Tag Archives: verbs

Root Exploration: ع-ر-ق

زَمَن root: ز-م-ن / noun / plural: أَزمان / definition: stretch of time It’s been a long time since our last post in the Root Exploration series. (In all honesty, though, it hasn’t felt long at all to me since I explore roots in the dictionary every day!) I’ve had a few roots written downContinue reading “Root Exploration: ع-ر-ق”

Arabic Observations: Compound Quadriliteral Arabic Verbs

اِندِماج root: د-م-ج / verbal noun of form VII / definition: merging I’m super excited as I begin this post, because not only is it part of my beloved Arabic Observations series, it’s all about quadriliteral roots!

Seven Arabic Verbs Meaning “to Happen”

حَدَث root: ح-د-ث / noun / plural: أَحْداث / definition: event, occurrence *Inhaling the scent of dictionary pages* Ahh… vocabulary! You’ve got no choice but to love expanding your mental lexicon, and learning synonyms of words you already know and use is a great way to do it! So here we have seven Arabic verbsContinue reading “Seven Arabic Verbs Meaning “to Happen””

Arabic Verbs for “to Look at”

بَصَر root: ب-ص-ر / noun / plural: أَبْصار / definition: sight I’m feeling really refreshed as I start this post (perhaps thanks to taking Friday off work and having a little time to breathe)! And as you’ve figured out from the title, it’s another addition to our synonyms series. Oh, I can’t explain just howContinue reading “Arabic Verbs for “to Look at””

Arabic Observations: Time of Day and “to Become” Synonyms

وَقْت root: و-ق-ت / noun / plural: أَوْقات / definition: time The first post in the synonyms series was Four Common Words for “to Become” in Arabic. By definition, the verb “to become” is inherently linked to time—it indicates that something first wasn’t and then came to be afterwards. But the synonyms of “to become” inContinue reading “Arabic Observations: Time of Day and “to Become” Synonyms”

Arabic Verb Forms XI-XV

أَكْثَر root: ك-ث-ر / comparative, superlative / definition: more, most As you can see, I couldn’t wait too long for another post about Arabic roots following our look at quadriliteral (four-letter-root) verb forms. But this time, we’re going back to triliteral (three-letter) verb forms and exploring the ones above X—i.e. forms XI-XV (yes, they exist!).

Six Ways to Say “Can” or “to be Able to” in Arabic

قُدْرَة root: ق-د-ر / noun / plural: قُدُرات / definition: ability, capability For the vast majority of us, this past year has swirled into a nebulous stretch of time—a calendar that’s run away with itself and plunged into senselessness. One of the only things punctuating my weeks has been writing these posts (the Wehr WednesdaysContinue reading “Six Ways to Say “Can” or “to be Able to” in Arabic”

Quadriliteral Arabic Verb Forms

وَزْن root: و-ز-ن / noun / plural: أَوْزان / definition: form, pattern We’ve come across some Arabic words from quadriliteral roots before on this blog—that is, roots comprising four letters. And I even went into a little depth about a quadriliteral verb form in Wehr Wednesdays #23. But “a little depth” doesn’t really do itContinue reading “Quadriliteral Arabic Verb Forms”

Root Exploration: م-و-ه

بَسيط root: ب-س-ط / adjective / definition: simple What can we get from the root of a word as simple as “water”? In Arabic, quite a lot! Here we are, with the second post in the Root Exploration series, and this time we’re taking a look at the root م-و-ه.

Four Particles That Mean “So That”

حَرْف root: ح-ر-ف / noun / plural: حُروف / definition: letter, (grammatical) particle It’s never too soon for another synonyms post, so this week we’re taking a look at four different particles we can use to express purpose—they can all be translated as “so that” or “in order to“.

Arabic Headline Analysis #5

نِقابة root: ن-ق-ل / noun / plural: نِقابات / definition: syndicate, union It’s been a while since the last instalment in the Arabic Headline Analysis series, so we’re back today with another headline from the Project Syndicate website to analyse. (Take a look at this post to find out why this news website is greatContinue reading “Arabic Headline Analysis #5”

Three Ways to Say “One of” in Arabic

واحِد root: و-ح-د / active participle of form I / definition: one Do you know the different ways to say “one of” in Arabic? It seems quite a simple thing, but I remember that I didn’t actually learn these three ways until my third year of university. And if you haven’t learnt them yet, keepContinue reading “Three Ways to Say “One of” in Arabic”

Arabic Observations: Same Root Letters, Different Sequence

تَرْتيب root: ر-ت-ب / verbal noun of form II / plural: تَرْتيبات / definition: order, sequence I just couldn’t resist another post in the Arabic Observations series this week! (But an in-demand post about the Hans Wehr dictionary is coming soon! Can you guess what it might be?) For this post, we’re taking things downContinue reading “Arabic Observations: Same Root Letters, Different Sequence”

Four Arabic Roots to Express the Phrase “on the Verge of”

أَرْبَعَة root: ر-ب-ع / noun / definition: four We couldn’t go much longer without another synonyms post (even though my posts-to-write list is ever-expanding with other wonderful things)—so this week we’re taking a look at four different roots that we can use to express the meaning of “on the verge of” in Arabic.

Root Exploration: ك-ش-ف

جَذْر root: ج-ذ-ر / noun / plural: جُذور / definition: root I feel a very nerdy rush of excitement as I begin this post, because it’s the first in the new Root Exploration series! In this series of posts, we’re going to take a single Arabic root and explore all of its different forms, derivatives,Continue reading “Root Exploration: ك-ش-ف”