Present-tense verbs
الفِعْل المُضارِع
I write, you write, he writes — the present-tense prefixes.
You will learn
- Conjugate a verb for I / you (m) / he / she
- Recognise the prefixes أَ تَ يَ
- Say what you do every day
Prefixes tell you who
Present-tense verbs change at the front: أَكْتُبُ I write · تَكْتُبُ you (m) write · يَكْتُبُ he writes · تَكْتُبُ she writes. The pronoun is optional because the prefix already says who.
Useful verbs
أَقْرَأُ I read · أَدْرُسُ I study · أَشْرَبُ I drink · أَسْكُنُ I live.
- أَدْرُسُ العَرَبِيّة — adrusu l-ʿarabiyya — I study Arabic
- هُوَ يَشْرَبُ قَهْوة — huwa yashrabu qahwa — he drinks coffee
Vocabulary
| Arabic | Transliteration | English |
|---|---|---|
| أَكْتُبُ | aktubu | I write |
| يَكْتُبُ | yaktubu | he writes |
| تَكْتُبُ | taktubu | you (m) / she write(s) |
| أَقْرَأُ | aqraʾu | I read |
| أَدْرُسُ | adrusu | I study |
| أَشْرَبُ | ashrabu | I drink |
| قَهْوة | qahwa | coffee |
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