Ion s a cro?
9. sa cro ’asw ad.
10. yarSt ’a cref ’atbol) m itlak!
11. yareto rabba ’ib n o za y y -m a ’inte betrabbi ew lSdak!
12. dobb ijrek, ^alllni ’am roq!

B. Complete the sentences

(Replace the English words with the appropriate expression in Arabic):
13. m in y5m h a (she stopped) tutlob m in n o m a sari.
14. m in yom h a (we stopped talking) can h a d U -n ia sa k el.
15. fi gureftak (smoke as much as you want) bass m us hon.
16. bethebb tOkel (fish)? fifr hon talat (fishpI), la-kull w ah ad (a fish).
17. (When I’m30) tacban, bahebb ’an5m tah^t (a tree).
18. l-em ca lle m (counts) it-talarnlz (Lesson 18).
19. ca d d e tU -k u to b ? - ’a , (about 30). See Book 1, top of p. 103.
20. ’inti g a lta n e , (countf s,ng them) kam 5n m arra!

C. Translate into Arabic:

21. She has long hair / Her hair is long.
22. Let*s go out for a walk.
23. There are trees there, we could sit <possible that we sit> in the shade (fi-l-fayy).
24. How many trees are there [over] there?
25. There only two trees / three trees there.
26. The stairs are dirty.
27. Takemsmg care, there are four steps!
28. What’s the time? - Three [o’clock] exactly.
29. Befsing careful, there are eggs in the basket.
30. He stopped smoking a year ago.
31. From that day [on] we no longer saw her.
32. If only youmsmg would bring up your son as your parents ( ’ahlak) brought you up!

D. The subjunctive mood. Translate into Arabic:

33. Every day he counts the chairs.
34. Tellms,ng him to count the chairs.

30. In accordance with the rule in Lesson 31, Explanations 5.

46
 Lesson 33

3 5.1 brought a big fish from the market.

36. Youmsing need to put it in the fridge. (36. & 37. refer to the fish in 35.)
37. Why are youm sing putting it with the bread?
3 8 .1 ate my piece-of-bread.
39. Youmsing need to eat your piece-of-bread, too!
40. He always smokes in the office, he mustn’t <forbidden that he> smoke here.

E. Conditional sentences and the composite past tense.

Translate into Arabic:
41. If she had vegetables she would make a salad (salata).
42. (Every day) my mother would make salad.
4 3 .1 always wash my hands.
44. (Now) if I could, I would wash my hands.
45. (Then) after work I would wash my hands.

F. Dropping the word illi. Translate into Arabic:

46. There are passengers who open the window,
47. and there are passengers who close itms,ng.
48. Fine, let them open it! - No, let them close it!
49. There are people who like that dish,
50. and there are [people] who don’t like it.
51. There are teachers™ pl who smoke in the principal’s office!
52. The principal allows [it]. Fine, let them smoke!

47^
dars ’arbca u-talatln
34
Lesson Thirty-Four
In Lesson 33 w e took a break from the verbs and looked at a few other issues.
After this brief excursion - sam m et h a w a in the countryside with the sam ak
and the nam el, under the sajar in Galilee - w e’re ready to come back to the
verb Forms.

Our special guest today is Form 3, also known as the fa cal, whose conjugation
isn’t difficult at all, as it very closely resembles that o f Form 2. The only
difference is that in f-3, instead o f doubling the 2nd root letter, w e have a long
-5 after the 1st letter o f the root - in other words, the first syllable is long. For
comparison: kam m al (f-2) as opposed to safar (f-3). Let’s take a look at the
complete paradigm and sum things up afterwards.

safar-t I traveled b a-safer I travel / will travel

safar-t youm s,ng traveled bet-safer youmsmg travel / ..
safar-ti youfsin$ traveled betsafri y o u sm$ travelL.
safar he traveled b i-sa fer he travels
safarat she traveled bet-safer she travels
safar-na we traveled ben -safer (m en-) we travel
safar-tu yo«pl traveled bet-safru you?1travel
safaru they traveled bi-safru they travel
Remember that a long vow el shortens when it is no longer stressed (i.e., when
the stress m oves “further along” the word), in accordance with Rule [ n ] . Listen
to the recording and compare the following:
t safar he traveled safart (= safart) / traveled
safaru they traveled m a safaru-§ (= safaru-s) they didn *t travel
c3m al he treated cam al-n i he treated me

To complete the picture, w e need to take a look at the active and passive
participles, and, o f course, the verbal noun:

A ctive participle: m safer, (f) m sa ffe [m safrfn] = having traveled (see the
example in the C onversation).

48
 Lesson 34

Passive participle: m ra q a b 12*, (f) m roqabe [m raqabln] = censored;

controlled; supervised.
Verbal noun: m cam a le / m ucam ale ( treatment, attitude), i.e., the pattern is
either m D aD aD e, m DaDaOa or m D SD aD a, depending on the surrounding
consonants (for the influence o f the emphatic and guttural consonants see B ook
1, p. 59, T he fem inine ending). Here are a few more examples o f verbal nouns:
s5 cad he helped / assisted m u s3 ca d e [8*1 help, assistance
w S faq he agreed [with] m u w a fa q a [8*1 agreement
cS r a d he opposed; m u ca r a d a [8*1 opposition; objection
he objected [to]
la h a z he noticed; m u l a h a z a [ P ] comment, remark
he commented [on]
There are a number o f exceptions. Here are som e o f the most common:
safar he traveled safar travel, traveling (n)
ja w a b he replied / responded ja w a b reply, response

You would do w ell to conclude this section by comparing f-3 with f-2. When
you do so, you w ill see how very similar the two Forms are, apart from the
verbal noun, which, in f-2, is taDD ID .

Vocabulary
w addac to take one’s leave4 h S m e l (f) h l m l e badly behaved
/ say goodbye / ill mannered; neglected
$ a d a f5 to run into / come across [h u m m a l, h a m lln ] (plural of h a m e l)
c3 sa r to associate with s a d d [ised d ] ca la to get tough with
/ come into contact with / be strict with
l) a la t6 to mingle with / mix with ’a z ca r [z u cr a n ] lout, yob, hooligan
q asa$ punishment ’ad am i [’aw 9dem ] decent; pleasant, polite
q a s a § f-3 to punish ca§ire [ca § a ’er] clan, tribe
il-lid d Lod, Lydda ra d d [iro d d ] to reply / respond

1. As the verb safar is intransitive in Arabic, it has no passive participle. That’s why
we’ve used a different verb (ra q a b = to supervise; to control; to censor) to illustrate
the passive participle.
2. The noun ca r d means breadth, width; b il-ca r d means across, breadthwise and
ca rld means broad. The verb cfira d means to oppose / object to (perhaps to block
someone*s way / place a barrier across the road). In the parliaments of democratic
regimes il-m u cf ir a d a = the Opposition.
3-6. See next page.
49
 Lesson 34

C o n v e r sa tio n
- y a JOrj, su sfir m ac sa h b a k
ca ftf illi k 5n biddo J s a f e r
la -’am erka?
m a biddak-s_etruh J:w addco ?
- m a sa rwem safer!
sSfar b it-ta y y a ra qab el ju m ca
w -esh a b o rahu w addacOh
fi m a ta r il-lid d .
bass ’an a ma_creft-es.
e s m e ^ t ca n n o b is-su d fe.
qabel-m a js a fe r jb -y 5 m e n
sa d a fto fi-s-sa re c
lak en m a qal-lI-5 ’i§i.
- m b a y y en qarrar is-sa fa r
b -su ra fu ja’iy y e 7,
u-m a te le c fi ’Ido
ija w eb cala m aktlibak.
—George, what happened to your friend
Afif who wanted to go <to travel>
to America?
Aren’t you going to <don’t you want to>
go and say goodbye to him?
—But he’s already left <traveled>!
He flew out <traveled by the plane> a week
ago,
and his friends went to see him off <to say
goodbye> at Lod airport.*
But I didn’t know
I heard about it by chance.
Two days before he left,
I ran into him in the street, but
he said nothing to me [about it]!
—He must have decided to leave suddenly
<it appears he decided the travel in a sudden
way>
and didn’t manage <[it] didn’t come up
in his hand to...>
to answer your letter.

* Now renamed Ben Gurion Airport.

3. The noun s a f a r means travel in general, the act of traveling. After what you learned
in Lesson 33, you will easily understand that s a f r a means a specific journey or trip.
■ 4. This f-2 verb is used both of the person going away and the person left behind: j i t
aw addeck om = I ’ve come to say goodbye to you (because Vm going away; because
■ you’re going away)’, ta r a k m in g e r ta w d l0 (VN) = He left without saying goodbye.
5. The noun SUdfe means chance, coincidence, unexpected occurrence, and the
expression bis-SUdfe = by chance. The f-1 verb sadaf means to happen:
■ marratwebtUsdof inno... means sometimes it happens that..., while the f-3 verb
sadaf means to come across / meet by chance.
6. The f-1 verb f ) a la t [y u ljlo t] means to m ix/b len d (trans); m a ljlu t = mixed, and the
f-3 verb I ja la t means to mix with other people.
■ 7. f a j ’a = suddenly, and f u j a ’i = sudden, m a t m o t f llja ’i = He died suddenly <he
died a sudden death>. You’ll meet the verb from this root in Explanations 6.

50
 Lesson 34

- ’a yw a, h ad a za la m e kffir la t lf 8, —Yes, he’s a very nice person,

ktlr ’5dam i, bass ’ib n o h am el,
§u biddi aqul-lek?
m in ’ah m al m a jk fln !
- ’isi gartb.
- y a cni, Sabb9 bikOn ’adam i
u-bica§er e w la d zu cran,
bislr ’a z ca r m itelh om ,
u-iza bic3§er ’aw ad em ,
bikun ’adam i. la w ’abflh
sadd cal6h m in il- ’a w w a l
u-m anaco m in m uc3§arat
iz-zu cra n k3n te le c ger sikel 101
- bass q alb o ta y y eb _ ektlr.
b yecr a f-s iq a s e s e w la d o
u-iSedd calehom .
- ebtinfac-S h a d ijt - t a n q a " !
mu§ la z e m ^ n r a b b i uladna h€k!
very polite, but his son’s a layabout,
what can I tell you - as much of a
layabout as you can get <ffom the most
badly-behaved that [may] be>!
—How strange <a strange thing>.
—I mean, a decent boy [who]
hangs out with yobs
becomes a yob [just] like them.
[But] if he associates with decent people,
he’ll be decent [himself]. If his father
had been strict with him from the
beginning
and hadn’t let him spend time with
no-goods he’d have turned out differently.
—But he’s got a very good heart [and]
he just can’t <he doesn’t know how to>
punish his children or get tough with them.
—That’s no way to go about things <[it’s] no
use, this way>!
That’s no way to bring up our children <we
mustn’t bring up our children like this>!

8. la tlf [lu ta f a ] means pleasant, nice; kind, and, as it is one of the 99 names of God,
■ you will hear people say y a l a tlf <oh God>! The noun l u t f means niceness; kindness.
If someone pays you a compliment (such as excellent work!) you can reply
■ hada m in lutfak / -ek , which means It's from your kindness, i.e.t I don’t deserve
such a compliment. As you already know, the adverb is formed by adding the suffix -
an: lu tf an = nicely; kindly, and hence also please! On the telephone people will ask
m in bihki, lutfan? = Who’s speaking, please?

9. sabb = young many usually pronounced sabb.

10. On sik el, see Explanations 5.

11. n afac = to be o f use; to help / benefit. b yin fa cak means It’ll help y o u / It’ll be to
your benefit, and n a fe c (f) n a fca = useful effective; beneficial m us n a fec = I t’s no
use / It’s worthless! il-m a n a fec = the lavatory / toilet / washroom (very useful
indeed!)
Lesson 34

- il-fSrm an hSda b ic2 m el —This foreman treats the workers

is-sa g g fle 12 m ucam a le m nlha.
- bass is-su b eh ja w a b -n i
ja w a b naSef.
- hada garlb: cadatan b ijaw eb
cala_s-su ’alat_eb -lu t°f.
well <a good treatm ents
—But this morning he answered me impa­
tiently <he answered me a dry answ ers
—That’s odd. Usually he answers
questions politely.

cindi s u ’a l m a hada-s I’ve got a question to which no one can give

biqdor ijaw eb -n i caleh. me an answer <no one is able to answer me
on i t s

- lSs m a betrodd-es? —Why don’t you reply?

- m a baqdar ’aj3w bak —I can’t give you an answer
cala h€k s u ’al. to a question like that.

A fifh a s returned fro m the village and com e to p a y a visit. H is frie n d asks him:
—k lf hSl illi faraqet-h o m 13? —How are those whom you left?

12. This is the plural form of sag g ll, which is another word for workman / laborer /
worker (you’re already familiar with the word c&mel).
13. This standard formula is used when inquiring, from one who has just returned from
a visit, about the health of the people he has been seeing. You will also hear k lf h a l
m an faraqt? # This variation on the preceding expression uses the literary Arabic
word m an# which means who, whoever, whosoever; see Lesson 31, Explanations 3.

52
 Lesson 34

nuskor ’a lia , b isa llm u cal€k.
hallaq ’an a m ajbflr ’afSrqak.
bakklr!
m S jt’aljezn l-s14! ca la y y sugol.
tay y eb , m ac is-sa la m e!
’a lia isallm ak !
—Thank God, they send you [their] regards.
Now I must take my leave of you.
— [It’s still] early!
—Don’t be angry with me, I’ve got work [to
do].
—OK, see you soon.
—See you.

biddak tljijtsa cedna?
bukra biddna n u n q ol.
’ana m w a feq , b ass biddi kam an - Fine by me <I’m agreed>, but I need
m u w afaq et ’abfly.
’iza b iw a feq , ’akld b5ji.
’ayy a s6 ca?
’a y y w a q et binasbak.
’an a sa ’a lt §ufer it-trakk,
lissa m a jaw a b -n l-s.
bacd j d -d u h ° r b aca w e d
b a s’alo u-batalfen-lak.
’iza fth cjn(io ’a y y m u ca ra d a
m en’a jjel1516in-naqel
la-y5m tSni.
—Do you want to come and help us?
We’re going to move [house] tomorrow.
my father to agree, too.
If he agrees, I’ll certainly come!
What time?
—Any time that suits you.
I asked the driver of the removal van
<the truck driver>
[but] he hasn’t given me an answer yet.
I’ll ask him again this afternoon
and I’ll phone you.
If he can’t do it <if there is at him any
opposition> we’ll postpone the move
to another day.

M y fr ie n d A d el is going through a serious crisis. I asked him:

—m a lak, y a cA d e l, ’an a sayfak - What’s wrong, Adel? I can see
mu§ cala b a cd ak 16 you’re not yourself
fl-l-m u d d e J -’aljlre. recently <in the last period>.

14. See the end of Explanations 6.

15. This is a f-2 verb, and its VN is ta’jH; b id u n ta’jfl means without delay.

16. Do you remember the word b a cd (each other; one another)? The idea here is much
the same as in the English expression we’ve used to translate it: Adel-as-he-usually-is
and Adel-as-he-is-at-present are not the same person - something’s wrong with him.
Lesson 34

esm eCet b etw ajeh 1718su cu b a t I heard you’ve got problems

b i-su glak .
Ijalllni aqul-lak eb -sa ra h a inno
’in te b -§aje la -cilSj, la z e m
wetrajec 18 it-tabfb in -n afsan i,
m um ken is a cdak cala fah m j l -
m ugkile (i)lli cindak. saddeqni,
’an a bethem m -ni m asla h ta k
u-bass!
sim e c m inni u -rah
la -cind id-doktor ta J r 2 jco.
id-doktor q a l - l o :
- tfa d d a l, nam ca la js -s o fa
u -h a w e lj* r a je c
hayatak il-m fid y e
m in sig a ra k 19 lahadd il-y o m .
bacd ’akam m in ’usbflc, fi
n ih ayet il-cilaj it-tablb qad d am -lo conclusion of the treatment, the doctor
l-ehsab; kan m a b la g jfc b ir
u -cA d e l q a l - l o :
- law sam aht, y a doktor, biddi
arajec l-^hsab b it-tafsfl...
q a l-lo jd -d o k t5 r :
<you’re facing difficulties> at work.
Allow me to tell you frankly that
you need treatment.
You’ve got to consult a <the> psychiatrist.
He may be able to help you to understand
the problem you’ve got. Believe me,
I’ve got your best interests at heart <your
interest is important to me>, that’s all!
He listened to me <he heard from me> and
went to consult the doctor <to the doctor to
consult him>. The doctor said to him:
—Please lie down on the couch
and try to review your life
<your past life> from your childhood
until the present day cuntil today>.
After several weeks, at the
presented him with the bill. It was a large
sum, and Adel said to him:
—Excuse me, doctor, I’d like to go over
<review> the bill in detail...
The doctor told him:

17. The noun w ijeh means face, and the f-3 verb wStjah = to fa c e / confront.
18. The verb r 2 ja c means to consult / apply to (in phrases such as apply to someone fo r
help; apply to an office; consult a reference book, etc.) Hence the noun m a ije c^
[m a ra je c], which means an authority to which one can apply / appeal and, in the
plural, sources / resources. This verb has the additional meaning of to go o ver/re v ie w /
revise (a lesson, notes, a bill, memories, etc.), and it also means to rehearse. The VN
m u ra ja ca means application, petition (to an office, etc.); review, audit and rehearsal
’a w q a t / s e 'a t il-m u r2 ja ca are opening hours / opening times <petition times> in
offices, etc.
19. The word sigar (sometimes pronounced zagar) means childhood, i.e., the period
when one is Zglr {small; young).

54
 Lesson 34

- ma fifc sakk in n a k ^ flt - There’s no doubt that you’re one hundred

miyye fi-l-miyye, li’anno percent better, because you’re doing a good
job
betdSfec can nafsak^mnlh ! of protecting yourself <because you protect
yourself well>!
We can add a few words here on f-3 verbs w hose final root letter is -a (-i). Their
conjugation is very similar to that o f the verb rabba (see Lesson 31), the only
difference being that f-3 has a long -a in place o f the doubled consonant found
in f-2. Here are a few examples o f different forms o f the verb nada (to call /
call out; to c a ll/ send for):
nada nadet binadi binadu
he called I called he calls / will call they call / will call

The present-future (and the subjunctive, too, o f course) o f the verb laqa (to
find) also belong to this group. In the past tense, the f-1 form laqa is more
commonly used (see B ook 2, Lesson 28, E xplanations 5); in the present-future,
however, it becomes f-3:

bilaqi —bilSqu he finds / will find - they find / will find

lazem ’alaqijs-§akus. —I’ve got to find the hammer.

ensalla majtkfln dayyacto 21
fi-l-warse.
la \ ma ’aljadto-s ca-l-warse,
biddojk u n hon!
lazem ’aratteb il-’oda
—Let’s hope you haven’t lost it
at the building site.
—No, I didn’t take it to the site,
it should be here!
I’ve got to tidy the room,

20. The verb sifi [yisfa] means to get better / be cured / recover (from an illness). It
conjugates like nisi (see Book 2, Lesson 29). The verb to cure is Safa [yisfi], when
■ the subject of the sentence is God: ’alia safS-ni = God has cured me / God has
restored my health, and people tell a sick person ’alia yi§flk(-i), which means May
God cure you. When the agent of the cure is mortal rather than supernatural, a different
■ verb is more often used: id-doktor tayyabo = The doctor cured him / The doctor
made him better.
21. Literally: <let’s hope you won’t be you lost it>. We’ll discuss this construction
(subjunctive / future + past tense) soon, in Lesson 38. The verb d fic means to get lost
m and the f-2 verb dayyac means to lose. bidayyec waqto cal-ffldi means He
wastes <loses> his tim e.

55
Lesson 34

U-akld balaqtf1. [then] I’ll find it for sure.

balaql*1—ma balaqi-hd-§ I find it - 1can’t find it <1 don’t find it>.

- wen bikiln hal-walad?
cam-banadlh u-ma birodd-es.
- ya baba, nadet-ni?
- la ’, ’immak nadatak,
wen kayen22?
sar-elha miss seca
cam-betnadlk.
fih bayyacin fi-s-sarec
cam-binadu, ruh Sttf
su cam-bibicu.
—Where’s that boy got to <where is this boy>?
I keep calling him <1 call him> and he
doesn’t answer.
—Did you call, Dad?
—No, your mother did.
Where were you?
She’s been calling you for
half an hour.
There are vendors calling out in
the street, go and see
what they’re selling.

Explanations________________________________________________
1. The basic meaning of Form 3
Verbs belonging to this Form usually have the basic meaning o f (doing)
som ething to som eone / treating som eone (in such-and-such a way). This turns
intransitive verbs into transitive ones that take a direct object with no
intervening preposition. Whereas in English w e would say I agree with Mr.
bawafeq is-sayyed S5mi; in English w e say he replied
Sam i , in Arabic w e say
to me, while in Arabic w e say jawab-ni (we can do this in English, too, if w e
use a different verb: he answ ered me).

Let’s compare:

katab la-’aljfiy He wrote to my brother

katab ’a lju y He corresponded with my brother

Although the verb katab is less commonly used than its close relative katab,
this remains an illuminating example as it is based on a root with which you are
familiar. The verbs in the examples that follow are more frequently heard:

22. kSyen is the active participle of the verb kan {to be). You will recall that the active
participle very often indicates an action in the past: kSteb = having written. This is the
case here, where wSn kayen translates into English as Where were you / Where have
you been?

56
 Lesson 34

canld stubborn
cannad f-2 to be stubborn / persist stubbornly
canad f-3 ’abflh he resisted his father stubbornly
■ ’ibni bi-caned-ni my son resists me stubbornly
cimel f-1 to do; to act; to make
c3mal23 f-3 to treat /behave towards
■ camal-ni b-lutof he treated me kindly
farraq f-2 to separate; to disperse
faraq f-3 to leave / take one’s leave o f
faraqak - faraq-ni he left youm s,ng - he left me
■ ’ana majbfir ’afarqak I must take my leave o f you.

We have described this as the basic or “official” meaning o f Form 3, which we

can expect to find whenever w e com e across a new verb o f this type. There are,
however, a considerable number o f exceptions, including the verb w e used as an
example at the start o f the lesson: s3far. This verb indicates no relationship with
anyone else - after all, one can travel alone! Only when going on safari is it
advisable to take companions, and this gives us the opportunity to point out that
the Swahili word “safari” came originally from Arabic.

23. The connection to the f-1 verb cimel can be understood as follows:
- he c3mal som eone = he did (something) to someone.
 Lesson 34

2, T o do; to m ake = cim el / sa w a / / sa w w a

The three verbs above all mean to do; to make. Let’s begin with the (almost
identical) twins siiw a (f-3, used in Galilee) and sa w w a (f-2, used in the
Jerusalem area), both o f which mainly designate tangible actions, work, or a
practical service.
§U cam -b et-saw i // bet-sa w w i24 What are you n/f s,ng doing ?
’im m i saw at ta tle My mother made jam (in Nazareth).

The verb cim el is appropriate in all circumstances, including those mentioned

above, and can also designate a mental or psychological action, as in the
examples below:

■ ecm elna tatle / / tatli We made jam.

cim el kull ju h d o He did his best <he made all his effort>.
cim lat m a cO 5er She did him a favor.

3. Before he did th a t...

We saw in the Conversation that the phrase before he left is qabel-m a u s3 fe r

<before he travels / will travel> in Arabic. Let’s compare the following
sentences:

i)a lla sn a qabel-m a y ilja c We finished before he came back.

lazem j^nlj ttlles qabel-m a y ilja c We 've got to finish before he comes back.

■ tjallasn a b a ^ d -m a rijec We finished after he came back..

rah -en k am m el b a Ced -m a yirjac We 're going to finish after he comes back

These sentences show us that after qabel-m a the verb is always in the
subjunctive, while after b a ^ d -m a the tense varies according to circumstance
as it does in English (past or present-future). Here are some more examples :

■ qab el-m ajtSir m udlr, §U k unet? Before you became a manager,

what were you?
qabel-m a jm u t, q a l-li... Before he died he told me...

24. This is a good time to remind you of the difference between / and //. One diagonal
line indicates two equal possibilities, without any reference to the region in which they
are used. However, a word or phrase that precedes two diagonals indicates the form
used in Galilee, while the word / phrase that follows them is the form used in Jerusalem.
In the Arabic sentence above we have the two different forms, each of which can mean
youm/fsmg are doing.

58
 Lesson 34

4. Tw o days b efo re... / a n hour a fter... qab el-m a js 3 fe r _ eb -yom en

You may have noticed that qab el-m a J sa fer_ eb -yom 6n is the Arabic for two
days before he left, or, literally cbefore he traveled by two days>. W e
sometimes use a similar construction in English, e.g., H e’s older than me by two
years. Let’s look at a few more examples:
■ ba^d-ma m3t_eb-sane a year after he died <after he died by a year>
ba^d-ma jlf_pb-sgca an hour after I arrived <after I arrived by an hour>
qabljl-^d^eb-j umca a week before the holiday <before the holiday by a
week>
5. sikel / §akel#
These two very useful words are extremely similar - indeed, w e can say that
they are two forms o f the same word, w hose vowels vary in accordance with
meaning and usage. In the Conversation you heard the expression ger sikel,
which means differently <another kind>. Let’s compare the two forms:
sikel type, kind, in a number of expressions:
gikel type, kind, in a number of expressions:
■ kutob min has-sikel books o f this kind
hada sikel u-hada sikel! They are two [completely] different things
Cthis is a type and this is [another] typo!
hal-marra telec ger sikel This time it came out differently <another kind>.
Sakel way, manner; form, shape; [outward]
appearance, aspect
betdlr il-betJsb-Sakel mazbut She runs the house properly,
b-Sakel murakkaz in a concentrated manner; intensively
b-sakel ’aw bi-’al)ar one way or another
■ cala sakel sallb in the shape /fo rm o f a cross
il-’ard Sakel-ha mitljt-tabe the earth is shaped like a ball
<the earth, its shape is like the ball>
Sakel handasi a geometric form /shape
[’aSkal handasiyye]
les saklak hek? Why do you look like that
<why is your appearance thus>?
lazemjthassen saklak! You've got to smarten up your appearance
<you must improve.. .>.
We can see from the examples above that sak el can be used to translate the
English way / manner. It can also serve to render the English ending -ly , and
can be used to form adverbs:
b -sak el w a d e h clearly

59
 Lesson 34

b-Sakel tablci naturally

b-sakel camm generally
b-sakel mazbut properly

Supplement
6. A few more Form 3 verbs
This section is for those with large appetites who are prepared to make an extra
effort to enrich their vocabulary. This means that, if you don’t feel like it, you
are under no obligation to study this section at present. You may, however, want
to listen to the recording at least once, so as to familiarize yourselves with the
words and phrases that appear in the supplement. And then, some time in the
future, at your leisure, you can come back and take a look at the details.

mucarada opposition
carad [icared] to oppose / object to; to disagree with
■ ’ana bacored fik ertak I disagree with your way o f thinking.

hSwal [ihawel]25 to try /attem pt

bahawel ’afah(h)mo. I try to explain to him /m ake him understand.
hawalnajifahhem-ha. We tried to explain to her.
muhawale attempt
baCed ciddet muljawalat after several attempts

faja’ [ifaje’] to surprise

■ kunt biddi afaj’ak. I wanted to surprise you.
biddak tecmal-lo mufaja’a? Do you want to give him a surprise <to make
for him a surprise>?
hay mufaja’a hilwe! This is a lovely surprise!

nasab (family) relationship

nisbe (2] [ |]
nisbet ir-rutflbe
■ bin-nisbe ’ili
nasab [inaseb]
fi-l-waqtjl-munaseb
proportion / relation / rate / ratio
the degree o f humidity
regarding / concerning / in connection with me
to suit /b e suitable
at the right / appropriate time

25. The verb h a w a l means to attem p t/try (to do something), while jarrab means to
try (something new); to test / experiment In some contexts you can use either verb. The
noun tajrube [tajSreb] means attempt; experience; test, trial

60
 Lesson 34

munasabe opportunity / occasion (VN)

fi hadiJL-munasabe
maras [imares]
■ bimares it-tebb
bimares salahiyyato
hada min il-mumarase
tcallamto
qabal Cqabal#) [iqabel]
■ mumken ’aqabel il-mudlr?
muqabale (muqabale#)
muqabale tel(e)fizy5niyye
muqabale sahafiyye
Mfez [yihfaz]
hafez darso
hfifaz f-3
■ bihafez calaji-nadafe
bethafez cala §araf-ha
lazenunhafez calaJl-’usQl26
muhafez
■ bi°^ fi bl’a muhafiza.
c3d [icQd]27
c8wad f-3
bacawed bas’alo
This verb can also serve as an auxiliary to the verb rijec:
bicawed birjac
on this occasion
to practice (a profession); to apply /exert
He practices medicine.
He exerts his authority <his authorities>.
I learned this from practical experience
<this, from the practice I learned it>.
to have an interview / a meeting with
Could I have a meeting with the manager?
(official) meeting / interview
television interview
newspaper interview
to guard / preserve; to know / learn by heart
knowing his lesson by heart chaving learned
his lesson by heart>
to maintain /keep
He keeps [things] clean.
She maintains her dignity.
We have to keep/observe the rules.
conservative / traditional
He lives in a conservative environment.
to come /g o back
to repeat/do again
I'll ask him again
He comes / goes back again.

26. The noun ’asel [’usul] means source, foundation, origin, and the adjective ’asli
(f) ’asliyye = original / authentic, hada ’asli, mi§ taqlld means this is authentic,
not an imitation / this is an original, not a reproduction. The plural form ’usul =
foundations, principles, rules, and mu§ ’usul! means that's against the rules / that's
not fair! Nowadays ’usuli [’usuliyyln] means fundamentalist, i.e., someone who
wants to get back to the foundations / basics of religion.
27. See Lesson 33, Explanations 3.
 Lesson 34

’aljad to take
’Sl)az28 f-3 to blame / censure
■ la jt’al)ez-ni! Forgivemsmg me <don*t blame me>!
or: m aj:’al)ez-nS-§!
m ajt’al)zi-nI-§! Forgivef s,ng me!
m ajt’a!}zu-nl-s! Forgive me!
■ bala mu’aljaze! Forgive me <without blame>!
This Form 3 verb is used only in the expressions above. It’s interesting to note
that instead o f b ala m u ’aljaze people sometimes say b a la m uw 5l)aze -
because o f the weakening o f the glottal stop - as if the root were w -§-z. This
colloquial habit has extended to the verb, too, and you will sometimes hear
people say: m ajtw a^eznl-g!

difac [2 ] defense
■ jes id-difac il-’isra’Ili the Israel Defense Forces
<the Israeli defense army>
bidafec can il-watan. He defends the homeland.

7. Ir r e g u la r F o r m 3 v e r b s: tobar & C o
There are a number o f irregular verbs that can be included in Form 3. These
have the form □oD aD , e.g., tom al [itom el], which means to bend over
(intrans). This verb is conjugated exactly like safar [is5fer], except that it has
an -o where safar has an -a. Only a few verbs belong to this sub-group, and
people don’t very often have occasion to use them - unless they are molders or
violinists, as w e shall see very shortly. Nonetheless, as w e have said before: it’s
a good thing to know that they exist so that you’ll know how to classify them
should you come across them. Here are a few examples:

tobar to prepare wooden forms (for pouring concrete)

bitober il-het He prepares forms to pour concrete fo r the wall.
dOzan [idozen] to tune (a musical instrument)
betd5zen il-kamanja. She tunes the violin.
il-kamanja muswemdozane. The violin needs tuning <[is] not tuned>.*2

28. Both this verb and the verb ’aljad {to take) - which you already know - are derived
from the root ’-I)-d (d is pronounced like the -th in the English word that). This is an
additional example of how d can turn into d or z in urban colloquial Arabic. See Book
2, p. 149, footnote 18.

62
 Lesson 34

Should you happen to pay a visit to a henhouse, you’ll discover that the chicks
cheep differently in different areas! In one area a chick (sQs) b isa si, while in
another bis5§i. Both these verbs, o f course, are conjugated like n5da [inadi].
This means that a chick announces proudly to its mother sasS t / so set = /

m ulattos id-dars

’immi safarat My mother traveled.

. ’emta betsafer?
bisaced
bisacdak/ bisaced-ni
biddak musacade?
hSwal ijaweb cala su’Sli
rajact l-ehsSb
birajec il-qamfis
’immo nadato
’abOk binadik
§u cam-bctsawi ’issa
su cam-betsawwi halqgt?
nsalla betl3qi juzdanak
jR ’awaddec-kom
telec ger §ikel
hotto b-sakel mazbut
qabel-m ajm tltweb-yom6n
baced-ma mat„eb-yomen
When are you1" sing leaving / traveling?
He helps / will help.
He helps you1” sing / me.
Do you want / need help?
He tried to answer my question.
I went over / reviewed the bill.
He consults the dictionary,
His mother called him.
Your1" 8"18father’s calling you.
What are you1” ' f doing now? (G)
What are you"1' f doing now? (J)
Let’s hope you find your purse / wallet.
I’ve come to say goodbye to you.
It came out differently.
Put it [down] properly,
two days before be died...
two days after he died...

63^
Lesson 34

Exercises_______________________________________________
A. Translate into English:
1. esmect_eshabak bid(d)hom isSfru.
2. il-kull safaru ma cada Jamil.
3. yacni Jamil doll h5n lahalo?
4. sadafto fi-l-matar, fakkart sar_emsafer.
5. wacadni rah-ijawebni.
6. q a l: ’ana bajawbak, tawwel balak!
7. it-tullfib bis3cdu baCed.
8. qabel-majsafer, ruhtwetwaddec ’ahlak?
9. ’iza bijawbek, mnlh; ’iza ma bijaweb-kl-s, men§tif...
10. sallamt cal6hom, ma raddfl-§.
11. ya Sallme, les ma betroddl-S?
12. ’immi sacdat-ni u-sa^at ’a^uy kaman.
13. u-bacden ’ihna sacadn3-ha.
14. qorraru innoJrajjcuJ-mablag, bass ma rajjacuh.
15. flh wahad sfiheb ’ili safar cala fransa (faransa).
16. hal-marrawcmelna ger sikel.
17. jirfin-na ’awadem bass ’iben-hom ’ozcar!
B. Complete the sentences
(Replace the English w ords with the appropriate expression in Arabic):

18. j5zi (helps me) u-jOzek 15S (doesn’t help you)?

19. ’iza ([she] travels) ’inti btiqdari (travel) mac3ha.
2 0 . Sttcb (saCeb) caleh (to leave <he leaves / takes his leave of>)’ah lo.
21. ’aywa, bass bil-’a^er rah (to say goodbye to them).
22. dawwarat calaJ-muk°nse (= broom) en§alla (she finds it).
2 3. ’iza (youpl find) m a h a ll, q u lu -li!
24. ’iza (we find) ktabak, menjib-lak (it).
2 5. ’es (did youpl decide) tecmalu?
26. cadatan bacmel hek, bass hal-marra (I did [things] differently).
27. ya Latlfa, ’iza (youf s,ng help m e ) , baqdar ’ahalles.
2 8. qarrarna jisafer, laken (we didn’t go <travel>).

64
 Lesson 34

C. Translate into Arabic:

29. Hopefully I’ll find the key tomorrow.
30. If youmsmg find it, give it back to the manager.
31. OK, if I find it I’ll give it back to him.
32. Did youmslng go over <review> the bill?
33. My wife took it, I don’t know where she’s put it.
34. As soon as she gives it back to me I’ll go over it.
35. Who’s calling me? Yourmsing mother called you.
36. As soon as I hear anything, I’ll call youmSlng.
37. Yourf sing father’s calling you.
38. Jamil, I heard you’re willing <agreed> to help us.
39. Youmsing must lay <put> the table properly <in an exact way>.
40. I’m on my way back from the airport <1 [am] returning from...>
41.1 went to say goodbye to one of my friends.

D. The subjunctive mood. Translate into Arabic:

4 2 .1 know that he helps his friend.
43. His mother wants him to help her to clean the house <in cleaning of the house>.
(See Lesson 26, Explanations 3 and Lesson 27, Explanations 1).
4 4 .1 don’t know how to answer youmsmg.
45. Before he left he didn’t say goodbye to his family.
46. Do youms,ng need (biddak...) help?
47. Should I help youm Slng, or will you manage on your own / sort things out for
yourself? (See Book 2, p. 122).

E. Conditional sentences and the composite past tense.

Translate into Arabic:
48. My father had a shop. He used to sell [things] and I used to help him.
49. If he asked me, I would help him ...
50__ but he wants to do everything on his own.
51. Jamil’s not here. If he were here I’d call him.

F. Dropping the word illi. Translate into Arabic:

52. I’ve got to bring [in] three workers to help me at the building site.
5 3 .1 went to say goodbye to a friend of mine who has gone <traveled> to America.

65-
Lesson 34

Now you can analyze the word m u la h a za t (remarks, comments), with

which the speaker on the recording prefaces the examples from the
footnotes. The verb la h a z means to notice / comment on (see p. 49 above).

lahazt il-fareq ben...? Did you notice the difference between....?

baltthez innak... I see <notice> that you...

66
dars Jjamse u-talatln
35
Lesson Thirty-Five
Today w e’ll be discussing Form 4 (f-4) o f the verb, also known as ’a fcal.
Learning this Form w on’t require you to make a great effort, as it conjugates
almost exactly like Form 1, i.e., katab [yikteb]. Let’s take a look at the
paradigm o f the verb akram {to respect / honor), and you’ll see why w e say
“almost.”

Past Present-future
’akram-1 I respected bakrem I respect/ will respect
’ akram-1 youm sing respected btikrem youm smg respect/..
’akram -ti you sing respected btikermi you sing respect /...
’akram he respected byikrem he respects/...
’akram at she respected btikrem she respects/...
’akram -na we respected bnikrem (m ni-) we respect/...
’akram -tu youpXrespected btikermu youpl respect/..
’akramu they respected b(y)ikermu they respect/...

Just like katab! So, what are the differences?

- The first thing that leaps to the eye is the prefix ’a- that precedes the root
letters in the past tense: w e say ’akram, not karam . However, this does not
affect the way the verb is conjugated (note that in the 1st and 2nd person the
stress falls on the second syllable, as usual).
- The subjunctive mood and the present-future tense are exactly the same as in
Form 1: w e say ’akrem , b a k rem ... just as w e say ’akteb, b a k teb ...; in Form 4
the second vow el is always -e.
The differences between f-1 and f-4 are obvious mainly in the active and
passive participles:
A ctive participle: m ikrem (m ukrem #), (f) m ik erm e [m ikermln]
- quite different from kateb.
Passive participle: m ukram , (f) m ukram e [m ukramin].

Don’t forget that in educated speech the literary Arabic forms o f the participle,
which begin with m u-, are often preferred; this already rather indistinct sound -
ind m i- / m i-, too - is often shortened* to a barely distinguishable e (as in the
first syllable o f the English word medicament, for exaniple), especially when
 Lesson 35

there is an emphatic consonant (d, t, s, z) in the vicinity:

m ifter —►m efter, never “m lfter”. Y ou’ll get used to these subtleties with time
and practice.
The verbal noun (VN), too, is individual: ’ikram . W e are familiar with this
form from the word ’islS m , which is the VN o f the verb ’aslam = to convert
(intrans) to Islam <to surrender to God>; w e’ll add a comment on the use o f this
verb in E xplanations 5, but this will do for the present.
Now it’s time to m ove on to the Conversation, so that you can see practical
applications o f the verb Form you’ve just learned:

Vocabulary
’aclan to announce / declare fawda chaos, disorder; anarchy
’adrab to strike / go on strike jamlc # all
S5mel [Tl comprehensive; ’obtal to cancel;
complete; general to neutralize / disarm
doffe [2 ] bank (of a river, etc.) ’askar to intoxicate / make drunk
garbi western, westerly hizer [yihzer] to guess
hazzar f-2 to ask a riddle tajer [2 ] [tujjar] trader, dealer, merchant
’amhal to neglect huzzSre (-ra) riddle
muhle respite, (period of) time [hazazir] riddles
(bab) jarrar shutter (of a shop) gosab [yugsob] to force
qalac [yiqlac] to remove / take out raslf [’arsife] pavement, sidewalk;
/ extract platform
’abcad' to move away siher [yishar]2 to stay up late;
(trans and intrans) to spend the evening
hall [hulul] solution ’ahmal to neglect
sinn [2] [(’a)snan] tooth qitac / qutac sector; strip

1. The verb ’abcad means to move away (e.g. to move an object out o f the way; to
■ evacuate residents from aflooded area, etc.) ’abcaduj$-sukk5n = They evacuated
the residents; They expelled the residents; il-mubcadln = the deportees <the having-
been- moved-away>.
■ 2. For example: muswemnlh il-walad yisharhek! = It's not good [for] the boy
to stay up late like this, il-ulad sahranln = The children are [still] awake / haven't
gone to sleep [yet]. On the pattern to which the word sahran belongs, see Book 2 , p.
35, Explanations 3.

68
 Lesson 35

[Conversation________________
- sa b a h il-t)er, k lf ’a sb a h ^ t3?
- y a cni... m a nim t-es, fakkort
fi-l-’a^bar...
- ’aljbar 'eg, yacni?
- m bareh ’a clanu ’id rab gSm el
fi-d -d a ffe j-g a r b iy y e .
u -fi-l-q u ta c ( = fi q u ta c g a zze).
fa-t-tujjar sa k k a r u j-m a tia lla t4
n a z z a lu j-ja r r a r ,
’ija j-je g , ’am ar-h om 5
yiftahu. b aCed-m a rahu
’aju gabab m ulattam ln6,
g a sa b u -h o m isakkru.
- m asakln, it-tujjar!
—Good morning, how did you sleep?
—So-so... I didn’t [actually] sleep, I thought
about the news...
—What news do you mean
cnews of what, it means>?
—Yesterday they announced an all-out
<comprehensive> strike in the West Bank
and in the [Gaza] Strip.
So the traders have closed the shops,
[and] pulled down the shutters.
The army came [and] ordered them
to open. After they’d gone,
young men in masks
cmasked youth> arrived
[and] forced them to close.
—[Those] poor shopkeepers
<poor, the traders>!

- bacdenj^ tle^ t ’an a u-ibni, —Then I went out with my son

gufna g a ra d m asbuh
calajr-raslf. qu it
lal-w alad: m awthott-e§ ’idak
cal6h, ’ib ced canno!
u-ana kam an ’abcadet, u -b allagt
ig-gurta. ’aja I)ablr ig-surta
[and] we saw a suspicious object
on the pavement. I told
the boy, “Don’t touch it <don*t put your
hand on it>, get away from it!”
I moved away, too, and told <informed>
the police. The police sapper <expert>

3. See Explanations 4.
4. The noun mahall means place, and also shop, store.
5. The f-1 verb ’amar [yu’mor] means to order / give an order. The noun ’amr =
order (when it has this meaning its plural is [’aw5mer]), and also matter, issue, thing
[’umttr]. The expression taht ’amrak! means at your service <under your order>!
6. The noun litam^ means veil; mask, and mulattam / mulattam (passive participle
of f-2) = veiled; masked.

69^
 Lesson 35

’abtal (mafcul) il-cubwe7 came and dismantled the [explosive]

u-ma sar ’isi. charge cneutralized (the effect of) the
charge>, and nothing happened.

- u-ana^m ecet fi-r-radyo —And I heard on the radio

innoj-jgs il-ciraqi ’atlaq
in-nar cala tayyara Traniyye
u-asqat-ha, mac-’inno fi*1
waqf ’itlaq in-nar...
- su hal-cSlam! kullo fawda
b-fawda8!
- ensalla bihell is-salam
u-alla yifrej-ha calaJ-jamIc!
that the Iraqi army [had] opened
fire on an Iranian plane
and brought it down, even though there’s
a ceasefire <a cessation of opening fire>...
—What’s the world coming to? Everything’s
in a terrible mess < what [is] this world?
[It’s] all-of-it chaos in chaos>.
—Let’s hope peace will come and God will
grant [us] all a respite [from trouble]
<grant a respite [from] itf smgon everyone>.

W e must apologize for the gloom y picture that emerges from our use o f f-4
( ’a f cal) verbs and their verbal nouns modeled on the ’i f ca l pattern (we hope
you managed to identify them along the way), but m ac il- ’a s a f 9, hfik id-dinya,
and you have to learn how to talk about these issues and understand what other
people are saying about them.
The main thing is: the bomb didn’t explode - though your head may have done.
Never mind, the boxed summary at the end o f the lesson will give you a
condensed overview o f today’s crop o f knowledge.
Now it’s time for a change o f scene and a conversation about hospitality, arak,
riddles and... the dentist. O f course, if you’d rather, you can take a break and
postpone this somewhat dubious pleasure till another day.

7. People shorten this to ’abtal il-cubwe <neutralized the charge>. The word
maf cul (= influence, effect; validity) is used in official language when talking about
the effect of a medicine, etc., or the validity of a license, passport, etc. cubwe means
[explosive] charge; its literal meaning is <filling>, from the root c-b-a/y. The f-2 verb
cabba [icabbi] = to fill.
■ 8. The expression SU hal-fawda? = What kind o f mess is this? fawdawi =
anarchist.
■ 9. mac il-’asaf is-sadld means most unfortunately / to [my] great regret <with the
strong sorrow>; mu’sef (f-4 active part.) means unfortunate, distressing, regrettable.

70
 Lesson 35

’lkram i<J-def hadi cade Hospitality is an Arab custom chonoring the

cind il-carab. guest, this is a custom by the Arabs>.
h3y tcallamt-ha101 I learned this from my mother
min ’immi u-ana zglr. when I was little.
marra ’aja cln(d)na dyflf u , Once we had guests <came to us guests>,
u-suft ’immi kTf ’akramat-hom, and I saw my mother - how she hosted them
u-cimlat kull ’i§i hatta and did everything
tirdl-hom12. to please them
u-qamat^b-wajeb-hom13 and fulfilled her obligation towards them
hatta telcu mabsutln. so that they left satisfied.
ca§3n hSk, ’ana kaman sert Because of this, I, too, have become
’akrem in-n5s illi bifdtu hospitable towards people who come
cala betna. into our home.

hadflc il-l5le eshema cind ’abu
Jamil, jab cetraq u-kony3k
u-bizer14 u-sabb-ilna kas caraq.
qulna-lo:
- ya ’afji, biddak tisker-na?
qal:
- la’, ya jamaca 15, biddI-§
’askerkom! cumri mas_skeret
That night we spent the evening at
Abu Jamil’s. He brought arak, cognac
and seeds and poured us a glass of arak.
We said to him:
—Hey, friend <oh brother>, do you want to
get us drunk? He replied:
- No, guys, I don’t want to get you
drunk! I’ve never got drunk in my life,

10. This is a Form 5 verb, which you’ll learn in Lesson 37.

11. A verb that precedes its subject can be singular, even if the subject itself is plural.
12. The verb ’arda also belongs to Form 4. We’ll get to know it better in the next
le’sson.
13. See Explanations 3. The expression hada w ajeb means this is obligatory l it's my
duty to do this! In this case, we’re talking about the host’s duty towards the guests, and
the phrase b-w ajebhum = [my] duty towards them. If you want to say I have done my
duty without mentioning towards whom, the phrase to use is qum tweb-w aj bi.
14. For more information on masculine singular collective nouns, see Book 2, p. 92,
Explanations 7. A single seed is bizre, as you learned in Lesson 33.
15. ja m a ca = group/gang (offriends) / [the] guys. When addressing a group of close
■ friends you can say y a ja m a ca / ya j a n ^ O l- I j S r <oh group of goodness>;
jam acetna = our guys.
 Lesson 35

u-ma ’askart-eg hada.
qacadna nithaddas16; q3m
’abu Jamil, qal-li:
biddi ahaz(z)rak huzzSra,
’izajhzert-ha18, bactlk
illi biddakjyyah.
qult-illo:
- hat ta jigflf!
qSl:
- betJ^mSayyad ma-lo bab
daljlo19 ’arbac §ab3b,
su huwwe?
qult-illo:
- s a ^ , ya hablbi,
’imhel-ni20 la-bukra
u- bactXk21 il-hall.
qal:
- walaw bamehlak la-’a^er
is-sane, mug redi-tihzer-ha
’ana baqul-lak il-jaw3b:
il-j6ze (jdza)22.
and I’ve never got anyone [else] drunk [either].
We started chatting <we sat [that] we chat>.
Then1617 Abu Jamil said to me:
I want to ask you a riddle.
If you guess right I’ll give you anything
you want <that-which you want it>.
I told him:
—Let’s hear it <give so that we see>!
He said:
—A well-built house with no door,
four young men inside it.
what is it?
I replied <1 said to him>:
—That’s a tough one <hard> mate / chum.
Give me until tomorrow and I’ll
give you the answer <the solutions
He said:
—Even if I give you till the end of the year,
you’re not going to guess it!
I’ll tell you the answer:
a walnut.

16. The noun hadls (hadlt^) means conversation, and the Form 5 verb thaddas = to
ta lk / chat /converse', see Lesson 37.
17. See Explanations 3.
18. The f-1 verb hizer [yihzer] means to guess/solve (a riddle); hazzar, the f-2 verb
from the same root, means, of course, to ask (someone) a riddle <to cause (someone) to
solve a riddle>. Why is the verb in the past tense here? After ’iza the verb can be in the
■ past, even if it denotes an action in the future: ’iza kammalna qabljs -s e ca
I)arose = if we finish before five o ’clock...
19. See Explanations 7.
20. Remember that the imperative is formed by removing the prefix t- from the
subjunctive and replacing it with \ e.g., t-ikteb —►’ik-teb. Thus t-imhel (that you
allow time) —> ’imhel (give [me] time!).
21. We’ll learn this important verb (also f-4) in the next lesson.
22. See next page.

72
 Lesson 35

kunt cind doktor is-snan. I was at the dentist’s.

baCed-ma fahas^snani, q31: After he [had] examined my teeth he said:
- lCs ’ahmaltwesnSnak h6k? —Why have you neglected your teeth like this?
flh h5n sinn„emsawwes,
\
There’s a decayed tooth here,
lazem niqlaco, we’ve got to take it out,
u-hat-tahune kaman and this molar, too, we’ve got to
bidna niqlac-ha. mus lazem extract it. You mustn’t
tihmelwesnanak hek! neglect your teeth like this!

il-bSt muhmal. The house is neglected,

id-dukkan muhmale. The shop’s neglected.

sufet j ama qaced cindak.
’ana l)3yfe ikfln ’azcajak2223
feclan haz-zalame ’azcaj-ni
eb-kutret hakyo.
u-bardo biqQl:
biddl-s ’az^cjak,
ma bahebb-es ’azcej in-n3s.
hay l-emslbe inno wahad muzcej - That’s the trouble, that an irritating person
mu§ w3ci ca laJ-’izcaj
illi bisabbebo la-gero.
- 1 saw our neighbor sitting in your house.
I’m afraid he’ll have bothered you!
Yes, you’re right <indeed>, that man
annoyed me with all his talking
<with the much-of his talk>.
And he even said <also says>,
“I don’t want to bother you,
I don’t like to bother people.”
is unaware of the irritation
he causes others.

byizcej - byizecjak - byizcej-kom

he annoys - he annoys youmsing - he annoys youpl

22. The language of riddles, which often rhyme, is not always easy to understand. In
this case, however, the wording is simple and familiar: sayyad is a rarely-used word
meaning to (build and) plaster (well); S3bb = young man, youth (see footnote 9,
p. 51), while s a b a b means young men /young people; young days /youth. The answer
to the riddle is “a walnut,” which can be regarded as a tightly-constructed and firmly-
sealed house divided into four compartments.
23. Subjunctive + past tense? We’ll talk about this and other similar constructions in
Lesson 38. In the meantime, note that the English sentence we’ve used to translate it is
not so very different from the Arabic.

7a
 Lesson 35

Explanations

1. The meaning of Form 4 (*af cal)

Like f-2, Form 4 usually means to cause (someone / something) to.... You can
see this from the Conversation above and in the following examples:
Saqat 24 to fa ll ,
asqat to cause to fall; to bring down;
to shoot down
zicel to be angry; to be upset ’azcal to anger; to upset
<to cause to be angry>
h a l-I)a b a r ’azcal-ni This news upset me.

Sometimes you find verbs from the same root in both f-2 and f-4:
Sfileh good; valid; suitable s a lla h to repair <to make good>
SUl°h reconciliation; peace ’ttslah to reconcile / make peace between...

This is the normal, “official” meaning o f Form 4, but, as always, there are
exceptions. In the Vocabulary you were introduced to the word ’ab cad, which
means both to move / go away and to move (someone / something) away. So
now you’ve been warned, and you’ll know better than to complain to f-4 verbs:
“You don’t always mean what it says in the book!”

2. How do you distinguish between byiskar and byisker

If you’re confused by the two verbs above and don’t know which is which, it’s
hardly surprising. The follow ing examples should put an end to your confusion:24
f-l siker yiskar to get drunk/becom e intoxicated
f-4 ’askar yisker to get (someone else) drunk

f-l z fe l yizcal to get angry; to get upset

f-4 ’azcal yizcel to anger /m ake (someone else) angry,
to upset (someone)
f-l ticeb yitcab to get tired/becom e tired
f-4 ’atcab yitceb to tire /exhaust (someone else)

24. The f-1 verb saqat [yusqot] / [yasqot]# means to fall in educated speech and
special cases - for example, when the fall is metaphorical rather than physical:
■ saqat fi-l-imtihan = He failed the exam; il-hukllme saqtat = The government
fell. This gives us the expression li-yasqot il-isticmfir, which means Down with
colonialism <may the colonialism fall>! You can also say fal-yasqot...

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 Lesson 35

Here are two more sentences that you can repeat to make the difference stick in
your mind:

■ biskar U-bisker gero He gets drunk and he gets others drunk.

’ana batcab —is-SUg^l bitceb-ni I get tired - work tires me.
3 . H e q a m a n d . . . / q a m b-

You are well acquainted with the verb qam [iqum ], which means to get up (out
o f bed / o u t o f a chair...) Today w e’re going to take a look at some additional
uses o f this verb.
a) Verbs like q am are sometimes used to translate the phrase to begin to...: H e
got up and... Y ou’ll find an example in the Conversation, and here’s another:
lam m a sim ec hek, q 3m darabo = When he heard that <thus> he started to hit
him (it’s as if to say: H e woke up, stood up and hit him - even if he were standing
already). It’s not so very different from the English He upped and hit him... The verb q a cad
is used in a similar manner: in the Conversation you will find qacadna
nithaddas, which means We began to chat <w e sat [that]-we-chat>.
b) The expression qam b- (qSm or qam ^ ) means to d o /c a r r y out / implement
(people pronounce the word with either a q- or a depending on the register o f
speech and the expressions involved); qam b- is often used in educated speech:
■ il-w a z lr q a m b i - z y a r a The minister conducted a visit...
il-baladiyye betqumweb-l)adamat The municipality provides ccarries out>
services...
’ana baqum bi-WJijbi I do my duty / / carry out my duties.
or ’ana baqfim j^b-w ajbi

4. ’a s b a h
The original meaning o f this verb is to reach the morning; to wake up in the
morning (in a particular state / situation). This is why people ask one another
k lf ’asbaht? (H ow are you this morning / H ow d id you sleep?) and wish one
another in the evening tisbah cala I)6r = G ood night <may you wake up on good>!
There are two possible responses to this (the second is more commonly used in
Galilee).
■ ti§bah (tu sb eh #) cala l)er!
—U -inte m in ’a h lo ! You too <and you are of its family, i.e. of the family of
goodness] >
—tla q i j - l j e r ! You too <may you find goodness>!

The suffixes -i / -u are, o f course, added to the verb when addressing a female /
more than one person. When taking your leave o f a number o f people late in the

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 Lesson 35

evening, you w ill say d sb ah u cala Ijer! The reply to more than one person is,
likewise, tla q u j-^ e r!

The verb ’a sb a h has an additional meaning, which is an expansion o f those

given above: to becom e / turn into, i.e., “to wake up in the morning in a
different state,” even though the change may not have taken place overnight.
This use o f the verb, which is frequently heard in educated and formal speech
(in announcements, lectures, etc.), is uncommon in everyday conversation,
when the verb sa r is preferred.
■ ’asbah s a ^ r mashur# He became a famous poet.

5 . ’isla m , m u slem
You will already have realized that these words belong to f-4, the verb Form
that is the subject o f this lesson. Let’s sum things up:

’a sla m He became a Muslim / converted to Islam

surrendered [to the will of God]>.
’aslam at She became a Muslim / converted to Islam
m u slem / m islem a M uslim 1sing<having-suirendered.. .>
m iselm e [m iselm ln, -m at] a Muslim sing; [Muslims™ pl; Muslims*pl]
However, confusion has arisen, and people treat this verb as if it were
quadriliteral, i.e., as if its root were ’-s-l-m rather than s-l-m : they say
b i-’a sle m like b i-taijem . Here is another example:
h a t t a j ’a s lem u ...s o that they convert to Islam

6. Mi- / mu-, yi- / yu- and the various language registers

W e’ve already mentioned that the prefix o f the active participle is pronounced
m u- in official and educated speech. You will recall m uca llem # from Book 2,
p. 107, footnote 3, and above w e have m uslem ^. In the subjunctive and the
present-future you will likew ise hear people say yu - and tu- instead o f yi- /
byi- and ti- / bti-. W e saw this above in the expression tusbeh cala and
here is another example, from a well-known proverb:
■ ’alia yumhel wa-la yuhmel God grants a respite, but does not neglect.
To remember which o f the roots o f the two verbs above is which, it’s a good
idea to learn the words h a m el [a neglected / abandoned child —» badly
behaved) and m u h le (respite / [period of] time). The root m-h-1 also gives us
the expression cala m ahlak / -lek! which means Slow dow n / Take your time!
con your slowness>. If you’re given time, you can work slowly, without
rushing.

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 Lesson 35

7. daljel / dal}el
These two words from the same root give us a chance to expand our vocabulary
and focus on pronunciation issues:
dal)el income
dartbet id-dal)el income tax
da!)li qalfl25 I don't earn much <my income is little>
dSljel inside (noun and prep); interior (noun and adj)
daJjel il-b6t inside the house; the inside / interior o f the house.
The first syllable is short in the first word (da-) and long in the second (d a-),
while the second syllable is pronounced much the same way in both. This is a
good opportunity to explain why we write -I)el in the first case and -I)el in the
second.
If you compare the following, you will spot the differences:
■ da!)lo his income d3l)lo inside itm s,ng
daljel-ha her income da^el-ha inside it{sing

As we explained in B ook 2, Lesson 24 (m iddle o f p. 90), the helping vowel e

has no “official” status: it creeps into the word da^l merely to make
pronunciation easier, and so can never be stressed. The situation with
da^el-ha, however, is quite different, and the word obeys Rule \§].

8. More on haircuts and other minor pleasures

The Arabic language is equipped with blessings and congratulatory sentences
for (almost) every occasion, and if you’ve just showered, shaved or had your
hair cut, people w ill say to you nacim an! The ending -an, which you will

25. Some people say duljli.

7K
 Lesson 35

recognize as adjectival (as in ta b can, etc.), is likewise added to an indefinite

direct object in literary Arabic: I see w alad an (a child / a boy). When you say
■ nac Im an <pleasurable>, you are wishing your freshly showered, shaved or
barbered friend pleasure and happiness.
As you already know, every blessing has its own special response, which
usually repeats the key word used in the initial sentence - and so your friend
will reply: ’a lia y in cem (y in cam ) cal5k(i)! = M ay G od give you pleasure!
The f-4 verb ’an cam [yin cem ] means to bestow fa vor; to make (something)
pleasant. W e felt you might like to learn this agreeable verb before moving on
to the next lesson.

■ mulal)l)as id-dars

’immi ’akramat l-edyflf My mother welcomed <honored> the guests,

’ikram id-dyuf / le-dyuf
siker u-askar„eshdbo
biskar u-bisker_eshabo
qal-iribced! W ad e t.
lSzem tibced / tibeCdi
il-lSle emnishar cindo
’ahmal^snano
il-bSt muhmal
hada wahad mizcej (mu-)
’azcajak? - azcaj-ni!
ana biddl-s ’azeCjak.
sallah il-kundara26.
’aslahjirano.
’alia yumhel wa-la yuhmel.
hospitality
He got drunk and got his friends drunk [too].
He gets drunk and gets his friends drunk
He told me, “Get away!” I moved away.
Youmsing/f slng have got to move away.
We’re spending this evening at his place.
He neglected his teeth.
The house is neglected.
He’s a pest <this is one irritating [person]>!
Did he bug you? - He bugged me!
I don’t want to bother you.
He mended the shoes.
He made peace between his neighbors.
God grants a respite, but does not neglect.

Exercises__________________________________________
A. Translate into English:
1. k an -fih ’idrfib bass il-mudribln qarraru yiijacu ca-s-$ug°l.
2. ’atlaqujn-nar u-asqatu tayyartgn.

26. kundotra 1*81= a pair o f shoes; kundarti = my shoes. One shoe = fardet
kundara, i.e., one of a pair of kundara.

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 Lesson 35

3. les muS fateh id-dukkan? ’iftah il-jarrfir!

4. m uswem nih tishari h ek till il-le l, rtihi n am i bakklr.
5. ’al)Oy h a z z a m i huzzgre (-ra), bass m aJhzert-ha-S.
6. ’ana m us q a w i bil-hazazlr.
7. sU h a l-fo w d a ? ! lazem _?nratteb il-gu rfe.
8. kam m lu §u g°lk om , biddI-§ ’azcejkom .
9. m u m k en _ etsa lleh -lij-k u n d a ra la-bukra?
10. ’iza betgflfu g a ra d m a§buh, ’ibecdu canno!
11. en s a lla J -h k iim e m a btusqot.
12. ’iza btusqot, bisJr-flh fa w d a .
13. hek u -h ek (in any case / anyway) il-fa w d o m a w ju d e ...
14. stt? ’in te fa w d a w i? - l a ’, bahebb in -n iza m .
15. m us_em b a y y en calek!

B. Complete the sentences

(Replace the English words with the appropriate expression in Arabic):
16. tisb ah cala l)i5r! —(Good night to you too).
17. hadol is-sa b a b biSrabu k tlr u- (they get drunk).
18. qult-illo: (move away1” sing!). qult-ilha: (moveawayf51"6!)
19. ’ibni sfir (to neglect <that he neglect> his studies) fi-l-m u d d e J - ’ al)Ire.
20. ya Sam ira, le s (have you been neglecting <do you neglect>) drusek
fi-1 -m udde J - ’ al)Ire.
21. ’iza betd a lli tihem li drusek, (you won’t do well <succeed>).
22. c3datan (he bothers us), bass hal-m arra (he helped us).
23. hat il-k u n d ara, (I’ll repair them <itf smg> for you).
2 4 . biddak (to spend-the-evening) m acana il-l?le?
25. kunt za cl3n m in il-jiran , ’aja ’a^fly (to make peace between us).

C. Translate into Arabic:

26. Don’t1" SI"Etouch it <don’t put your hand on it / don’t seize it>!
27. Samira, how are-you-this-moming?
28. They want to know how much you™s,ng earn <how much your income>.
29. His income is pretty good <not litde>.
3 0 .1 didn’t know there was <is> a strike today.
31. Yes, the workers said they wanted to strike <they want to make a strike>.

79.
Lesson 35

32. It’s not good for youmsmg to stay-up-late c it’s not good that you stay-up-late>
every night.
33. He wanted to make peace between them, but he annoyed them.

D. The subjunctive mood. Translate into Arabic:

34. Why do youm sing get drunk like this? You mustn’t get drunk.
3 5 .1 know that he bothers youpI
3 6 .1 don’t like his bothering them cthat he bother them>.
37. If youpl want to spend-the-evening with us, [you’re] welcome!
38. If he continues to talk like that, he’s going to upset his parents <his family>.
39. He kept quiet so as not to annoy them / lest he annoy them.
40. I’d like youm sing to mend the radio / to mend itf sing for me <1 want that you
mend...>.
41. If you mend it for me, I’ll pay you as much as you like.

E. Conditional sentences and the composite past tense.

Translate into Arabic:
42. If my brother were here, he’d fix the radio.
43. When he lived with me, he used to fix the radio.
44. If youms,ng smoked I would cough.
45. When I was ill I used to cough all day [long].

F. Dropping the word illi. Translate into Arabic:

46. The dentist pulled out <to me> the tooth that was decayed.
47. I’ve got a decayed tooth that hurts me a lot.
48. The tradesmen who were on strike <who made a strike> closed the shops.
49. But there are tradesmen who didn’t lower the shutters.
5 0 .1 want to tell youmsmg a story I heard yesterday.

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dars sitte u-talatin
36
Lesson Thirty-Six
In the lessons on verb Forms 2 and 3, you began by learning the paradigms o f
regular verbs. Only later did you progress to irregular verbs, for example, those
derived from root patterns such as DDa. To remind you:

f-2 k am m al rabba rabbet birabbi

f-3 sa fa r n8da nadet binadi

For some reason, w e didn’t inquire what happened in the case o f root patterns
□wD / D yD (lik e s h -w -f / j-y -b , etc.) or verbs with an identical 2nd and 3rd
root letter (like habb = h-b-b). That was because they present no problems, and
in f-2 and f-3 they behave like regular verbs. Let’s compare:

mCt death root m-w-t f-2 mawwat1 to kill

qalll little, few root q-1-1 qallal to decrease; to reduce

q5m to rise root q-w-m f-3 qawam2 to resist; to oppose

qass to cut root q-?-s qasas to punish

There’s no need to commit these verbs to memory right now. They are here
simply to demonstrate that they behave just like regular verbs, and there’s no
need to discuss their conjugation.

But w e do need to explain something about the list o f words and roots above:
the appearance o f -w -. The norm m 5t (death) is actually a contracted form o f
the literary Arabic m aw t, which indicates that the root is m -w -t, and hence to
kill is m aw w at. Similarly, g6r (other, different) comes from the root g-y-r and
k lf (how) from the root k -y-f. Incidentally, you’ve already seen that there is a
family relationship between DwO and DyD; for example, you’ll recall that the
active participle o f rflh is r a y e h , as if the root were r-y-h.

Now let’s take a look at what happens when these irregular roots are fitted into
the Form 4 matrix: ’a- (past tense), m i- / m u- (active part), ’iDDaD (VN).

a) Verbs with root pattern DDa/i

Let’s use the verb ’a lg a (to cancet) as our example. Since w e’ve mentioned

k Or just to beat up. Compare with an angry mother’s threat: “I’ll murder you!”
2. The VN is m u q a w a m e = opposition; resistance.
Lesson 36

that in the past and present-future tenses ’akram conjugates like katab, you can
guess that ’a lg a will behave like haka (to speak). Let’s compare:

haka hakSt bihki (byihki) bihku (byihku)

’a lg a ’alget b ilgi bilgu
he canceled I canceled he cancels / they cancel /
will cancel will cancel
’a cfa ’acfet bicfi (bye cfi) bicfu (bye cfu)
he exempted
’a rd a ’ardet birdi birdu
he satisfied / pleased
Y ou’ll remember that the main differences between f-1 and f-4 are in the active
and passive participles and the verbal noun.
L et’s com pare:
m i-/m ukrem m ukram ’ik ram honoring
m u lg i m u lga ’ilg a ’ 3 cancellation
m urdi ( f -iy e) ’ir d a ’ satisfaction
m u cfi m u cfa# / m a cfi ’icf a ’ exemption
The most useful verb in this group is ’« cta (to give). W e’ll practice it in the
Conversation and expand on it in the Explanations, but for now it’s worth
noting that in the subjunctive mood (and, o f course, the present-future tense),
the presence o f the letters c and t causes the verb to be pronounced not y icti but
y e cti, and even y a cti (you may remember what was said about y etla c in Book
2, p. 30, footnote 1

b) V erbs with the root patterns DwO / UyU

You’ll remember the sentence: m m bidlr il-m u stasfa? - il m udlr (Book 2, p.
159). Now you can identify the verb as (’a)dfir (f-4), and m u-dir as its active
participle. Let’s look at some more f-4 verbs that have the root patterns DwO /
□ y d In f-4, the vowel o f the present-future tense is always -I-.

’adac [idS0] = to broadcast:

Past tense: ’ad act, -ti, ’ad ac, ’ad acat, ’adac-na, -tu, ’adacu
7, you, he... broadcast (past tense)

3. The long a is what characterizes the VN of f-4, e.g., ’ikr3m . The final -a which is
the third root letter of the verb ’a lg a is replaced by a hamza ( ’) = ’i-l-g -5 -’

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 Lesson 36

Present-future: badF, betdlc,... bid!*1... bidl°u.

I broadcast,....he broadcasts, ...they broadcast
A ctive part.: mudlc, (f) mudlca [mudFan]
broadcasting; broadcaster; announcer; presenter
Passive part.: mud5c, (f) mudaca = (having been) broadcast
VN: ’idaca 4 = a broadcast
This verb belongs to the “official” language, and naturally doesn’t occur in all
its forms in everyday conversation! However, it served as a good example,
particularly o f the active part., passive part., and V N, forms that are in common
use with other verbs, e.g.:
’a b a d # to exterminate
mubld [mubldat] killer/-tid e (as in weed killer, pesticide)
’ibade VN extermination
mucaskarat5 il-’ibade the death camps
’adSr to manage; to administer
mudlr6 manager
mudfir7 administered
’idara VN management; administration
’acad# * to repeat
’ic3de repetition
ba^d illi qulto I'll repeat what I said.
balas^t^d-ha! Dnn ’t dn it nonin f

■ 4. dar il-’idaca = The Broadcasting Authority cbroadcasting house>. “Kol Israel”

(The Voice of Israel) is sawt(u)^ ’isra’ll. In Egypt you will hear sawt il-carab
(min al-qahira). <The Voice of the Arabs (from Cairo)>.
■ 5. mucaskar means military encampment or other type of camp. mucaskarat il-
laji’in = refugee camps. caskar = soldiers. caskari = military. il-hukm jl-caskari
= the military administration.
6. When used as a noun (manager), the plural is mildara = managers.
■ 7. The passive part, is used in “official” language, il-manateq il-mudara = the
administered territories, a neutral expression used instead of the occupied territories
(controlled by the Israel Defense Forces).
8. In actuality these verbs often lose their initial ’a- in the past tense, and conjugate like
jab [ijlb]: cadat = she repeated. °ld kalamak = Repeat what you said <repeat yours
words>! See also cad [icud] (f-1), Lesson 33, Explanations 3, p. 41.

83.
 Lesson 36

’icadet in-nazar# a reexamination <a repeat of the look (at)>

c) Verbs with an identical second and third root letter
Like habb, habbet, bihebb(u), of course.
(’a)lahli to put pressure on (somebody); to implore
lahhet caleh I implored him
■ bilehh calayye He *s putting pressure on me
’ilhah imploring; pressure
talab bi-’ilhah He implored <he asked with pressure>.

(’a)SCUT to be determined /b e resolved

IXH1S6IT determined, resolved
’israr determination, resolve
■ lam m a su ft-h a m usirra When I saw she was determined to get married
ca la jz -z a w 3 j... <when I saw her determined on the maniage>...
This group also includes the verb ’aham m , which is used mainly in the present-
future tense: bihem m -ni, meaning (it) interests me; (it’s) important to me and
in the active part, m uhem m , which has been familiar to us since Lesson 15 as
an adjective meaning important
This introduction should help you to identify verbs you’ll encounter in the
future. What do you need remember out o f all these forms? You can rely, as
usual, on the summary box at the end o f the lesson, and in the Conversation
below you’ll see and hear these verbs in real-life situations.

Vocabulary
’a n h a [y in h i] to end /finish il-yunan Greece
’acda to infect yunani f.-niyye Greek
’urubba Europe ’orda [yirdi] to please / satisfy (trans)
’urubbi European mudlc announcer, newsreader
’influenza9 (radio, etc.)
influenza
’ayyad f-2 to support musalsal10 [-lat] series (TV)
’adac to broadcast halqa10 [halaqat] ring; episode
’acfa [yecfi] to exempt ’a cta [yacti] to give
wazlfe post, job; darOri[2] necessary, vital
homework
bam3maj /-mej program hisel [yihsal] cala to obtain / get
[baramej] programs hascd [yuhsol] cala to obtain / get

9, 10. See next page.

84

Conversation
- Jamil ebyijmac tawabec mitli
u-sar cindo majmOca kblre.
marrot byactl-ni tawabec
u-ana kaman bactlh.
- ebtactfliom bass la-Jamll?
- ma ’ana ’a ctetak tawabe0
min ’urubba!
k3n cindi tabec 11min il-yunan,
’act£takjyy§h.
- wen Jamil? biddi_yyah darOri!
- m a b a cref... bass ’asmac ’isi
canno, bactlk t)abar.
bass tismac ’isi, ’a ctlni l)abar!
- ’iftah it-telfizyOn, fib
na§ret ’aljbar.
- il-mudFa rah-teclen
calaJ-baramej.
- ya Ijsara, ’alguj-bamamaj
illi bahobbo, ’es rah-yactu
badalo?
- ’akld filem can it-tablca.
- mbareh ’a ctu filem910
9. You will also hear g rip p from French grippe.
10. The idea behind the word m u s a ls a l is chain - s ilsila in literary Arabic, and
sins3 l in colloquial Arabic - so it is logical that an episode in a TV series is h a lq a ,
literally a ring; a link.
11. See Explanations 3.
Lesson 36
—Jamil collects stamps like me
and now he has a large collection.
Sometimes he gives me stamps
and I give him [some], too.
—Do you give them only to Jamil?
—On the contrary I gave you [some]
stamps from Europe;
I had a stamp from Greece [and]
I gave it to you.
—Where’s Jamil? I need [to see] him
<1 want him necessary / urgent>.
—I don’t know ... As soon as I hear anything
about him, I’ll let you know
<give you informations
As soon as you hear something, let me know!
” Switch on <open> the TV, the news is on
<there’s a news broadcasts
—The presenterf s,ng is going to make an
announcement about the programs.
—What a pity <oh, loss>! They’ve canceled
the program I like. What are they showing
<going to give> instead?
—[It’s] sure [to be] a nature film.
—Yesterday they showed <gave> such a
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 Lesson 36

kullo cunf 12, violent film <a film all of it violence>.

krf ma bifakkru-§ fi-l-ulSd? How [come] they don’t think about the
children?
- fih nSs bi’ayydu ’ilga’ —Some people support the abolition
il-muraqabe calaJ-aflam. of censorship of films,
w-esme^t inno ’algU-ha. and I heard they’ve abolished it.
- bethebb il-’aflam il-masriyye? —Do you like Egyptian films?
- yacni... bafoddel musalsalat —S o-so... I prefer the Jordanian TV
it-telefizyon il-’urdoni, hallaq seriesfpl. Now
flh musalsal^ejdid, there’s a new series. They showed
mbareh ’octu j-h a lq a j-’0la. the first episode yesterday.
il-qessa can sabb mutafawweq The story is about a young man who’s an
fi druso, outstanding student outstanding in his
biqfll la-’abflh: studies>. He says to his father:
“Ya-ba, nsalla ’inti radi canni. “Dad, I hope you’re pleased with me!
’ana bacmel kull juhdi hatta I make a big effort <all my effort>
’ardlk.” to satisfy you.”
u-feclan hasal cala nata’ej And indeed he got satisfactory results.
murdiye. bass biddo yinhi Only <but>he wants to complete his
dirasto fi-l-l)arej, laken studies abroad, but his parents
’ahlo bicfirdu hal-'flkra. object to this idea. But the more
bass qadd-ma bilehhu caleh they put pressure on him, [the more]
huwwe bicanned u-bidcdl muserr he persists and remains determined
cala_s-safar, to travel determ ined on the joumey>.
u-fi-l-qarye ftf1kaman fatah And in the village, there’s a girl, too, that
bihebb-ha13 u-... he’s in love with <with her> and ...
- kammel, kammel! —Go on, go on, what happened? Isn’t he
su sar? battal isfifer? going to go <has he stopped that he travel>?
- stanna lad-dars il-jay, hatta —Wait until the next lesson, until

12. ca n lf = violent; strong; cruel, usually when speaking of an action or behavior. In

relation to people, you will also hear wahad bistacmel il-cunf = one who uses
violence / behaves violently. The verb istacmal is f-10 (Lesson 44, Book 4).
13. This is another example of dropping the word illi when the noun that precedes it is
indefinite (i.e. not preceded by the): a girl (I don’t know who...).

86
 Lesson 36

nudros il-afcal il-lazme... we leam the necessary verbs ...

- ’ana ma basaddeq14 ta —I can’t wait to hear <1 don’t believe
’asmac qusset-hom! until I hear> their story!
- tawwel balak, u-rajec - Be patient and go back over
illijcallamnah il-yom. what we’ve learnt today.

fi-l-madrase muczam it-tullab At school, most of <the majority of>

sar machom ’influenza
w-il-emcallem ’algajd-dars
u-’a ctana wazlfe lal-b€t.
’ana kan cindi harara, fa-qal-li:
- ’inte macfi (mucfa#) min
il-wazlfe. lamma sSfu hek,
il-kull talabu ’icf a \
laken l-emcallem ’acfa
bass il-murada.
the students got influenza,
and the teacher canceled the lesson
and gave us homework.
I had a fever, so he told me:
You’re exempt from <the> homework.
When they saw that <saw so>,
everyone [else] asked for an exemption,
but the teacher exempted only
the sick [ones].

’inti macflyye - ’intu macfiyyln Youfsing are exempt - youpl are exempt.
talab ’icfS’15 min id-darifbe. He asked for a tax exemption

’anha# 16 to finish; to end (trans)

’anhet dirfisti I finished my studies.
qabel-ma ninhij-bamamej... Before we finish the program...

lazem yinhuJ-^ilaf They’ve got to put an end to the dispute

can tanq mufawadfit. by negotiation <by way of negotiations:^

14. ma saddaq means He waited impatiently fo r <didn’t believe . ..>.

■ ma basaddeq ’emta ylji J-y5m ... means I can't wait fo r the day to come
muswemsaddeq u-ana asuf-ha! means I'm dying to see her! Note that the verb
saddaq in this context can be followed by any one of several different forms: inno,
’6mta, ta, u-
15. See footnote 3, above.
16. You are familiar with the noun nihaye (end, ending). The verb is used in educated
Arabic and in some specific contexts.

87-
 Lesson 36

Explanations

1. He gave me = ’acta-ni etc.

You may have noticed, in the conversation about stamps, above, that when it
com es to giving, Arabic uses the same structure as English: ’a cta-ni = H e g a ve
m e , rather than H e g a v e to m e. At this point, you might like to re-read Lesson
31, E xplanations 4, p. 8. Here w e’ll set out the different ways o f using the verb
to g iv e :

■ 1. ’act5t sura lal-walad I gave a picture to the boy. In the recording

2. ’a ctet-ha lal-walad I gave it to the boy. sentence 3 precedes
3. ’actet-o sura I gave him a picture sentence 2.
4. ’a^gt-o^yyaha I gave him it.
At first glance, Arabic and English usage appears to be identical. In English,
however, w e have some options not open to Arabic speakers. For example,
sentence 1 could have been translated as I g a ve the b o y a p ic tu re and sentence 4
as I g a ve it to him , but neither is correct in Arabic: the four sentences above
represent the only acceptable structures.
T o sum up:
When the indirect object (the b o y ) is a noun (1, 2), the preposition to is always
used (la-l-w alad ), but if it is a pronoun (him, her, them) it is attached directly
to the verb, with no preposition (3), e.g., ’a ctet-o. Where both objects are
pronouns (4), the one representing the recipient is again attached to the verb
while the one representing the thing given is attached to (i)y y a -. Note that only
in sentence 2 is the direct object (it) attached to the verb.
Here are some more sentences for practice. Listen to the recording and repeat
each one out loud:

■ ’a ctajaride la-’abliy He gave a newspaper to my father.

’a ctfi-ha la-’abuy He gave it to my father.
’a ctfih il-jaiTde He gave him the newspaper.
’act«h iyyaha He gave him it.

jibet talat kutob I brought three books.

■ *actet hal-kutob la-’immi / gave these books to my mother.

’actet-ha hal-kutob I gave her these books.
’a ctet-hom la-’immi I gave them to my mother.
’actet-hawyy Shorn I gave her them.

88
 Lesson 36

There are other verbs that behave in the same way, for example, sallam (to
hand over) and bslc [ib l0] (to sell):
u sallam il-m aktflb la -Y u s e f He handed the letter to Yusef. (Yusef says:)
sallam -n i^ yyah He handed me it.
- betbl0 darak la-Jam fl? —Are you selling your house to Jamil?
- ’a y w a , bab F -h a la-Jam ll —Yes, I ’m selling it to Jamil.
- ’a y w a , babFo^yySha. —Yes, I ’m selling him it.

This rale applies to a few more verbs, and is summarized at the back o f this
book (as w ell as in the D ictionary) in Rule [15

2 . byirda - byirdi

You’ll recall what w e said about biskar / bisker. If not, take a quick look back
at Lesson 35, E xplanations 2. Now you’ll be less confused because you
understand that the vow el -a in the present-future signifies the action o f a
person in relation to him self, while -e /-i indicates doing something to another
or others: getting them drank, making them happy, pleasing them. Here are
some examples:

ridi [yirda] f-1 to be pleased /b e satisfied; to agree

’arda [yirdi] f-4 to please (someone)
■ biddo yirdi ’abuh He wants to please his father,
bass ’abflh m a byirda. but his father is not satisfied/ doesn't agree.

in-n8s, m 5 fit1 si birdl-hom People are never satisfied

<the people, nothing satisfies them>.
m urdi, (f) m u rd iye [m urdiyyln] satisfying, satisfactory
■ n a ffa z17 il- ’aw am er bi~sakel He carried out the orders in a
m urdi satisfactory manner.
Although you’ve progressed to f-4, you shouldn’t forget the previously-leamt
verb Forms; for example, the f-1 verb ridi, mentioned above, which conjugates
like nisi, e.g., ’ana rdlt ( / agreed / was satisfied ), ’im m i ridyat (My mother
a g reed /w a s satisfied). D on’t forget that the presence o f the d affects the vowel
- i , making it sound somewhere between re- and ro- (redyat / rodyat).

17. naffaz, literary Arabic naffad^. tanfiz il- ’aw am er = implementation o f the
orders. On ’aw am er, see Lesson 35, footnote 5.

8SL
 Lesson 36

3 . W hat have stam ps, leaves, teeth and cards got in com m on?
Instead o f ta b e c you will also hear the old expression w arqet bul or bol
1o
<stamp-paper>. The word bul comes from Turkish (originally Persian) p u l
The noun w araq / w o ra q means p a p e r as a material, w araqa [FT] [’aw raq /
ew raq ] means a sh eet / p ie c e o f p a p e r, and also a le a f (not so different from
English idiom: we talk about leafing through a book). ’a w r a q js -s a ja r a are the
■ leaves o f a tre e ; haraq I-ew raq means H e bu rn t the p a p e rs.

Now, do you remember the card game (Lesson 31)? sadde is also the word for
the little sign ( * ) above an Arabic letter that shows that it is doubled (we have
chosen to transcribe the doubled letter as two letters, rather than using the sign).
It also means f a ls e teeth , den tu res (the sad d e looks a bit like two front teeth)
and a p a c k o f cards. You w ill guess right away that a single p la yin g c a rd is
w arqet sadde, or kart, from French carte.
waraqten, talat w araqat (-q a t) = 2, 3 sh eets , n otes f or lea ves (on a tree).

&
sadde dJL i

4 . A nd w hat connects laundry w ith publishing?

In Book 1, Lesson 13, you heard about the woman illi n a § ra tjl-g a s!l (who
hung o u t the laundry) and in the Vocabulary the f-1 verb nasar (-§ar) [yun§or]
was translated as to hang ou t (laundry); to publish. W e can also add to p u b licize
/d is tr ib u te . The latter idea is what these meanings have in common: one brings
the laundry out into the open to dry, and someone who publishes a book or
article also “brings it out into the open” and spreads it around.
In B ook 2, p. 102, there was another example: il-jarayed n a s r a tjl -habar,
meaning The n ew sp a p ers p u b lish e d the n ew s item. The drawing on page 109

18. Don’t confuse this word with the word b 5l (bawl^), which means urine, and hence
the f-2 verb b a w w a l = to urinate /p a ss urine, fah s^ il-bdl = urine test.
■ cin d o SUcu b ftt fi-t-ta b w il = He has problems passing urine <in the urination>.

90
 Lesson 36

of the present book illustrates both meanings. Now you can understand the
phrase d a r n aser (pu blish in g house <house of publishing>).
5. Rain in Galilee and in Jerusalem
You learnt that the f-2 verb satta is used in Galilee in the 3rd person f sing
sattat 19 to mean it rained. In Jerusalem it’s more common to hear the f-4 verb
’asta, 3rd person f sing ’a§tat 1191.
Galilee Jerusalem
§attatwem bereh ’a§tat_embSreh
battalat^etsatti b a tta la t tisti

m ulahfias id-dars

’a lg u jb a m a m a j. They canceled the program.

biddo y ilg ijd -d a rs. He wants to cancel the lesson.
’a ctlni 1-ektSb! Givem/fsing me the book!
’a cte t a k j y y a h. I gave you it.
b y a ctu m u sa lsa lwejdld. They’re showing <giving> a new series.
’anhat diraset-ha. She finished her studies.
biddo yinhi dirfisto. He wants to finish his studies.
qabel-m a n in h ij-b a m a m a j... Before we finish the program ...
biddi ardl-ha, I want to please her,
bass h iy y e m a btirda! but she’s not satisfied.
bahreq l-ewrflq. I bum the papers / the leaves.
il-y 5 m h u w w e byun§or il-gasB . Today he hangs out the laundry.
il-m a ja lle nasrat m a q a l-h a . The magazine published her article.
m a b asaddeq ta asOfo. I can’t wait to see him / I’m dying
to see him.

94
Lesson 36

Exercises_______________________________________________
A. Translate into English:
1. biddi agflfak darfiri.
2. h aw a lt ’ardlha, bass m a brirda.
3. ’im m i ra d ye can n i b ass ’abtiy zacl3n m inni.
4. bal5s_etlehhi ca leh, ’iz a bilehhu caleh byiz cal.
5. biqfllu inno bye cm al k u ll ju h d o hatta yirdlld.
6 . m a b isad d eq ta ylji y o m il-im tih an .
7. k lf it-ta q s19 il-y5m ? - cin(d)na fi-l-q u d s cam -(b)tisti.
8. ’aj3ni maktGbwem raqab.
9. u -an a fakkart in n o ’a lg u j-m u r a q a b e .
10. la zem wetn a ffez il- ’aw 3m er.
11. l a ’, ’a n a m a cfi.
12. y a cni? m in ’acf a k / ’a cta k ’i cf a ’?
13. h iy y e ( ’a)lahhat ca la y y u -a ct6 t-h a j-m u fta h .
14. ’utolbi minhom inno yactflkij-muftah.
15. u -iza m a bihebbu y a ctQniwy y 3 h?
16. jaretn a ’a ctat m a sa r i la-bint-ha.
17. ’im m e k ^ b ta ^ Ik i m a sa ri?
18. Jam il ’a ctah a §urto u -h iy y e ’a ctato suret-ha.

B. Complete the sentences

(Replace the English words with the appropriate expression in Arabic):
19. klf it-taqs fi-n-nasre? - (it’s raining).
20. u-klf cin(d)kom fi-l-quds? - (It rained) embareh.
21. ruhi ca-l-m aktab, is-sik ertgra20 (will give you) 1-ewraq.
22. cabbiwt-talab 21 u -w -a ctlh la s-sik ertgra, (give her it)!

19. taqs [2 ] = weather; climate.

20. sikeltgr, (f) -ra = secretary, from French secretaire.
21 . talab [2 ] = request; application form. lazem jcabbi talab = He's got to fill out
an application form.

92
 Lesson 36

23. h iy y e s a lla m a t il-m a k tu b la - ’ib en -h a ? - ’a , (she gave him it).

2 4 .5 o d il-ja rid e , ’iz a b ets u f ’a b u k , (give him it).
25. ’a ct m ij- m a k tllb , ’a n a (will give her it / deliver it to her).
26. b a ctik i m u h le (until the end of the month).
27. m a b a lh a q ’a k a m m e l, (givepl me) m u h le SahrSn.

C. Translate into Arabic:

28. The program was good; why did youpl cancel it?
29. We didn’t cancel it; tomorrow we’ll show <give> another episode.
30. The majority of the students are ill; we’ll have to cancel the lesson.
31. We won’t cancel it: if there are two or three, I’ll give them the lesson.
32. Where’s the book that youf smg gave to your daughter? - She lost it.
33. Why did youf smg give her it? She’s still young.
34. The results were not satisfactory.
35. Let’s hope you’ll get better results.

D. The subjunctive mood* Translate into Arabic:

36. If youmsing ask him, he’ll give you money.
3 7 .1 don’t like his giving youms,ng money cthat he give you>.
38. I’ll give youmsmg the key.
39. What’s yourmsmg opinion? Should I give her the key?
40. No, don’t give her it. If you give her it, she’ll lose it.

E. Conditional sentences and the composite past tense.

Translate into Arabic:
41. A year ago he used to give me the key.
42. If youms,ng asked him, he’d give you the key.
43. When there was a strike, we would cancel the lesson.
44. If it were raining, we would cancel the lesson.
45. If I could, I would exempt you from the lesson.
46. Each time he would exempt us from the lesson.

F. Dropping the word illi. Translate into Arabic:

47. There are people who would like to travel abroad.
48. The people who would like to travel abroad need to submit an application.
49. Who is the teacher who gives youmsmg lessons?
50. Right, I’ve found someone to give me lessons.

93^
dars sabca u-talatln
37
Lesson Thirty-Seven
The time has com e to take another step towards storming the fortress o f the
Arabic verb Forms. Today w e’re going to take a look at Form 5 (tfaccal), many
o f whose verbs are reflexive versions o f verbs you learnt in Form 2; for example
ca lla m (f-2) means to teach, while its Form 5 version tcallam means to learn
<to teach o n e se lfx In the Explanations you’ll find a description o f the various
meanings and uses o f f-5, together with details o f its special relationship with f-
2. But before that, as usual, w e’ll begin the lesson with the conjugation o f this
new type o f verb.

In the past tense the regular f-5 verb - like all other verbs from f-2 all the way
to f-8 + f-10 - conjugates like katab (f - 1 ) 1 As always, note the position o f the
stress in the 3”1person as opposed to the 1st and 2nd persons.

The present-future tense is easy, as the “core” tcallam doesn’t change when
the prefixes and suffixes are added:
Past tense P resent-future tense
tca llam -t I learnt ba-tca lla m I learn / will learn
tca llam -t youm S!nglearnt bti-tca llam yo u ” s,ng learn/ will learn
tcallam -ti you learnt... bti-tca lla m i you sing learn / will leant...
tca lla m bi-tca lla m
tcallam at bti-tcallam
tcallam -na bni-tcallam
tcallam -tu bti-tcallam u
tcallam u bit-tcallam u

Additional examples: tg a y y a r = to change (intrans), an easily-identified verb;

tw aqqac / tw a q q a c = to expect. The active and passive participles and the
verbal noun o f these verbs are as follows:

A ctive participle:
m itca lle m (f) m itca l(l)m e [m itcal(l)m ln ]2 = well educated <having-leamt>
or mutaca llem # (f) m utaca llim e [m utacSllim In]

1. Apart from the 3rd person feminine singular (she), of course: katb-at (f-1), but
tcallam -at (f-5).
2. With a single -1- instead of a double one, as the next letter is a consonant. The
doubling is weakened or disappears altogether as in biddna * bidna.

94
 Lesson 37

■ mitgayyer = changing <having-changed and continuing to do so>

mitwaqqec / mutawaqqec ^ = expecting <having-expect6d and continuing...>
Passive participle: m utaw aqqac # = expected . This word is not used in
everyday conversation, but is confined to higher, more formal speech registers.
It is heard on the news, etc., and provides us with a good example o f the passive
participle, which is rarely used in this verb Form.
Note the similarities and differences between f-2 and f-5:
f-2 ca lla m b ica lle m m uca lle m
f-5 tca lla m bitcallam m itca lle m
You w ill notice that the final vowel is different in the present-future:
- As elsewhere, -e indicates the active voice, while -a signifies the passive.
- Remember: bisker is active (he gets someone else drunk), while biskar
means he gets drunk himself.
In both these verb Forms the active participle has the vow el -e.
VN: tacallom learning, study
■ tagayyor3 [tagayyorfit] changing, change [changes]
tawaqqoc [tawaqqocat] expectation
Naturally, all these nouns obey Rule [2], e.g., it-tagayyor ([the] change), etc.

Vocabulary
r3ca [irSci] f-3 to consider / treat hadar [ihader] to lecture / deliver
with consideration a lecture
sarih f.-ha [-hln] frank, sincere muhadara lecture, talk (n)
sfirah [isareh] to speak frankly to mustawa level, standard (n)
saraha [2 ] frankness, plain battal insignificant;
speaking worthless
zaw3j4 [2 ] marriage w8jah [iwajeh] to encounter; to face
tjawwaz4 f-5 to get married §acar [yuscor] to feel / sense
raqem [|] [’arqfim] number, digit suc(lr emotions, feeling(s)
q3si (cp haqsa) hard, difficult, tough salafan in advance
waqec [waqa’ec] fact; reality forad [yifred] to assume / suppose
waqici (f) -ciyye realistic; realist cajlb wonderful; amazing
t)ilal during, within, tcajjab to be surprised / be
in the course of... amazed; to marvel at

3,4. See next page.

9<L
 Lesson 37

Conversation
- m in callam ak carabi?
- ’a n a jtcallam t m inwektab
w -etcallam t m in in -n a s kam an.
’illi b iljalet in -n as
bitcalla m m in il-m u l}alata.
bass hallaq badaw w er cala
w ah ad is a ^ d -n i fi tamrin il-lu g a . to help me to practice the language.
- ebtu§cor inno taqaddom
m in yom -m a Jbdlt tudros?
- ’a , sw a y y we§w ayy
em nitqaddam 345 u-m nitca lla m
k lf nihki m ac in-nas.
- w a lla , m us b attal! m u s bass
in n o b^tdabber halak, ebtihki
z a y y il-b u lb ol!
- m a zb u t bahki, bass
m M -m a lS zem
lis s a n ijn ta w w e l,
lissa biddi w aqt.
lissa n i balatteS6
- il-m u h em m i n n o j ca w w a d et
cala lahjet il-balad.
- Who taught you Arabic?
- 1 learnt from a book, and I learnt from
people, too. If you mix with people you
learn <[he] who mixes-with people leams>
[a lot] from contact [with them]. But now
I'm looking for someone
- Do you feel that there’s been <that there
is> progress since the day you started to
learn? - Yes, we’re progressing
gradually <slowly slowly> and learning
how to talk to people.
- Wow, that’s not bad! You can do more
than just <[it*s] not just that you> get
along, you speak fluently d ik e the night-
ingale>! - It’s true I [can] speak, but
[before I can speak] properly I’ve still got
a long way to go <1 [am] still taking
a long time>, I still need time.
I don’t speak properly yet.
- The main thing <the im portant is that
you’ve got used to the local dialect
<the dialect of the country>.

3. The f-5 VN tagayyor means <[the] undergoing of change>, while the f-2 VN
ta g y lr means <[the] causing of change>. Arabic distinguishes between the two:
tagayyor is used to refer to an internal change that takes place in a person, a society or
the weather, while ta g y lr designates change caused by external factors.
4. What’s the root here - z-w -j or j-w -z ? You’ll find the answer in Explanations 2.

5. Sometimes people refer to themselves by the plural we instead of the singular /

(rather like the “royal we” in English).

■ 6. When someone asks you btihki carab i? you can reply y a cn i... m en lattes
ta ltls! which means Well, I know a smattering <we gabble a gabble>. The f-2 verb
la tta s means to speak (a language) poorly; to talk rubbish.

96

’ana batcajjab qadd6swetcallam et
Ijilal m u d d et sitt-ushor.
- ya hablbi, ’a w w a L ? b -’ a w w a l
m nitgallab7 calajs-§u cubSt.
’illi b iw Sjeh su cub3t
lS zem y e cref k lf y itg a lla b caleha.
btecraf, il-carab i m u s h a y y en
la l-’ajaneb.
- batsaw w ar-li.
- ya Sam ir, hadlk il-m arra
haket-li can hadaj>-sabb
m in m u salsal it-telefizy 5 n ...
- ’a y w a , ’ism ac §u sor:
sfihbo l) a lll sa d a fo fi-s-§8rec
u-Jam ll h ak a-lo can hobbo
la-bint, fa -sfih b o z ice l u -qal-lo:
’ahkl-lakj^ b-saraha?
- ’uff! biddak ta ctlni m u h ad ara?
’ihiki u-l)allesni!
- biddi akOn s a ilh m a cak:
’illi biddak tecm a lo g a la t!
- g a la t illi b atjaw w az
il-’in s a n e 78 illi bahobb-ha?
- mu§ q u lt-illi in n o ’abuk
7. As we have already mentioned elsewhere, some speakers pronounce the -t as d
because of the influence of the following
speakers say (e)d-gallab.
8.’ins2n = a male person/hum an being, and its feminine form ’insane = a female
■ person/hum an being. A woman will tell her insensitive husband,’ana
gOCrad= 7’ma human being, not a thing!
Lesson 37
I’m surprised how much you’ve learnt
within a period of six hionths.
- My friend, step by step we can
overcome the difficulties.
When you run into problems you
have to know how to overcome them.
You know, Arabic’s not easy
for foreigners.
- 1 [can] imagine <1 picture to myself>!
- Samir, last time <that time> you
told me about that boy
from the television serial...
“ Yes, listen to what happened:
his friend Khalil ran into him in the street
and Jamil told him that he loved<of his
love of> the girl and his friend got angry
and said to him: - Shall I tell you frankly
[what I think]?
- Oof, do you want to give me a lecture?
Speak and have done with it <and set me
free>!
- 1 want to be frank with you:
what you want to do is wrong!
-- It’s wrong for me to marry
the person I love?
-- Didn’t you tell me that your father is
-g. In the recording you will hear one of the
’insane, mus
97.
 Lesson 37

b ica red fikret iz-zaw 2j? opposed to the idea of marriage?

k if n a w i910titjaw w az
g a § b en 10 canno.
sta n n a 11*’akam m in sah^r,
yim k en titgayyar il - ’ah w al...
- u-§u biddo J g a y y er-h a ?
, 12
’ab u y q a si ’aktar m im m a 1
b titsaw w ar, u -cum ro m us
ra y eh yirda.
- le s ’inte h5k m itsa ’em , ya Jam il? ■■Why are you so pessimistic, Jamil?
- ’ana basttf il-w a q e c, fyaffina.
w a q iciyyln ! ’a n a b a tta lt ’asm ah
la-hada J ra tteb -li hayati.
- la ’, ya Jam il! la zem jH ra ci
su cur ’abflk.
u-im m ak su betqfll?
- ’im m i? ’im m i m bareh qalat-li:
- su flkrak, ya Jam il,
en su f-lak 18
How do you intend to get married when
he doesn’t want you to <against his will>?
Wait a few months,
things <circumstances> may change...
And what’s going to change them?
My father’s harder [on me] than
you imagine, he’ll
never agree!
- 1 see things as they are <the reality>,
let’s be realistic! I don’t let other
people run my life any more <I’ve stopped
letting anyone organize to me my life>.
- No, Jamil, you must take your father’s
feelings into consideration!
And your mother, what does she say?
My mother? My mother said to me
yesterday
What do you think <what is your thought>
Jamil? Shall we find you <see for you>

9. The verb nawa [yinwi] means to m ean/intend, and it is followed by another verb.
Its active participlenawi, (f) nSwye (pronounced like now yes, without the -s) is
especially useful. The noun niyye [nawaya], which means intention, and which you
learnt in Lesson 21, comes from the same root.
10. The verb gasab [yugsob] means to fo rce/co m p el Its VN is gotsb, and this, with
the addition of the suffix -en^, gives us the expression gasben canno = against his
will; unwillinglyf reluctantly.
11. This is an irregular verb that you’ll learn soon. In the meantime you’ll have no
trouble understanding it when you meet it.
■ 12. min +
ma —►mimma / mimma = than (before a verb): mis mumken asawi
’aktar mimma sawet = I can't do more than I've [already] done.

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 Lesson 37

bint il-h a la l13 illij r a y y e h 14
qalbak...
q u lt-ilh a : b ass... y a cni...
qalat: - su?
m b ayyen _em l)abbi canni ’i§i.
- la jn lja b b i w a -la ca-b alek ,
habbgt ’afath ek 15 b il-m a w d u c.
btitzakkari M una, il-b in t illi
tcallam at m a ci fi-t-ta n a w iy y e16
- ’ay w a , ’ay w a , bint nas,
u-m itca llm e, bass h iy y e
kam m alat diraset-ha u-inte
m us m in m ustaw a-ha...
- casan hek biddi asSfer
u-atcalla m fi-l-^arej,
u-lam m a ’a ija c, bnitjaw w az.
- su y a cni? flkrakjtsfireh15
il-bin^t?
a nice girl who will make you happy
<who will soothe your heart>...
I replied: “But... I m ean...”
She asked <said>: - What?
[You] seem to be hiding something from me!
—I’m not hiding [anything], far from it
<and not on your mind>.
I’d like to talk to you about it
<to open with you in the subject>.
Do you remember Muna, the girl who
...studied with me in high school...
- Yes, I do! A girl from a good family
<the daughter of [good] people>,
and well educated, but she’s finished her
studies and you’re
not on her level...
—That’s why I want to go <travel> and
study abroad, and
when I come back, we’ll get married.
- What’s this? Are you thinking of declaring
yourself to this girl?

13. hal5l = lawful, legitimate; decent, honest; its opposite is harfim. ’iben halal =
legitimate son, and hence a decent / respectable person. You can use this expression as
a term of address: y a ’ibnjfl-halal! When someone appears just as you’re talking
■ about him you can say ’ib n j l- h a la l cind zikro bib5n = Speak o f the devil and he *s
sure to appear <the decent man appears with the mention [of his name]>.

14. The f-2 verb rayyah means to ease / soothe; give (someone) a rest (raha) / a
■ respite. biddi arayyhek = I want to (help you to) take things e a s y /I want to make
things easier fo r you,

15. See Explanations 3.

16. You are familiar with the word tSni. In literary Arabic it is pronounced t5ni, from
which the word tiinaw i (secondary) is derived, m adrase ’ibtida’iy y e = primary
school cbeginning school>, and m adrase tan aw iyye = secondary school / high
school.
Lesson 37

nifred in n o ’ah el-ha Suppose her family doesn’t agree <let’s

m usj^m w afqln...
- ma saraht-ha u-hiyye mwafqa.
- u-abOk, ya Jamil, ’abflk?
’abtik b icfired hal-fikra.
biddo^yyak tistg e l m a co
u -th aw w e§ Sw ayyet m a sa ri
u-bacd£n titjaw w az.
- ya -m m a , ’ihki m a co ’inti,
b a lk i y ism a c m innek.
- ta y y e b , ’itrek-ha calayy,
il-lS le bahki m a co , u -inte
tw a k k a l17 ca l a j a ) l l a h.
assume that her family doesn’t agree>...
—But I’ve spoken to her and she agrees...
—And your father, Jamil, your father?
Your father is opposed to this idea.
He wants you to work with him and save
<accumulate> a bit of money
and then get married.
—Mum, you talk to him,
perhaps he’ll listen to you.
—All right, leave it to me.
I’ll talk to him tonight, and you,
put your trust in God.

A conversation between the students:

- ta y y eb , u-bacden su sfir?
- ya hablbi, lS zem nistanna
la-bukra, la l-h a lq a j-ja y ,
en sa lla b islr Jjev u -bitjaw w azu!
- m abruk salafan!
- ’ihna bihem m -na
in n o jtcallam na ,afca lwejd ld e
u -h allaq bidna nirtahwes w a y y 1718
- OK, and what happened after that?
- My friend, we have to wait until
tomorrow for the next episode.
Let’s hope all goes well and they get
married! - Congratulations in advance!
- What’s important to us is that we’ve
learnt [some] new verbs, and now
we want to rest for a bit.

The fo llo w in g d a y there w a s a p o w e r cu t a n d they d id n 't se e the p ro g ra m . B ut

th ey d id h ear that ’abujs-sabb w a fa q u-Jam il rah -isafer hatta yinhi dirasto
fi-l-^Srej... H e even g o t a visa !

17. The f-2 verb w akkal means to authorize (someone) to act on one's behalf and
w ak ll [w u k ala5] = agent, proxy, authorized representative. The f-5 verb tw akkal =
to have confidence in /place one's trust in [God].

18. This verb, too (you’ll learn it in Lesson 41) is derived from the same root as rfiha
(rest).

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 Lesson 37

Explanations

1. The meaning of Form 5

a) It’s clear from the examples in the Conversation that Form 5 serves, firstly,
as the passive o f Form 2 (he learnt / was taught) and secondly as a reflexive
verb pattern (she washed herself). Let’s take a look at some f-2 verbs together
with their f-5 variants:
calla m to teach (to convey knowledge to someone else)
tca lla m to learn (to receive knowledge / be taught / teach
oneself)
ca w w a d to accustom (someone else)...
tca w w a d to become accustomed / accustom oneself
1 ’ana m itca w w e d cala hek SUg°l Tm accustomed to this kind o f work
<I’m having-accustomed-myself.. .>.
nazzam to organize / arrange (see Book 2, p. 125).
tn a zza m to get organized / organize oneself
il-cu m m aL etn a?zam u The workers organized (themselves) /
The workers got organized.
zakkar to remind
tzakkar to remember / recall / be reminded
zakker-ni fih Remind me o f it!
lissS n i batzakkar Istill recall...
b ah aw el ’atzakkar Vm trying to remember...

ca rra f to tell/inform ; to introduce (someone to

someone else)
tca rra f to get to know /m ake (someone*s) acquaintance;
to introduce oneself /b e introduced.
^ r r a fn i cala ’abQh He introduced me to his father.
biddi atco rra f cala 'abflk I*d like to meet <get to know> your father;
Vd like to be introduced to your father.
cayyan to appoint
tca y y a n to be appointed
baCed -m ajtcayyan t / -net After I was appointed...
b) However, you are already w ell aware that each verb Form has additional
m eanings apart from its main “official” ones, and som e f-5 verbs have
meanings that resemble those o f f-1 and f-2 - but with a special individual twist,
as you w ill see from the examples below:

10L
 Lesson 37

h a r a b 19 to run away / flee

tharrab f-5 to avoid/evade; to run away
■ bitharrab m in il-m a s’u liy y e He evades responsibility.
hatta ’ibni sa r yitharrab m inni Even my son has begun to avoid me.
w ise l to arrive / reach (a place)
tw a s§ a l to arrive at /attain /achieve (a result;
a solution; a compromise, etc.)
tw a ssa ln a ’ila h a ll w a s a t# We reached a compromise <a middle
solutions
galab to win; to defeat
tgallab to overcome (difficulties, anxieties, etc.)
See the Conversation.
il-g a le b w il-m aglO b the winner and the loser (in a game)
tgallabat ca la J -t)o f She overcame [her] fear.

’asrac to be in a hurry; to drive quickly / speed

tsarrac to be in a hurry; to act hastily /a c t rashly
bala§ titsarrac ! Don't be [too] hasty!/D on't be rash!

tham m al to bear (hardship, suffering; responsibility)

■ bihem lu j-m a jr u h cala
ham m ale.
il-m ajruh byitham inal il-w a ja c
la z e m yitham m al n ata’ej
’acm alo.
They carry the injured [man] on
a stretcher.
The injured man bears the pain.
He has to bear the consequences
o f his actions.

19. The f-2 form of this verb (hctrrab) means to force to flee, put to flight or to
smuggle; harrabtl-hom = they scared them off. tahllbweslah= weapons smuggling.

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 Lesson 37

If you compare the verbs and the sentences that exemplify their use you’ll see
that Form 5 is used metaphorically here, and that its meaning is more abstract
than that o f f-1 and f-4.

c) Some verbs take this further, and their meaning is quite different from that o f
verbs from the same root in other Forms. Every Form has its exceptions, and
these have to be lived with. For example:
telec f - 1 to come o u t/g o out; to come u p /g o up
to lla c f-2 to take up / bring up; to take out /bring out
etta lla 0 20 f-5 to look
■ les ebtittallac fly y e hek? Why are you looking at me like that?

2. Of husbands and nuts

What’s the connection between the two? The Arabic root o f words connected
with marriage is z-w -j, but in colloquial speech the first and last letters o f the
root are reversed j-w -z , and a woman refers to her husband as jo z i. However
the word j5 z is also a collective noun meaning nuts / w alnuts, as we saw in the
riddle in Lesson 35, w hose answer was il-joze. However, m y nuts is jd zati
(because w e’re speaking o f a defined quantity - see Lesson 33, p. 38), so
there’s no danger o f confusion.
The whole z-w -j family suffers from this letter-switching, and you will hear
words derived from both the correct and incorrect versions o f this root.
People say both:
—zaw aj or j lz e marriage (though the latter colloquial form is falling
into disuse).
—zaw w aj Or ja w w a z f-2 to give (someone) in marriage /m arry off
—tzaw w aj or tjaw w az f-5 to get married
In educated speech a husband is a za w j# and his w ife is a za w je# The word
zaw j [’azw aj] also means couple, so:
zaw j sabb a young husband; a young couple
■ il- ’azw Sj is-sS b b e# the young couples
One final comment, before w e leave the wedding reception. W e can say:
■ tjaw w az m inha# / m acaha (or) tjaw w az-h a = he married her 20

20. What people actually say is et + ta —>etta, and you will hear ettallac.

103^
 Lesson 37

(± m ac) m liu,etjaw w azat? = Whom did she m any?

3. To start a conversation w ith...

Two interesting verbs with a shared form and similar meanings appear in the
Conversation:
fatah to start a conversation with... /
broach (a subject) with...
Sarah to speak frankly to...; to tell (someone)
the truth; to reveal one’s feelings to...
fatahni b il-m a w d u c He broached the subject with me

■ lazem j^ n sareh il-m a ild We *ve got to speak frankly to the patient /
We must tell the patient the truth.
m a b y ecref k lf isa reh il-b in et He doesn ’t know how to tell the girl how he
feels <to reveal his feelings to the girl>.
Both are f-3 verbs, which, as w e have already seen, take a direct object, with no
intervening preposition.

If you want to talk about a declaration in general, without specifying to whom it

is made, you should use the f-2 verb sarrah, whose V N is ta srlh :
■ esb ecna tasrlhSt! = We’re had our fill o f declarations! /
We’re sick and tired o f declarations!

Supplement

4. More f-5 verbs & some other words from the same roots
For those o f you who want to broaden your horizons and expand your
vocabulary, here, again, is some additional material:

’atar212[’atar] = track, sign, trace; footprint; (archeological) remains

’attar f-2 = to influence / affect; to make an impression on /impress
■ hada b i’atter ca la J -ja w w This affects the atmosphere.
hada ’ilo ta’tfr calaJ[-jaw w This has an influence upon the atmosphere.
et’attar f-5 (m in ...) to be influenced; to be impressed (by...)
(to a writer): hal22 et’attarti m in ’adib m u cayyan?
Have you been influenced by a particular author?

21. You will hear words from this root pronounced both with a t (as in literary Arabic)
and with a t.
22. The word h a l is used in literary Arabic to indicate that a question is being asked.
You will hear it in educated speech and in interviews, quizzes, etc.

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 Lesson 37

ktlrJT’attaint minno. / was greatly impressed by him.

harake [harakSt] movement

harrak f-2
etharrak f-5
m a titharrakI-3 23!
y a lla , tharrak!
su w ar m utaharrike
to move (trans)
to move (intrans)
Don *t move sing!
Come on, get moving (don*t just stand there)!
animatedfilm, cartoon <moving pictures>

hayrfin confused, disconcerted; embarrassed

h ay y a r f-2 to confuse / disconcert; to embarrass
hada b ih a y y em i This disconcerts me.
ethayyar f-5 to get confused/be disconcerted; to become
embarrassed
ethayyottet w en ’ahotto. / didn*t know <1 was confused> where to put it.
g a sa l f-1 to wash / launder (trans)
g a ssa l f-2 to wash (one*s hands, face, etc.)
biddak_etg a s s e l24? Do you want to wash (your hands)?

23. In other words: Keep [perfectly] still! This, is what a photographer, for example,
might say to his model before pressing the shutter. In other contexts, however, Don*t
move s,ng/ might best be translated as khalliki m ah allek = Stay where you s,ng are,
etc. See Lesson 31, Explanations 2.
24. Here, too, t- before -g - is pronounced d. See above, footnote 7.

105l
 Lesson 37

(From a talk on hygiene):

lazem nigsel il-fawakeh bis-sabun We must wash the fruit with soap
U-nilStof-ha, en^alliJ-m ayy and rinse it, we let the water
tijri25 caleha, bacd6n menhott-ha run over it. Then we put it
fi-l-barrad 26, hattajd-dubban in the refrigerator, so that the flies and
wis-saraslr27 rna tljl-S caleha. cockroaches can 7 get at it <won’t come
on it>.
etgassal (edgassal) f-5 = to wash oneself; to take a bath; to take a shower
bacdjg-sug°l batgassal After work I have a bath / take a shower.

SOtraf f-1 to spend (money); to change (money)

etS(UT<jf f-5 to behave
tasarrof 2® [2] VN behavior
I ksf mumken ’ athammal tasarrof-ha? How can I tolerate her behavior?
tasarrofatak garibe You behave oddly <your behaviors are odd>.
wiqec f-1 tofall
woqqac 29 f-2 to sign
etwaqqac / twaqqac f-5 to expect /foresee
hek.etwaqqaCet! That's what 1 expected!
ma kunt mitwaqqec minnak I wasn 7 expecting you to behave like that
hek tasarrof! <such a behavior>!
^alas rescue, salvation
hallas f-2 to save / rescue / extricate
^allasto min il-warta I extricated him from his <the> predicament.
etljallas f-5 to extricate oneself; to get rid o f
m a b a cr e f k if ’atljallas m inno. I don't know how to get rid o f h im /o f it.
SUra [2] [suw ar] picture; photograph
sa w w a r f-2 to photograph / take a photo; to draw

25. The verb jara [yijri] means to run; to flow . You have already come across the
noun m ajra (Book 1, p. 78, footnote 5).
26. Or fi-t-tallSje (J).
27. dubbane 1 1 1 1 = fly, and sarsur = cockroach. Both belong to [2].
28. When used in the singular, tasarrof refers to habitual behavior while the plural
<behaviors> means different types of behavior in a variety of situations.
29. You are familiar with the verb m ad a (to sign), which is suitable for use in an
informal letter or conversation. The verb w a q q a c belongs to the educated / official
language.

106
 Lesson 37

e ts a w w a r f-5 to get one’s photo taken; to imagine

b id d i a ts a w w a r I want to get my photo taken.
b a ts a w w a r-li! 1 can imagine <1 picture to myself>!
b id d o y itja w w a z n i, He wants to marry me, canyoutsme imagine!
ts a w w a ri!

(^ b id d o y itja w w a z n i, ts a w w a n T )

h D 't -

ZT-'l
<•/

ja w le tour, excursion, trip

etja w w a l f-5 to tour/ take a trip; to roam /w ander around
’a cla n u (± n iz a m ) m a n cJ t - t a j a w w o l 30
They imposed a curfew <they declared a (± regime-of) prohibition-of roaming>.

tja s s [iljoss] f-1 to concern / apply to / have to do with

su b iljo ssa k ? What’s [that] got to do with you?/ How does [it]
concern you?
m a biI)ossni ’ana! I t ’s got nothing to do with me!
h a s s (f) I ja s s a / tju siisi special; private
b i-§ a k el 5«s§ especially
I)a§§as f-2 to designate / allocate / set aside [for]
§ a § s a s n a m a b la g la- We allocated a sum [of money] fo r this plan.
h a d a j-m a s ru c
etI)aSS(XS to specialize
9es ta lja s s o s e k ? What’s your speciality / specialty ?
il-m a w d u c illijtf} a s s a s et fih the subject I Specialized in

30. Don’t forget to pronounce a doubled w (as in the English bow window or bow­
wow).
Lesson 37

’S ljer last
’a ljlja r f-2 to delay (trans)
b id u n t a ’ljlr without delay
et’a^ar to be late
m it’afjljer late
’ejlt m it’aljljer. I arrived late / / was late
rije c_eb -s€ ca m it’al)(l})re. He got back la te /a t a late hour.
’a k ld sure, certain, definite
’a k k a d f-2 to assure / confirm
b a ’ak k e d -la k ! I assure you!
et’ a k k a d f-5 to become convinced; to make sure
’in te m it’a k k e d m in Are you sure o f this <of this speech>?
h a d a j-h a k i?
b id (d )h a tita k k a d in n o fth She wants to make sure that there's
l}ubez la -b u k ra . bread fo r tomorrow.

f u ije sight, spectacle (i.e., something interesting /

enjoyable to watch)
e tfa rra j f-5 to watch (with interest / enjoyment)
b n itfa rra j ca-t-telefizyO n We watch television.
b itfa rra ju ca la l u cb e t il-fu tb o l They watch the football match.

’a m a l hope (n)
’a m a l# f-1 / et ’a m m a l f-5 to hope
n it’a m m a l in n o y iija c Let’s hope that he comes back.

b d fica - sllq - h 5 je merchandise- m arket- commodity

e tb a d d a c f-5 to go shopping
r a h a t tith a w w a j She went shopping.

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 Lesson 37

etsaw w aq f-5 to go shopping

ethaw w aj f-5 to go shopping
Tallin ajirO h n itb a d d a c Let’s go shopping!

Now that w e’ve “shopped around” for all these verbs in the Arabic-root market
let’s put them in the fridge for the time being. W e’ll com e back to them every
so often.

The following is a recorded announcement heard on a Jerusalem telephone after

the first two digits (22) were replaced by 25:
ir-raqm en il- ’a w w a l w it-tSni tgayyaru w -h u m m e m in a l-’3n
ten£n Ijamse; b o q i J - ’a rq a m bidun tagylr - w a-sukran.
= The first and second numbers have been changed, and they are from now [on] two
five; the rest o f the numbers [remain] unchanged <without change>. Thank you.

This is an example o f “middle Arabic,” which mixes literary and colloquial

speech. Many well-educated people speak rather like this - something w e’ll be
discussing in Lesson 48. Only one word in the sentence above is unfamiliar to
you: a l’an# , which means now.

m ularjhas id-dars

e^ aw w ad et cala lahjet-kom I’ve got used to your dialect.

k u ll si byitg a y y a r (-d g a -) Everything changes,
kull it-tagayyorat all the changes
bidna nitqaddam We want to progress / move forward.
fth taqaddom There’s [been] progress.
hada w fiq ec. That’s a fact.
ana w a q ici (f) w a q iciy y e I’m realistic / I’m a realist.
b iw ajeh sucubat He runs into <faces> difficulties.
b itgallab ca la ^ -s u cubat He overcomes the difficulties.
zak k em i §u ’ism o Remind me what his name is.
b ah aw el ’atzakkar I’m trying to remember.
hada taharrob m in il-m a s’u liy y e This is an avoidance of responsibility.
b alas titsarrac ! Don’t rush!; Don’t speed!
b itto lla 0 fiy y e (-y y i) He looks at me.

1Q£
Lesson 37

Exercises_______________________________________________
A. Translate into English:
1. la z e m titcallam carabi.
2. m a ’an a bdlt atca lla m u-badros k u ll y6m .
3. ca l31. m in b ical(l)m ak?
4 . cin d i ku tob u-d isk at (disks) u-batca lla m lahali.
5. ’abhk mould u-qalqan calEk, la z e m jtr a ci su ctiro!
6. rajcu j-k a lim 3 t illi tcallam tti-ha!
7. flh sukkan ’aktar m im m a fakkart.
8. ia z e m jtcal(l)m oJ$-§u g°l.
9. b alk i yitca w w a d u -yiq d ar is 3 cdak.
10. h iy y e kam 3n bethobbo u -bidha titja w w a z m ac3 h.
11. bass ’abflha biddo jja w w e z - h a m ac sab b tani.
12. ’an a m a b a cref k lf ’afatho b il-m a w d u c.
13. il-b alad ’ab cad m im m a fakkart.
14. ’iza biCejb ek , m nlh; m a b icjeb -k I-§ 32, bala§!
15. ’an a batcajjab Idf bye cm al.

B. Complete the sentences

(Replace the English words with the appropriate expression in Arabic):

16. ’aju n3s ’aktar (than I expected).

17. m ac3 so (not bad), byu q b od qaddi m arrten.
18. S a lim sa lla h kull ’iSi. ’a h li (was astonished by) satarto.
19. sa h b ak k3n (worried about you) ’an a haddSto.
2 0. s w a y y wesw a y y (he’s getting used) ca l a j - s u g ° l cin(d)na.
2 1. habbet (to introduce her to) ’a h li.
2 2. h iy y e (made the acquaintance of) ’ah lo.
2 3. biddi (to introduce youpl to) sa h b i F u ’3d.
2 4. lissa m a (met <made the acquaintance of>) ’ahlo.
2 5. bid(d)na nitca rra f (yourmsing parents / family).
2 6. bid(d )h om (to marry off) binthom .

31. The exclamation c3 l = great! / wonderful! / terrific! Compare with c31i = high.

32. Remember that the suffix -e k + -s —*■-k lS . See Book 1, Lesson 4, footnote 2.

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 Lesson 37

C. Translate into Arabic:

27. Youpl brought more boxes than I asked for.
28. I’m looking for someonef to help me with the housework.
29. Suppose <we suppose that> he doesn’t agree, what will youmsing do?
30. What’s his name? - 1 tried to remember, but it’s gone out of my head <my mind>.
31. With all these changes I didn’t recognize the place.
32. Yes, the town has changed, and the people have changed, too.
33. And you’ve"1sing changed, too!
34. True, the townsfolk ( ’a h l j l - b a l a d ) didn’t recognize me.
35. His head aches, but he bears the pain in silence <and keeps silent>.
3 6 .1 was expecting that question!
3 7 .1 don’t know why he avoids me.

D. The subjunctive mood. Translate into Arabic:

3 8 .1 heard there’s someone"1helping you in the office.
39. I’m looking for someone"1to help me in the house.
40. Youmsi"s know how he behaves! (See the Supplement).
41. Yes, he’s got to learn how to behave.

E. Conditional sentences and the composite past tense.

Translate into Arabic:
42. If you"1s,ng knew him, you’d like him.
43. But if you’d"1sing introduced me to him, he’d invite me.
44. When he was manager, he used to invite me.
45. If youms,ng helped him, he’d learn.
46. When he was young, he used to learn better.
47. If he did that every day, he’d get used to [it].

F. Dropping the word illi. Translate into Arabic:

48. This is the woman who helps me in the kitchen.
4 9 .1 know someonef who helps the teacherf at the school.
50. There’s a guy here who wants to meet you"1s,ng <to make your acquaintances

114^
Lesson 37

Just for a change:

- il-y 5 m h u w w e n asar il-g a sfl, l i ’an n o m arato kanat m asgO le.

- su cim lat yacni?
- nasrat m a q a le cala s u g lj l- m a r a fi-l-bSt / cala cam al il-m a ra fi-1-
m ujtam ac.

112
 dars tamanye u-talatln
38
Lesson Thirty-Eight
A s already noted, verbs formed from irregular roots in f-2 and f-3 behave just
like regular verbs, so they don’t require a separate lesson. In the case o f f-5, too,
w e can make do with a few examples o f verbs with root patterns DwD / DyD
and those with an identical 2 nd and 3rd root letter:

R oot f-5
§flra s-w -r tsa w w a r
lik e tca llam
^ a ss 5 -s-s tl)as?as
You studied these along with the regular verbs in the previous lesson (see
Supplem ent).

Nevertheless, w e ’d do well to see what happens to root patterns □ajoDa/i , even

though they involve no problems or surprises. The explanations given in Lesson
37 apply here, too. Let’s compare:

callam to teach tcallam to learn <to be taught>

Jjabba to hide (trans) tijabba to hide (intrans)
rabba to raise / bring up trabba to grow up /b e brought up
They are easy to conjugate. Remember the paradigm o f haka (f-1) or
rabba (f-2):

tljabbet / hid (myself) batljabba / hide /w ill hide

t^abbSti you s,ng hid btitf)abbi you slng hide / will hide
djabbetu youpl hid btit^abbu youpl hide /w ill hide
Here you can see once again the differences between f-2 and f-5:

he teaches b ica ll§ m bi^alljajm he learns

he hides (something) biijabbfi] bit^abb§ he hides (himself)

But the active participles o f f-2 and f-5 have the same vow el in the final
syllable:
m ca lle m m itca lle m
m ljabbi m itljabbi

■ laqet il-w a la d ernfjabbiwS-Sakfls I found the boy had hidden the hammer.
laqgt il-w a la d m it^abbi I found the boy hiding.

115 --
Lesson 38

Let’s take the verbal noun (VN) from a different verb: thadda, meaning to
provoke; to challenge / dare (trans).
V N tahaddi [tahaddiyat] = challenge

Vocabulary
5 s a r a [3] [s] loss sa lla [isa lli] f-2 to amuse / entertain
taw ftq [2] success tsa lla [yitsalla] f-5 to have fun / enjoy oneself
gad a lunch tgadda f-5 to have lunch
ca sa dinner, supper tcas§a f-5 to have dinner
raqqa f-2 to promote w aqet-m a when <at the time that>
traqqa f-5 to get promoted m ajalle [-lat] magazine, periodical

Conversation
- ’a h la u -sah la, m lt ’ah la
u -sah la, etfad d al, hallaq
b ah a d d er il-g a d a .
u-bnitgadda saw a.
- l a ’, sukran, se m a m itgaddln...
- ’ akldwetgaddetu ?
- saddeqni, qab el s5 ca
tgaddena fi-l-bgt.
- yajjjsfira, la w jltu ’abkar,
k u n n a jg a d d g n a saw a.
cala ku ll h al, Ijalllna
nithaddas u -n itsalla lahadd
il-ca sa u-btitcas§u m a cna.
- m in jihati m a fi-§ m 3 n ec,
’ih n a fa d y ln , bass m a
bi d n 5-s _en galleb -k om ,
ya ’imm N abtl.
- Hello, welcome <100 times welcome>,
please [come in]. I’m just
preparing lunch, and we’ll
have it <have lunch> together.
- No, thank you, we’ve already had lunch...
- Have you really <certain> had lunch?
- Believe me, we had lunch
an hour ago at home.
- What a pity <oh loss>! If you’d come
earlier, we could have had lunch together.
Anyway, let’s have a chat and
enjoy ourselves until dinner [-time]
and you’ll have dinner with us.
- That’s fine by me <firom my side there’s
no obstacle>, we’re free, but we don’t
want to put you to trouble,
Umm Nabil.

114
 Lesson 3$

- ya c$ b l2is-sttm ! - Of course not <oh, shame of the bad

m a flf-s galab e ’abadan.
- ya ja m a ca, fifc h on biz^r,
tsallu!
- m itsallln jsb -lu tofk om ,
ya ’abu N abll.
’ana Sayef, jib^t m ajallat...
- jibt-ha m in san m arati
casan titsalla. ya ’im m N ab ll
hadOl m insanek, hatta titsalli.
- m a h u 2 cindi w a q et lat-tislay,
ya ’abu N abll?! la z e m
ahad d er il-ca§a.
- ’a lia y a cfik iJ - Ca f y e 3, ya ’im m
N abll. - ’a lia izld ak cafye!
luck>! It’s <there’s> no trouble at all!
- Friends, there are seeds here.
Help yourselves <enjoy>!
- We enjoy your kindness,
Abu Nabil. I see
you’ve brought [some] magazines ...
- 1 brought them for my wife to enjoy
<so that she enjoy>. Umm Nabil,
these are for you to enjoy.
- Really - [when] do I have time for
enjoying myself <for enjoyment>, Abu
Nabil? I’ve got to prepare dinner.
- May God give you health, Umm Nabil!
- May God increase your health!

il-y o m w ahad u-talatln kanun Today is the thirty-first of December,

(il-)’a w w a l, y a cni sahrwetn a c§4.
bukra b id a y e tjs -s a n e l-ejdl<le.
sm ecet bam am ej fi-r-rad yo
s a ’alu n as fi saw arec
bet lah em :
- fi lelet ras is-sa n e, waq^t-m a
kull w ah ad bitm anna
that’s to say, the twelfth month,
[and] tomorrow is the beginning of the new
year. I heard a program on the radio [where]
they asked people in the streets of
Bethlehem:
- On New Year’s Eve, when everyone
makes a wish <wishes a wish>,

1. You already know the noun ce b meaning fault; shame, disgrace. s u m (literary
Arabic s u ’m , ' as we’ll see in the next Lesson), means trouble, bad luck. The
combination serves as a form of protest: How could you think/say that?
2. Remember m a-sufto! = But I did see him! (What are you talking about7) Similarly,
m a-hu + a sentence = Really, how could you think that? or It's not like that at ally
etc.
3. See Explanations 6.

4. See Explanations 7.
 Lesson 38

’u m n iy e 5, ’eswetm annet ’inte? what did you wish for?

- ’in n i akiln ’ana u -’ah li
bi~]jer u -b -sa h h a
u -islr salam !
- u -inte, ya cam m i?
- ’an a batm anna lal-k u ll
is-sa la m ... cindi m a tca m u-
dukkan et suvenlr6,
batm anna inno ylju su y y a h wekttr7
u -a lla y ib cat-elnajr-rizeq8!
- nitm anna-lak it-taw fiq,
’a lia iw a f(f)q a k u -iw a ffeq
il-ja m F
u -k u ll s a n e 9 u-intu salm ln!
- That my family and I would be safe and
well <in goodness and health>, and that
there would be peace!
- And you, sir <my uncle>?
- 1 wish <to> everyone peace ...
I’ve got a restaurant and a souvenir
shop, [and] I wish
that lots of tourists will come, and that
God will provide <send us a livelihoods
- Let’s wish you success,
may God give you and
everyone success, and a
Happy New Year to you!

5. ’umniye [’umniyat, ’amani] = wish, dream. This noun and the verb tmanna
both come from the root m-n-a. The VN tamanni is generally used in the plural:
tamanniyat = [good] wishes.
6. From French souvenir.

7.siySha [2] = tourism, sa’eh / sayeh [suwwah / suyyah] = tourist. A tourist

guide / guidebook is dalll siyahi or gayd (from English guide).

8. rizeq = livelihood, living, razaq = to provide a living; to bless with a child ... (when
the subject of the sentence is God), ’a l i a yurzoqna = May God give us a living! The
passive form of this verb is rizeq [yirzaq] = to enjoy God’s goodness / enjoy a living;
■ the verb is chiefly used in the expression: wen-ma btirzaq, ’ilzaq! = Wherever
you fin d work, that’s where you should stay <wherever you make a living, stick>!

■ 9. kull sine / / sane u-inte Salem, (f) u-inti salme = <every year and may you
be safe and sound>; kull c5m U-intU (intum^) bi-ljer = <every year and may you
be well>. These are standard greetings used on annually occurring feasts by followers of
all the different religions. The proper response is to repeat U-inte sSlem! (or,
according to gender and number: u-inti salme / u-intu salm ln).

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 Lesson 38

’ibni mwazzaf fi maktab — My son is a clerk in an office and

u-mabsufin min §uglo.
bid-hom iraqquh,
yacni fib ’amal yitraqqa,
li’annoj-mudlr qal-lo bi-nafso:
- is-§ahrjl-jay bidnajiraqqlk.
[they’re] pleased with his work. They’re
going to promote him. I mean, there’s a
good chance <there’s hope> he’ll be
promoted, because the manager himself
told him:
- Next month we're going to promote you.

Explanations

1. Have you eaten yet?

A s you’ve known for a while, ’akal means to eat a specific food (Lesson 24,
B ook 2, p. 84, footnote 1) while special verbs are used for eating each different
meal o f the day. Now we can sum up:

a) l-eftGr [3] breakfast <the breakfast>

’ctftar to have breakfast
■ ’em ta ’aftart? When did you have breakfast?
sukran, sert m iffer10. Thank you, V vem slng already had breakfast.
sukran, sert m lffre. Thank you, I ’vefsms already had breakfast.

10. Or mufter, but see the remarks on the active participle in Lesson 35,
Explanations 6.
Lesson 38

b) il-g a d a lunch
tgaddSt cin d o I had lunch at his house.
sukran, sert m itgaddi (f -dye). Thanks, I ’ve already had lunch.
c) il- ca sa dinner; supper
tcas§£t bakklr I had dinner early.
sukran, se m a m itca ssln Thanks, we’ve already had dinner.
lam in a batgadda m it’a^Ijer, When I have lunch late,
m a batcasSa. I don’t have dinner.
but
sa r m slkel il-la h m e He had eaten the meat.

You can use the list above to work out how to say: “D o you want to eat with
us?” The answers are at the end o f the Explanations, before the lesson summary
box (mulaljljtt? id-dars).

In conclusion, we can add that there are also special f-2 verbs that express to
give (som eone) breakfast, lunch, etc.: fattar, gadda, ca§§a.

i ’im m i fattarat-ni. My mother gave me breakfast <breakfasted me>.

jaretn a gaddat-ni. Our neighbor gave me lunch.
’a n a casseto. I gave him dinner.

2 . M o r e a b o u t th e im p e r a tiv e
Y ou’ve grown accustomed to forming the imperative from the 2 nd person
singular subjunctive mood o f the verb:

t-sttf —*■s>Of! Look!

t-k am m el —> kam m el! Continue! Finish!
t-ikteb —»• ’ikteb! Write!
t-ikrem —* ’ikrem ! Honor!
t-itca lla m —»• etcallam ! Learn!
To sum up:
- 1- (no vow el) - omitted.
- ti- (stressed) - replaced with ’i-
- ti- (unstressed) - replaced with (e), which may be omitted.

This is a good opportunity to take a look at the negative imperative -

“D on’t . . . ” which in Arabic is expressed by a negative particle plus the
subjunctive:

118
 Lesson 38

nadi ’ibnak! Call your son!

nadlh! Call him!
m ajtn ad lh! Don't call him!
m ajtn ad l-h o-s! D on't call him!
balasjH nadlha! Don't call her!

3. The past perfect tense

When you want to say something like By the time I got there he had written the
letter , you use the past perfect tense (had written). In Arabic, this is expressed
by the auxiliary verb kan plus the relevant verb, both in the past tense:
At nine o 'clock katab il-m aktttb he wrote the letter.
When I came at ten, kan katab ... he had written .. .che-was he-wrote>
When I arrived, k3nu I)allasu they had finished
<they-were they-finished>.

Note that the auxiliary kan can either be in the same gender and number as the
main verb, or remain invariable as kan, e.g., k an h akat-lo = she had told him
<it-was she-told-him>.
You will undoubtedly hear this combination, but don’t forget that the same
thing can also be expressed by using k an + the active particle, for example:

At ten o'clock kan katbo he had written it <he-was having-written-it

raw w ahat bakklr She went home early,
m raw w eh, (f) mraw(w)ha having-gone-home™**sing
lam m a jit kanatwem raw(w)ha When I came, she was [already]
on her way home.
I wanted to make a change, but k5nu j n ^ a lls ln ... they had finished
<they-were having-finished>.
I came late, kan sfir sareb [and] he had [already] taken (the medicine).

See B ook 2, p. 79, Explanations 2.

Primed with these explanations, you’ll have no problem understanding the
following construction, which is very similar:

4. The future perfect tense

When you get there tomorrow, perhaps he w ill have w ritten the letter. The
future perfect tense in Arabic is likewise expressed by means o f the auxiliary
verb kan, but this time it is in the present-future tense (ba- / bet- / b i-k u n ...),
plus the active participle o f the verb:

119
 Lesson 38

When you arrive bikfin kateb il-maktflb he will have written the letter.
A t 10 o ’clock bitkflnujnljallsln you will have finished.

5. Wishing or fearing about the past

Let’s take another step forward, and see how similar combinations are used with
verbs o f wishing, hoping and fearing. You already know that such verbs are
follow ed by a verb in the subjunctive mood:

■ batmanna inno yinjah / hope he succeeds cthat he succeeds

’ana Ijayef inno yizcal I ’m afraid he ’ll be angry.
What happens when the hope or fear relates to the past? You don’t yet know
what happened, but you hope / wish to hear that things have turned out well; or
you’re afraid, not o f the future, but o f asking if someone was angry - in case he
was. Here, too, kiln, this time in the subjunctive ’a- / t- / i-kfin, is used as an
auxiliary with a verb in the past tense, or sometimes a participle.

After a children’s TV program:

■ nit’ammal11 il-bam5maj We hope you liked the program

ikto cajab-kom <that-it-be it-pleased-you>.

After a radio interview with a young musician:

nit’ammal ’ahlak ikunu
san^mak.
’ana ^ayfe ikun ’azcajak.
fth l)5fwetktln bacat bet-ha.
majkun sabo12 ’isi!
L et’s hope your parents heard you I Let’s
hope your parents will have heard you
<will-be having-heard-you>.
I ’m afraid he’ll have bothered you.
There’s a risk <fear> that she’ll have
[already] sold her house.
[Hopefully] nothing will have happened
to him <not-be has-hurt-him something>!

11. The noun ’amal means hope, fiss ’amal = there’s no hope; there’s nothing to be
hoped for. qatac il-’amal = he despaired <he cut [the thread of] hope>, but look up
despair in the Index to the Dictionary for an alternative. The verb et’ammal (f-5) = to
hope.
■ 12. sab [islb] means to hurt (trans); to hit (a target), qawwas cal5h bass m3
sdlbo / ma sabo-s means He shot at him but didn’t hit him. From the same root,
mslbe [3]= trouble; disaster. hay l-emslbe inno ... = That’s the trouble, th a t...

120
 Lesson 38

m a°qfll Jam il ikfin q a l-lo hek? Is it likely Jamil would have told him
cthat Jamil be he-has-told him>
anything like that?
And we hope th a t... you-be you-have-understood!

6. il-cafu, il-c3fye
Arabic has a wealth o f expressions o f blessing and good wishes, which are used
spontaneously at every opportunity.

When someone is working or beginning a piece o f work, people say:

■ ’alia yaffle il-cafye (yactlkiJ -Cafye)! May God give you™*sing health!
The appropriate response is:
’alia izld ak (izld ek ) cafye! May God increase yourm,fsing health!
(or) ’ a l l a j caflk (-k i)! May God make you ni/fs,ng healthy!

In the last expression above, the f-3 verb cafa [ic3fi] is used (conjugated like
nada, L esson 34, pp. 55-56). The root carries the sense both o f health and o f
pardon or exemption, as in the invaluable expression: il-cafu or cafw an!
meaning Excuse me! You’re welcome! (in response to Sukran), and the verb
’a cfa means to exempt (see L esson 36).

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Lesson 38

7. Months and dates

The Arabic month names equivalent to those of the Gregorian calendar
are:
kanun it-tani13 January cthe second kanun>
§bat February
’adar March
nisSn April
’iyyar May
haziran / ehzTran June
tammuz July
’3b August
’elfll (’aylfll) September
tiSrin il-’awwal October cthe first tishrin>
tiSrin it-tani November cthe second tishrin>
kanun il-awwal December cthe first kanun>

’elfll il-’aswad Black September (in 1970 in Jordan)

Cardinal numbers are used for dates, except for the first, which is ‘awwal, and
instead o f naming the months (as above), you can refer to them by number:

’awwal ’iyyar The first o f May

fi talate nisan On the third <three> o f April
fi talate ’arbca On the third o f April con three [of month] four>

The M uslim or H ijri calendar (it-taqwTm il-hijri) is based on 12 lunar

months in a year o f 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events and determine the
day on which Muslim holidays should be celebrated.
The Muslim months in no way correspond to the months o f the Gregorian
calendar. This means that the month o f ramaddn, for example, may occur at
any time in the solar year.

13. kanun is a charcoal-burning stove used in times past. Old people say that in early
winter they would light one stove, then in January, when the weather got colder, they
would light a second stove.

122
 Lesson 38

The names o f the months in the Muslim calendar are as follows:

muhorram
safar
rabF il-’awwal
rabF it-tSni
jumSdaJ-’flla (o r: il-’awwal)
jum adaj-’a^ira (or: it-t3ni)
rajab
sacban
ramadfin
gawwSl
d u j-q a cda
duj-hijja

How do you say: “Would you like to eat with us?” The solution is:
In the morning:

biddak tiftar macna?

biddek tiftari macna?
At noon:

biddak titgadda macna?

biddek titgaddi macna?
In the evening:

biddak titcassa macna?

biddek ti^ a ^ i macna?
But it’s best simply to say: tfo d d a l! and persuade your visitor to sit down at the
table!

122.
 mulaf)t)a§ id-dars

tgaddStu? Have youpl had lunch?

sema mitgaddln We’ve had lunch.
’immi gaddat-ni My mother gave me lunch.
tcass6tu? Have youpl had dinner?
bidna nitca§sa sawa Let’s have dinner together.
’immi bitca§§I-na My mother gives us dinner.
wgn il-walad mitijabbi? Where is the boy hiding<having-hidden>?
lesj^tljabbgt? Why did you hide?
’ana ma bakol lahme. I don’t eat meat.
’ana ma baftar is-sub°h. I don’t eat (breakfast) in the morning.
’ana bafJor-§ is-sub°h. I don’t eat (breakfast) in the morning.
’alia yactlk il-c3fye! May God give you health!
(equivalent to “Enjoy your work.”)
’allajzldak c3fye! Thank you! (response to the above)
•[’a l l a j caftk (-ki)!] Thank you! (response to the above)
batmann3-lak it-tawflq! I wish you success!
’alia iwaf(f)qak (-qek)! Good luck <May God make-you $ucceed>!
lamma jit kan^mrawweh When I got there <1 came> he had
[already] gone home.

lamma btusal When you arrive,

bikan_eml)alles he will have finished.
bat’ammal inno ikun nijeh I hope he’ll have been successful
<that he-is he-succeeded>.
’ana b^yef ikun ’azcajek. I’m afraid he’ll have bothered you
<that he-is he-bothered-you>.
kull sane u-intu salmln! Happy New Year!
kull c3m u-intu Jb-b6r! Happy New Year!
 Lesson 38

Exercises_______________________________________________
A. Translate into English:
1. ’aljfly dalll siyahi, byirsed14 suyyah fi-l-ebl8d u-fi-l-ljarej.
2. fi-l-ljarej kamfin? - ’aywa, binazzem rehlat la-italya.
3. has-sine bisafer fi talate ljamse u-biqac fi 5amestaC§ sitte.
4. yacni biddo iglb15 §aher u-nuss. - taqrfban.
5. u-fi dalll tani mawcreft5-§, bass telec ’adami.
6. le§ cam-titgadda la-haiak?
7. marati tgaddat qabli u-rahat ca-s-suq tithawwaj.
8. ’6§ ’umnltek lal-mustaqbal? - ’inni asrr_emcallme.
9. ’ana kaman min sigctri tmannet aslrwemcallem.
10. jam a daljlo qalfl, talab ’icfa’ min id-dailbe.
11. law fih hfin majallat, kunna mnitsalla fiha.
12. ethaddasna mac b a ^ d u-ba^gn^etcaSggna.
13. batmanna inno ikfin cajabak!
14. maskln hal-marld: tul il-lSl bidalljqohh.
15. ’ana Ijayef ikfln_eml)alles min zman.
16. fib ’amal titraqqa fi-l-mustaqbal?
B. Complete the sentences
(Replace the English words with the appropriate expression in Arabic):
17. sarat is-seca tintSn (haven’t youfsinghad lunch yet?)
18. bukraj3-subeh (we’ll have breakfast together) u-menrfih Ca-s-sugel.
19. il-mudlr mabsflt minni u-(he promoted me).
20. is-sikertera mnlha kfflr, (we promoted her).
21. biijac fi ’3l}er_esbat (or on the first of March).
22. nit’ammal inno (youmpl will have finished <you will be having-finished>
= active part.).
2 3 . smeCet biddakwe (to be away) muddet sittjushor.
24. nit’ammal innoj-bamamaj (<will have> pleased youpI).

14, ’arsad (f-4) = to guide; to instruct, m u lle d = guide.

15. gab [iglb] conjugated like jab , means to be absent; to be away, k8n gSyeb
(active part.) = He was absent.

125^
Lesson 38

25. smecna bid(d)hom yirfacu (the income tax).

26. *aywa, eCmelna ’idrfib, bass (to no avail <with no benefit>)
See Book 2, p. 99.
27. ’iza basafer cala mfiser, (I’ll let youpl know).
C. Translate into Arabic:
28. It’s <become> twelve o’clock, do youmsmg want to have lunch with us?
29. If youmsing come at two o’clock, he will [already] have gone home.
3 0 .1 hope all the students will have done well <succeeded>.
31. By three o’clock he’s sure to be back <sure that-he-be having-returned = active part.>.
32. He came back on the third of December.
3 3 .1 want to move-house in two more days, that’s to say on the first of June.
34. The girl hid behind the house and they couldn’t <didn’t> find her.
35. At noon we’ll have lunch in a restaurant and at night we’ll have dinner at home.
36. What’s yourf s,ng wish for the future?
37. Every year I wish for the same thing: that there will be peace.
38. Did you give the address to Su’ad? - 1 gave her itm.
39. Where do youf sing have lunch?
40. You’r e fs,ng a good clerk. I heard they’re going to promote you.

D. The subjunctive mood. Translate into Arabic:

4 1 .1 told my wife the manager would have dinner with us.
42. She said: It’s not possible for him to have dinner with us today. Tomorrow
it’s possible (Book 2, Lesson 22, Explanations 1).
43. They told me at the office that they’d promote her next week.
44. That’s to say, there’s a good chance <there’s hope> that they’ll promote her.

E. Conditional sentences and the composite past tense.

Translate into Arabic:
45. If he had money, he would travel to Egypt.
46. Every six months he used to travel to Egypt.
47. If they had time, they would have lunch with us.
48. When they lived with us, they used to have lunch with us.

F. Dropping the word illi. Translate into Arabic:

4 9 .1 brought [some] magazines that I found in the office.
50. Where are the magazines that you brought from the office?

126
 dars tisca u-talatln
-------------------------------------------------------------------------39
Lesson Thirty-Nine
Today w e ’ll learn a verb Form that’s vital for inter-personal relations: tfacal or
f-6 . If I want to make peace with a friend after a quarrel, I b a -sa le h him (f-3).
If the feeling is mutual and he, too, wants to make up with me, then we bni-
tsalah .

W e made f-2 into f-5 by adding t - : t-ca lla m

And w e can turn f-3 into f-6 by adding t - : t-sa la h .

W e’ll discuss the various meanings o f f-6 in the E xplanations. For now, w e’ll
just take our customary look at the paradigm o f a verb from this group. And
since you’ve got used to f-5, you won’t have any difficulty with f-6, whose
conjugation is identical, with one small difference: it has -3- / -a - in place o f
the doubled second root letter: t-sfi-la h / t-ca -ll-am . A s usual, you can add a
helping vow el (e) before the t- if need be, as an aid to pronunciation:
(e)tsa la h .

P ast Present-future
tsa la h -t I made peace 1 b atsa la h I make peace / will make peace
t$alah -t yo u *slng made peace b titsa la h y o u 1s,n8 make peace / will...
t§alah-ti you sing made peace btitsfilcthi you svng make peace / will...
tso la h he made peace, etc. b itsa la h he makes etc.
tsa la h a t btitsfilah
tsa la h -n a b n it-sa la h (in Galilee m nit- of course)
tsalah -tu btitsfilahu
tsa la h u b itsa la h u

Let’s learn a few more verbs from this group to demonstrate the active and
passive participles and the verbal noun (VN):

tdSfaS (to jostle one another), tkStab (to correspond with / exchange letters with).

1. How can you mutually make peace in the singular? The singular form is used in
■ expressions that contain a complement, e.g.: tSCtlaht ’an a wiyyS*1 = We made peace
<1 made peace I and he>; tljSnaqat h iy y e u -j5z-ha = She had a fight with her
husband.

12 Z
Lesson 39

tfjslnaq2 {to fight one another), tzahar {to demonstrate / take part in a demon­
stration)i, tbadal {to exchange; to substitute), and tsamahu {they forgave one another
/gave in to one another).
Active part.:
mitsaleh (f) mitsalha [mitsalhin]
mutazaher# (f) mutazahira [mutazahinn]
Passive part.:
mutabadal# (f) mutabadale [mutabadalln] = mutual <exchanged between>
VN tasfiloh = reconciliation
tasamoh = tolerance (mutual forgiveness and reconciliation)
In practice, many verbal nouns relating to f-6 verbs are derived from other
Forms, like f-3 or even f-1 :
etdafa§ f-6 mdafaie f-3 jostling
etk5tab f-6 mkatabe f-3 correspondence
etzahar f-6 muzahara f-3 demonstration
et^anaq f-6 ^naqa f-1 fight, row

Note once again the difference between the present-future and the active part.:

bnitkatjajb we write to each another

mitkatjejb [someone] corresponding (with someone else)
In this, too, f-6 is similar to f-5.

Vocabulary
tfS’al f-6 to be optimistic baqi rest; remaining, remainder
mazah [yimzah] to joke ^ilal in, within (time); during
etfaham f-6 to understand one another
’aslah [yisleh] f-4 to make peace (between...)
etqatal f-6 to hit one another; to fight
etsalah f-6 to make peace with one another / make up
bared (cp ’abrad) cold (adj)
mistcedd f.-dde [mistceddln] ready, prepared (to)
rakan [yirken] f-1 cala... to rely (on)

2. See Explanations 1.

128
 Lesson 39

Conversation
§«hbi I)aM ekffr bihebb yimzah. My friend Khalil is a great joker
<loves [very] much to joke>.
marra kan mareq fi-s-§arec, Once he was walking <passing> in the street
u-saf_etnSn cam-bud°rbu3 baCed and saw two [men] hitting each other.
lamma maraq jamb-hom q a l: As he passed them cbeside them> he said:
- ’alia yacffkom il-cafye! —Your health <may God give you good
health>!
wahad q a l: - ’a l l a j caflk! One of them said: - The same to you
<may God heal you>...
bass baqiji-nas qalu-lo: But the other people <the rest-of the people>
said to him:
- sfl hada? nas cam-bitqatalu —What’s this? People are fighting
u-inte betsajjec-hom4?! and you encourage them?
safan5 u -q al: He reflected and said
- walla, hassabt-hom6 —Really <by God>, I thought they were
mugari^n [professional] wrestlers
cam-bilcabuJ-musaraca ! playing at wrestling!
bass ’iza humme mitfjasmln7 But if they’re in conflict with each other
biddi asleh-hom. I want to make peace between them.
sim ^j-tengn illijtqatalu The two who were fighting heard that
inno hassab-hom inusari0!!!, he thought they were wrestlers

3. This already familiar form, darabu (f-1) + bacd, is more commonly used than the
f-6 form tdoirabu. Don’t try to create f-6 verbs automatically from every root: just use
those f-6 verbs you know from your studies to be current, and be prepared to learn more
from real-life situations.
4. sajaca [2 ] means courage. SUjac, (f) -a [sujc5n] = courageous. Sajjac (f-2) =
to encourage / embolden.
5. safan [yusfon] means to ponder / reflect. Maybe you remember Book 2, p. 131.
Here our friend Khalil, taken by surprise, ponders silently.
6. has sab (f-2) = to think (someone) to be ...
■ hassabtak carabl = I thought you were an Arab.
7. Ijasem = rival, opponent (in a dispute, court case or election). IjCtSmak = your rival.

12R
 Lesson 39

sfiru yed h ak u , b attalu and began to laugh, stopped

yitljanaqu w -etsalah u . fighting, and made up with each other.
hek sa h b i ’aslah j^ tn en That’s how <thus> my friend made peace
kanu cam -bitl)anaqu. between two [men who] were fighting.

’abuy b a tta l y istg e l8 w -etqacad 9 My father stopped working and retired.

la z e m ya^od m acas taqacod
sahri b -sitt m lt s£kel.
bass lam m a qaddam it-ta la b ,
sa r flh s u ’ 10 tafahom
u-lahadd il-y o m m a sajjalu*1.
’abuy m us m istcedd y itn a z a l11
can haqqo. qaddam
ta la b lat-ta’m ln il-w a ta n i
m arra tan ye u-bistanna.
w ahad m in il-m u w a z z a fln q a l-lo :
- w a la ihem m ak, ya ca m m i12,
hott ’id6k eb -m ayy b ard e13!
He is entitled to cmust get> a monthly
retirement pension of 600 shekels.
But when he submitted the application,
there was a misunderstanding and so far
<up to this day> they haven’t registered
him. My father is not prepared to give up
his right. He submitted an application
to the National Insurance
a second time and [now] he’s waiting.
One of the officials told him:
~ Don’t worry <and it shouldn’t worry
you>, sir, you can rest easy.

8. We’ll learn this Form soon (Lesson 41).

9. m itq 3ced / m utaqaced means retiree, pensioner. You’ll remember the verb q a cad
meaning to sit and also to be unemployed / not working. The explanation might be that
pensioners are wont to sit “mutually” opposite one another on benches in the sun! Even
if this is not the case, the image may help you to remember this f-6 verb and its
meaning.
■ 10. SU,# means evil, badness, li-su’ il-hazz means unfortunately <to the badness of
luck>.
11. The verb n izel {to go down) is already very familiar. Here you can work out that
tnazal means “to go down” from one’s claim, in other words, to give up one’s rights,
or ownership.
12. People may respectfully address a man older than themselves as cammi {my uncle)
and an older woman as § u lti {my aunt).
13. In Galilee you will hear ’ld a k (sing.). The idea is: cool down, put your hands in
cold water to lower your temperature.

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 Lesson 39

l)ilal ’usbucen bijik jaw3b Within two weeks you’ll get <will come
u-bto^od haqqak. to you> a reply and you’ll get your right[s].
’illi bitfS’al bil-tjer, bilaqih. If you expect the best, you’ll find it
<the optimistic in good finds it>!
- tayyeb, ’ana mutafa’el / mitfa’el,, —OK, I’m optimistic, but don’t
bass ma tinsanl-s. barken calek! forget me, I’m relying on you!
- tikram, ya cammi! —Trust me <be honored>, sir.

fi-l-madrase, fth tac5won14 At school, there is cooperation

ben l-emcallmln wil- ’ahali. 1between the teachers and the parents,
wil-emcallmln lazem and the teachers [too] must
yitcawanu mac il-mudlr. cooperate with the principal.

il-marid lazem yitcawan The patient must cooperate

mac id-doktor. with the doctor.

hadaj-mu^tar darblno15 This mukhtar [community representative]

bis-sakakln la’inn-hom16 was stabbed cthey hit him with knives>
hassabuh mutacawen. because they thought he was a collaborator.

From the Conversation and the explanations at the beginning o f the lesson, we
can extract two f-6 verbs: tbadal + tnazal, which will enable you to understand
■ the expression tanazolat m utabadile (m utabSdale^) [ b ], meaning mutual
concessions.

14. cawn = help; cawan = to help ; tcawanu (f-6) = they helped one another/they
tacawon, the WO- is pronounced wa-, as in English water or
■ cooperated. In the word
walk.

15. dfireb = having hit. darblno = [They are] having-hit him.

16. la’inn- = li’ann-, see Book 1, p* 32.

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Lesson 39

Explanations

1. The meaning of Form 6

a) The main idea inherent in f-6, as w e said earlier, is m utuality. You want to
make up with your friend, and he, too, wants to make up with you; you don’t
just write to your brother, he writes back, too. You’ll easily understand the
examples below, because the roots are already familiar. What happens when
children run a race and jostle one another?
sabaq; sbaq to precede; to overtake; a race
il-ewlad bitsSbaqu f-6 The children are running a race.
mutasabeq competitor (in a race, a quiz)
il-mutasabiqa illi fazat the competitor who won

dafas to push
bitdafaSu they jostle one another

syah shouting
sayyah f-2 to shout
etsayahu f-6 they shouted at one another

Ijanaq f-i to strangle; to suffocate (trans)

ljanaq f-3 to pester; to quarrel with (someone)
etl)anaqu f-6 they had a fight strangled one another>

sulh / sul°h peace; end o f hostility or war

solah f-3 to make peace (with someone)
’oslahi f-4 to make peace between...
etsalahu f-6 they made peace with one another

fihemf-1 to understand
etfahamu f-6 they understood one another
tafahom [2] mutual understanding
A true story seems appropriate at this point:
Once w e were having an Arabic lesson, when, through the classroom window,
w e suddenly heard raised voices from a disturbance in the street. One o f the
students asked: “What’s going on?” Another answered calmly: “I don’t know
the root or the verb, but it’s sure to be f-6!”

132
 Lesson 39

There’s also a proverb which, unfortunately, is sometimes apt where friends or

married couples are concerned:
■ taqfirabu - tadfirabu; tafaraqu - tahababu.
[When] they got close they hit each other; [when] they separated they loved each other
—or, in other words: Absence makes the heart grow fonderl
The roots o f all these verbs are familiar, so w e need only point out that proverbs
and sayings are often expressed in literary Arabic - which explains the presence
o f both the ta- prefix (instead o f t-) and the *q.

b) As usual, however, alongside the main meaning o f the Form, there are
secondary meanings. Form 6 doesn’t always signify mutuality; it can simply be
the passive form o f f-3, as is clear from the following examples:
cilaj il-marad the treatment o f the disease
calaj f-3 to treat (a p a tien t/a disease);
to take care o f (a problem)
tc5laj f-6 to be / get treated
it-tablb il-mucalej the doctor who's treating [the case]
<the doctor treating... >
bicalej-ni / ’ana batc3laj cindo. He's treating me /I 'm being treated by him.
raqab f-3 to supervise; to censor
traqab to be censored
§3f innoj-maktflbwetroiqab. He saw that the letter had been censored.

c) A few verbs have other meanings such as to pretend (to be...), to act as if...
For example:
jahal [yijhal] f-1 to be ignorant
jahel lacking knowledge; reckless youth
tjahal f-6 to pretend not to know; to ignore;
to refuse to acknowledge
bitjahal marado. He refuses to acknowledge his illness.
mus mumken nitjahal We can't ignore these matters.
h a d ij-’umur. (#)
’ahbal (f) habla [hubol] foolish, stupid
bithabal he pretends to be stupid; he acts stupidly

kaslan lazy, lazybones

bitkasal he is lazy

d) The last-mentioned meaning, to act as if..., paves the way to a variety o f

further meanings, such as:

133^
 Lesson 39

sahel (cp ’ashal) easy

sahhal f-2
etsShal f-6
■ bitsahal mac it-tullab.
sar fih tasaholSt fi-l-ehdud.
to make easy
to be lenient; to be easy-going; to be flexible
He's lenient with the students.
There is an easing o f restrictions cthere are
relaxations> at the borders (i.e., the customs
and security are not strict.)

§fim (Su’m # ) [2 ] bad luck; evil omen

ets3’am min... f-6 to consider (something) unlucky
■ ft11n5s bitSS’amu min Some people think the number 13 is unlucky.
il-cadad 13.
18s ’inti h8k mitsa’me? Why are you s,ng so pessimistic?

fal (fa’l#) sign (good or bad), omen

fawwal to bring bad luck; to tempt fate
bitfa’al min... f-6 he regards ... as a good sign
mitfa’el / mutaf3’el# optimistic; optimist
■ ’ana mitfa’el min il-wadeC. I'm optimistic about the situation.

tasa’om / tafa’ol pessimism; optimism VN

fjalllha mitfa’lln! Let's be optimistic!

Explanations - Part 2

2. Irregular roots in f-6

With this Form, unlike some o f the others, there’s no need for a separate lesson
on irregular verbs, i.e., verbs with root patterns OwD / UyU and those with an
identical 2 nd and 3rd root letter, because they behave just like regular f-6 verbs.
Nor is there any problem with f-6 verbs with the root pattern DDa - which are
uncommon - for they are similar to their f-5 relatives such as trabba and tsalla.
Let’s take a brief look at these three groups:
a) R oot pattern DwD / DyD
You’ve actually already learnt tsa y a h u , from the root s-y-h, without feeling
that it’s any different from other verbs. Another example:
ca s [i^ s] f-1. ^ s e \s] to be alive - life
(e)tca y a s f-6 to live together /to coexist

134
 Lesson 39

The V N is especially useful: taca y o s

■ it-tac5yOS is-silmi peaceful coexistence

b) Identical 2nd and 3rd root letter DaDD

You met a verb o f this type in the proverb at the end o f Explanations l a above:
tahababu (they loved each other) and w e’ll make do with that. Incidentally, in
everyday conversation people say bihebbu b a Ced (they love each other), as
noted in footnote 3.

c) R oot pattern DDa

If you remember the paradigm o f the verb trabba and the verbal noun tahaddi,
you will have no difficulty in remembering the following forms, which are
similar to their f-5 counterparts, except that they have -a- instead o f the doubled
letter.
laqa (actually laqa) [ilaqi] f-3 to find
etlaqa [yitlSiqa] f-6 to find one another; to m eet...
■ bitlaqu kull yom They meet every day.

The conjugation is similar to f-5: h iyyejtlS q at, ’ihnajtlaqena...

The root s-w -a, which contains the ideas o f together and also equality, an equal
level / standard, provides examples o f the active participle and VN:

m u tasaw i (f) m u tas5w ye equal to.. Jequal to one another

[m utasaw ln / m utasaw yln]
ta sa w i [§] equality (between two people or parts)

However, the f-3 V N il-m u sa w a is more commonly used to express this idea:

■ il-musawa ben ir-rajol17 wil-mar’a 18

equality between men and women <the equality between the man and the woman>

17. The noun rajol [2] [rjal] means [a] man. ’insan means [a] person, fa] human
being, zalame [zlarn] means [a] guy/fellow in colloquial speech.

18. In literary Arabic the woman is il-mar’a, and this is how the word is pronounced
when people speak about official topics, or repeat slogans and titles; in other words,
they switch to educated Arabic, which we’ll discuss in more detail in Book 4.

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Lesson 39

Supplement

3) More f-6 verbs

This Supplement, as usual, is for those who want to expand their vocabulary, so
you can feel free to skip it and go on to the Exercises and the next Lesson.

den [dyfln] debt; credit

dayan to lend /g ive a loan
etdayan (—» edd3yan) to borrow / take out a loan
■ sfihbi dayan-ni masari My friend lent me money.
q 8 l: bahobb-es adayen He said: / don’t like lending,
bass hal-motrra badSynak. but I ’ll lend to you this time.
’ana kaman ma bahebb-e§ I don’t like borrowing either <1, too,
atdayan, basswetdayant minno don’t like.. .>, but I borrowed
’alfsekel. 1,000 shekels from him.

dayyeq / diyyeq narrow

dayaq f-3
etdayaq
bidayeq il-walad illi
qaced jambo
’ana kaman batdayaq minno.
bidayeq-nI-§ i§-§Ita!
’anajtdayaqet min wujudo.
to bother / irritate / harass
to be bothered/be troubled;
to get u p set/get annoyed
He bothers the boy sitting next to him.
He bothers me, too
<1 too am bothered by him>.
The rain doesn 't bother me!
I was annoyed by his presence.

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 Lesson 39

nab# f - 1 to replace / substitute (intrans); to represent

n a ’eb [nuw w Sb] [T | (active part.) member o f parliament;
representative
m a jles in -nuw w Sb the parliament
n iw a b f-3 to replace / substitute fo r
il-m u n aw eb the person on duty <the rota-person>
etnaw abu f-6 they took turns <stood in for one anothei>
bit-tanSw ob in rotation / in shifts / in turn

d am fin [ 2]
dim en / dem en [yidm an]
hada bidm an in-najah
niqfibet it-tadfim on fi bulanda
y 5 m it-tad fim on
m ac ’isrfi’Il fi nyu -york
m ac iS -S a ^ il-fa la stln i
fi-l-ja z a ’er
guarantee
to promise; to assure / guarantee
This guarantees success.
the Solidarity union in Poland
the Day o f Solidarity
with Israel in New York
with the Palestinian people in Algeria

w a z en weight
qaddes w aznak? How much do you weigh
chow much your weight>?
taw azon [2] balance, equilibrium
■ b ih fifez calajt-taw azon . He preserves the equilibrium / the balance
(between A and B).
faq ad taw azn o. He lost his balance.

The last example demonstrates two things:

1) In the V N tafaco l (taDaDoD ), the o drops, as it does in btakol - see Book
2, p. 89, E xplanations 4.
2) The verb faqad / fa q a d [yifqed] means:

a) to lose , mainly in the context o f loss o f life, memory, trust, etc. (see Book 2,
Lesson 23, footnote 22).
b) to check up on , for example:

■ fa q a d n a j-b e t qabel- We checked over the house before we left

m a jis a fe r cbefore that we travel>.
 Lesson 39

’ifqed is-sayyara! Check the car!

’ifeqdijt-tabll)! Chedc ang the food (being cooked)!

■ mulaljtjas id-dars

li-sO’ il-hazz... unfortunately

sar fih sfl’ tafShom.
btitijanaq hiyye u-joz-ha.
bitsfiyahu u-bitq3talu,
bacdSn bitsalahu.
tsalaht ’ana wiyySh.
’abfly muta‘qSced.
byS^od mac3§ taqacod.
ma biddo yitnazal can
haqqo.
lazem ikun-flh tacawon
b€n-na.
le§ ’inte hSk mitSa’em?
’ana mitfa’el min il-
wadeC
^alllna mitfa’lln!
ma bitjahal marado.
bitc3laj cindo.
’iza mnitlaqa qabel h6k...
cadam il-musawa.
hassabtak ’akbar minni.
There was a misunderstanding.
She fights with her husband.
They shout at each other and hit each other,
[and] then make up with each other.
We made peace <1 made peace I and he>.
My father is retired;
he gets a retirement pension;
he doesn’t want to give up
his rightfs].
There must be cooperation
between us.
Why are you so pessimistic?
I’m optimistic about the
situation.
Let’s be optimistic!
He doesn’t neglect <ignore> his illness,
he’s being treated by him.
If we meet before then...
inequality <the absence-of equality>
I thought you were older than me.

138
 Lesson 39

Exercises_______________________________________________
A. Translate into English:
1. ensalla tsalaht ’inte u-abiik!
2. ’a, tsalahna we-ijecna zayy ’awwal.
3. biddak tishar macna? fx*1musaraca fi-t-telefizy5n il-lubnSni19
4. ’ana bahebb-es il-musaraca. bafaddel ’aflam can it-tablca.
5. lazem ir-rajol wil-mar’a yit°awanu mac b a ^ d
6. wil-hobb (or hubb) ikiin mutabadel.
7. hal-mctrid bitc3laj cin(d)na.
8. ’acten3h il-cilaj il-munaseb.
9. ’ana mitsa’em min il-wadcJs-siyasi (political).
10. tjalllk mitfa’el! fth ’amal in n o j-’ahwal titgayyar.
11. ’ana qatact il-’amal: mah-ma20 sawena, fi-s natlje!
12. bala§ tit^anaqu tQl in-nhar u-titsayochu,
13. il-jiran biddhom yirtahu (p. 100 footnote 18)
14. bikaffi syoth! - bala§J^sayyeh ’inte kam3n!
15. suft in-nas klf_etdafasu tajfiitu fi-l-ba§.
B. Complete the sentences
(Replace the English words with the appropriate expression in Arabic):

16. ma-lak qalqan h6k? flfh ’amal, (be optimistic!)

17. ’ana mus (prepared) ’aljsar kull hal-masari.
18. sflf (<the> Nature) m a-ahla-ha!
19. hiyye mu§ mistcedde (to give up) can haqq-ha.
20. ’ana u-morati (help each other) fi tirbayet 1-ewlad.
21. sar-fih (a misunderstanding) w-etl)anaqet ’ana u-u^ti.
22. fi-l-jaza’er sfir-fih (a demonstration) dedd21 il-hukflme.

19. lubnan = Lebanon. Lebanese = lubnani, (f) lubnaniyye [lubnaniyyin].

20. Don’t forget to pronounce the h in mah-, as in the word ’ah-lan.
21. The preposition didd means against, in opposition to. The d affects the vowel that
follows, causing it to be pronounced dedd or even dodd; hada mus doddak = This
isn’t against you.

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Lesson 39

23. ’a y w a , (the fundamentalists - Lesson 34, footnote 26) nazzam ti-ha.

2 4. hunSk rah-yactflh (the best treatment).

C. Translate into Arabic:

2 5 .1 thought youm sing were a doctor.
2 6 .1 heard you had a fight, youms,ng and your brother.
27. No, there was a bit of a <a simple> misunderstanding but we made up and it’s over.
28. That’s how it should be <so must>! It’s not good for two brothers to be in conflict.
29. This morning there was overcrowding in the market;
30. <the> people jostled one another and began to fight.
31. The neighbors made up, and since that day (Lesson 29, footnote 14) they’ve
stopped shouting at one another.
32. There was a disagreement / dispute (p. 87) between us, but my brother made peace
between us.
33. Do you cooperate <is there cooperation between you>?
34. Of course we cooperate and solve the problems together.

D. The subjunctive mood. Translate into Arabic:

35. There’s a lack of (Lesson 32, footnote 20) cooperation, and that causes chaos.
3 6 .1 know youpl will quarrel again tomorrow,
37. but now I want youpI*to make up.
38. They have been helping one another for a long time,
39. and they have promised to cooperate with us, too.
40. She asked them to give her the whole amount.
41. OK, tomorrow they’ll give her it.

E. Conditional sentences and the composite past tense.

Translate into Arabic:
42. If you"1s,ng hadn’t spoken with them, they would have quarreled again.
43. When they were young they used to fight.
44. If they could, they would cooperate / help one another.
45. Before that they used to cooperate with the police.

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 Lesson 39

F. Dropping the word illi. Translate into Arabic:

46. There are a lot of films that are violent <have violence in them>.
4 7 .1 don’t like films <the films> that have violence in them.
48. We have neighbors who quarrel all day.
4 9 .1 don’t like people <the people> who keep on quarreling.
50. Because of that I moved house cmoved to another house>.

it-tacayos is-silmi

141
 dars ’arbacin (’arbcin)
40
Lesson Forty
In this lesson w e shall be discussing Form 7 in facal (inQ aDaD), which
generally has a passive meaning.

Like the other verb Forms you’ve met so far, f-7 behaves in the past tense just
like the f-1 verb katab. W e’ll use two verbs as examples for the paradigm:
inqabal (to get accepted; to be received) and in b a sa t (to be pleased; to
enjoy oneself). Note that the prefix i- drops when the verb is preceded by a word
that ends in a vow el (see Rule [2 T]).
in q ab al-t I got accepted inbasat^t I was pleased
I was received / / enjoyed myself
inqab al-t you" got accepted in b asatet youms,ng were pleased/
in q ab al-ti e tc ... in b a sa t-ti etc...
inqabal in b a sa t
in q ab lat in b astat
inqabal-na in b a sa t-n a
inqabal-tu in b a sa t-tu
inqabalu in b a sa tu

The paradigm in the present-future tense is unusual, in that the stress shifts
and the vow els change. Let’s take a look at it first and summarize later (just for
a change, w e’re using the verb inkasar as an example; this f-7 verb is the
passive form o f the f-1 verb kasar):

ba-nebset Vm pleased/ ba-nekser I break (intrans) /

I enjoy myself I get broken
bti-nebset you ’rems,ng pleased... bti-nekser youm sing break / get broken

1. The prefex i- is heard at the beginning of a sentence or after a consonant (inqabal or

even enqabal), but it drops after a vowel. For example, inqabal = he got accepted;
■but ’ibnijiqabal / ’ibni kaman^nqabal = my son got accepted / my son got
accepted too. Likewise ’ana^Jlbasa^t = I was pleased.
2. You already know the adjective mabsut, from the same root. As we’ve pointed out
before, the S here is influenced by the adjacent t, and so tends to become S: mabsut,
inbasat.
3. People don’t say I broke (intrans) in Arabic - this 1st person form is heard only in
conversations between... dinner plates! We’ve included it nonetheless, as we want to
give the entire paradigm of this verb, because it’s easy to pronounce.

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 Lesson 40

bti- nbesti you’re Slnspleased bti-nkesri you sing break / get broken.
byi-nebset e tc... byi-nekser etc...
bti-nebset bti-nekser
bni-nebset bni-nekser
bti-nbestu bti-nkesru
byi-nbestu byinkesru
When no suffix is added, the stress is on the first syllable. The addition o f the
suffixes -i or -u, however, necessitates the addition o f an extra e, so as to avoid
three-consonant tongue-twisters like b tiln b stlu - and the stress moves onto this
new syllable, in accordance with the rules o f pronunciation. You can’t
remember why? Never mind, the main thing is that the stress remembered that it
had to m ove to the next syllable. How can you practice getting this stress shift
right? Quite simply - by reciting the paradigm out loud, and also by listening
to the Conversation. Now that your attention has been drawn to them, you’ll
notice the changes as they occur.

Verbs that contain emphatic or guttural consonants (d, z, s, t, c, or r) generally

“prefer” the sound a / a, and so w e say:
■ il- ’ardwebtinzarac The ground gets sown / will get sown.
is-SUglwebyincamal The work gets done / will get done.
or: i§-§ugol bincamal
The various forms o f the active participle (masc, fern and pi) reflect the stress
changes described above. Let’s take three other verbs this time - inqalab
(enqalab), in fa cal and infarad - all o f which w ill provide us with illuminating
examples:

Participle:
mineqleb (f) minqelbe = capsized/ overturned <having turned upside down>
minefcel (f) minfe^e = excited chaving become excited>
minefred / munfared (f) munfaride = separate / detached
V erbal noun:
(’)inqilab 4 upheaval; revolution, coup d*etat
(’)infical excitement, agitation

4. At the beginning*of a sentence the prefix in- is pronounced ’in- (i.e., as if preceded
by a hamza). After the definite article il-, however, the correct pronunciation is
■ il-inqilab (= ilinqilSb) = the revolution; the upheaval.
5. k5natweb-halet infical = She was (very) excited; She was in a state o f agitation.

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 Lesson 40

(’)infirad6 isolation, seclusion <separateness>

Note that you can’t automatically form a verbal noun from every f-7 verb. D on’t
be tempted to experiment - use only the forms you’ve already learnt.
Before w e m ove on to the Conversation, which will introduce you to a few
more f-7 verbs, note that, as w e said at the beginning o f the chapter, most verbs
in this Form have a passive meaning.

Vocabulary
dahas [yidhas]7 to run over dahiyye [dahaya] victim
indahas [yin^dhes] to get run over masrah theater
jarah [yijrah] to wound / injure masrahlyye [-yy§t] play (n)
injarah [yinejreh] to get wounded musabaqa [-qat] competition; quiz
/ get injured
qalab [yiqleb] to overturn / inqalab [yineqleb] to overturn /
turn over (trans) turn over (intrans)
faz [ifOz] to win ja ’ize [jawS’ez] prize
inharaq [yinehreq] to bum (intrans); thadda [yithadda] to challenge
to catch fire / dare (someone)
hale [halat] case nadi [2] [nawadi] club
Ijawwaf [iljawwef] to frighten ^of fear
fassal [ifa§§el] to detail / describe n u s lja [2] [s] copy (n)
in detail; to cut (cloth)

Conversation
- lammaj-wahad bimsi fi-s-s3rec —When you’re walking <when one walks>
lazem idlr balo, in the street you’ve got to be careful,
^ususan lamma especially when crossing
biqtac i§-§3rec ’ahsan-ma the road, so as not to get run over

■ 6. mumkin ’ahki macak calaj(i)nfirad?# = Can I speak to you privately?

1. The verbs dahas and indahas are understood all over the country. In Galilee,
however, you will also hear people say dahak, while Jerusalemites say fa ^ s :
■ il-waladjndahak / infacas; is-sayyara dahkato / facsato.

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 Lesson 40

yinedhes. mbarehj^ndahas cbetter than he gets...>. Yesterday a boy

waladjambbetna.
-k lf?
- kan biddo yiqtac is-sarec,
sfir yurkod, ’ajat sayyfira
dahsato! il-walad wiqec
w-injarah, bass ma mat,
dall tayyeb8.
was run over next to our house.
—What <how>?
—He wanted to cross the street,
he started to run, [along] came a car
[and] ran him over. The boy fell down
and he was injured, but he wasn’t killed
<he didn’t die>, he’s still alive.

-ja m b il-bosta, kanat sayyfira —There was a booby-trapped car next to

malgilme 9 w-infajrat... the post office and it exploded...
- ya sater10! ffr dahfiya? —Oh God! Are there [any] casualties
<victims>?
- w3hadwenqatal, —One person was killed
wahadj^njorah, [and] one was injured.
- smectjl-infijfir? —Did you hear the explosion?
- tabcan! kull il-betj^nhazz11 —Of course! The whole house shook.
il-b3bwenfatah, The door opened,
il-mazhariyyejiqalbat, the vase overturned
w-inkasrat. and broke,
il-lambajiharqat, the light bulb burnt out,
sfir flh kontak12 there was a short
w-il-efyflzwenharaq. and the fuse blew <bumed out>.

8. The adjective tayyeb means good; tasty and also alive (in good shape!); e.g.,
■ sldak lissatO tayyeb? = Is your grandfather still alive?

■ 9. lu g °m [’algam ] = mine, and booby-trapped is either m algfim or m falj^al}^’

from the noun fatjl], which means trap, snare.
10. The verb satar means to conceal; to protect and the expression y a sater is an
appeal to God the Protector. After a disaster has been prevented people say
■ ’a lia satar! = God has protected ( u s / him ...); ’a lia yUStor! = May God protect us
(from such dangers)!

■ 11. The verb h a z z means to shake / jolt / rock (trans); b ih ezz it-tfiw le = He rocks
the table, and h a z z e ’ard iy y e is an earthquake.

12. From the English word contact. Note that fuse has entered Arabic with no change in
meaning.
Lesson 40

- dir balak! fih hek ^alSt,
fih I)6f il-bgt yinehreq...
- bala§wetl)awwef-na
w-etfawwel calena.
’ihkl-lna ’isi yibset-na!
- tayyeb: ffh hafle il-lele,
’ana u-marati maczumln...
-en salla tinbestu!
- ’alia yib^stak13!
—Be careful! In cases like this there’s
a danger <a fear> the house could catch
fire...
—Don’t frighten us and don’t tempt
fate <don*t bring bad luck upon us>!
Tell us something to cheer us up!
—Well, there’s a party tonight,
my wife and I are invited...
—I hope you have a good time!
—Thank you!

The following day, after the party, they meet up again:

- klf? enbasattu? —How [was it]? Did you have a good time?
- ktlrwenbasatna. —We enjoyed ourselves very much,
wil-ulad kamanwenbasatu. and so did the children.
kan flh masrahiyye There was a play and
u-musabaqa... a competition / a quiz...
- fuztu ’intu kamanweb-jawa’ez? —Did you win prizes, too?
- la’, majstarakna —No, we didn’t take part
fi-l-musabaqa14 in the quiz.

It’s time to reacquaint ourselves with Yusef and Maryam, still as mischievous as ever:

- ya Yusef, bay yen satfirtak! - Yusef, let’s see how clever you are
<reveal your clevemess>!
’iza ’inte §fiter / ’inkannak15 If you’re [so] clever,
Sfiter,’ihmel il-qannlne carry the bottle on your

13. You are already well aware that every form of greeting, congratulation and blessing
has its own stock response, which usually repeats the root of the principal word in the
sentence (for example, the reply to salamtak! is ’allajsal^m ak !). In the
’absat, which means to please;
Conversation above the response includes the f-4 verb
to make (someone) happy.

14. You learnt the f-6 verb ts3baq in Lesson 39, Explanations 1. As we explained at
the beginning of Lesson 39, Form 6 verbs often take their verbal nouns from other
Forms, and this is the case here: musabaqa (contest; quiz) is a f-3 VN. The verb
istarak belongs to Form 8, and we’ll meet it in Lesson 41 (Book 4).
15. See the end of Explanations lc, p. 150.

146

cala rasak min hon
lal-matbal).
- tayyeb, ettallaci! (dzing!)
il-haqq caleki illi thaddetl-ni16
- law kunt §fiter, kuntwemslt
§wayywe§wayy...
- ’inti satra bil-kalam! jairbi
’inti kaman u-minsufek!
- la’, bal5§ nikser qannlnten.
- smect innojifathat
dawretweIjyata.
- lissa ma^nfathat-S-
ensalla btin^fteh
iS-§ahrJl-jay. binti
tcallamat fi hek dawra
w-il-yom sarat tecmal
mudelat la-hal-ha.
qalat-li: biddi ’acmal mudel
m a jicamal qab^l hek.
bacref klf lazem yincamal.
u-feclan fassalat
fustanwektir hilu!
16. In Lesson 38 we learned that
f-5 verb thadda = to challenge / dare (someone to do something).
Lesson 40
head from here
to the kitchen.
- OK, watch! The bottle falls and breaks.
It’s your fault for having dared m e...
—If you were clever you’d
have walked very slowly.
—You’re all talk <you*re clever in talkingx
You try, too, <and> let’s see you!
- No, let’s not break another bottle <two
bottles>...
—I heard they’ve opened a sewing
course cthat a sewing course opened>.
- It hasn’t opened yet,
let’s hope it’ll open next
month. My daughter learned
on a course like that, and
now <today> she makes patterns
of her own con her own>.
She told me: “I want to make a pattern
that’s never been made before.
I know how it should be done.”
And she actually did cut out
a very beautiful dress!
tahaddi means [a] challenge. This is the VN of the
147^
Lesson 40

Explanations

1. Conditional sentences: If he w ants... If he wanted...

In the Conversation in Lesson 38 we had the sentence law jltu ’abkar kunna
tgaddena saw a. This time we heard in the conversation:

’iza ’inte §ater... = I f you*re [so] clever (and perhaps you are)...
law ’inte sater... law kunt sfiter... = I f you were clever (but you’re not)...
W e talked about this in Lesson 27 (Book 2), pp. 123-25. Now it’s time to go
back and complete the picture.

a) When the conditional sentence begins with the word ’iza (= i f when the
condition can be met) there’s no problem, and w e can say, as w e do in English,
I f you knew , w hy d id n ’t you tell m e? / I f you know ... / I f he com es... W e need
add only a couple o f brief comments:
1. The verb can be in the past tense, even if it refers to events in the present or
future;

2. The word i/ca n be translated into Arabic as ’in instead o f ’iza (note that with
’in, the verb is alw ays in the past tense). W e mention this only to ensure that
you w on’t be surprised when you hear other people use this construction; you
yourselves can speak much as you do in English, e.g.,
’iza bet^cdlsu qabli... I f you finish before me...
or ’iza Ijallastu qabli... I f you finish before me...

’iza btlji bakklr... I f you come early...

or ’iza jit bakklr... I f you come early...
/ ’injit bakklr I f you come early...

b) If the conditional clause describes a situation that does not exist or one that is
impossible (temporarily, at least) - in other words, in cases where you can add
the words b u t I ’m / y o u ’re / h e ’s / i t ’s / w e ’re / th ey’re not! to the sentence -
then it should begin with the word law . In this case the verb will appear in
w hichever tense suits the situation described: in the past tense if the situation
/ action took place in the past, or the present-future if it is taking place in the
present or w ill do so in the future. Perfectly simple and logical! Let’s look at
som e examples:

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 Lesson 40

[It's a shame you didn*t see him in his funny costume yesterday...]
law suftcxjnbareh... if you had seen him yesterday...

(Speaking on the phone to a friend):

It's a shame you *re not here,
law betsufo hallaq... if you could see him now...

c) But what happens to the principal clause in the sentence, the one that tells us
w hat w ould happen if...? Once again, Arabic is logical, and uses the past tense
for past situations and the present-future for actions / situations in the present or
future. The auxiliary verb k an (which can either be conjugated or remain
unchanged) is usually added to the m ain verb, as you will see from the
exam ples.17

Jamil visited us yesterday.

■ law jltwembareh, kunt sufto I f you had come yesterday, you would
have seen him.
He*s here now, it*s a shame you*re busy there
lawwebtlj i, kunt betsufo. I f you were to come, you *d see him.

law qult-illi, kunt ruhet I f you had told me, I would have gone.
(but you didn’t tell m e...)
law betqul-li, kunt baruh. I f you told me, I would go.
(but you aren’t telling m e...)

Im portant: As w e pointed out in Book 2, Lesson 27, at the bottom o f p. 124,

the auxiliary verb in the main sentence precedes a verb in the present-future
(kunt baruh).
But in the composite past tense ( When I was a student, I used to g o ...) the
auxiliary verb k an precedes a verb in the subjunctive (kunt ’aruh). This shows
just how rich and precise colloquial Arabic is. English is similarly well
endowed. Compare the following three sentences:
(If he had been here yesterday) he w ould have told me kan q al-li.
(If he were here now) he w ould tell m e kan biqul-li.
(When he was little) he used to tell m e k a n jq u l-li.

17. Native Arabic speakers take the liberty of dropping the auxiliary verb kSn,
especially before a verb in the present-future tense in the principal clause: law bis’al,
baqul-lo. At this stage, however, it’s better if you don’t drop it, just to be on the safe
side. You should say: kunt baqul-lo.

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 Lesson 40

O ne last thing: Sentences that begin with If I / you / he... and refer to present
time can simply be translated with ’iza ’a n a ... / law ’a n a ... etc.

But there are additional possibilities, too, which can be heard in Galilee, for
example, where you may hear people say ’in-kann- / law inn- + an attached
pronoun. These combinations are composed o f familiar words: ’in + kan / law
+ inn(o). The following are a few examples o f their use:

■ ’iza ’in te rnarfd, bajib-lak d aw a.

’in-k an n ak m a ild , bajib-lak d aw a.
I f you* re ill, I'll bring you medicine.

law ’in te m arid, kunt bajib-lak d aw a.

law in n ak m arid, kunt bajib-lak d aw a.
I f you were ill, I'd bring you medicine (now, but you’re not).
It was important for you to hear these composite forms ’in-kann- / law inn- so
that you w ill be able to understand them when you hear others use them in
conversation. However, as w e’ve already said, you yourselves can use the
simpler forms: ’iza ’a n a ... / law ’inte

If you like, you can break o ff here and leave section 2 for another day. This next
section w ill show you all Form 7 ’s “special” verbs. There won’t be any
surprises, but a wealth o f material awaits - you may need to feel fresh to cope
with it.

2. Irregular verbs in f-7

This time, because f-7 is simply f-1 with (i)n- in front o f it, verbs with roots in
the DwO / DyD, DDa and doubled patterns DaDD behave just as they do in f-1.
Although this means that there w ill be no sudden surprises, it’s a good idea to
review the f-7 version o f each o f these patterns separately, and learn some
useful sentences in the process.

a) T he verbs s a f and zar... in f-7 clothing

You will recall the verbs s a f [isu f], z a r [izur] and b a c [ibF ], which mean to
see, to visit and to sell respectively. Let’s take a look at their f-7 versions:
Past tense: in sa f, in safat he was seen, she was seen
Present-future: byin saf, b tin§3f he is seen, she is seen

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 Lesson 40

A ctive participle: m in -0 3 D
V erbal noun: in - 0 iy a 0
The table above shows that not all theoretically possible forms are actually in
use.
■ fth hunSk mazraca, There ’s a farm there that can he seen
btinSSf min hon from here <it is seen from h e ro .
u-b-hay il-jiha, jabal i§-selj And on this side [there*s] the Hermon
<the old man’s mountain>
bass f|h dabab, but it’s misty <there’s mist>
ma binSaf18 [so] it's not visible <it is not seen>.

■ - ’ana rajec minjTransa. —Tve [just] come back from France...

- cajbatak bartz? —Did you like Paris?
- walla hadi balacLPbtinzfir! — Wow, that’s a city well worth visiting
<a city [that] gets visited>/

- fth cin(d)kom hal-ekt3b? —Do you have this book?

- la’, enbac kullo,
ma doll minno wala nuslja.
- macn3to binbacwemnlh!
kull l-ebdaca jib a cat.
— No, it’s all sold out <it got sold, all of it>.
There’s not a [single] copy left.
—In other words <its meaning>, it’s selling
well!
All the goods have been sold.

b) W hen the candle and the fire talk about m eeting their e n d s...

You have already com e across the verbs ta fa (to put out / extinguish) and ’a cda
(to infect [with a disease ] ) 19. How do these roots behave in Form 7?
First o f all, here’s a little story about something that took place in the course o f
a private lesson.

18. This verb should not be confused with the verb byinsaf (in which the 1st syllable is
stressed and the a is short), which means it dries, from the verb nisef. See this word in
the Dictionary.

19. Although there is also an f-1 version of this verb (cada), which has the same
meaning, the active participle is always mecdi (f-4). The underlying meaning of this
root (c-d-a/y) is hostility (what could be more hostile than germs?): caduww
[’acda’] = enemy; caduwwak = your enemy. See this word in the Dictionary.

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 Lesson 40

The teacher needed to absent him self for a few minutes and told his pupil,
“While I’m away, you can go over the verbs you’ve learnt and recite them out
loud.” When he returned he found his pupil chanting sleepily, in ta fe t,
in t a f S t i.... (“I was extinguished, youf S1"B were extinguished....”). What an
idea! N ot even the most ardent lovers, when passion dies, would describe
themselves as having been extinguished. Only the candle and the fire can use
this verb in the 1st person.

That s w hy w e re using two different and more practical verbs for the full
paradigm: in cad a (to get infected) and in b an a (to get built).

Past tense:
incad6t, -d6ti,
incadena, -d£tu...
incada, incadat, incadu
inbana, inbanat, inbanu
Present-future:
baneCdi, bdneCdi... bineCdu.
binbana, btinbana, binbanu.
Participle:
mincadi, (f) mincadye
Verbal noun: inDiDa’
Here are a few sample sentences with a variety o f verbs:
■ ’illi fi q alb i - ’isi m a binhaka
’a n a jicadet minno.
I / y o u ' smg got infected, youtstt>e got infected,
we got infected, you pl got infected,
he / she / they got infected
i t m/f got built, they got built
I g e t/w ill get infected, you..., they...
i t m/fgets /w ill get built, they (will) get built.
infected
What’s in my heart can't be expressed
<[is] a thing [that] is-not-spoken>.
I got infected by him.

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 Lesson 40

majtjib-s il-walad la-gurfet Don't bring the boy to the patient's room,
il-marfd, fib |)5f caleh yin«cdi. there's a risk he might get infected
<there’s a fear on him he will get infected>
- il-hallb lSzem yingala! The milk has to get boiled.
- m aj^af-s, galeto, —Don't worry, I boiled it,
’ana dayman bagllh. I always boil it.

id-daww Jn to fa ( jm tafa) The light went out cbecame extinguished>,

win-nar^pntafat. [and] the fire went out.
in-nfir kanat rayha tinetfi. The fire was going to go out.

mug mumken il-bSt yinbana The house can't have been built
<not possible the house got built
bidun ru^sa. without a permit <without a licensee

flh ktlr^Pbyflt inbanat There are a lot o f houses [that] were built
bidQn ruljsa! without a permit/

c) D oubled roots DaDD in F orm 7

W e know what happens to a verb whose final root letter is doubled: in the past
tense the endings -et, -5na, etc. are added, as in the verb habb. A few examples
w ill suffice to demonstrate the paradigm o f these verbs in f-7:

ball he wet (trans)

mablul wet chaving-become wet>
inball he got wet
’anajiballSt, hiyyejnballat / got wet, she got wet...

d a m m f-1 he joined (trans)

in d am m he was included/got included
bindam m , he is included; he joins / becomes part o f
bindam m u they are included; they join
Participle:
m in d om m , (f) m in d am m e, [m indam m ln]
N Y in d im a m (likeinfijar) joining, enrolment

As we have already pointed out, not all verbs are used in all theoretically
possible forms, and there’s only a slim chance that you’ll ever hear the VN
in b ila l {getting wet), for example. The following are some additional examples
o f the use o f f-7 verbs, including a number o f new ones from familiar roots:

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 Lesson 40

■ sarat ti§ti w-enballfit. It started to rain and I got wet.

Ijodi samsiyye Take an umbrella so that you don 7
’ahsan-ma tinballi get wet cbetter than that.. .>.

’anajidam m et lan-nadi. I joined the club.

lSzem tindammu ’intu kaman! Youpl should joint too.
hawalu yimnacu indimamo la-... They tried to prevent his joining...
jniln madness
injann to go mad
su-ma-lak? enjannet? What’s wrong with you? Have you
gone mad?
lamma sm e^t hSk, enjannet! When I heard that I lost my head
<1 went mad>
’iza bismac hek, binjann! I f he hears that, he’ll go nuts.

hall f-1; inhall f-7 to solve; to get solved

■ il-maS3kel lissa majnhallat The problems haven’t been solved yet
u-mus rah-tinhall bil-cunf. and they won’t get solved by violence.

kubb il-hallb fi-1-majla Pour away <spill> the milk into the sink!
il-hallbwenkabb calaJ-’ord. The milk got spilt on the flo o r /
the ground.
’ahsan-ma yinkabb... So that it doesn’t spill...

- ma-lek? ’inti mabhOha? — What’s wrong with you sing? Have you
lost your voice <are you hoarse>?
- min kuter-ma 20 —I ’ve shouted so much I ’ve lost my voice
sayyahL,enbahhet! <from much that I shouted....>!

il-kalb min kuter-ma The dog barks so much

binbah, binbahh! 21 that he gets hoarse!

20. ktlter = large quantity, abundance, min kuter hakyo = he talked so much
min kuter-ma = [he ...] so much that <from the abundance that he...>.
[that]...

21. The verb to bark is cawwa [icawwi] or nabah [yinbah]. The play on words in
this Arabic sentence draws our attention to the difference between the two verbs
(binbah and binbahh): note the difference in the position of the stress and the
doubled h in the second verb
(hh is longer and more emphatically pronounced than h).

154

mulatjljas id-dars
is-§ahnwenkasar
il-mazhariyyejikasrat
is-sayyfirajiqalbat
dir baiak ’ahsan-ma yinekser
is-sug°l lazem yincamal
klf? inbasatti? (enba-)
ktlrwenbasatet.
hatta yinebset
u-intu tinbestu.
smect il-infijor?
kanj^b-halet inficai
’iza tjallastu qabli, minsuf...
’in jit bakklr, talfen-li
law jlt^mbareh, kunt sufto
law_ebtlji hallaq, kunt
betgflfo.
law cindo sigara, kan
bidaljljen.
qabel sane kan idaljljen,
il-y5m battal.
ma byinsaf min hdn.
il-mand ’acd3-ni.
incadet minno.
dir baiak ’ahsan-ma tineCdi.
id-dawwwentafa.
in-nfir kanat rayha tinetfi.
il-mu§kile m ajihallat
u-anajijannet!
Lesson 40
The plate broke / got broken.
The vase broke / got broken.
The car turned over.
Take care it doesn’t break / get broken.
The work has got to get done.
Did youf 5ing have a good time
<how did you enjoy yourself>?
I had a very good time / 1 enjoyed myself
very much.
So that he’ll be pleased / he’ll enjoy
himself, and you’ll enjoy yourselves [too].
Did you hear the explosion?
He was in a state of excitement.
If youpl finish before me, we’ll see...
If you arrive early, phone me!
If you’d come yesterday, you’d have
seen him.
If you came now, you’d see him.
If he had a cigarette, he’d smoke.
A year ago he used to smoke, now
<today> he’s stopped.
It can’t be seen from here.
The sick man infected me.
I got infected by him.
Take care you don’t get infected.
The light went out <got extinguished>.
The fire was about to go out.
The problem didn’t get solved
and I went nuts!
155
Lesson 40

Exercises_______________________________________________
A. Translate into English:
1. law jibtjl-majall5twembareh, kunna tsallena flha.
2. law fih cindna waqet hallaq, kunna mnitsalla...
3. fi muczam il-halat fib dahoya.
4. rijec min il-l)slrej, ’immojib astatwektir.
5. kullnajibasatna lamma §ufnah r3jec ca-l-balad.
6. l)awwaft-ni ’inte b-kalSmak!
7. bicmalu mur3jaca (p.54 footnote 18) lal-masrahiyye.
8. mus bass qannlne wahadejikasrat, inkasaru tinten!
9. law qatac i§-§Irec, kSnjidahas.
10. ’ana biddl-s ’anedhes!
11. il-haqq macak! lawwebtiqtac is-s2rec, kunt_ebtinedhes22.
12. fi-l-bidaye ktarjidam m u lal-hizeb (party).
13. ’aclanu cala_(i)ndimam il-falastiniyyln lal-mufawadat (p.87).
14. hadlk id-darjibanat min zamSn.
15. ’iza btetlac hallaq rah-tinball!
16. il-ljudra taza, rah-tinbac qawam.
17. rflhi ca-s-sflq qabel-ma tinbac kull-ha.
B. Complete the sentences
(Replace the English words with the appropriate expression in Arabic):

18. la w qatac is-S&rec (he would have got ran over).

19. law biqtac is-sarec, (he would get ran over).
20. ft*1hunak bet, bass (it’s not visible) min h5n.
2 1 . tarakt is-sahhara borra, (and it got wet).
22. ’iza bidall i§ayyeh h6k, (I’ll go mad).

22. Having trouble saying this sentence all in one breath? Now’s the time to remind you
how to use the link sign w . The sentence can be pronounced syllable by syllable, as
shown below (the varying heights of the letters show you the intonation of the

sentence). Ia- w eb - ^ 9 " ta - cjg_ re c, ^ u n ' teb - n^d-

Say it over slowly a number of times, then try saying it more quickly. If you repeat this
exercise tomorrow and the next day, you’ll feel'the sentence starting to “flow”.

156
 Lesson 40

2 3 . ’iz a btetlac hallaq, rah-(youTl get wet).

2 4 . il-bintw (got infected) m in e w la d il-jiran .
2 5 . u -issa ’akld ’i^ w et-ha (will get infected) m inha.
26. Stt h as-syfih? (Have you gone mad)?
27. le s m a (did you join) lan-nadi?

C. Translate into Arabic:

28. They are prepared to join the negotiations (p.87).
29. When he sees that <thus>, he goes crazy.
30. She wants to join our club, too <she too wants to join.. .>
31. When he saw that <thus>, he was very pleased.
32. It began to rain, and we got wet.
33. What? Youpl went out <of the house>? Have you gone mad?
34. WaitpI (Stannu) until it stops raining.
35. Usually people prefer to stay in the house / at home.
36. In most cases the patient111gets better (p. 55, footnote 20).
37. If youpl give the correct answer youTl get a prize.
38. What a pity! If youpl had answered you’d have won prizes.
39. If youf smg cross the street here, you’re going to get run over.

D. The subjunctive mood. Translate into Arabic:

40. It’s sure to break <certain it will break>!
4 1 .1 don’t want it to break.
42. When I tell him how youms,ng behave, he’s pleased.
43. Study01sing <leam> well, so that he’ll be pleased with you!
44. If there’s a new [political] party, will youp!join it ( ’ilo), too?
45. Is there a chance youpl might join it <is there hope you will join it>?
46. In cases like this the fuse bums out.
47. There’s a risk the fuse might blow cthere’s a fear the fuse will bum out>.

E. Conditional sentences and the composite past tense.

Translate into Arabic:
48. If she came, he would hide.
49. Every time (kull-ma) he saw her, he would hide.
50. If there were a short, the fuse would bum out.
51. The fuse used to blow every time.

15Z
 Key to the Exercises
Here are the solutions to the exercises. When you finish each lesson compare
your answers (the written ones, o f course) with the key below. After you’ve
corrected any mistakes, read the amended text out loud.

Lesson 31__________________________________________
P -8
faijet is-sura lal-jiran.
faget-ha lal-jiran.
faijet-hom is-sflra.
faijet-hom iyya-ha.
f a ija t fu s ta n -h a la-j6 z-h a.
f a ija to la -jo z h a . -o here refers to the dress,
f a ija to fu s ta n h a . -O here refers to the husband,
f a ija to j r y a h

p .1 4
1. I’ve got a car, I’ll take you home.
2. Write here everything that comes into your mind.
3. Why is he shouting? Tell him to lower his voice!
4. Let me try again!
5. Where’s the book that you showed me?
6. When you’re ill, what do you do?
7. The museum’s closed. They’re not going to let us go in.
8. The boy said: Mummy, let me go out!
9. But his mother didn’t let him go out.
10. He started to shout and his friends tried to calm him.
11. In the end he calmed down and stopped shouting.
12. It’s raining, we’ve got to cover the boxes.
13. It rained yesterday, I covered the box.
14. They prevented me from photographing / They forbade me to photograph the party.
15. Did our neighbor feed the children? Yes, she did.
16. This chair’s low, but that one’s lower.

17. Samira sawwarat-ni u-sawwaratak kaman.

Samira photographed me and [she] photographed you, too.

15*
18. cindo sayyara, waddSna ca-l-bet.
He’s got a car, he brought us home.
19. bal5Swetsayyhi, watti sotek!
Don’t shout, lower your voice!
20. w6n il-blnet? Ijalletfl-ha tetlac?
Where’s the girl? Did you let her go out?
21. wen 1-ewlad? - ^allenS-hom yetlacu.
Where are the children? - We let them go out.
22. l)od il-jaride, waddlha la-Samir.
Take the newspaper, take it to Samir!
23. il-jaiTde? wadd6t-lo_yy5ha.
The newspaper? I took it to him.
24. mu§ rah-iljallikijfuti.
He won’t let you in.

25. w6n il-kalb? - tjallenah yetlac.

26. bdqdarwetwaddlni ca-l-bSt?
27. tayyeb, Ijalllhom ijarrbu!
28. (± humme) bid(d)hom i§aw(w)ru. - majtt)allIhom-§ isawwru
29. hon mamnOc it-ta§wlr! u-mamnflc it-tadl)ln kamSn?
30. ’immo qalqane caleh, lazem_enhaddlha.
31. biddek afaijlki surto?
32. bass ’af4a, bafaijlki_yyjSha.
33. la-budd-maJkQn-flh hall tSni.
34. lamma futet ca-l-’5da / ca-l-gurfe, hiyye wattat §5t-ha.
35. lamma betffit cala gurftjl-walad, betwatti §5t-ha.
36. qul-lha twatti sot-ha.
37. il-bint cam-(b)tilcab barra.
38. halliha tilcab barra!
39. bacref inno b i d d e n fi gurefto.
40. lSken mamnflc (± inno) ida^^en fi gurefti (± ’ana).
41. bifaiji lat-tullab klf yecmalu.
42. talabet inno ifaiji lat-tullab klf byecmal.
43. ’iza biddak bafaijlk suwar.
44. law huwwe / lawinno h5n, kunt bafaijl*1suwar.
45. law ’immi hon, kanat betfaijlna suwar.
46. u-ihna zgar, ’immi kSnatjTfaijlna §uwar.

160
47. law betsatti, kunt bagat{i_s-sanadlq.
48. lamma k3natwet§atti, kunt ’agatti^s-sanadlq.
49. w en is-su w a r illi sa w w a rt-h o m fi-l-bSt?
50. ft*1cindi kam5n suwar sawwart-ha barra.
51. kan-fi11hunak walad kan cam-bi§ayyeh, ’immo haddato.
52. ft*1n3s bidal)(I))iiu fi kull mahall, u-fih nas ma bidaljntt-s bil-marra.

Lesson 32________________________________________
1. Do you want to play cards? I don’t know how to play.
2. Fine, no cards!
3. Who directed him to our house?
4. There was a woman there who directed him to the house.
5. Did you knock at the door?
6. Yes, it seems they didn’t hear and no-one opened [the door] to me.
7. And I remained standing in front of the door.
8. And I knocked again.
9. I’ve forgotten where I put my glasses.
10. Always put them in the same place,
11. so that you don’t keep looking for them all day!
12.1 sat down, but the children remained standing.
13. There were a few problems, but we solved them.
14. We usually finish [work / school] at three o’clock.
15. Be careful, you’re spilling [it].
16. There’s someone knocking at the door. Shall I open [it] <for him>?

17. hadi muskile! klf bidkom^thallflha?

That’s a problem! How do you want to solve it / How are you going to solve it?
18. ya Samira, ’agkorek illi dalletlni cala dar il-muljtar.
Samira, thank you for having shown me [the way to] the mukhtar’s house.
19. hada bidell cala niyye tayybe.
This shows he means well <this indicates a good intentions
20. kull yom ’ana bahell is-seca Ijamse.
Every day 1 finish work at five o’clock,
21. wil-ewlad bihellu is-s5ca talate.
and the children get out of school at three o’clock.
22. les hattet il-juzdan fi-l-jarOr // fi-l-jarrar?
Why did you put the purse / wallet in the drawer?

161
23. wen il-farse? wen hattetfl-ha?
Where’s the bed? Where have you put it?
24. tacali! bafaijlki wen hattenSha.
Come along! I’ll show you where we put it.
25. dayman bahott il-juzdan fi-l-jarur // fi-l-jarrotr.
1 always put the purse / wallet in the drawer.

26. dayman bahott in-naddarat tabaci ca-l-farse.

27. it-tawle wis^a, bacraf-s wen ’ahott is-§hun.
28. IBs biddak tlji maci / mac3y? ’ahsanjHdall h5n.
29. cajjel! bidna nilhaq il-bas,
30. kabbet il-hallb fi-1-majla.
31. dir balak! betkabkeb.
32. ma biqdar ihell kull il-masakel.
33. ma hada-s biqdar ihell il-muskile.
34. les betsebbo?
35. mus_emn!h_etsebbo h5k!

KA<
36. ’akobb il-hallb? - la’, majtkobbO-S / majtkobbI-h5-
37. ’ana bahell il-muskile! bethebb ’ahell il-mu§kile?
38. ’iza bidall hon las-s6ca ^amse...
39. qull-lo inno idall h8n las-seca ^amse.
40. wen ’ahott-illak il-jande? w5n ’ahott-illakjyyaha?
41. ’ana bahott-illak il-jailde calaj-taw le.
42. tfll in-nhar betdalLetqohh. la’, hallaq battalat„etqohh.
43. ’iza betdoqqi ca-l-bab, ’ana baftah-lek.
44. law betdoqqi ca-l-bab, kunt baftah-lek.
45. law fih jaras, kSn bidoqq u-kunt baftah-lo.
46. lamma kan ylji izflma, kan idoqq u-kunt ’aftah-lo.
47. law ’abflk h5n, kan bihell il-muskile.
48. lamma kan mudlr, kan ihell il-masakel.
49. law hattet il-gata, kan il-mayywebtigli / galat.
50. min il-mara illi dallatak cal betna?
51. kan-fih hunak mara dallat-na cala bStkom.
52. baCed // lissa fth ’asy3’ habbet ’akteb-ha.
53. il-’asya’ illi habbet ’akteb-ha / ’akteb-lakjyyaha.
54. wen il-mal)zan illi bethott ft*1is-sanadlq?

162
55. badawwer cala maljzan ’ahott f|h is-sanadlq.
5 6 .16s hatt is-sanduq hon? qul-lo ihotto fi-l-qume.

Lesson 33_________________________________________
1. If we want to catch the bus we have to hurry.
2. If we catch the bus, we’ll arrive before 6 o’clock.
3. And if we don’t catch it?
4. Why didn’t you count the money?
5. The driver counts the passengers.
6. We have to put a little oil [in it / on it].
7. From that day on I stopped smoking.
8. What color is his hair?
9. His hair is black / He’s got black hair.
10. If only I knew how to cook like you!
11. If only he brought up his son the way you bring up your children!
12. Move your feet out of the way, let me pass!

13. m in yom h a b a tta la t tutlob m in n o m a sa ri.

From that day on she stopped asking him for money.
14. m in yom h a b attaln a nihki can h a d iJ -m a S ak el.
From that day on we stopped talking about these problems.
15. fi gureftak daljljen qadd-m a biddak, bass m us h5n.
In your room, smoke as much as you want, but not here.
16. bethebb tok el sam ak? ft*1 hon talat sam akat, la-kull w ahad sam ake.
Do you like <to eat> fish? There are three fish here, [one] fish for each person.
17. lam m a bakfln tacban, bahebb ’anam tahet sajara.
When I’m tired I like to lie down under a tree.
18. l-em ca lle m b iced d it-talam lz.
The teacher counts the pupils.
19. ca d d etiJ-k u tob ? - ’a, flh talatln taqnban.
Have you counted the books? - Yes, there are about thirty.
2 0. ’inti g a ltfin e, ced d ih om kam an m orra!
You’re wrong, count them again.

21. sacer-ha tawfl.

2 2 . ^alllna n etla c sam m et haw a!
2 3 . fih hunak sajar, m u m k en n u q co d fi-l-fa y y .
24. kam sajara / ’akam min Sajara ft*1hunak?

163
25. fth hunak bass sajert6n // sajraten, tlat sajarat.
26. id-daraj wise^ (wiseI)).
27. dir balak, fifr ’arbac darajat.
28. qadde§ is-sgca? - talate tamam.
29. dlri balek, ffr bed fi-s-salle.
30. battal idaljljen qab<4 sane.
31. min yOmha battalnajisflf-ha.
32. yaret„etrabbi ’ibnak mitel-ma ’ahlak rabbuk!
33. kull y5m bicedd il-karasi (karasi).
34. qul-lo icedd il-karasi.
35. jibet samake kblre min is-sflq.
36. l3zemwethott-ha fi-l-barrad // fi-t-tallaje.
37. les bethott-ha mac il-l}ubez?
38. ’ana ’akalet ljubezti.
39. ’inte kaman lazem tOkol (t6kel) I)ubeztak.
40. dayman bida^Ijen fi-l-maktab, mamnHc idat)l)en h5n.
41. law (± fih) cindha Ijudra, kanat bets3wi // betsawwi salata.
42. ’immi k3nat_ets3wi salata.
43. dayman bagassel ’idayy(e).
44. law baqdar kunt bagassel ’idayy.
45. bacdjs-su g el, kunt ’agassel ’idayy.
46. flh rukkab biftahujS-§ubbak,
47. u ffh rukkab bisakkrflh.
48. tayyeb, Ijalllhom yiftahu! - la’, Ijalllhom isakkru!
49. fih n3s bihebbu hal-’akle,
50. u- fih ma bihebbuha-s.
51. f|h mcallmln bida$§nu fi maktab il-mudlr!
52. il-mudlr bismah. tayyeb, l)allIhom idafjljnu!

Lesson 34________________________
L I heard that your friends want to travel.
2. Everyone has traveled except Jamil.
3. Does that mean that Jamil has stayed here on his own?
4 . 1 ran into him at the airport, I thought he’d already left.
5. He promised me he would answer me.
6. He said: I’ll answer you, be patient!

164
7. The students help one another.
8. Before you left, did you go and say goodbye to your parents?
9. If he replies to you, [well and] good; if he doesn’t reply to you, we’ll see...
10.1 greeted them [but] they didn’t react.
11. Salima, why don’t your reply / react?
12. My mother helped me, and she helped my brother, too.
13. And afterwards we helped her.
14. They decided to give back the sum [of money], but they didn’t give it back.
15. I’ve got a friend who went to France.
16. This time we did [things] differently.
17. Our neighbors are nice people, but their son’s a hooligan!

18. jozi bisacedni, u-jozek, les ma bisacedkl-s?

My husband helps me, and your husband - why doesn’t he help you?
19. ’iza (+ hiyye) b^tsafer, ’inti btiqdarijsafri macaha.
If she goes <travels>, you can go with her.
20. sacb cal€h yitrek / ifareq ’ahlo.
It’s hard for him to leave / say goodbye to his family / his parents.
21. ’aywa, bass bil-a^er rah-iwaddechom.
Yes, but in the end he went to say goodbye to them.
22. dawwarat calJ-mukonse, ensalla betlaqlha.
She looked for the broom, let’s hope she finds it.
23. ’iza betlaqu mahall, qulu-li.
If you find a place, tell me!
24. ’iza minlaqijktabak, minjib-lakjyya*1.
If we find your book, we’ll bring it to you.
2 5 . ’es qarrartu tecmalu?
What did you decide to do?
26. cadatan bacmal hek, bass hal-marra eCmelet ger 3ikel.
Usually I do like this, but this time I did [things] differently.
27. ya LatTfe,’iza betsacdlni, baqdar ’al)alles.
Latifa, if you help me I can finish.
28. qarromajisafer, laken ma safama-s.
We decided to travel, but we didn’t go.

29. ensolla bukra balaqiJ-muftah.

30. ’iza betlaqfh, rajjco lal-mudlr.
31. tayyeb,’iza balaqi*1, barajjec-lowyyah.

165
32. rajact 1-ehsSb?
33. morati ’afjdato, mu§ caref wSn hattato.
34. basswetrajjec-lLyyah, bar3jco.
35. min cam-binadmi? - ’immak nadatak.
36. bass ’asmac ’i§i, banadlk.
37. ’abfiki binadlki.
38. ya Jamil (± ’ana) smeCet ’inte_wafeq„etsacedna.
39. lazemjnhott is-sufra b-sakel mazbflt.
40. ’ana rajec / r3jca min il-matar.
41. ruht awaddec wahad min_eshabi.
42. bacraf inno bis3ced sahbo.
43. ’immo bethebb inno isaced-ha fx tandtf il-b5t.
44. mus caref klf ’ajawbak.
45. qabel-ma isafer, ma waddac-e§ ’ahlo.
46. biddak mus3cade?
47. ’asacdak, willa betdabber halak (+ la-halak)?
48. ’abfly kan cindo dukkan, kan iblc u-kunt ’as3cdo.
49. law talab / byutlob, kunt bas3cdo,
50. bass biddo yecmal kull si la-halo.
51. Jamil mu§ h5n, law kan h5n / law huwwe h5n, kunt banadlh.
5 2 .13zem ajfb talat cumm3l isacduni fi-l-warse.
53. ruhet awaddec saheb ’ili (or: wahad minwe§hfibi) safar la-amerka.

Lesson 35_______________________________
1. There was a strike, but the strikers decided to go back to work.
2. They opened fire and brought down two planes.
3. Why haven’t you opened the shop? Open the shutter[s]!
4. It’s not good for you to stay up all night like this. Go to bed early!
5. My brother asked me a riddle but I didn’t guess it.
6. I’m not good at riddles.
7. What a mess! We’ve got to tidy the room.
8. Finish your work; I don’t want to disturb you.
9. Could you repair the shoes for me by tomorrow?
10. If you see a suspicious object, keep away from it!
11. Let’s hope the government won’t fall!
12. If it falls, there’ll be chaos!

166
13. There’s chaos anyway...
14. What, you’re an anarchist? - No, I like order.
15. You don’t look as if you do!

16. tisbah cala l)5r! - u-inte / u-inti min ’ahlo!

Good night! - Good night to you too!
17. hadol is-§abab biSrabu ktlr u-biskaru.
These young men drink a lot and get drunk.
18. qult-illo: ’ibced! - qult-ilha: ’ibecdi!
I told him: move away! I told her: move away!
19. ’ibni sar yihmeLedruso fi-l-m uddej-’a^lre.
My son has started to neglect his studies recently.
20. ya Samira, leswebtihemli driisek fi-l-muddeJ-’aljlre.
Samira, why have you been neglecting your studies recently?
21. ’iza betdalli dhemli driisek, ma btinjahi / mus rah tinjahi.
If you continue to neglect your studies, you won’t succeed.
22. cadatan bizcej-na, bass hal-marra sacad-na.
Usually he bothers us, but this time he helped us.
23. hat il-kundara, basalleh-lakjyyaha.
Bring the shoes, I’ll repair them for you.
24. biddak tishar macana il-lele?
Do you want to spend this evening with us?
25. kunt zaclan min il-jiran, ’aja ’al)uy hatta yislehna.
I was angry with the neighbors [and] my brother came to make peace between

26. m ajhott-es ’Idak caleh! / ma timesk5-s!

27. ya Samira, klf ’asbahti?
2 8. bidhom y e crafu qadds§ da^lak.
29. daljlo mis qalll.
30. ma_creftes inno fth ’idrab il-yom.
31. ’aywa, il-cummal qalu bidhom yecmalu ’idrab.
32. mu§wemn!h tishar kull lele.
33. kan biddo yisleh-hom, bass ’azcal-hom.
34.1e§_ebtiskar hek? mis lazem tiskar!
35. bacraf inno bizcejkom.
36. ma bahebbes inno yizcejkom.
37. ’iza bidkom tisharu macna, ’ahla u-sahla!
38. ’iza bidall yihki hek, rah-yizcel ’ahlo.
39. sakat ’ahsan-ma yizcelhom.
40. ’ana biddi„yy5k„etsalleh ir-radyo / tsalleh-lLyyaha.
41. ’iza betsalleh-li_yyaha, badfac-lak qadd-ma biddak.
42. law ’aljuy hon, kan bisalleh ir-radyo.
43. lamma kan saken maci, kan isalleh ir-radyo.
44. law betda^en, kunt baqohh.
43. lamma kunt mould, kunt aqohh tul in-nhar.
46. doktOr is-sn3n qalac-li is-sinn illi kan_emsawwes.
47. cindi sinn„emsawwes bujacni kllr.
48. it-tujjar illi clmlu ’idrab sakkaruj-mahallat.
49. bass flh tujjfir ma nazzalfl-s il-jarrar.
50. biddi ahkl-lak qussa smect-ha_«mbereh.

Lesson 36_________________________________________
1 .1 must see you <want to see you urgent>.
2 .1 tried to please her, but she isn’t satisfied.
3. My mother is pleased with me, but my father is angry with me.
4. Don’t put pressure on him, if he’s pressed cthey put pressure on him> he gets upset.
5. He says he’s making every effort to satisfy you.
6. He can’t wait for the day of the exam to come.
7. What’s the weather like today? By us in Jerusalem it’s raining.
8 .1 received a letter that had been censored.
9. And I thought they’d abolished censorship.
10. You’ve got to carry out the orders.
11. No, I’m exempt.
12. What do you mean? Who exempted you / gave you an exemption?
13. She begged me and I gave her the key.
14. Ask them to give you the key.
15. And [what] if they don’t want to give me it?
16. Our neighbor gave her daughter money.
17. Does your mother give you money?
18. Jamil gave her a picture of himself <his picture> and she gave him her picture.

19. klf it-taqs fi-n-nasre? - cam-betSatti.

What’s the weather like in Nazareth? It’s raining.
2 0 . u-klf cindkom fi-l-quds? - a§tat_embareh.
And what’s it like by you in Jerusalem? It rained yesterday.

168
21. rflhi ca-l-maktab, is-sikertera btactlki 1-ewraq.
Go to the office. The secretary will give you the papers.
22. cabbi_t-talab u-actlh las-sikertera / u-actlha„yy5h.
Fill out the application [form] and give it to the secretary, give her it
23. hiyye sallamat il-maktub la-’iben-ha? - ’a, sallamato^yy^
Did she hand the letter to her son? - Yes, she handed him it.
24. tjod il-jaifde,’iza betsflf ’abflk, ’a ctJh iyyaha.
Take the newspaper [and], if you see your father, give him it
25. ’a cttnij-maktflb, basallem-ha_yyah.
Give me the letter [and] I’ll deliver it to her.
26. bactlki muhle la-’a§er i3-3aher.
I’ll gjve you an extension <respite> until the end of the month.
27. ma balhaq ’akammel, ’actuni muhle sahren!
I won’t manage to finish. Give me two months’ extension.

28. il-bamamaj kan hilu, les ’algetuh?

29. ma ’algen3h (’algenah5-§), bukra rah-nacti kam3n halqa.
30. muczam it-tullab murada, lazem nilgijd-dars.
31. ma bnilgrh:’iza fth tenen taiate, bactlhom id-dars.
32. wen 1-ektab illi ’a^etf1la-bintek? - dayyacato.
33. leS ’actetlha_yyah? ba^d-ha // lissat-ha zglre.
34. in-nata’ej ma kanat (ma kanat-s) murdiye.
35. enSalla rah-dhsal cala nata’ej ’ahsan!
36. ’iza btutlob minno, byactlk / rah-yactlk masari.
37. ’ana ma bahebb-e§ inno yactlk masari.
38. ’ana bactlk il-muftah.
39. su fikrak? ’actlhaj-muftah?
40. la’, ma tactiha_yyah.’iza btactlha, rah-etdayyco.
41. qabel- sane kan yactlnij-muftah.
42. law_ebtutlob minno, kan byactik il-muftah.
43. lamina kan-fih ’idrab, kunna nilgiji-dars.
44. law betsatti, kunna mnilgijd-dars.
45. law baqdar kunt bacfikom min id-dars.
46. kull marra kan yecfina min id-dars.
47. fth n3s bihebbu isafru lal-^arej.
48. in-nas illi bihebbu isafru lal-l)arej, lazem iqaddmu talab.
49. min l-emcallem illi byactflc_edrQs?
50. mazbttt, laqet wahad byactlni drfls.
169
Lesson 37
1. You must learn Arabic.
2. But I have started learning, and I study every day.
3. Excellent! Who’s teaching you?
4 . 1 have books and CDs and I’m learning by myself.
5. Your father is ill and worried about you, [and] you’ve got to consider his feelings.
Exercise has “ill and worried”, Key omits “ill and” .
6. Revise the words you’ve learnt.
7. There are more residents than I thought.
8. You’ve got to teach him the work.
9. Maybe he’ll get accustomed [to it] and will be able to help you.
10. She loves him, too, and wants to get married to him,
11. but her father wants to marry her to another boy.
1 2.1 don’t know how to broach the subject with him.
13. The town is farther away than I thought.
14. If you like <if it pleases you>, fine; if not <if it doesn’t please you>, never mind.
15. I’m amazed [at] what <how> he’s doing.

16. ’aju n5s ’aktar mimmajwaqqa^t.

More people came than I expected.
17. macaso mi§ battal. byubqod qaddi marrten.
His salary is not bad. He gets twice as much as me.
18. Salim sallah kull ’iSi, ’ahliwtcajjabu min satarto.
Salim mended everything. My family / parents were astonished at his cleverness.
19. sahbak kan qalqan calek, ’ana haddeto.
Your friend was worried about you [but] I calmed him [down].
20. swayy_e§wayy bitcawwad calaJ;-3ug0l cin(d)na.
He’s gradually getting used to the work we do <the work at us>.
21. habbet ’acarref-ha cala ’ahli.
I wanted to introduce her to my parents.
22. hiyye tcarrafat cala ’ahlo.
She met made the acquaintance of his parents.
23. biddi acarrefkom cala sfihbi Fu’ad.
I want to introduce you to my friend Fuad.
24. lissa ma tcarraft-e§ cala ’ahlo.
I haven’t met cmade the acquaintance of> his parents / family yet.
25. biddna nitcarraf cala ’ahlak.
We want to meet your parents / family.

170
26. biddhom ijawwzu binthom.
They want to marry off their daughter.

27. jibtu sanadlq ’aktar mimma talabet.

28. badawwer cala wahade tsacedni ft sugljlbet.
29. nifred inno ma biwafeq, ’6s biddak tecmal?
30. su ’ismo? - hawalt ’atzakkar, bass rah min bali.
31. mac kull it-tagayyor3t ma„creft-e§ il-mahall.
32. ’aywa, il-balad^tgayyarat, win-nas kam3n„etgayyaru.
33. w-inte kamanjHgayyar«t.
34. mazbOt, ’ahl Jl-balad ma cirfunl-s.
35. byujaco raso, bass bithammal il-wajac u-byuskot.
36. etwaqqaCet hadajs-su’ai!
37. ma bacref le§ yitharrab minni.
38. esmeCet fth wahad bisacdak fi-l-maktab.
39. badawwer cala wahad isacedni fi-l-bet.
40. btecraf klf bit§arraf!
41. ’aywa, lazem yitcallam klf yitsarraf,
42. law_ebtecrafo, kunt bethobbo.
43. bass law ’inte betcarrefni caleh, kan biczemni.
44. lamma kan mudlr, kan yiczemni.
45. law bets3cdo, kan byitcall£tm.
46. lamma kan„ezglr, kan yitcallam ’ahsan.
47. law byecmal hada kull y5m, kan byitcawwad.
48. hay il-mara illi betsacedni fi-l-matba^.
49. bacref wahade bctsaced l-emcallme fi-l-madrase.
50. fth h5n zalame biddo yicarraf calek.

Lesson 38__________________________________________
1. My brother is a tourist guide. He guides tourists at home <in the country> and abroad.
2. Abroad too? - Yes, he organizes trips to Italy.
3. This year he goes on the third of May and returns on the fifteenth of June.
4. So he’ll be away for a month and a half? - Approximately.
5. And there’s another guide whom I haven’t met but he seems <goes out> decent.
6. Why are you having lunch on your own?
7. My wife had lunch before me and went shopping in <to> the market.
8. What is your wish for the future? - To become a teacher.

171
9. 1, too, have dreamt of becoming a teacher since childhood.
10. Our neighbor has a low income. He asked for an exemption from tax.
11. If there were [any] magazines here, we would pass the time with them.
12. We talked together and then had dinner.
13.1 hope you liked it.
14. That poor patient: he keeps coughing all night.
15. I’m afraid he finished some time ago.
16. Is there [any] hope you’ll be promoted in the future?

17. sarat is-seca tinten, lissa majgaddeti-s?

It’s turned two o’clock. Haven’t you had lunch yet?
18. bukrajs-subeh, mniftar sawa u-menrOh ca-s-sugel.
Tomorrow morning we’ll have breakfast together and go to work.
19. il-mudlr mabsflt minni u-raqqa-ni.
The manager’s pleased with me and he’s promoted me.
20. is-sik^rteera mnlha ktlr, raqqena-ha.
The secretary is very good [and] we promoted her.
21. birjac fi ’a^erjsbfit ’aw fi ’awwal ’adfir.
He’ll be back at the end of February or [on] the first of March.
22. nit’ammal inno tkunujitfjallsln.
Let’s hope you’ll have finished
23. esmecet biddakj^tgjb muddet sittjushor.
I heard you’ll be away for.<a period of> six months.
24. nit’ammal innoj-bamamaj ikfrn cajabkom.
Let’s hope you’ll have liked the program.
25. smecna bidhom yirfacu danbet id-dal)el.
We heard they want to put up <the> income tax.
26. ’aywa, eCmelna ’idrab, bass bala fayde.
Yes, we went on strike, but to no avail.
27. ’iza basafer cala maser, bactfkom l)abar.
If I go to Egypt, I’ll let you know.

28. sarat is-s€ca tnaces, biddak titgadda macna?

29. ’iza btlji is-s6ca tinten, bikunwemrawweh.
30. bat’ammal inno kull it-tullab ikunu nijhu.
31. las-s€ca talate, ’alad bikQn sar rajec.
32. rijec fi talat kanun il-’awwal (fi talate tna^S).
33. biddi anqol baCed yomen, yacni fi ’awwalwehzTran (fi ’awwal sitte).

172
34. il-fatah tfjabbat wara-d-dor u-ma laqu-ha-S.
35. id-duh°rwemnitgadda fi matcam wil-lgle mnitcas§a fi-l-bet.
36. ’6s ’umniyatek lal-mustaqbal?
37. kull sine//sane batmanna n afsjs-§ i: inno islr saiam!
38. ’octSt il-cunw3n la-Sucad? - ’a ctet-ha_yyah.
39. wen_ebtitgaddi?
40. ’Inti mwazzafe mnlha, sm e^t bidhom iraqquki.
41. quit la-marati innoJ-mudSr bitca§3a macna.
42. q a lat: mu§ mumken yit°a§sa macnaj-y0m , bukra mumken / bislr.
43. qalO-li fi-l-maktab bidhomm iraqqttha il-jumcaj-jay.
44. yacni, fth ’amal iraqquha.
45. law cindo masfiri, kan bisafer la-maser.
46. kull sittjuShor kan isafer la-maser.
47. law fih cindhom waqt, kanu bitgaddu mac3na.
48. lamma kanu saknln cindna, kanu yitgaddu macana.
49. jibet majallat laq5t-ha fi-l-maktab.
50. w5n il-majallat illi jibt-ha min il-maktab?

Lesson 39______________________________________
1. Hopefully you’ve made up with your father.
2. Yes, it’s over. We made up and went back to normal d ik e first>.
3. Do you want to spend the evening with us? There’s wrestling on Lebanese TV.
4 . 1 don’t like wrestling. I prefer nature films.
5. Men and women should help each other,
6. and love <the love> should be mutual.
7. This patient is being treated by us,
8. [and] we have given him suitable treatment.
9. I’m pessimistic about the political situation.
10. Be optimistic! There’s hope that things will change.
11. I’ve given up hope; whatever we do, it doesn’t help cthere’s no result>.
12. Don’t quarrel all day and shout at each other,
13. the neighbors want to rest.
14. Stop <enough> shouting! - Don’t you shout either!
15.1 saw how the people jostled one another to get on to the bus.

16. ma-lak qalqan h£k? fth ’amal, Ijalllk mitfa’el / mutafa’el# !

Why are you so worried? There’s hope, be optimistic!

173-
17. ’ana mus mistcedd ’aljsar kull hal-masari.
I’m not prepared to lose all that money.
18. suf it-tablca, ma ahlaha!
Look how beautiful Nature is!
19. hiyye miS mistcidde titnazal can haqq-ha.
She’s not prepared to give up her right.
20. ’ana u-marati bnitcawan fi terbayet 1-ewlad (terbaytjl-’awlad).
My wife and I help each other to bring up the children.
21. sar fih su’ tafahom w-etf}anaqet ’ana u-uljti.
There was a misunderstanding and my sister and I had a fight.
22. fi-l-jazaer sar fib muzahara dedd il-hukflme.
In Algeria there was a demonstration against the government.
23. ’aywa, il-’usuliyyln nazzamuha.
Yes, the fundamentalists organized it.
24. hunak rah-yactflh ’ahsan ciiaj.
They’ll give him the best treatment there.

25. hassabtak doktor.

26. smeCet innowtI)anaqet ’inte u-at)Gk.
27. la’, sar flh su’ tafahom baslt, laken^tsalahna u-^alas.
28. hgk lazem! muSLemnIh ’iljwe tnen ikttnu mitljdsmln.
29. il-yom is-suboh kan fih zahme fi-s-suq.
30. in-nas_etdafa§u u-sfiru yitljanaqu.
31. il-jiran_etsalahu u-min yomha battalu yitsayahu.
32. sar flh l)ilaf ben-na / benatna, bass ’a^Qy ’aslahna.
33. flh tac3won bgnkom / benatku0?
34. tabcan, ’ihna mnitcawan u-menhell il-masakel mac baCed.
35. flh cadam tac3won u-hada bisabbeb fawda.
36. ’ana bacref inno rah-(+ tiijacu) tit^anaqu bukra kam3n,
37. laken hallaq biddi^yyakom (bahebb inno) titsalahu.
38. humme bitc3wanu mac b a^d min zaman
39. u-wacadu inno yitc3wanu mac3na kam3n.
40. hiyye talbat inno yactfiha kull il-mablag.
41. tayyeb, bukra byactflhawyyah.
42. law ma haket macahom, kanu byit^3naqu kam3n marra.
43. u-humme zgar / lamma kanu zgar, kanu yitijanaqu.

174
44. law biqdaru, k5nu bitc3wanu mac baCed.
45. qabel hek kanu yitcawanu mac i§-surta.
46. ffr ktlr ’aflam fiha cunf.
47. ’ana bahebb-es (ma bahebb) il-’aflam illi flha cunf.
48. cindna jirfin bitljanaqu till in-nhar.
49. ’ana ma bahebb in-nas illi bidallu yitljanaqu.
50. cas5n hSk naqalt la-bSt tani.

Lesson 40__________________________________________
1. If you’d brought the magazines yesterday, we would have entertained ourselves
with them.
2. If we had time now, we would amuse ourselves.
3. In the majority of cases there are casualties <victims>.
4. He returned from abroad [and] his mother was very pleased.
5. We were all pleased to see him back in the village.
6. You frightened me with your talk!
7. They’re doing a rehearsal of the play.
8. Not just one bottle got broken, [but] two <got broken>.
9. If he had crossed the street, he would have got run over.
10.1 don’t want to get run over!
11. You’re right. If you were to cross the road you’d get run over.
12. At the outset, many [people] joined the (political) party.
13. They announced the Palestinians’ participation <joining> in the talks / negotiations.
14. That house was built long ago.
15. If you go out now you’ll get wet.
16. The vegetables are fresh, they’ll sell <get sold> straight away.
17. Go to the market before they’re all sold [out].

18. law q a ta c is-sa rec, k a n jn d a h a s (k an wendahas).

If he’d crossed the road, he would have got run over.
19. law biqtac is-sa rec kan binedhes.
If he were to cross the road, he would get run over.
20. fth hunak bat bass m a b in sa f m in hon.
There’s a house there but it’s not visible from here.
21. tarakt is-sah h ara barra w -inballat.
He left the box outside and it got wet.
22. ’iza b id o ll isa y y e h hek, banjann.
If he keeps on shouting like that I’ll go mad!

17fL
23. ’iza btetlac hallaq, biddak tinball / rah-tinball.
If you go out now you’ll get wet.
24. il-bintjncadat min ulad il-jiran
The girl got infected by the neighbors’ children
25. u-Issa ’akld ’il)wet-ha rah-yineCdu minha.
and now her sisters are sure to be infected by her.
26. su has-syah? enjannStu?
What’s [all] this shouting? Have you gone mad?
27. les ma„ndamm£t lan-nadi?
Why didn’t you join the club?

28. humme mustaciddln# yindammu lal-mufawadat.

29. lamma bi§tlf hgk, binjann.
30. hiyye kaman bidha tindomm lan-nadi tabacna.
31. lamma saf hek, ktlrwenbasat.
32. sarat (+ id-dinya)jt§atti w-inball6na.
33. sO? tlectu min il-bet? enjann€tu?
34. stannu hattawtbattel_etsatti.
35. c5datan in-nas bifad(d)lu yibqu / idollu fi-l-bet.
36. fi muczam il-halslt il-mand byisfa.
37. ’iza btactu (il-)jawab (il-)mazbQt betfBzuJb-ja’ize.
38. ya ^sara, law jawabtu, kuntu fuztujb-jawa’ez.
39. ’iza btiqtacij>-3arec h5n, rah-tindehsi (tindehkiG/tinfocsiJ).
40. akld byinekser / rah.-yinekser.
41. ’ana ma bahebb-es inno yinekser.
42. lamma bahkl-lo kifwebtitsarraf, binebset.
43. ’udroswemnih hatta yinebset / hatta yirda cannak.
44. ’iza flh hizbwejdld btindammu ’ilo ’intu kaman?
45. fth ’amal inno tindammu ’flo?
46. fi hgk halat 1-efyQz binehreq.
47. ffh l-efyOz yinehreq.
48. law hiyye bffji, kan bit^abba.
49. kull-ma kan isflfna, kan yit^abba.
50. law fih kuntak l-efyQz kan binehreq.
51. kull mctrra l-efyuz kan yinehreq.

176
 Index of Vocabulary and Rules
Notes:
31 = Lesson 31
34-2 = Lesson 34, footnote 2.
37-e-2 = Lesson 37, Explanations 2.
The c , which has no English equivalent, appears in this list as the first letter o f
the alphabet. For example, the word m acqOl w ill appear earlier in the list than
the word mablag.

C earful 34-2
cabba 35-7 carraf 37-e-l
cada 40-19 cosa [cusi] 32-21
cadad 32-21 ca§a, cassa 38-e-l
cadam 32-20 c3sar 34
cadd 32-e-6 ca§Ire 34
cade 33-e-5 c3wad 34-e-6
cadi 33-e-5 c3wan 39-14
caduww 40-19 cawn 39-14
cafu (il-) 38-e-6 cawwa 40-21
c3fye 38-e-6 cawwad 33-e-5
cajjal 32 cawwad 33-e-5
C31 37-31 cayyan 32-18
calaj 39-e-lb c5b 38-1
calla 31 c6n 33-e-4
c3mal 34-23 ca la ceni 33-4
c3mel [caw3mel] 31 cil3j 34,39-e-lb
cammi 39-12
cimel / sawwa 34-e-2
c3nad 34-e-l
ciraq 35
canlf 36-12
ciwad 33-e-5
cannad 34-e-l
cubwe 35-7
corad 34-2, 34-e-6
caraq 35 cunf 36-12
conj 34-2 cyfln 33-27

172
A ’asbah 35-e-4
’ac3d 36-8 ’asel, ’asli 34-26
’aclan 35 ’aslah 35-e-l
’a cta 36, 36-e-l (’asta) ’astat 36-e-5
’Sb 38-e-7 ’asaf 35-9
’abad 36 ’askar 35-e-2
’abad, ’abadi 32-11 ’aslam 35-e-5
’abadan 32-11 ’asqat 35, 35-e-l
’abcad 35-e-l ’atar 37-e-4
’abtal 35 ’attar, ’attar 37-e-4
’adami 34 ’atlaq 35
’ayyar 38-e-7
active participle 32-e-l
’ayyad 36
’adar (month) 38-e-7
’azcar 34
’adotr (verb) 36
’azcaj 35
’adda 31-e-8
’azcal 35-e-l
’aftar 32-9, 38-e-l
’ahbal 39-e-lc
B
’ahmal 35-e-6
bacbaS 32-e-2
’a^ad/afyid 34-28
baCed-ma 34-e-3
’aljad, ’aljaz 34-e-6
bacd (cala bacdak) 34-16
’aljljar 37-e-4 badal 36
’akkad 37-e-4 bahas 32-e-2
’aide 33 bahbas 32-e-2
’akram 35 ba-,bet-, bi-kfin...
’al-’an 37 p. 109 = permanent state 31-e-5
’alahh 36 bal (blji cala bal...) 31, p.5
’alga 36 ballag 35
’amal 38-11 baqqSl 33
’amhal 35-e-6 bared 39-13
’amr 35-5 bamamaj 36
’amtal 33-e-4 baslt 33-15
’anha 36-16 baslt 33-15
’arda 36-e-2 battal 37
’arsad 38-14 battal (no longer) 33-e-3
’ascad 33-13 bawl 36-18
’asarr 36 bawwal 36-18

178
b d a ca 3 7 -e -4 D ic tio n a r y Preface [7]
bed, b ed a 33 d ifa c 3 4 -e-6
berflti 3 1 -1 9 d5zan 3 4 -e-7
before he d id 3 4-e-3 dubban 3 7 -2 7
tw o d a ys before 3 4 -e -4 du^ei 3 5 -2 5
biji 3 3 -1 0
blr 3 1 - e - l D
b51 3 6 - e - 3 ,3 6 -1 8 d u j-h ijja p .123
braq (le-braq) 31-21 d u j - q a cda p .1 2 3
bifq 3 2
b - s - t /b - s - t 4 0 -2 D
b sat, b s a t 3 3 -1 5 dab fib 4 0 -e -2
b -s-t 4 0 -2 dab b 3 2
buksa 3 3 -6 d a ffe 35
bfll 3 6 -e-3
d a h iy y e 4 0
buraq 31-21
d a ll 3 2 , 3 2 -e-5

C d a m a n 3 9 -e-3

collective noun 3 3 - e - l d a r b /d a r b e 33

conditional sentences 4 0 - e - l d a y e c 3 1 -2 5
d a y y a c 34-21
D dedd, didd 39-21
d 3fa c 3 4 -e-6 dim en 3 9 -e-3
dahak, dahas 4 0 -7
d o /m a k e 3 4 -e -2
daljel, dal)el 3 5 -e-7
dodd 39-21
daljljan 31
d a$l 3 5 -e-7
E
dalil 3 2 , 3 8 -7
edu cated speech 3 5 -e -6
d all 3 2 , 3 2 -e-5
’elfll 3 8 -e-7
dan 3 3 -e -4
ea t 3 8 - e - l ,p .l 2 3
daqen 3 1 -9
daqq 3 2
d ar n a ser 3 6 -e -4
F
fa l 3 9 - e - ld
daraj 3 3 - e - l, 3 3 -2 0
f a ca s 4 0 -7
d a tes 3 8 -e -7
dayan 3 9 -e-3 fa lft 4 0 -9

dayaq 3 9 -e -3 fa j’a 3 4 -7

179--
fa ja ’ 3 4 -e -6 garbi 35
faqad 3 9 -e -3 g a sa b 35
fara d 37 g a sb en 3 7 -1 0
fir a q 3 4 g a sa l, g a ssa l 3 7 -e -4

fa ija 3 1 -e -4 g a tta 31 p .9
gazze 35
fa s s a l 4 0
g ram 33
fattar 3 8 - e - l
greetin gs 38 -9
fatah 3 7 -e -3
gripp 3 6 -9
fa w d a 3 5 , 3 5 -8
fa w d a w i 3 5 -8 H
fa w w a l 3 9 - e - ld hadda 3 1 ,3 1 - 1 7

fa z 4 0 h adi 3 1 -1 7
hal 3 7 -2 2
fea rin g about the p a s t 3 8 -e-5
h a m el 34
form an 3 4
h a zz, h a z z e ’ardiyye 40-11
form s:
h e k u -h e k p .79
f-2 -a 31
hidi 3 1 -1 7
f-3 safar 3 4
h iw 3 y e 31
f-4 ’akram 35
f-5 tca lla m 37
f-6 ts a la h 3 9
H•
f-7 inqabal 4 0
habb 32; (want) 3 2 -e-4
hfidar 37
fransa 4 0 -e -2
h a d er 3 1 -2 9
ftllr 3 8 - e - l
h adra, hadertak 3 1 -2 9
fu ja ’i 3 4 -7
h adld(e) 3 3 - e - lb
fu ije 3 7 -e -4
h a fa z 3 4 -e -6
fustan 3 1 -e -4
h a lal 3 7 -1 3
fu ture p erfect tense 3 8 -e -4
halaq 3 1 -1 5
fy d z 4 0 -1 2
h a le 4 0
h a leq 3 1 -1 5
G
h alib at 3 3 -e -l
gab [igfb] 3 8 -1 5
gayd 3 8 -7
h a ll (noun) 35
g a leb 3 7 - e - l h a ll (verb) 3 2, 3 2 -5 , 3 2 -e-6
gada, gad d a 3 8 - e - l h all w a s a t 37

g allab 32 h a lla 3 2 -e -6
garad 3 5 , 3 7 -8 h aliet 3 2 -e -6

180
 halq a 3 6 -1 0
ham m ale 3 7 - e - l
h a m m a s 33
hanna 3 1 -1 8
h a ra m 3 7 -1 3
h ara m i 31
harake 3 7 -e -4
harrak 3 7 -e -4
Ijaraj 3 2 -1 7
ljasem 3 9 -7
l)a ss 3 7 -e -4
l)a ss 3 7 -e -4
l)a$sa§ 3 7 -e -4
l)a§ab(e) 3 3 -e -l
Ijaw w af 4 0
Ijidme 33

hass 3 2 -4 $ilaf 36
5 il3 l 3 7 ,3 9
hassab 3 9 -6
h asal 36
5-1-f 3 1 -e-3
Ijm ll p .4 4
h a « 3 2 , 3 2 -4
l)5f 40
h a w a l/ja r r a b 3 4 -2 5
$rQj 3 2 -1 7
hayron 3 7 -e -4
Ijsara 38
h ay y a r 3 7 -e -4
t)ubz(e) 3 3 -e -l
haziran 3 8 -e-7
ljum ol p .44
h azzar 3 5 -1 8
I)udra, fjudarji 33
h efa w i 3 1 -1 9
h ife z 3 4 -e -6
I
h isel 3 6
i- initial i- dropped 40 -1
h izeb 4 0 exercises 12
i- without hamza ( ’) 4 0 -4
hizer 3 5 -1 8
’icf a ’ 36
h o b b /h u b b 37
’ib ad e 36
hziran 3 8 -e -7
ib tid a ’i 3 7 -1 6
months 3 8 -e-7
’Id 3 3 -e -4
’id a r a 36
b ’id a ca 3 6 -4
Ijabba 31
’idrob 35
l)ablr 35
ihtim am 3 2 -e-5
5 a la t 3 4
I)alat 3 4 -6 ’ijr 3 3 -e -4

D allas 3 7 -e -4 ’ik ram 35

I)alll-k 3 1 -e -2 ’ila 3 1 -e-8

§alti 3 9 -1 2 ’ilg a ’ 36
§ a n 3 fes 3 3 -e -2 -illi (sa b b -illi) 3 2 -e-3

181_
im perative 3 8 -e -2 inzarac 4 0
’in 4 0 - e - l iq tirah 3 2
in cad a 4 0 -e -2 b iq tisa d i 31
in cam a l 4 0 ’isla m 35
in b ac 4 0 -e -2 a is ticm a r 3 5 -2 4
inbahh 4 0 -e -2 c ’itla q 3 5
in b all 4 0 -e -2 c
’iza (if I, if you...) 4 0 - e - l
inbana 4 0 -e -2 b
’iz a + past 3 3 -e -5 , 35-18
in b a sa t 4 0
’iz caj 35
indahak 4 0 -7
indahas 4 0
J
in d a m m 4 0 -e -2 c
j a ’iz e 4 0
in fa cal 4 0
ja b a l is-sel) 4 0 -e -2 a
in fa ca s 4 0 -7
ja h el 3 9 - e - lc
infajar 4 0
ja h e l 3 9 - e - lc
infarad 4 0
in fica l 4 0 -5 ja m 3 ca 3 5 -1 5
ja m l0 35
in fijar 4 0
ja r a 3 7 -2 5
in firad 4 0 -6
ja r a s 3 2
in flu en za 3 6 -9
jarra b 3 4 -2 5
in g a la 4 0 -e -2 b
jarrar 35
inhaka 4 0 -e -2 b
ja w w 31
inhall 4 0 -e -2 c
ja w a b 3 4
inharaq 4 0 ja w le 3 7 -e -4
in h a zz 4 0 -1 1 j a z a ’er 3 9 -e-3
injann 4 0 -e -2 -ji (ending) 3 3 -1 9
injarah 4 0 jild 3 3 - e - lb
inkabb 4 0 -e -2 c jlz e 3 7 -e -2
inkanni, -ak 4 0 - e - l c j o z 3 7 -e -2
inkasar 4 0 j 5 z e 35
inqabal 4 0 ju ca n 31
inqalab 4 0 j u m a d a j - ’aljira / it-tani p. 123
inqatal 4 0 j u m a d a j - ’u l a / i l - ’a w w a l p .123
’in s 5 n ,-n e 3 7 -8 , 3 9 -1 7
in s a f 4 0 -e -2 a K
in ta fa 4 0 -e -2 b k a ’in n o 32 -6
inzar 4 0 -e -2 a kab b 3 3 -2 4

182
kabkab 3 2 -e -2 M
k a ffa 3 3 -9 m a cad-§ 3 3 -e-3
k am ara 3 1 -1 2 m ac in no 35
kS n (dropped in conditional sentences) m a claqa 32
4 0 -1 7 m aclum at 31
kanun 3 8 -1 3 m abhflh 4 0 -e-2 c
kanfin il - ’a w w a l 3 8 -e-7 m abka 31-21
kanun it-tani 3 8 -e-7 mablQl 4 0 -e -2 c
kaslan 3 9 - e - lc m afcfil 35-7
kattar 3 3 -e -4
m aglu b 3 7 -e -l
k ay en 3 4 -2 2
ma-hO 3 8 -2
k ilo 3 3 -8
m ahall 3 5 -4
kinno 3 2 -6
ma^lQt 34 -6
knls 31
m ajalle 38
kundara 3 5 -2 6
m ajla 4 0 -e -2 c
kuntak (kontak) 4 0 -1 2
m a k e /d o 3 4 -e-2
L
m algO m 4 0 -9
la can 32-1
m an 3 1 -e-3 , 3 4 -1 3
la-budd 3 1 -e -9
m an afec 34-11
la h a z 3 4
m an cJ t-ta ja w w o l 3 7 -e -4
la je ’ 3 6 -5
lan u n a ba-/bet-/bi-kfln 3 1 -e-5 m a n a teq 36-7

laqa p .5 5 m 5 n ec 38
(laqa) b ila q i p.55 m a n za r 3 2 -1 6
la fff 3 4 -8 m aq d isi 3 1 -1 9
lattaS 3 7 -6 m ar’a 3 9 -1 8
la w - law in n i, -n n a k ... 4 0 - e - l m a ije c 3 4 -1 8
L e t’s... 3 1 -e -2 m aras 3 4 -e -6
lidd 3 4 marflni 3 1 -1 9
liheq 3 3 -1 6 m a sru f 33-11
litam 3 5 -6 m a s a iff 33-11
-lli (sa b b -illi) 3 2 -e-3 m a§buh 35
lubnSni 3 9 -1 9
m asrah 4 0
lu g °m 4 0 -9
m asrahiyye 4 0
lutof, lutfan 3 4 -8
m a tca m 38

183.
m a th a n e 3 3 -1 4 m u fa w a d a t 36
m aw w at 36-1 m u h le 35
m a y y , m a y y e t ... 3 1 - e - l m u h a w a le 3 4 -e-6
m ayyat 3 3 -e -l m uh fid ara 37
m azraca 4 0 -e -2 a
m u h a fe z 3 4 -e-6
m d allac 31
m uharram p .123
m efter 3 5 , 3 8 -1 0
m u k °n se 3 4, exercises 22
m ljam m ej 33
m ulattam 35 -6
m icdi, m ecdi 4 0 -1 9
m u la h a z a p .6 6
m ifter 3 5 , 3 8 -1 0
m uraarase 3 4 -e-6
m im m a (m in + m a) 3 7 -1 2
m um taz 3 1 -2
m innena 3 1 -2 3
m islem 3 5 -e -5 m unasabe 3 4 -e-6

m istced d 3 9 m u n aseb 3 4 -e -6
m it’a s s e f 3 2 m u n aw eb 3 9 -e-3
m itfa ’e l 3 9 - e - ld m uqabale 3 4 -e -6
m itfa w w eq 3 6 m u'qfiwam e 3 6 -2
m itsa ’e m 3 9 - e - ld m u q leq 3 1 -e-7
m lattam 3 5 -6 m ur3jaca 3 4 -1 8
m lih 3 3 -7 m urdi 3 6 -e -2
months an d d a tes 3 8 -e -7 m ursed 3 8 -1 4
m 5 z 33 m urfiqabe 36
m sa w w e s 35 m usabaqa 4 0 -1 4
m ucask ar 3 6 -5 m u sa lsa l 3 6 -1 0
m u cz a m 3 6 m u saw a 3 9 -e-2
m uca r a d a 3 4 -e -6 m u slq a 31
m u’a^ aze 3 4 -e -6 m u slem 3 5 -e-5
m u ’s e f 3 5 -9 M uslim m onths 38 p. 122
m u b cad 35-1 m u sa w w er 3 1 -1 0
m ubld 36 m userr 36
m ud6l 4 0 m utabadel (-dal) 39 p. 131
m udlr 3 6 -6 m u tafaw w eq 36
m udfir 3 6 m utasaw i 3 9 -e -2
m u d ara 3 6 -6 m u ta q a ced 3 9 -9
m u faja’a 3 4 -e -6 m u w afaq a 34
mufaljljal) 4 0 -9 m u w o z z a f 38

184
N plural, + -a t 3 3 -e -l
n a cal (= la can) 32-1 kbar, m nah... 3 3 - e - lc
nac« n a n 3 5 -e -8 p lu ra l o f pau city 3 3 -e -l
n a ’eb 3 9 -e -3
nabah 4 0 -2 1 Q
nabeC 3 1 -e -l qabal 3 4 -e-6
nada 3 4 qab el-m a (+subj.) 3 4 -e-3
nadi 4 0 -e -2 c qaddam 39

n ad d arat 3 2 -1 6 qahh, qahha 3 2 -2 2

n afa c 34-11 q alac 35

n a fe c 3 4-11 q a lla l 36

naffad / n affa z 3 6 -1 7 q am (andstarted to) 3 5 -e-3

nahel, n a h le 3 3 -2 2 q 3m b- 3 5 -e-3
nam el, n a m le 3 3 - e - l q 3m b i-w ajb o 3 5 -e-3 , 3 5 -1 3
nam fls 3 3 -2 2 q a ra s 3 3 -2 2
nasab 3 4 -e -6 q arat 3 2 -e-2
nasab 3 4 qarm at 3 2 -e -2
naSar 3 6 -e -4 qarqas 3 2 -e-2
na§ra 3 6 qarq at 3 2 -e -2
notn at 3 2 -e -2
q a sa s 3 4
naw a 3 7 -9
q a $ a s 34
naw ab 3 9 -e -3
q a ss 3 3 -e-2
n aw i 3 7 -9
q a s s a 3 3 -e -2
n a za r 3 2 -1 6
q a si 37
n a zra 3 2 -1 6
q aw am 3 6 -2
n iq a b e 3 9 -e-3
q a w w a s 3 8 -1 2
n ise f 4 0 -1 8
q ille 3 1 -1 6
nisan 3 8 -e -7
q -l-q 3 1 -e-7
nisb e 3 4 -e -6
q u d si 3 1 -1 9
N o longer 3 3 -e-3
q yam e 3 1 -2 0
nus^a 4 0 -e -2 a
R
O rabba 31
One w a lk /h a ir c u t 3 3 -e -2
rabF il - ’a w w a l p .123
P rablc it-tani p .123
p a s t p erfect tense 3 8 -e-3 radd 3 4

185
rain(ing) 3 1 -e -6 , 3 6 -e-5 sa lla 3 1 ,3 1 - 4
rajab p .123 sam ak (e) 33
rajol 3 9 -1 7 sam m a 31
rakan 3 9 sa n e
rakeb 3 3 -2 9 ku ll sa n e u intu... 38 -9
ram a d a n p .1 2 3
ras is-sa n e 38
raq ab 3 4 - 1 ,3 9 - e - l b
sa q a t 3 5, 3 5 -2 4
raq em 3 7 -e -4
sarah 3 3 -1 7
raqqa 38
s3reh 3 3 -1 7
ras
satar 4 0 -1 0
ca la r a s i 3 3 -4
sater 4 0 -1 0
r a s is - s a n e 3 8
s3 w a 3 4 -e -2
r a sif 35
rayyah 3 7 -1 4 sa w w a 3 4 -e -2

razaq 3 8 -8 s3 y e h 3 8 -7
r flc p .4 4 sbaq 3 9 - e - la
ridi 3 6 -e -2 sig a r a 31
rizeq 3 8 -8 siker 3 5 -e -2
rqlq p .4 4 sikerter 3 6 -2 0
Rule 19 3 1 -e -6 sikklne 32
silm i 3 9 -e -2
s silsila 3 6 -1 0
s3 cad 3 4
sin e see san e
sacid 3 3 -1 3
s a ’eh 3 8 -7 single unit noun 3 3 -e -l
sabb 32-1 sinn 35
s a d d a q ( m a - ) 3 6 -1 4 sin sa l 3 6 -1 0
sSfar 3 4 sire 3 2 -7
safra 3 4-3 siyah a 3 8 -7
sah el 3 9 - e - ld
siy a h i 3 8 -7
sah h al 3 9 - e - ld
siy a si 31
sahran 3 5 -2
s u ’ 3 9 -1 0
sah h ara 3 3 -6
sajar 3 3 - 2 0 ,2 1 sufra 3 2 -1 0

salafan 3 7 sukkar 3 2
sa lem 38 suvenlr 38 -6

186
$ sa fa 3 4 -2 0
sa b 3 8 -1 2 saggfl 3 4 -1 2
sab b 3 2 sajaca 3 9 -4
sab b -illi 3 2 -e -3 sajar 3 3 -2 0 , 3 3 -2 1 , 3 3 -e -l

s a d a f 3 4 -5 sajarten 3 3 -2 0

sa d a f 34 sajjac 3 9 -4
sakel 3 4 -e-5 , 3 6 -e-2
sa fa n 3 9 -5
s3 m el 35
$afar p .1 2 3
sa m m e th a w a 3 3 -e -2
s a h [ is lh ] 3 1 -7
sam sam 3 2 -e -2
sahen 3 2
sarike 31
sa la , §alah 3 1 -2 4
sarraf 32
sa le h 3 5 - e - l
satta(t) 31
s a lla 3 1 - 4 ,3 1 - 2 4
sa w w a l p .123
s a lla h 3 5 - e - l s3 y 3 2 -1 4
sa ra h a 34, 3 7 Sayyad 3 5 -2 2
§ara f 3 2 - 1 3 ,3 3 - 1 1 ,3 7 -e -4 sb a t 3 8 -e-7
sa ra h 3 7 -e-3 sifi 3 4 -2 0
sarlh 37 sikel 3 4 -e-5
sa rr a f 3 3-11 sirke 31
sarsur 3 7 -2 7 sSke 3 2
s a s a 3 4 -e -7 §u’m 3 8 -1 , 3 9 -e -ld
sa w w a r 3 1 -1 0 su ja c 3 9 -4
sigar 3 4 -1 9 sflm 3 8 -1 , 3 9 -e -ld
sOfa 3 4
s o s a 3 4 -e -7 T
su d fe 3 4 -5 t+ g d g 3 7 -7
su fra 3 2 -1 0 tcajjab 37
su l°h 3 5 - e - l tc3laj 3 9 -e -lb
tca lla m 37
S tca rra f 3 7 -e -l
p .1 2 3 tca§sa 38 p .123
§aCer, s a cra, sacrat 3 3 - e - l tca w w a d 37
sabb, §abab 3 5 -2 2 tca y y a n 3 7 -e -l
sadd 3 4 tac3 w o n 3 9 -1 4
§adde 3 6 -e -3 tac3 y o s 3 9 -e -2

187^
t’aljljar 3 7 -e-4
t’akkad 3 7 -e -4
t’am m al 38, 3 8 -e -5
t’attar, t’atta r 3 7 -e -4
tacyln 3 2 -1 8
ta’Ijlr 3 7 -e -4
ta ’j ll 3 4 -1 5
ta’mXn 39
ta’tlr, ta’tlr 3 7 -e -4
tabw ll 36-18
tad^In 31
tadam on 3 9 -e-3
tagayyor 3 7-3
tagylr / tagayyor 3 7 -3
tahaddi 38
tahrib 3 7 -1 9
tajer 35
tajrube 3 4 -2 5
tam am 33
tam anniySt 3 8 -5
tam m uz 3 8 -e -7
t a n f t d /- z 3 6 -1 7
taqlld 3 4 -2 6
tarbiye 3 1 -2
tasam oh 39
tasS w i 3 9 -e -2
tasfiloh 39
tasw lr 31
taw 3zon 3 9 -e -3
taw dl0 3 4 -4
taw fjq 38
ta w q lf 31
taza 33-5
tb a d d a c 3 7 -e -4
tbadal 39
188
tdarab 3 9 - e - l, 39 -3
tdafas 3 9 - e - l a
tdayan 3 9 -e-3
tdayaq 3 9 -e -3
tfa ’al 3 9 - e - ld
tfaham 3 9, 3 9 - e - l a
tfaraq 3 9 - e - l a
tfarraj 3 7 -e -4
tgadda 38 p. 123
tgallab 37
tgassal 3 7 -e -4
thabal 3 9 - e - lc
tharrab 3 7 -e -l
thabab 3 9 - e - l a
thadda 3 8 ,4 0 - 1 6
th a lla s 3 7 -e -4
tham m al 3 7 -e -l
tharrak 3 7 -e -4
thayyar 3 7 -e -4
t^abba 38
^ a n a q 3 9 -1 , 3 9 - e - l a
tljasam 39
t^ assas 3 7 -e -4
t^In p .4 4
tikram 33
tirbay(e) 3 1 - 2 , 3 1 -e -l
tislay 31
tisbah 3 5 -e -4
tisn n 3 8 -e-7
tjahal 3 9 - e - lc
tjaw w al 3 7 -3 0 , 3 7 -e -4
tjaw w az 37
tkasal 3 9 - e - lc
tkatab 39
tlaqa 3 9 -e -2 c
tnazal 39-11 tahan 3 3 -1 4
tq acad 3 9 -9 tdhflne 3 3 -1 4
tqaddam 37 talab(noun) 36-21
tqarab 3 9 - e - la taq s 3 6 -1 9
tqatal 39 taifq (can taiTq) 36
trabba 38 tartas 3 2 -e -2
traq ab 3 9 - e - lb t a t l e / t a t li 3 2
tsa la h 3 9 ,3 9 - 1 ta y y a b 3 4 -2 0
tsarraf 3 7 -e -4 ta y y eb 4 0 -8
tsa w w a r 3 7 -e-4 t a z a ( - z a ) 33-5
tsa y a h 3 9 - e - la t5bar 3 4 -e-7
tSa’am 3 9 - e - ld tobar, to b a iji 3 3 -1 9
tsabaq 3 9 - e - la tOmal 3 4 -e-7
tsahal 3 9 - e - ld
tsam ah 39 U
tsarrac 3 7 - e - l ’u m n iye 3 8 -5
tsaw w aq 3 7 -e -4 ’um ur 35 -5
tta lla c 3 7 -e -l ’urubba 3 6
tui)°n p .4 4 ’u sb a c 3 3 -2
tusbeh 3 5 -e-4 ’usfll; ’u su li 34 -2 6
tw akkal 3 7 -1 7
tw aqqac 37
tw a ssa l 3 7 - e - l w
tzakkar 37 w 3 ci 35

tzaw w aj 37 w ad d a 3 1 -e-8

tza h a r 39 w ad d ac 34, 34 -4
w a d eC 31

T w 3faq 34
tanaw i, tani 3 7 -1 6 w ajah 34
w ajeb 3 5 -1 3
w akll 3 7 -1 7
T
ta cm a 3 1 -e -4 w akkal 3 7 -1 7
tabal) 33-1 w a q q a c 3 7 -2 9
tabba^ 33-1 w a q q a f 31
ta b e c 3 6 -e-3 w araq(a) 3 6 -e-3
tab F a 36 w asat 3 7 -e -l

189
w a sa t 3 7 -e-l Z
w a s s a l 3 1 -e-8 z a ’er 31
w a ti 3 1 -6 zad [izld] 32 -1 3
w a tta 31 zagar 3 4 -1 9
wazSr 3 1 -2 9 zah m e 32
w ishing about the p a s t 3 8 -e -5 zalam e 3 9 -1 7
zatQn 33
Y
zaw j 3 7 -e -2
yislam u ’idSk(i)! 3 3 -e -4
zerr 3 3 -e -l
yuhanna 3 1 -1 8
yunan 3 6 zya d e 3 2 -1 3

190
 Rules Indicated by a Number Inside a Square

A word marked with a number inside a square - such as \E\ or [B] - behaves in
accordance with the rule indicated by that number (see below). Examples:

- A word marked with the number [2| begins with a sun letter. So, when you
see, for example, sita [2], you will realize that you have to say is-sita and not il-
sita (the rain; the w in ter ).

- Similarly: qabel \E\ behaves like bint / binet, which means that we use the
form qabel at the end of a sentence or before a consonant followed by a vowel,
e.g. qabel seca (an h ou r ago). For further explanation, see Rule 5 below.

A single word may, of course, be marked with more than one number. The
numbers [2 ] [5] beside the word sugl remind us, firstly, that it starts with a sun
letter and, secondly, that it behaves like bint - i.e. firstly that il- becomes is-
(is-sug°l) and secondly that at the end of a sentence it acquires a helping vowel
(see Rule 5) and assumes the form sugel //sug°l.

These little numbered squares will provide you with valuable information about
the idiosyncrasies of each new word you learn and show you how to use them.

The numbers of the rules given inside the squares are identical to the numbers
used for the same purpose in the O live Tree D ic tio n a ry 1 (pp. 755-763)); this
means that those of you accustomed to using the dictionary will feel at home
here, too. The rules given here have been adapted to suit the contents of this
course and the style of transliteration used in it.

Those of you who find the profusion of signs (e.g., //<>[], and, in this book,
also # and the numbered squares) a bit much to cope with will perhaps draw
some comfort from recalling the infinitely greater number of signs you had to
learn to pass your driving test... Here, however, if you miss a signal or two, at
least it won’t be life-threatening!

1. The Olive Tree Dictionary: A Transliterated Dictionary o f Conversational Eastern

Arabic (Palestinian), J. Elihay, published by Minerva Instruction and Consultation,
Jerusalem, 2004.

191
[T] The definite article is il-. This is the form it takes at the beginning o f a
sentence: il-w a la d (the boy). After a word ending in a vow el it shortens
to J - : sufna J - w a la d (w e saw the boy). The letter -1 itself changes before
certain consonants, as explained below in Rule 2.

[2 ] Before a word beginning with the letters d, d, 4> n, s, s, §, t, t, z, z, r

(which are referred to as sun letters), the -1 o f il- is assimilated into the first
letter o f the word:
the fire = il- + n a r —►in -n ar
the cinema = il- + sinam a —> is-sin am a
This assimilation can occur together with the disappearance o f the i-, as
explained above in Rule 1: cala + in -n ar —*• ca la ji-n a r

[3] Before all words that begin with two consonants - apart from die sun letters,
i.e. the consonants listed above in Rule 2 - the definite article is l-e,
e.g., 1-ektab (the book)
Som e speakers use this form before sun letters, too, and so w e may hear:
the little boy = il-w a la d iz-zglr, in accordance with Rule 2
or il-w a la d l-ezglr, in accordance with Rule 3.
When a word like this, which starts with two consonants, is at the beginning o f
a sentence, a helping vow el (e) may be inserted, e.g.,
ektab (book), em b3reh (yesterday). See also Rule 4, below.

[4 ] When a word ending in a consonant (e.g. w alad) is follow ed by a word that

starts with two consonants (e.g. kbfr) a helping vow el similar to that described
in Rule 3 is inserted:
walad + kbir —*• waladwekblr (a big boy)

[5] A word that ends in two consonants (e.g. §ugl, q ab l), is pronounced

a) With a helping vow el (e / ° ) in the following cases:

- A t the end o f a sentence or before a natural break in the flow o f speech:
k lf is-SUgol? (how’s work?)

- Before a consonant follow ed by a vowel:

qabel sane (a year ago)
sug°l hayyen (easy work)

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- Before the attached pronouns in group B below (i.e., before a consonant
followed by a vowel: -ha, -na, -kom, -hom):
qabel-kom (before you)
SUg°l-na (our work)
b) Without a helping vow el (e / ° ) , when followed by a vowel, i.e., in the
following cases:
- Before the attached pronouns -i / -ak / -ek / -o (see G roup A, below)
SUgli (my work), q ab lo (before him)

- Before a word that begins with two consonants, because Rule 0 applies and
actually the word begin with the v o w e le.
q ab lwesnln (years ago)
bintj^kblre (a big girl)
SUglj^ktlr (a lot o f work)

Summary
- Before a vowel, no helping vowel (e / ° ) is required:
q ab l-i - q a b ljd -d a r s - qablwesnln
- Before a single consonant / at the end o f a sentence, a helping vowel
intervenes:
qab^l san e - qabel-kom - ’an a jit qab^l

A ttached pronouns
G roup A G roup B
Starts with a vowel Starts with a consonant
-i my\ (for) me -ni me (after a verb)
-ak your\ youm SIng (object) -ha her (possessive; object)
-ek your\ you smg (object) -na our\ us
-o his\ him -kom (-ku) your; you™7^1(object)
-hom (-hen) their, them^

\§\ In words marked with this number, the final vow el (usually -e)
- drops when a G roup A (see above) attached pronoun is added;
- is stressed when a G roup B (see above) attached pronoun is added:

misek (he caught) > misko; misek-ha (he caught him; he caught her)
sfiheb (friend) > Sfihbi; saheb-na (my friend; our friend)

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\l] A noun that ends in a consonant or in -i or -u is usually masculine, unless
otherwise indicated. Nouns that denote women, girls or female animals, are, of
course, feminine, e.g. ’imm / ’umm {mother).
- Words ending in -a, -a and -e are feminine:
madrase (school); qussa (tale/story)
- These endings may be added to a participle, an adjective or certain types of
noun, to change them from masculine to feminine, e.g.,
mrattab mrattabe ((organized m —>organized f).
The pronunciation of the ending varies in accordance with the preceding
consonant, as follows:
-a, -a after
1) the gutturals c, h, h, lj ..... mnlh —>mnlha (good m f )
2 ) the emphatic consonants, d, s, t, z marid marida (ill m—► f)
3 ) r (with the exception of -ir) majbfir majbura (obliged m—►f )
-e is used in all other cases:
m a k tu b —> m a k tflb e (written m -> f ), k b lr k b lre (big m f)

\s \ Nouns ending in -a/-a/-e assume a special form when immediately

followed by another noun: the final -a/-a/-e become -et, e.g.,
nihaye end
nihayet id-dawra the end o f the course
bidaye beginning
bidayet il-qussa the beginning o f the story

This form ending in -et is called the ‘construct form’ (often shortened to
‘contruct’). The English equivalents of the construct state are o f (as in the
examples above) and fs as in:
gurfe room
gurfet ’abuy my father's room

The construct form of a noun is also used when that noun is followed by an
attached pronoun (-i, -ak, -ha, -na...)
gurfet-na our room
The -e preceding the -t tends either to disappear or to become stressed, in
accordance with rule \§\ above,
farse bed
farst-i; farset-ha my bed; her bed

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 8*1 A word marked like this belongs to the DaDDaDa. / DaDDaDe group o f
nouns, e.g., m adrase {school), m a sla h a {interest/ benefit). Words like this
obey Rule [8], e.g.,
m adraset M unir Munir's school
m adraset-na our school
However, when an attached pronoun from G roup A is added (see table above),
the stress moves to the penultim ate syllable:
m adrasti my school
m a sla h to his benefit

[9~1 Nouns ending in -a y or -a y y are a (mainly Galilean) shortened version o f

the forms -S ye /-a y y e . These words are feminine, and in the construct state
they behave as described above in rule \i\.
m ayy water tirbay education
m a y y e t n a b ec spring water tirbayt il-w a la d child education
m ayyet-n a our water tirbayet-kom you?*1education

[To] This number indicates nouns ending in -iy y e, e.g., h a w iy y e {identity;

identity card). Rule \s\ applies to these nouns, too, e.g.,
h a w iy y e t... 's identity card
haw iyyet-h a her identity card

However, when the attached pronouns from G roup A (see table above) are
added to these words, the -iyye turns into -iyy —» -I, e.g.,
haw itak (haw iyytak) Yourm s,ng identity card

[IT] Nouns marked with this number denote animals, trees, fruit, etc., and they
have three forms:
- A collective noun in the masculine singular, indicating a species or type o f
object, i.e., an unspecified number or quantity o f something:
sajar trees bed eggs
nam el ants

- A feminine singular noun ending in -e /-a /-a denoting a single unit:

sajara a tree b ed a an egg
nam le an ant

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- A plural o f paucity denoting a specific group o f (animals, trees, etc.), and
ending in -St/-fit:
I)ames gajarfit five trees
han-namlst those ants
hal-bedat these [few] eggs

12] In the same way, nouns marked with this number denote a generalized
action or an undefined quantity o f a substance.
Here too, as with the previous rule, there are three forms:

- A collective (masc sing) noun, used to denote a general action or an undefined

quantity o f a substance.
- A fern sing noun ending in -e/-a/-a, used to denote a single piece o f a
substance.
- A plural o f paucity ending in -at / -fit, used to denote a number o f actions or
several pieces o f a substance (iron, wood, etc.),

darb hitting / blows darbe [one] blow

talat darbfit three blows

Ijasab wood (substance) l)asabe piece o f wood / plank
talat I)a3abat three pieces o f wood/three planks
ramel sand
har-ramel this [sort of] sand
har-ramlSt this [quantity of] sand

131 Nouns in the plural that denote abstractions or an undefined number o f

objects require an adjective and verb in the fem inine singular.
b yu twejd ld e new houses
k alim at ca r a b iy y e Arabic words
This rule also applies to the pronoun that represents the noun ( / see them), as in
the phrase:
il-kalimat illi bacref-ha the words I know
<the words that I know them>
Nouns o f this type also require a feminine singular verb:
il-jarfiyed nasrat il-^ctbar the newspapers published the news
The same rule may apply - though this is not obligatory - to verbs describing
the actions o f groups o f people (human beings, children ), i.e., the verb m ay be
put into the feminine singular, especially when it precedes the subject:
’ajat in-nas the people came

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This rule also applies to nouns denoting a totality or generality (such as the
streets o f the town; books; thoughts, etc.); however, when the verb / adjective /
pronoun qualifies or refers to a noun defined by a number or by hal- / hadol
(these / those), the plural is generally used:
’arbacwebyflt j u d od four new houses
h al-k u tob , baratteb-hom / arrange these books
<these books, I arrange them>.

fl4 ] The prepositions b- and fi (which indicate place, time and means) are often
used interchangeably. With the attached pronouns, however, fi is generally
used:
bakteb b il-q alam I write with the pen
b akteb fib I write with it

151 Verbs can take a direct and/or an indirect object In most cases to is
translated as 1-, la-, e.g.,
katab m aktub la -’abfly He wrote a letter to my father
However, a small number o f verbs marked with [ is ] (such as callam to teach,
salla m to hand over , fa ija to show , etc.) display unusual behaviour:
- If the recipient is indicated by a noun, the preposition 1-/ la- is used:
sallam he handed over / delivered l gave
sa lla m m aktub la-m arato he gave a letter to his wife
sa lla m -o la-m arato he gave it to his wife
- But if the recipient is indicated by a pronoun (and not by a noun), this
pronoun is attached directly to the verb, w ithout the preposition l-/la-:
sallam -ak m aktub he gave you a letter
Compare with katab-lak makttlb he wrote you a letter <he wrote to you ... >
- If the object given is also indicated by a pronoun, this pronoun is attached to
the particle iy y a -, for example:
sallam -h a kutob he gave her books
sallam -h a iy y a -h o m he gave them to her < he gave her them>

16] When an expression is formed from two nouns in the construct state, the
definite article is added to the second noun only:
bab is-sa y y a r a [the] door o f the car
radd f e cl reaction <retuming of an action>
radd il-fe cl the reaction < [the] returning of the action>

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1171 Long vow els are heard as such only when they are stressed. If the stress
moves to another syllable, the long (now unstressed) vow el a, I, u shortens. The
shift in stress is indicated in our transcription by the use o f bold characters, e.g.,
tacban tired* sing ta ^ a n ln ( = t a cbanln) tired9'
maktflb letter m aktuben (= m aktuben) two letters
safat she saw m a safat-S (= §afat-s) she didn’t see

1 8 1 In phrases marked with this number the vow el o f the verb shortens when
an attached pronoun such as -li, -lak -lo {to m e, to youmsing, to him) is added:
qal he said q a l-li he said to me
b ijib he brings b ijib -lek he brings to you smg
The addition o f the negative particle -s may cause a similar shortening:
b ijib he brings m a bijib-5 (or m a bijlb-es) he doesn’t bring

19J The weather, the seasons o f the year, the times o f day, darkness and light
are attributed to id-dinya {the world), which is a feminine noun in Arabic:
id-dinya rabl0 it’s spring <the world is spring>
sarat id -d in ya le i it’s night-time now <the world has become night>

2 0 1 This number indicates that the verb is in the subjunctive, i.e., in the
present-future without initial b-. This form o f the verb is used in the following
circumstances:
1) When the verb is preceded by an auxiliary verb (can, must, begin, sto p ... ):
bizflr = he visits / he will visit; b ifut he goes in / he will go in - But:
battaljzur he stopped visiting <he stopped [that] he visit>
biqdarJfu t he can go in
2) When the verb is preceded by another verb expressing a wish / intention /
request or an order / fear / prohibition.
habbet inno y ism a c 7 wanted him to hear <1 wanted that he hear>
batlob in n o jr u h 7 ask him to go <1 ask that he go>
m anac-ni afu t he prevented me from going in
< prevented me [that] I go in>
Ijayef inno y iija c I'm scared he’ll come back

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3) After a preposition such as before , w ithout , in stea d o f ox after words such as
la zem (it's n ecessary ), m um ken (it's p o ssib le ):
bidfln-m a y ism a c without his hearing <without-that he hear>
qabel-m a ylji before he arrives
Note: The present-future with b- indicates an action in the present or future,
states a fact (that’s how it is / that’s how it's going to be), and is not dependent
on a preceding verb:
lam m a bafut = when I go in
baffit bacden = ru go in afterwards
bazuro bukra = I'll visit him tomorrow
Compare:
b a tlo b in n o j f u t I ask him to come in < ... that he come in> = request
b a cr e f in n o bifu t I know that he comes in = fact
There is, however, an apparent exception to this:
- In phrases such as rah -ak am m el (I sh a ll fin ish / I'm g oin g to fin ish ) the
present-future without b- is used to indicate a future fact. This is not such an
exception as it appears: rah- is a contraction o f rfiyeh (I'm go in g [to ]), and so,
in fact, the verb akam m el is dependent on the preceding verb ra y eh as
described above in paragraph 1).

2 1 1 Verbs marked with this number start with the letter i-. These are verbs o f
the in fa cal, iftacal and ista fcal groups, w hose conjugation is described in
L esson 40 in this volume, and L essons 41-44 in B ook 4.

This i- drops when the word before the verb ends in a vowel:
im tan ac he refrained l abstained
j a n \j n t a n a c his neighbor abstained
in b all it got wet
m a j ib a ll- es it didn't get wet

The i- also drops at the beginning o f a sentence in cases such as stanna! (w ait!),
where the verb is easily pronounced without it.

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