Lesson 12
Arabic Discussions and Feminine Verbs
الفعل المؤنث
When the subject of a verb is feminine, the verb must agree. هِيَ (she) takes the prefix تَـ in the present tense. This lesson also introduces conversation patterns for classroom discussion.
Feminine Verb Agreement Present Tense
SubjectPrefixExample (write)Example (go)
هُوَيَـيَكْتُبُيَذْهَبُ
هِيَتَـتَكْتُبُتَذْهَبُ
أَنْتَتَـتَكْتُبُتَذْهَبُ
أَنْتِتَـ...ينَتَكْتُبِينَتَذْهَبِينَ
أَنَاأَـأَكْتُبُأَذْهَبُ
Useful Adverbs for Discussion
ArabicTransliterationMeaning
بِسُرْعَةٍbisurʿaquickly / with speed
بِبُطْءٍbibuṭʾslowly
جَيِّداًjayyidanwell / properly
كَثِيراًkathīrana lot / much
تَكْتُبُ فَاطِمَةُ الدَّرْسَ بِسُرْعَةٍ هِيَ تَذْهَبُ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ
Taktubu Fāṭimatu d-darsa bisurʿatin Hiya tadhhabu ilā l-masjidi kulla yawm
Fatima writes the lesson quickly. She goes to the mosque every day.
تَقْرَئِينَ كَثِيراً هَلْ تَفْهَمِينَ الدَّرْسَ جَيِّداً؟
Taqraʾīna kathīran Hal tafhamīna d-darsa jayyidan?
You (f) read a lot. Do you (f) understand the lesson well?
Sample Dialogue
أ: مَاذَا تَكْتُبُ فَاطِمَةُ؟ ب: تَكْتُبُ رِسَالَةً. أ: وَأَنْتِ؟ ب: أَكْتُبُ الدَّرْسَ بِبُطْءٍ لِأَنَّهُ صَعْبٌ.
A: Mādhā taktubu Fāṭima? B: Taktubu risālatan. A: Wa-anti? B: Aktubu d-darsa bibuṭʾin li-annahu ṣaʿb.
A: What is Fatima writing? B: She is writing a letter. A: And you (f)? B: I write the lesson slowly because it is difficult.
- هِيَ and أَنْتَ both take تَـ use the explicit pronoun or context to distinguish them.
- أَنْتِ (you f) takes تَـ...ينَ ending: تَكْتُبِينَ the ينَ suffix distinguishes it from أَنْتَ.
- Verb-subject agreement holds even when the verb precedes the subject: تَكْتُبُ فَاطِمَةُ.
- بِـ preposition + noun = adverb of manner: بِسُرْعَةٍ (quickly), بِبُطْءٍ (slowly).
- لِأَنَّ (li-anna = because) introduces a causal clause very common in Arabic discourse.