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### Stripping the Furniture

Restoring a piece of furniture is a true craft. The first step for any artisan is carefully removing the worn-out materials, such as the old foam, to prepare the piece for a fresh start.

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### Selecting the Fabrics

Once the piece is stripped down, it is time to upholster it using fresh materials like velvet or linen. 

When expressing intentions or reasons, you will often use helper particles before a present tense verb. Use أن (to) when saying what you want to do, and لكي (in order to) when explaining the purpose of an action.

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### Frames, Staples, and Springs

Before the new fabric goes on, you have to repair the underlying structure. This means inspecting the wooden frame, replacing broken springs, and ensuring you have enough staples.

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When pulling apart old furniture, you will often need to carefully extract the existing hardware from the wood.

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When an indefinite noun is the direct object of a sentence, it takes the accusative case. In written Arabic, this is often marked by adding an *alif* at the end of the word. You will see this applied to both the noun "a spring" (نابضا) and its matching adjective "broken" (مكسورا).

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Finally, when adding the finishing touches, artisans might combine different fabrics or textures to create a beautiful, custom design.

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Upholstery and Furniture Restoration

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 remove	نزعnaza'a
artisan	حرفيhirafî
foam	إسفنجisfanj
The artisan removed the old foam from the chair.	نزع الحرفي الإسفنج القديم من الكرسي.naza'a al-hirafiyyu al-isfanja al-qadima mina al-kursiyyi
to upholster	نجدnajjada
velvet	مخملmukhmal
I want to upholster this sofa with green velvet.	أريد أن أنجد هذه الأريكة بالمخمل الأخضر.urîdu an unajjida hâdhihi al-arîkata bil-mukhmali al-akhdar
linen	كتانkattân
lining	بطانةbitâna
She bought linen fabric in order to renew the lining.	اشترت قماش الكتان لكي تجدد البطانة.ishtarat qumâsh al-kattân likay tujaddid al-bitâna.
frame	هيكلhaykal
The man cleaned the old frame.	نظف الرجل الهيكل القديم.nazzafa ar-rajulu al-haykala al-qadeem.
staple	دبوسdabbûs
spring (coil)	نابضnâbid
Do you have staples and springs?	هل عندك دبابيس ونوابض؟hal 'indaka dabâbîsu wa nawâbidu?
The girl removed the staples from the old wood.	نزعت البنت الدبابيس من الخشب القديم.nazaʿatil bintud-dabâbîsa minal khashabil qadîm
Does this female artisan upholster old furniture?	هل تنجد هذه الحرفية الأثاث القديم؟hal tunajjidu hâdhihi al-hirafiyyatu al-athâtha al-qadîm?
The new foam makes the lining very comfortable.	الإسفنج الجديد يجعل البطانة مريحة جدا.al-isfanju al-jadeedu yaj'alu al-bitânata mureehatan jiddan.
We found a broken spring inside the frame.	وجدنا نابضا مكسورا داخل الهيكل.wajadnâ nâbidan maksûran dâkhila al-haykali
They chose blue velvet in addition to white linen.	اختاروا المخمل الأزرق بالإضافة إلى الكتان الأبيض.ikhtârû al-mukhmala al-azraqa bil-idâfati ilâ al-kattâni al-abyadi
The woman sat removing the velvet from the chair.	جلست المرأة تنزع المخمل من الكرسي.jalasati al-mar'atu tanzi'u al-mukhmala mina al-kursiyyi
The artisan sewed a beautiful lining for the sofa.	خاطت الحرفية بطانة جميلة للأريكة.khâtati l-ḥirafiyyatu biṭânatan jamîlatan lil-arîkati

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