Words from the front page
War and security reporting builds on words you already know. Some are fixed phrases made from them; others share every letter with a word you know.
| you know | the new word |
|---|---|
| أَطْلَقَ to launch | أَطْلَقَ النَّارَ to open fire |
| وَقَفَ to stand | وَقْفُ إِطْلَاقِ النَّارِ ceasefire |
| قَضَى to spend (time) | قَضَى عَلَى to put an end to |
| قَاعِدَة rule | قَاعِدَة base |
| تَدَخُّل intervention | تَدَخَّلَ to intervene |
| دَافَعَ to defend | دَافِع motive |
| تَصْرِيح permit | تَصْرِيح statement, remark (to the press) |
Fixed phrases
أطلق النار is to release the fire. The subject often stands between the verb and النار:
| The soldier fired into the air. | أطلق الجندي النار في الهواء. |
وقف إطلاق النار is a chain of three nouns, the stopping of the release of fire:
| The soldiers opened fire despite the ceasefire. | أطلق الجنود النار رغم وقف إطلاق النار. |
قضى على adds على to a verb you know: you no longer spend time, you finish something off.
| The army wiped out the armed group. | قضى الجيش على المجموعة المسلحة. |
Verb or noun?
تَدَخَّلَ (verb) and تَدَخُّل (noun) differ only in vowels you do not see:
| The people demanded the army's intervention, but the army did not intervene. | طالب الناس بتدخل الجيش، لكن الجيش لم يتدخل. |
بتدخل follows ب, so it is the noun. يتدخل after لم has the present prefix ي, so it is the verb.
| What is the motive behind the attack? | ما الدافع وراء الهجوم؟ |
With ال and no object, دافع is the noun motive; the verb دافع takes عن.
Same noun, new setting
قاعدة عسكرية is a military base, and قاعدة بيانات, a base of data, is a database:
| The database contains the names of the soldiers. | تحتوي قاعدة البيانات على أسماء الجنود. |
تصريح is the permit you carry or the statement a person gives to the press; the official statement of a ministry or an army is a بيان:
| The journalist entered the base with a permit, then published a statement by the commander. | دخل الصحفي القاعدة بتصريح، ثم نشر تصريحا للقائد.dakhala as-sahafiyyu al-qa'idata bi-tasrihin, thumma nashara tasrihan lil-qa'idi |
