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### Verbs that end in alif

You have met weak verbs whose last root letter is ي: نسي, مشى, بكى. A few common verbs end in an alif written **ا**, not ى: **نجا** (*to survive*), **بدا** (*to appear*), **{{item:1131547}}** (*to invite*) and **{{item:1131557}}** (*to complain*). Their hidden third root letter is **و**, and it comes back as soon as an ending starts with a consonant. **{{item:1131560}}** (*to hope, to ask kindly*) works the same way; its present أرجو is a polite *please*.

| | نجا | دعا |
|---|---|---|
| I | نَجَوْتُ | دَعَوْتُ |
| you (m.) | نَجَوْتَ | دَعَوْتَ |
| we | نَجَوْنا | دَعَوْنا |
| you (pl.) | نَجَوْتُم | دَعَوْتُم |
| he | نَجا | دَعا |
| she | نَجَتْ | دَعَتْ |
| they | نَجَوْا | دَعَوْا |

{{item:1131548}}

{{item:1131553}}

### She and they

With *she* and *they* the alif simply disappears: نجت, دعت, بدت; نجوا, دعوا, بدوا. The ending is short, so these forms are easy to misread as a different verb. Read the whole sentence.

{{item:1131554}}

{{item:1131555}}

{{item:1131556}}

### The present

In the present the و is a long vowel at the end: يدعو, ينجو, يبدو, يشكو.

{{item:1131552}}

Verbs ending in alif (دعا، نجا)

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 invite	دعاda'â
I invited my friend to the party.	دعوت صديقي إلى الحفلة.da'awtu sadîqî ilâ al-hafla.
The manager invited the employees to a meeting.	دعا المدير الموظفين إلى اجتماع.da'â al-mudîru al-muwazhzhafîna ilâ ijtimâ'in
We invited the family to dinner.	دعونا العائلة إلى العشاء.da'awnâ al'â'ilata ilâ al'ashâ'
Did you (pl.) invite your neighbors?	هل دعوتم جيرانكم؟hal da'awtum jîrânakum?
The professor invites the students to the library.	يدعو الأستاذ الطلاب إلى المكتبة.yad'oo al-ustâdhu at-tullâba ilâ al-maktabati
I survived the accident.	نجوت من الحادث.najawtu mina l-ḥâdith
The boy survived, and his mother survived too.	نجا الولد، ونجت أمه أيضا.najâ al-waladu, wa najat ummuhu aydan.
The sky looked gray.	بدت السماء رمادية.badati s-samâ'u ramâdiyyatan.
They looked tired after the trip.	بدوا متعبين بعد الرحلة.badaw muta'abîn ba'da r-riḥla
to complain	شكاshakâ
The passenger complained about the delay.	شكا الراكب من التأخير.shakâ ar-râkibu mina at-ta'khîr.
I complained to the manager because the room is dirty.	شكوت إلى المدير لأن الغرفة متسخة.shakawtu ilâ al-mudîri li'anna al-ghurfata muttasikha
to hope; to ask kindly (I hope … = please)	رجاrajâ
Please help me (I hope you will help me).	أرجو أن تساعدني.arjû an tusâ'idanî
I asked the manager kindly to help me.	رجوت المدير أن يساعدني.rajawtu al-mudîra an yusâ'idanî

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