Expressing Purpose with كي and لكي
To explain why an action happens, English uses phrases like "in order to" or "so that." In Arabic, we use the particles كي or لكي. They mean the exact same thing and are used interchangeably.
When these particles are followed by a present tense verb, they put the verb into the subjunctive mood. For standard singular verbs, this means the verb's final short vowel changes from its usual damma (the "u" sound) to a fatha (the "a" sound).
| Maryam volunteered in the initiative in order to help the orphans. | تطوعت مريم في المبادرة لكي تساعد الأيتام.tatawwa'at maryamu fil mubâdarati likay tusâ'ida al-aytâm |
| The team prepared this event in order to collect money for the needy. | أعد الفريق هذه الفعالية كي يجمع المال للمحتاجين.a'adda al-farîqu hâdhihi al-fa'âliyyata kay yajma'a al-mâla lil-muhtâjîn |
Dropping the "Noon" for Plurals and Duals
If a present tense verb normally ends in the letter ن (such as the plural "they" or the dual "the two of them"), the subjunctive mood requires you to drop that ن.
For the masculine plural, the standard ending ـون becomes ـوا (a silent Alif is added after the Waw when the ن drops).
| The students prepared events in order to contribute to this initiative. | أعد الطلاب فعاليات لكي يساهموا في هذه المبادرة.a'adda at-tullâbu fa'âliyyâtin likay yusâhimû fî hâdhihi al-mubâdarati |
Similarly, the dual forms simply drop the ن at the end, so ـان becomes ـا.
| The two girls volunteered in the initiative in order to help the poor. | البنتان تطوعتا في المبادرة لكي تساعدا الفقراء.al-bintâni tatawwa'atâ fi al-mubâdarati likay tusâ'idâ al-fuqarâ'a. |
The Feminine Plural Exception
There is one important exception to the dropped-ن rule. The feminine plural ending (the ن for a group of women) is a permanent pronoun that cannot be removed.
When a feminine plural verb follows كي or لكي, it keeps its ن and looks exactly the same as it does in the regular present tense.
| They (f.) contribute to the project in order to spread awareness in the community. | هن يساهمن في المشروع كي ينشرن الوعي في المجتمع.hunna yusâhimna fî al-mashrûʿi kay yanshurna al-waʿya fî al-mujtama' |
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 something you hear in the audio but never see in the drills. Here are some of them with every vowel written out:
| present | after كي / لكي |
|---|---|
| تُسَاعِدُ | لِكَيْ تُسَاعِدَ الأَيْتَامَ |
| يَأْكُلُ | لِكَيْ يَأْكُلَ المُسِنُّونَ |
| يُسَاهِمُونَ | لِكَيْ يُسَاهِمُوا فِي هَذِهِ المُبَادَرَةِ |
كي and لكي work exactly like أن: the verb after them is subjunctive, so -u becomes -a and the plural ن drops. The feminine plural never changes: هُنَّ يُسَاهِمْنَ … كَيْ يَنْشُرْنَ.
