LESSON NINE : Past tense verbs

[.: Anna :.]

Verbs are doing words and in Arabic past tense, they have different endings depending on who has done the action.

Look at the following examples :

ذَهَبَ
(dhahaba) he went
ذَهَبَت
(dhahabat) she went
ذَهّبتَ
(dhahabta) you went (to a boy)
ذَهَبتِ
(dhahabti) you went (to a girl)
ذَهَبتُ
(dhahabtu) I went

كتب
(kataba) he wrote
كتبت
(katabat) she wrote
كتبت
(katabta) you wrote (to a boy)
كتبت
(katabti) you wrote (to a girl)
كتبت
(katabtu) i wrote

In vocab lists, verbs will usually be given in the "he" form eg كتب
This is because it is the simplest form. However it is important to learn how to congugate (put the correct endings on) the verbs given in vocab lists, in order to make meaningful sentences. Use the ending patterns above whenever you are congugating Arabic verbs that happened in the past.

[.: Anna :.]

Vocab (the following verbs are given in the "he" form as explained above!)

لبس
(labasa) he wore
أكل
(akala) he ate
شرب
(shariba) he drank
فعل
(fa3ala) he did
لعب
(la3aba) he played
وعد
(wa3ada) he promised
وجد
(wajida) he found

**********

Also make sure you know the pronouns (previously learned in lesson six):

أنا
(ana) I
أنتَ
(anta) you (boy)
أنتِ
(anti) you (girl)
هُوَ
(huwa) he
هيَ
(hiya) she

[.: Anna :.]

Exercises

1.) congugate all the vocab given, following the ending patterns shown in the lesson.

2.) translate the following into english

شرب عليّ كوكاكولا
shariba Ali kookaa koolaa*
لبس محمد قميصاً جميلاً
labasa Mohammed qamees(an) jameel(an)
وجدَت نورة الكلب
wajidat noura alkalb
لعبتُ في الحديقةِ
la3abtu fil hadeeqa


* We haven't learned this word, but think about it... it sounds like the English word, with the vowels slightly elongated.
(do not worry too much about the extra alif on the end of "qamees jameel" the explanation is coming next lesson insha allah!)

3.) translate the following into Arabic
a) you found the house. (to a girl)
b) did* you wear my shirt? (to a boy)
c) Noura drank and Yousef ate.
d) I went.
e) Did* she promise?

* Think about the meaning in English. A common mistake is to use the verb "did" in this sentence, but this is not right. The English use of "did...?" just makes a question. Remember how we make similar questions in Arabic