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### Hobbies and Free Time

When discussing your hobbies and free time, you will often want to express your desires, choices, and intentions.

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### The Particle أن (to)

To connect two verbs—such as saying "I want *to* buy" or "He decided *to* play"—Arabic uses the particle أن. The first verb is conjugated normally, followed by أن, and then the second action is expressed as a present tense verb.

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### The Subjunctive Mood

Placing أن before a present tense verb changes its grammatical state to the **subjunctive mood** (المضارع المنصوب).

For singular verbs (I, you, he, she), the subjunctive mood changes the verb's final short vowel from a standard *Damma* (u) to a *Fatha* (a). Even when the short vowels are not fully written out, this *Fatha* is pronounced.

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The main verb in the sentence (like "decided" or "refused") behaves normally. Only the present tense verb directly following أن takes the subjunctive Fatha ending.

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### Multiple Subjunctive Verbs

If you link multiple verbs to the same أن using "and" (و) or "or" (أو), the subjunctive mood carries over. Every linked verb takes the same Fatha ending!

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### Seeing the endings

In the drills, a verb after أن looks exactly like the ordinary present: أقرأ and أن أقرأ are spelled the same, because the course writes Arabic without vowel marks. The difference is the final vowel, which you hear in the audio:

| present | after أن | |
|---|---|---|
| أَقْرَأُ | أَنْ أَقْرَأَ | I read / to read |
| يَلْعَبُ | أَنْ يَلْعَبَ | he plays / to play |
| أَشْتَرِي | أَنْ أَشْتَرِيَ | I buy / to buy |

The *-u* becomes *-a*. On a verb ending in ي, such as أشتري, the fatha is pronounced and the ي stays.

The subjunctive mood (أن)

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)

Expressing purpose (لـ)

Question	Answer
hobby	هوايةhiwâya
photography	تصويرtaswîr
My hobby is photography, and I want to buy a new camera.	هوايتي التصوير، وأريد أن أشتري كاميرا جديدة.hiwâyatî at-taswîru, wa urîdu an ashtariya kâmîrâ jadîdatan.
leisure	فراغfarâgh
What is your hobby in your free time?	ما هوايتك في وقت الفراغ؟mâ hiwâyatuka fî waqti l-farâgh?
reading	قراءةqirâ'ah
to decide	قررqarrara
I love reading, and I decided to read a book today.	أحب القراءة، وقررت أن أقرأ كتابا اليوم.uhibbu alqirâ'ata, wa qarrartu an aqra'a kitâban alyawma
to browse	تصفحtasaffuh
I do not like to browse the internet in my free time.	لا أحب أن أتصفح الإنترنت في وقت الفراغ.lâ uhibbu an atasaffaha al-internet fî waqti al-farâgh
to refuse	رفضrafada
to shop	تسوقtasawwaqa
My brother refused to shop in the crowded market.	رفض أخي أن يتسوق في السوق المزدحم.rafada akhî an yatasawwaqa fi s-sûqi l-muzdahim
chess	شطرنجshatranj
My friend decided to play chess with me.	قرر صديقي أن يلعب الشطرنج معي.qarrara sadîqî an yal'aba ash-shatranja ma'î
to ride	ركبrakiba
The boy refused to ride the fast bicycle.	رفض الولد أن يركب الدراجة السريعة.rafada-l-waladu an yarkaba-d-darrâjata-s-sarî'ata
The girl prefers to browse the internet and shop from home.	تفضل البنت أن تتصفح الإنترنت وتتسوق من البيت.tufaddilu al-bintu an tatasaffaha al-internet wa-tatasawwaqa mina al-bayti
Do you want to play chess or ride the bicycle?	هل تريد أن تلعب الشطرنج أو تركب الدراجة؟hal turîdu an tal'aba ash-shatranja aw tarkaba ad-darrâjata
These old books are about photography and reading.	هذه الكتب القديمة عن التصوير والقراءة.hâdhihil kutubul qadîmatu anit-taswîri wal-qirâ'ah
favourite	مفضلmufaddal
My favourite hobby is reading.	هوايتي المفضلة القراءة.hiwâyatî al-mufaddalah al-qirâ'ah
What is your favourite colour?	ما لونك المفضل؟mâ lawnuka-l-mufaddalu?
Chess is my favourite game.	الشطرنج لعبتي المفضلة.ashshatranju lu'batî al-mufaddalah

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