Breakdown of نظفي الطاولة بعد الغداء، ثم اجلسي معنا إذا كنت غير مشغولة.
مع
with
الغداء
lunch
بعد
after
ثم
then
Questions & Answers about نظفي الطاولة بعد الغداء، ثم اجلسي معنا إذا كنت غير مشغولة.
Is the -ي in نظفي and اجلسي a pronoun, or is it part of the verb?
It is part of the verb.
Here, نظفي and اجلسي are commands addressed to one female. In Modern Standard Arabic, the imperative for a singular feminine addressee often ends in -ي:
- نظِّفْ = clean! (to one male)
- نظِّفي = clean! (to one female)
- اجلسْ = sit! (to one male)
- اجلسي = sit! (to one female)
So the sentence is speaking to a woman or girl. The -ي here is not the pronoun my/me.
Should نظفي really have a doubled consonant sound?
Yes. In full pronunciation, it is نظِّفي.
The verb comes from نظَّفَ meaning to clean. That verb has a doubled middle consonant, shown by a shadda on ظ. In carefully marked writing, the imperative here would be:
- نظِّفي
But in normal everyday Arabic writing, short vowels and shadda are often omitted, so you may see:
- نظفي
Even without the mark, the intended pronunciation is still with the doubled consonant.
Why does اجلسي start with ا?
That initial ا is part of the imperative form. It is often called .