A request: the imperative
A request opens with the imperative shape, and it is assembled from the past. Drop the endings and insert "-i-" after the first consonant: zahaba → izhab — go. So are made intazir (wait), ismaʿ (listen), uktub (write). For example: “انتظر لحظة, من فضلك” — Wait a moment, please. A rule from the Arabic course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
A request opens with the imperative shape, and it is assembled from the past. Drop the endings and insert "-i-" after the first consonant: zahaba → izhab — go. So are made intazir (wait), ismaʿ (listen), uktub (write).
The group takes "-uu": intaziruu — wait (all of you), uktubuu — write. To a woman — "-ii": intazirii. The shapes are few, and you have heard the first in "wait for me".
A bare command sounds sharper than the English one. What softens it is not intonation but min fadlik at the end: intazir lahza, min fadlik — wait a moment, please. Without it the phrase reads as an order.
The prohibition is the familiar laa before the command: laa talmis — do not touch, laa takhruj — do not go out. English does the same: "do not touch", not just "touch not".
Table
| verb | you | you (pl.) |
|---|---|---|
| انتظر — wait | انتظر — intazir | انتظروا — intaziruu |
| اسمع — listen | اسمع — ismaʿ | اسمعوا — ismaʿuu |
| اكتب — write | اكتب — uktub | اكتبوا — uktubuu |
| خذ — take | خذ — khudh | خذوا — khudhuu |
| انتبه — mind | انتبه — intabih | انتبهوا — intabihuu |
By example
- انتظر لحظة, من فضلكинтазир ляхза, мин фадликWait a moment, please
- اسمع, من فضلكасмаʿ, мин фадликListen, please
- لا تلمس!ля талмис!Do not touch!
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
The imperative in Arabic?
A request opens with the imperative shape, and it is assembled from the past. Drop the endings and insert "-i-" after the first consonant: zahaba → izhab — go. So are made intazir (wait), ismaʿ (listen), uktub (write).
How to form the arabic imperative?
A request opens with the imperative shape, and it is assembled from the past. Drop the endings and insert "-i-" after the first consonant: zahaba → izhab — go. So are made intazir (wait), ismaʿ (listen), uktub (write).
The arabic imperative for women?
A request opens with the imperative shape, and it is assembled from the past. Drop the endings and insert "-i-" after the first consonant: zahaba → izhab — go. So are made intazir (wait), ismaʿ (listen), uktub (write).
How to say do not touch in Arabic?
The prohibition is the familiar laa before the command: laa talmis — do not touch, laa takhruj — do not go out. English does the same: "do not touch", not just "touch not".
What does it look like in a Arabic example sentence?
“انتظر لحظة, من فضلك” (интазир ляхза, мин фадлик) — Wait a moment, please. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.