أنا أشرب قهوة "I drink coffee"

In this lesson, we are going to learn about verbs, the present tense particularly. Verbs in Arabic language have three different forms. These are Present, Past and Imperative. A typical practice is to memorize the three forms of each verb.

Now we will focus on the present form/tense. Like in French, German and many other languages, the verb changes according to the subject. The pattern most verbs follow in the present tense is demonstrated in the following examples (notice the letters written in red):

 

ya--SHrab    yashrab   (Drink)
anaa aSHrab anaa ashrab    (I drink)
anta ta--SHrab anta tashrab    (You drink (m.))
ante ta--SHrab--een ante tashrabeen    (You drink (f.))
antom ta--SHrab--oon antom tashraboon    (You drink (pl.))
howa ya--SHrab howa yashrab    (He drinks)
heya ta--SHrab heya tashrab    (She drinks)
hom ya--SHrab--oon hom yashraboon    (They drink (pl.))
naHno na--SHrab naHno nashrab    (we drink)

 

The following verbs follow the same pattern shown above :

ya'kol ya'kol Eat
yaf3al yaf'al Do
yakoon yakoon Be
yaDHhab yaDHhab Go
ya'tee ya'tee Come
yamSHee yamshee Walk
yaqef yaqef Stand up/Stop
yagles yagles Sit
yatakallam yatakallam Speak/Talk
yaskot yaskot Stop talking
yazoor yazoor Visit
yadres yadres Study

 

Some new words are presented here to help exemplify the use of verbs :

elE ela To
fee fee In
3alE aala On
3an aan About
aalqahwat> al-qahwah The coffee
aalmanzel al-manzel The house
aalkorsee al-korsee The chair
aala'qaareb al-aqaareb The relatives
aalmadrasat> al-madrasah The school
aalSHaare3 al-sharea The street

 

Examples of using verbs in the present form/tense:

1-anaa aSHrab aalqahwat>
anaa ashrab al-qahwah
I drink coffee
2-ante taDHhabeen elE aalmadrasat>
ante taDHhabeen ela al-madrasah
You go to school (f.)
3-howa ya'tee elE aalmanzel
howa ya'tee ela al-manzel
He comes to the house
4-antom taqefoon fee aalSHaare3
antom taqefoon fee al-shaarea
You stand in the street (pl.)
5-heya tagles 3alE aalkorsee
heya tagless ala alkorsee
She sits on the chair
6-hom yazooroon aala'qaareb
hom yazooroon al-aqaarib
They visit relatives

 

This concludes Lesson2, now it is exercise time ;).