Past tense

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A verb in past tense refers to an action that

 

already happened and finished

 

As in

 

آني كِتَبِــتْ رِسالَة

 

/ʼaanee kitabit risaalah/

 

Means

 

I wrote a letter

 
   
 

Conjugating verbs tells who did the action and

 

when the action is/ was/ will be done

   
   

The suffixes we add to the root of the verb should

 

match the gender and the number of people who

 

did the action

   
   

Conjugating in first person (Singular) آني

 

should be followed by the verb and then the suffix  تْ  should be added at the end of the verb

 

As in

 

آني سَوِّيــتْ

 

/ʼaanee sawwait/

 

Means

 

I did

 
   
   

Conjugating in first person (Plural) اِحْنا

 

should be followed by the verb and then the suffix نا  should be added at the end of the verb

 

As in

 

اِحْنا سَوِّيــنا

 

 /iHnaa sawwainaa/

 

Means

 

We did

 
   
   

Examples:

 

آني رِحِــتْ لِل

 

/ʼaanee riHit lil/

 

I went to

 

اِحْنا رِحْــنا لِل

 

/iHnaa riHnaa lil/

 

We went to

 
   
   

Examples:

 

آني قَريـتْ

 

/ʼaanee qarait/

 

I read

 

اِحْنا قَريـنا

 

/iHnaa qarainaa/

 

We read

 
   
   

Examples:

 

آني كِتَبِــتْ

 

/ʼaanee kitabit/

 

I wrote

 

اِحْنا كِتَبْــنا

 

/iHnaa kitabnaa/

 

We wrote

 
   
   

كِتاب

 

/kitaab/

 

Means

 

Book

   
   
   

رِسالَة

 

/risaalah/

 

Means

 

Letter/ Text

 
   
   

البارحَة

 

/ilbaarHah/

 

Means

 

Yesterday

 

Adverbs can be placed at the beginning, in the

 

middle or at the end of the sentence

 
   
   

اللي راح

 

/illee raaH/

 

Means

 

Last/ Previous

 

Adding تْ  to any of the adjectives will make it

 

feminine

 

اللي راحَتْ

 

/illee raaHat/

 
   
   

Conjugating in second person

 

(Masculine/Singular) إِنْتَه

 

should be followed by the verb and then the suffix تْ should be added at the end of the verb

 

As in

 

إِنْتَه رِحِــتْ

 

/ʼintah riHit/

 

Means

 

You went

 
   
   

Conjugating in second person

 

(Feminine/Singular) إِنْتِ

 

should be followed by the verb and then the suffix تي should be added at the end of the verb

 

As in

 

إِنْتِ رِحْــتي

 

 /ʼinti riHtee/

 

Means

 

You went

 
   
   

Examples:

 

إِنْتَه رِحِــتْ لِل

 

/ʼintah riHit lil/

 

You went to (Masculine)

 

إِنْتِ رِحْــتي لِل

 

/ʼinti riHtee lil/

 

You went to (Feminine)

 
   
   

Examples:

 

إِنْتَه كِتَبِــتْ

 

/ʼintah kitabit/

 

You wrote (Masculine)

 

إِنْتِ كِتَبْــتي

 

/ʼinti kitabtee/

 

You wrote (Feminine)

 
   
   

Examples:

 

إِنْتَه قَريـتْ

 

 /ʼintah qarait/

 

You read (Masculine)

 

إِنْتِ قَريــتي

 

/ʼinti qaraitee/

 

You read (Feminine)

 
   
   

Conjugating in third person

 

(Masculine/Singular) هُوَّ

 

should be followed by the verb. No suffix should be added because it is the root of the verb

 

As in

 

هُوَّ دَرَسْ

 

/huwwah daras/

 

Means

 

He studied

 
   
   

Conjugating in third person

 

(Feminine/Singular) هِيَّ

 

should be followed by the verb and then the suffix تْ should be added at the end of the verb

 

As in

 

هِيَّ راحَــتْ

 

/hiyyah raaHat/

 

Means

 

She went

 
   
   

Examples:

 

هُوَّ كِتَبْ

 

/huwwah kitab/

 

He wrote

 

هِيَّ كِتْبَــتْ

 

 /hiyyah kitbat/

 

She wrote

 
   
   

Examples:

 

هُوَّ راحْ لِل

 

/huwwah raaH lil

 

He went to

 

هِيَّ راحَــتْ لِل

 

/hiyyah raaHat lil/

 

She went to

 
   
   

Examples:

 

هُوَّ قَرَا

 

/huwwah qaraa/

 

He read

 

هِيَّ قَرَتْ

 

/hiyyah qarat/

 

She read

 
   
   

In Arabic, the subject pronoun is frequently

 

dropped.

 

The conjugated verb shows who the subject is

 

كِتَبـِـتْ الرِّسالَة

 

Or

 

آني كِتَبِــتْ الرِّسالَة

 
   
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