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### 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).

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### 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).

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Similarly, the dual forms simply drop the ن at the end, so ـان becomes ـا.

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### 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.

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### 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**.

Purpose clauses (كي / لكي)

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 volunteer	تطوعtatawwa'a
initiative	مبادرةmubâdara
in order to	لكيlikay
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
to prepare (something)	أعدa'adda
event	فعاليةfa'âliyyah
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
free of charge	مجانيmajjânî
elderly person	مسنmusinn
We distribute free food so that the elderly can eat.	نوزع طعاما مجانيا لكي يأكل المسنون.nuwazzi'u ta'âman majjâniyyan likay ya'kula-l-musinnûna.
shelter	مأوىma'wâ
We opened the shelter so that the elderly can sleep in it.	فتحنا المأوى لكي ينام فيه المسنون.fatahnâ al-ma'wâ likay yanâma fîhi al-musinnûn
to contribute	ساهمsâhama
awareness	وعيwa'y
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'
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
The doctor Ahmad volunteered in order to increase health awareness.	تطوع الطبيب أحمد لكي يزيد الوعي الصحي.tatawwa'a at-tabeebu ahmadu likay yazeeda al-wa'ya as-sihhiyya.
The shelter gives free medicine to every elderly person.	يعطي المأوى دواء مجانيا لكل مسن.yu'ṭî al-ma'wâ dawâ'an majjâniyyan likulli musinnin
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 event contributed to spreading awareness in the city.	ساهمت الفعالية في نشر الوعي في المدينة.sâhamati al-fa'âliyyatu fî nashri al-wa'yi fî al-madînati.
This shelter is being established so that the elderly can live in it.	يؤسس هذا المأوى لكي يسكن فيه المسنون.yu'assasu hâdhâ al-ma'wâ likay yaskuna fîhi al-musinnûna
The volunteers prepared free meals in order to distribute them in the neighborhood.	المتطوعون أعدوا وجبات مجانية كي يوزعوها في الحي.al-mutatawwi'una a'addu wajabâtin majjâniyyatan kay yuwazzi'uha fi al-hayy.
for (the sake of), in order to	من أجلmin ajli
I volunteered for the sake of the children.	تطوعت من أجل الأطفال.tatawwa'tu min ajli al-atfâl.
The volunteers work for the elderly.	يعمل المتطوعون من أجل المسنين.ya'malu almutatawwi'ûna min ajli almusinnîn
We collected the money in order to open the shelter.	جمعنا المال من أجل أن نفتح المأوى.jama'nâ al-mâla min ajli an naftaha al-ma'wâ

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