Same letters, two words
Every word in this lesson shares its letters with a word you already know. The short vowels are not written, so the sentence around it decides which one you are reading.
| you know | the new word |
|---|---|
| مَلِك king | مَلَكَ to own |
| جَانِب side | إِلَى جَانِبِ besides, alongside |
| مُقَابِلَ opposite | مُقَابِلَ in exchange for |
| قِسْم department | قَسَّمَ to divide |
| حَلّ solution | حَلَّ to solve |
| دَلِيل evidence | دَلِيل guidebook, manual |
| أَسْرَع faster | أَسْرَعَ to hurry |
Verbs hiding in nouns
| My neighbor owns a small shop. | تملك جارتي دكانا صغيرا. |
The prefix تـ and the object after it show a verb: owns, not a king.
| The mother divided the cake into eight pieces. | قسمت الأم الكعكة إلى ثماني قطع. |
قَسَّمَ doubles its س. You hear the doubling but do not see it.
| Hurry! The store will close in a little while. | أسرع! سيغلق المتجر بعد قليل.asri'! sayaghliqu al-matjaru ba'da qalîl. |
Alone at the start, with an exclamation mark, أسرع is a command: hurry! In a comparison it is faster.
Paying and adding
مقابل between a service and a price means in exchange for:
| The cobbler patches shoes in exchange for five dollars. | يرقع الإسكافي الأحذية مقابل خمسة دولارات.yarqa'u aliskâfiyyu al'aḥdhiyata muqâbila khamsati dûlârât |
إلى جانب adds one thing to another, besides. With a place after it, it can also mean next to, so here it adds a second job to the first:
| My neighbor works in a restaurant besides her work in the shop. | تعمل جارتي في مطعم إلى جانب عملها في الدكان. |
A book that guides
Evidence points to the truth; a guidebook points the way. With a user and a device, it is the manual:
| Read the user manual before using the device. | اقرأ دليل المستخدم قبل استخدام الجهاز. |
In a tourist's hands, it is a guidebook:
| The tourist bought a guidebook about the city. | اشترى السائح دليلا عن المدينة. |
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