أَخَذَ means “take,” but its high frequency has produced several distinct constructions: take an object, take something from someone, adopt a recommendation, require time, and begin an action. Its root-initial hamza remains visible in most of the paradigm, yet disappears completely from the imperative خُذْ. That short command must be learned rather than mechanically generated.
English speakers also need to resist translating every expression with take by أخذ. Modern Standard Arabic normally says اتخذ قرارًا “make/take a decision” and التقط صورةً “take a photograph.” The right verb is determined by the collocation, not by the English word.
Lookup card: أَخَذَ — يَأْخُذُ
The root is ء-خ-ذ. This is a root-initial hamzated Form-I verb (مهموز الفاء), otherwise sound. Its lexical imperfect stem has u: يَأْخُذُ, not يَأْخِذُ. The hamzated-verb overview explains how a radical hamza differs from a merely orthographic carrier.
| Part | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| perfect, 3 m.sg. | أَخَذَ | he took |
| imperfect, 3 m.sg. | يَأْخُذُ | he takes / is taking |
| imperative, 2 m.sg. | خُذْ | take! |
| maṣdar | أَخْذٌ | taking |
| active participle | آخِذٌ | taking; one who takes |
| passive participle | مَأْخُوذٌ | taken; derived |
| passive | أُخِذَ / يُؤْخَذُ | was taken / is taken |
The madda in آخِذ represents the meeting of the pattern’s long ā with the root hamza; it is not evidence for a root beginning with alif plus another consonant. In the passive imperfect يُؤْخَذُ, hamza sits on wāw because of the surrounding vowel environment. The root radical itself has not changed.
أخذت ليلى الملف من مكتب المدير.
ʾakhadhat laylā l-milaffa min maktabi l-mudīr.
Layla took the file from the director’s office. (Formal neutral.)
يأخذ سامر القطار إلى الجامعة كل صباح.
yaʾkhudhu sāmirun l-qiṭāra ʾilā l-jāmiʿati kulla ṣabāḥ.
Samer takes the train to the university every morning. (Formal neutral.)
Taking an object from a source
In its concrete core, أخذ takes the thing directly and introduces the source with من: أخذ الكتابَ من المكتبة “took the book from the library.” A destination may then follow with إلى. The source is not a second direct object.
أخذ الموظف البطاقة من الزائر وأعادها بعد دقيقة.
ʾakhadha l-muwaẓẓafu l-biṭāqata mina z-zāʾiri wa-ʾaʿādahā baʿda daqīqa.
The employee took the card from the visitor and returned it a minute later. (Formal.)
أخذت الأم طفلها إلى الطبيب بعد ارتفاع حرارته.
ʾakhadhati l-ʾummu ṭiflahā ʾilā ṭ-ṭabībi baʿda rtifāʿi ḥarāratih.
The mother took her child to the doctor after his temperature rose. (Formal.)
With an attached object pronoun, the suffix attaches to the full finite stem: أخذه “he took it,” أخذتها “she took it/her,” يأخذهم “he takes them.” Context and agreement resolve pronoun reference.
لم يأخذها أحد من الخزانة.
lam yaʾkhudh-hā ʾaḥadun mina l-khizāna.
No one took it from the cabinet. (Formal; jussive after لم.)
Abstract senses and productive collocations
The verb extends naturally from physical taking to receiving or selecting: أخذ عينةً “take a sample,” أخذ نفسًا “take a breath,” أخذ استراحةً “take a break,” and أخذ وقتًا “take time.” In أخذ بعين الاعتبار or أخذ في الاعتبار, it means “take into consideration.” Both prepositional expressions are standard; store the whole phrase rather than assigning بـ or في to every use of the verb.
سيأخذ إصلاح الجهاز يومين على الأقل.
sayaʾkhudhu ʾiṣlāḥu l-jihāzi yawmayni ʿalā l-ʾaqall.
Repairing the device will take at least two days. (Formal.)
أخذت اللجنة ملاحظات الخبراء بعين الاعتبار.
ʾakhadhati l-lajnatu mulāḥaẓāti l-khubarāʾi biʿayni l-iʿtibār.
The committee took the experts’ comments into consideration. (Formal.)
أخذ بـ + advice, view, or rule can mean “adopt, follow.” This is more formal than concrete أخذ الشيء من and must be learned with its preposition.
أخذت الإدارة بتوصية لجنة السلامة.
ʾakhadhati l-ʾidāratu bitawṣiyati lajnati s-salāma.
The administration adopted the safety committee’s recommendation. (Formal administrative register.)
The collocation أخذ على عاتقه means “undertake, take upon oneself,” while مأخوذ من means “taken or derived from.”
هذا التعريف مأخوذ من النسخة المنقحة من التقرير.
hādhā t-taʿrīfu maʾkhūdhun mina n-nuskhati l-munaqqaḥati mina t-taqrīr.
This definition is taken from the revised version of the report. (Formal academic register.)
Beginning an action: أخذ يفعل
Perfect أخذ followed directly by an imperfect can mark entry into an ongoing action: أخذ يشرح “he began explaining.” There is no أن. The imperfect is not selected for present time; it presents the newly begun event from inside, as unfolding. The perfect أخذ locates the beginning in the narrative.
أخذ الباحث يشرح النتائج واحدة بعد أخرى.
ʾakhadha l-bāḥithu yashraḥu n-natāʾija wāḥidatan baʿda ʾukhrā.
The researcher began explaining the results one after another. (Formal narrative.)
أخذت الأسعار ترتفع مع اقتراب موسم السفر.
ʾakhadhati l-ʾasʿāru tartafiʿu maʿa qtirābi mawsimi s-safar.
Prices began to rise as the travel season approached. (Formal; nonhuman plural agreement.)
A related formal construction is أخذ في + maṣdar, as in أخذ في الحديث “began to speak.” The direct أخذ + imperfect construction is particularly effective in narrative because it depicts the activity unfolding.
أخذ المدير في عرض الخطة بعد وصول جميع الأعضاء.
ʾakhadha l-mudīru fī ʿarḍi l-khuṭṭati baʿda wuṣūli jamīʿi l-ʾaʿḍāʾ.
The director began presenting the plan after all the members arrived. (Formal.)
The irregular command and regular moods
The imperative drops the root hamza and uses the short stem خُذْ. Its suffixes are otherwise the normal second-person command endings.
| Addressee | Command |
|---|---|
| أنتَ | خُذْ |
| أنتِ | خُذِي |
| أنتما | خُذَا |
| أنتم | خُذُوا |
| أنتنَّ | خُذْنَ |
Object suffixes attach directly: خُذْهُ “take it,” خُذْهَا “take it/her,” خُذْهُمْ “take them.” The imperfect, by contrast, retains hamza in all moods: indicative يأخذُ, subjunctive لن يأخذَ, jussive لم يأخذْ.
خذوا نسخة من الجدول قبل مغادرة القاعة.
khudhū nuskhatan mina l-jadwali qabla mughādarati l-qāʿa.
Take a copy of the schedule before leaving the hall. (Formal command to a male or mixed group.)
خذها معك وأعدها إلي غدا.
khudh-hā maʿaka wa-ʾaʿid-hā ʾilayya ghadan.
Take it with you and return it to me tomorrow. (Formal neutral command.)
The passive أُخِذَ / يُؤْخَذُ is frequent when a source, sample, quotation, or measure matters more than the taker.
أخذت هذه العينة من الجزء الشرقي من الموقع.
ʾukhidhat hādhihi l-ʿayyinatu mina l-juzʾi sh-sharqiyyi mina l-mawqiʿ.
This sample was taken from the eastern part of the site. (Formal scientific register.)
Common Mistakes
Omitting the written root hamza
❌ اخذ الموظف الملف.
Incorrect spelling—the perfect begins with hamzat al-qaṭʿ: أخذ.
✅ أخذ الموظف الملف.
ʾakhadha l-muwaẓẓafu l-milaff.
The employee took the file.
Regularizing the imperative
❌ اأخذ نسخة من التقرير.
Incorrect—the high-frequency imperative drops the root hamza completely.
✅ خذ نسخة من التقرير.
khudh nuskhatan mina t-taqrīr.
Take a copy of the report.
Adding أن after inchoative أخذ
❌ أخذ المتحدث أن يشرح المشكلة.
Incorrect in the inchoative construction—أخذ is followed directly by an imperfect without أن.
✅ أخذ المتحدث يشرح المشكلة.
ʾakhadha l-mutaḥaddithu yashraḥu l-mushkila.
The speaker began explaining the problem.
Key Takeaways
- أَخَذَ — يَأْخُذُ — أَخْذًا is a root-initial hamzated Form-I verb.
- The imperative is irregularly short: خُذْ، خُذِي، خُذَا، خُذُوا، خُذْنَ.
- A concrete source follows من; abstract standard collocations include أخذ بـ and أخذ بعين الاعتبار.
- أخذ + imperfect without أن presents an action as beginning to unfold.
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