Question 1

How do we know انتظر means "wait!" as a command?

Accepted Answer

انتظر is the imperative, or command form, used for a single male. You can tell because it is directed at a male professor. If you were telling a female professor to wait, you would add an "ee" sound at the end, making it انتظري.

Question 2

Do I always have to use يا when talking to someone?

Accepted Answer

Yes, in Arabic, whenever you address someone directly by their name or title, you use يا right before it. It acts like a calling word, similar to the old English "O", and it is essential in normal, everyday Arabic to get someone's attention.

Question 3

Since I am talking to a specific professor, shouldn't it be يا الأستاذ with the word "the"?

Accepted Answer

That is a great guess, but Arabic has a special rule here. When you use the calling word يا, you drop the ال (the) from the title. You just say يا أستاذ.

Question 4

Why isn't there a word for "for" before دقيقة (a minute)?

Accepted Answer

In English we often say "wait for a minute", but Arabic does not need a preposition here. Words that measure time, like دقيقة, are just placed directly after the verb to show how long the action lasts.

يا أستاذ، انتظر دقيقة.

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