In Arabic, intransitive verbs of motion (like "to go" or "to come") cannot take a direct object on their own. You can make them transitive by attaching the preposition بـ to the object.
This changes the meaning from simply moving to moving with something, which usually translates to "bringing" or "taking."
Bringing and Taking
To say someone "brought" something, use جاء (to come) or أتى (to come) followed by بـ attached to the object (literally, "came with"). For "took," use ذهب (to go) + بـ ("went with").
| The distributor brought the urgent shipment yesterday. | جاء الموزع بالشحنة العاجلة أمس.jâ'a al-muwazzi'u bish-shahnati al-'âjilati amsi |
| The carrier was going to take the shipment to the recipient. | كان الناقل سيذهب بالشحنة إلى المستلم.kâna an-nâqilu sayadh-habu bish-shahnati ilâ al-mustalim. |
| The carrier had not brought the intact shipment. | لم يكن الناقل قد أتى بالشحنة السليمة.lam yakuni n-naqilu qad ata bish-shahnati s-salimah |
Bringing Back, Up, and Down
This pattern is incredibly versatile. By attaching بـ to the object of other motion verbs, you can easily specify the direction an item was moved:
- عاد بـ : to bring back (literally "to return with")
- صعد بـ : to bring up (literally "to go up with")
- نزل بـ : to bring down (literally "to go down with")
| The distributor brought the two shipments back to the branch. | عادت الموزعة بالشحنتين إلى الفرع.âdati al-muwazzi'atu bish-shiHnatayni ilâ al-far' |
| The distributor brought the heavy goods up to the fifth floor. | صعد الموزع بالبضاعة الثقيلة إلى الطابق الخامس.sa'ida al-muwazzi'u bil-bidâ'ati ath-thaqîlati ilâ at-tâbiqi al-khâmis. |
| The carrier brought the intact parcel down like lightning. | نزل الناقل بالطرد السليم مثل البرق.nazala n-nâqilu bi-t-tardi s-salîmi mithla l-barqi |
Standard Transitive Verbs
Keep in mind that standard transitive verbs already act directly on an object and do not need a preposition. Verbs related to handling a delivery, such as تتبع (to track) and استعجل (to expedite), take their objects normally without بـ.
| Did you track the shipment a lot? | هل تتبعت الشحنة كثيرا؟hal tatabba'ta ash-shiḥnata kathiiran? |
| We expedited the delivery of the shipment because the recipient is very angry. | استعجلنا تسليم الشحنة لأن المستلمة غاضبة جدا.ista'jalnâ tasleema ash-shahnati li'anna al-mustalimata ghâdibatun jiddan |