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### Same letters, a second word

Arabic is printed without short vowels or the doubling mark, so a word you know can hide a second word. Four of today's words share every letter with a word you have already met.

| you know | the new word |
|---|---|
| سِنّ *tooth* | سِنّ *age* |
| حَضَرَ *to attend* | حَضَّرَ *to prepare* |
| عَرَفَ *to know* | عَرَّفَ *to introduce; to define* |
| مُنَظِّم *organizer* | مُنَظَّم *organized, tidy* |

### Tooth or age?

سِنّ sounds the same in both meanings, so only the sentence decides. After في and before a number, it is an age:

{{item:1217247}}

Here both meet: the first سن is lost, the second has a number after it.

{{item:1217249}}

### A doubled middle letter

حَضَّرَ and عَرَّفَ double their middle letter. You hear it but do not see it, so look at the object: you attend a party, but you prepare the food.

{{item:1217253}}

عَرَّفَ takes a person and then على *to*:

{{item:1217255}}

### The organizer and the organized

مُنَظِّم with *i* is the person who organizes (an active participle); مُنَظَّم with *a* is the thing or person that is organized (a passive participle):

{{item:1217261}}

### Three more words about people

مُطَلَّق *divorced*, أَمِين *trustworthy* and مُرْهَق *exhausted* add ة for a woman, like any adjective.

{{item:1217267}}

Here مرهقة describes the state the nurse is in as she comes home, like any word of state (حال):

{{item:1217271}}

Meeting people (عرّف على، في سن العشرين)

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
age (at the age of …)	سنsinn
My sister started working at the age of twenty.	بدأت أختي العمل في سن العشرين.bada'at ukhtî al-'amala fî sinni al-'ishrîn
At what age did you learn to read?	في أي سن تعلمت القراءة؟
My son lost his first tooth at the age of six.	فقد ابني أول سن له في سن السادسة.faqada ibni awwala sinnin lahu fi sinni s-sâdisah
to prepare (food, a lesson)	حضرhaddara
My mother prepared dinner for the guests in the kitchen.	حضرت أمي العشاء للضيوف في المطبخ.
The teacher prepares his lessons at home every evening.	يحضر المعلم دروسه في البيت كل مساء.
The guests attended the party, and my sister prepared the food.	حضر الضيوف الحفلة، وحضرت أختي الطعام.
to introduce (someone); to define	عرف'arrafa
My friend introduced me to her brother.	عرفتني صديقتي على أخيها.'arrafatnî sadîqatî 'alâ akhîhâ
I will introduce you to my family at the party.	سأعرفك على عائلتي في الحفلة.sa'u'arrifuka 'alâ 'â'ilatî fî al-ḥaflah
The teacher defined the new word in simple words.	عرفت المعلمة الكلمة الجديدة بكلمات سهلة.'arrafati al-mu'allimatu al-kalimata al-jadeedata bikalimatin sahlatin
organized, tidy	منظمmunazzam
My brother's desk is always tidy.	مكتب أخي منظم دائما.
She is an organized woman and writes everything down.	هي امرأة منظمة وتكتب كل شيء.
The organizer of the party was very organized.	كان منظم الحفلة منظما جدا.
trustworthy	أمينamîn
A trustworthy man found my wallet in the street.	وجد رجل أمين محفظتي في الشارع.
My friend is very trustworthy, and she knows all my secrets.	صديقتي أمينة جدا، وهي تعرف كل أسراري.
We want a trustworthy and organized employee.	نريد موظفا أمينا ومنظما.
divorced	مطلقmutallaq
My aunt is divorced and has two sons.	خالتي مطلقة وعندها ابنان.
Are you married or divorced?	هل أنت متزوجة أم مطلقة؟
Our neighbor is a divorced man, and his children live with their mother.	جارنا رجل مطلق، وأولاده يسكنون مع أمهم.
exhausted	مرهقmurhaq
The nurse came back home exhausted.	رجعت الممرضة إلى البيت مرهقة.
I am exhausted after a long day at work.	أنا مرهق بعد يوم طويل في العمل.

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