Question 1

Why does the word for to find (ليجد) start with a لـ (li-) and take a different ending?

Accepted Answer

The prefix لـ (li-) here means in order to. This is the focus of your current lesson! When attached to a present tense verb, it triggers the subjunctive mood. For regular verbs, this changes the final vowel from a u sound to an a sound (fatha). So, يجدُ (yajidu - he finds) becomes ليجدَ (li-yajida - in order to find).

Question 2

The translation says was walking, but isn't يمشي a present tense verb?

Accepted Answer

Yes, يمشي (yamshi) means he walks. However, when you put the past tense verb كان (kana - he was) in front of a present tense verb, it creates a past continuous meaning to show an ongoing action in the past. So, كان الرجل يمشي literally means the man was he walks, which translates smoothly to the man was walking.

Question 3

I learned the verb to find as وجد (wajada). Why is there no و (waw) in ليجد?

Accepted Answer

Verbs that start with a و (waw) in the past tense, like وجد (wajada - he found), often drop that first letter when they are conjugated into the present tense. Because of this rule, he finds is just يجد (yajidu), which becomes ليجد when we add our in order to prefix.

Question 4

Why does the Arabic say هذا الممر (this the aisle) with the word the attached?

Accepted Answer

In Arabic, when you want to say this aisle, the noun must be definite, so it takes الـ (al-). If you leave off the الـ and just write هذا ممر (hadha mamarr), it turns into a complete sentence meaning This is an aisle.

كان الرجل يمشي في هذا الممر ليجد البطاطس.

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