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### Pleasing, not liking

English says *I liked the film*. Arabic often says *the film pleased me*: **أعجبني الفيلم**. The verb **{{item:1131563}}** (*to please*) is a Form IV verb, the thing you like is its subject, and the person who likes it is an object pronoun on the verb.

{{item:1131564}}

{{item:1131565}}

### Agreement with the thing liked

Because the liked thing is the subject, the verb agrees with IT, not with you. A feminine noun — or a non-human plural — takes the feminine verb:

| Arabic | English |
|---|---|
| أعجبني الفيلم | I liked the film |
| أعجبتني القصة | I liked the story |
| تعجبني الأفلام | I like films |

{{item:1131566}}

{{item:1131567}}

Use أحب for what you like in general (أحب القراءة) and أعجب for a particular thing you saw, heard or tried.

I liked it (أعجبني)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

interrogative

noun

numeral

particle

prefix

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

The definite article and locatives (الـ)

Basic noun gender (ة)

Sun and moon letters

Singular subject pronouns (أنا، أنت، هو، هي)

Indefinite nouns and nominal sentences (ـٌ)

Demonstrative pronouns for 'this' (هذا / هذه)

Separate prepositions (في، من، إلى، على)

Attributive adjectives

Predicative adjectives

Yes/No questions (هل، أ)

Basic questions (من، ما، أين)

Singular possessive pronouns (ـي، ـك، ـه، ـها)

Plural subject pronouns (نحن، أنتم، هم)

Plural possessive pronouns (ـنا، ـكم، ـهم)

Noun possession

Attached prepositions (بـ، لـ، كـ)

Pronouns with prepositions

Having and possessing (عند، لـ، مع)

Regular plural nouns (ـون، ـين، ـات)

Broken plurals

Dual nouns (ـان / ـين)

Plural and distant demonstratives (هؤلاء، ذلك، تلك)

Non-human plural agreement

Present tense singular verbs

Verbal sentences (VSO)

Present tense plural verbs

Topicalized sentences (SVO)

The indefinite accusative case (ـاً)

Verb object pronouns (-ني، -ك، -ه)

Present tense negation (لا)

Question words with verbs (متى، كيف...)

Adverbs of time and place

The future tense (سـ / سوف)

Intentions and desires (أن)

Negating states and possession (ليس)

Past tense singular suffixes

Past tense plural suffixes

Negating past events (ما)

Singular commands

Numbers 1 to 10

Number agreement for 1 and 2 (واحد، اثنان)

Asking how many (كم)

Numbers 3 to 10 (ثلاثة إلى عشرة)

Ordinal numbers 1 to 10 (الأول، الثاني)

Basic conjunctions (فـ، أو، لكن)

Ordering at a café (واحد، اثنان)

Food and drink with conjunctions (و، ف، أو، لكن)

There is and there are (هناك / ليس هناك)

Direct address (يا)

Giving reasons (لأنّ)

Relative pronouns (الذي / التي)

Quantifiers (كل / بعض)

The past tense of 'to be' (كان)

Past possession

Numbers 11 to 19 and tens to 80

Telling time (الساعة)

This book vs this is a book (هذا الكتاب، هذا كتاب)

Greetings (مرحبا، السلام عليكم)

How are you? and goodbye (كيف حالك، مع السلامة)

Nationalities (مصري، مصرية)

Roots and patterns (كتب، كتاب، مكتب)

Politeness (من فضلك، آسف)

Complex possession chains

Colors and traits (أفعل / فعلاء)

Plural colors and traits (فُعْل)

Comparative adjectives (أفعل من)

Superlative adjectives (أفعل)

Adverbs of manner (ـاً)

The nominative case (ـُ)

The genitive case (ـِ)

The accusative case (ـَ)

Dual noun cases (ـان / ـين)

Masculine plurals and 'the best of' (أفضل النجارين)

Emphasizing sentences (إنّ)

Connecting clauses (أنّ)

Reporting speech (قال إنّ)

Expressing contrast (لكنّ)

Comparison and probability (كأنّ, لعلّ)

Distant plural pointing (أولئك)

Plural relative pronouns (الذين, اللواتي)

Past habits (كان + present)

Ongoing actions (ما زال)

Masculine plurals online (مبرمجون، مؤثرون)

Perfective past (قد)

Probability (قد)

The subjunctive mood (أن)

Question	Answer
to please (someone)	أعجبa'jaba
I liked the film a lot.	أعجبني الفيلم كثيرا.a'jabani al-filmu kathiran
Did you like the program?	هل أعجبك البرنامج؟hal a'jabaka al-barnâmaju?
I liked the story.	أعجبتني القصة.a'jabatnî al-qissah.
I like Arabic music.	تعجبني الموسيقى العربية.tujibuni al-musiqa al-arabiyyah
I didn't like the food in this restaurant.	لم يعجبني الطعام في هذا المطعم.lam yu'jibni at-ta'amu fi hadha al-mat'am
The announcer pleased the audience.	أعجب المذيع الجمهور.a'jaba al-mudhî'u al-jumhûra
We liked the interview on television.	أعجبتنا المقابلة على التلفزيون.a'jabatnâ al-muqâbalatu 'alâ at-tilfizyûni.
Do you like these colours?	هل تعجبك هذه الألوان؟hal tu3jibuka hâdhihi al-alwânu?

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