Lesson 17
Healthcare and Hospitals
الرعاية الصحية
Level Two opens with the healthcare setting a context that demands precise language. The passive voice is introduced naturally here, as medical procedures are often described without naming the agent.
Medical Vocabulary
ArabicTransliterationMeaning
مَوْعِدmawʿidappointment
وَصْفَة طِبِّيَّةwaṣfa ṭibbiyyamedical prescription
جِرَاحَةjirāḥasurgery
تَحْلِيل دَمtaḥlīl damblood test
طَوَارِئṭawāriʾemergency
Passive Voice المبني للمجهول
The passive is formed by changing the verb vowel pattern: كَتَبَ (he wrote) → كُتِبَ (it was written). The pattern: fatḥa on first root letter becomes ḍamma; kasra on second root letter stays kasra.
أُجْرِيَتِ الْجِرَاحَةُ بِنَجَاح
Ujriyati l-jirāḥatu binajāḥ
The surgery was performed successfully.
يُنْصَحُ الْمَرِيضُ بِالرَّاحَةِ التَّامَّة
Yunṣaḥu l-marīḍu bir-rāḥati t-tāmma
The patient is advised (to have) complete rest.
- Passive subject = nominative: الْجِرَاحَة takes ḍamma (ُ) as the promoted subject (naʾib al-fāʿil).
- Present passive يُفْعَل: يُنْصَح (is advised), يُعَالَج (is treated), يُحْقَن (is injected).
- Hospital register: Medical Arabic tends toward the passive and formal these forms appear constantly in reports and referrals.
- Islamic medicine: الطَّبِيبُ يُشَخِّص، وَاللَّهُ يَشْفِي "The doctor diagnoses, but Allah heals."