The Jussive in Response to a Command
In Arabic, you can express a direct consequence simply by placing a present tense verb immediately after a command. When this second verb represents the expected result of the order (e.g., "Swallow this, and the pain will stop"), it must take the Jussive mood (مجزوم). This grammatical structure is known as the "response to the request" (جواب الطلب).
For regular verbs, the Jussive mood is marked by a سكون (the absence of a short vowel sound) on the final letter.
| Swallow this dose, and the pain will stop. | ابتلعي هذه الجرعة يتوقف الألم.ibtalî hâdhihi al-jurata yatawaqqafi al-'alamu. |
| Take the antibiotic, and you will kill the bacteria. | خذ المضاد الحيوي تقتل البكتيريا.khudhi al-mudâdda al-hayawiyya taqtuli al-baktîriyâ |
Dropping Weak Letters
If the result verb normally ends in a "weak" letter (ا, و, or ي), the Jussive mood drops that final letter completely. For example, a verb like يختفي (it disappears) loses its final ي and becomes يختفِ.
| Take the dose regularly, and the nausea will disappear. | خذ الجرعة بشكل منتظم يختف الغثيان.khudhi al-jur'ata bishaklin muntazimin yakhtafi al-ghathayânu |
Negative Commands
This cause-and-effect relationship also works with negative commands. If you are told not to do something, and the following present tense verb represents a positive, expected outcome, it also takes the Jussive mood.
| Do not stand up quickly, and the dizziness will go away. | لا تقفي بسرعة يذهب الدوار.lâ taqifî bisur'atin yadh-habi d-duwâr |
Dropping the Final Nun
When the result verb is conjugated for a feminine singular subject (which normally ends in ـين) or a masculine plural subject (which normally ends in ـون), the Jussive mood is formed by dropping that final ن.
| Wash your hands regularly, and you will avoid bacteria. | اغسلي يديك بشكل منتظم تتجنبي البكتيريا.ighsilî yadayki bishaklin muntazimin tatajannabî albaktîriyâ. |
This final rule applies seamlessly to negative commands as well.
| Do not eat fatty food and do not drink milk, and you will get rid of the nausea. | لا تأكلوا طعاما دسما ولا تشربوا الحليب تتخلصوا من الغثيان.lâ ta'kulû taâman dasiman wa lâ tashrabû al-halîba tatakhallasû min al-ghathayân. |
| Do not stay up late and do not exert effort in the convalescence period, and you will improve. | لا تسهري ولا تبذلي جهدا في فترة النقاهة تتحسني.lâ tas-harî wa-lâ tabdhulî juhdan fî fatrati n-niqâha tatahassanî |
Seeing the endings
This course writes Arabic the way books and newspapers print it, without the short-vowel marks, so the ending this lesson is about is usually something you hear in the audio but cannot see in the drills. Here are some of them with every vowel written out:
| as written | fully vocalized | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| اشرب هذا السائل المغذي يتحسن جهازك التنفسي. | اِشْرَبْ هَذَا السَّائِلَ المُغَذِّيَ يَتَحَسَّنْ جِهَازُكَ التَّنَفُّسِيُّ. | Drink this nutritious liquid, and your respiratory system will improve. |
| تناول الطعام المغذي تصبح قويا. | تَنَاوَلِ الطَّعَامَ المُغَذِّيَ تُصْبِحْ قَوِيًّا. | Eat the nutritious food; you will become strong. |
| لا تقفي بسرعة يذهب الدوار. | لَا تَقِفِي بِسُرْعَةٍ يَذْهَبِ الدُّوَارُ. | Do not stand up quickly, and the dizziness will go away. |
The verb that gives the result, placed straight after the command with no ف, is jussive. After لا, this works only when if you don't … makes sense. On a regular verb that is a sukun, which no unvocalized text can show: يَتَحَسَّنْ, تُصْبِحْ. Before ال the sukun is pronounced as a linking -i: يَذْهَبِ الدُّوَارُ. Without the command in front, these would be يَتَحَسَّنُ, تُصْبِحُ and يَذْهَبُ. Two changes you can see: a final weak letter drops (يختفي → يختف), and so does the ن (تتجنبين → تتجنبي).
