Arabic A2, Unit 18: A day in the past

A day in the past

Arabic A2 · Unit 18

GoalTell what you did yesterday in a few sentences.

New words

اِسْتَيْقَظْتُ (istayqaẓtu) · I woke upلَبِسْتُ (labistu) · I woreغَسَلْتُ (ghasaltu) · I washedقَرَأْتُ (qaraʾtu) · I readنِمْتُ (nimtu) · I sleptمُتَأَخِّرًا (mutaʾakhkhiran) · lateمَاذَا فَعَلْتَ؟ (mādhā faʿalta) · what did you do?

Explanation

To tell about yesterday, use the past with أَنَا: اِسْتَيْقَظْتُ “I woke up”, لَبِسْتُ “I wore”, غَسَلْتُ “I washed”, قَرَأْتُ “I read”, نِمْتُ “I slept”. نِمْتُ is shortened, like كُنْتُ in Unit 3. To ask, say مَاذَا فَعَلْتَ أَمْس؟ to a man and مَاذَا فَعَلْتِ أَمْس؟ to a woman. Add the time with فِي السَّاعَة and an ordinal: اِسْتَيْقَظْتُ فِي السَّاعَة السَّابِعَة. To say “not”, put مَا before the verb: مَا نِمْتُ. “Late” is مُتَأَخِّرًا and “early” is مُبَكِّرًا. For the weather use كَانَ: كَانَ الْجَوّ جَمِيلًا.

Verb	Meaning	Example
اِسْتَيْقَظْتُ	I woke up	اِسْتَيْقَظْتُ فِي السَّاعَة السَّابِعَة
لَبِسْتُ	I wore	لَبِسْتُ الْقَمِيص الْأَبْيَض
غَسَلْتُ	I washed	غَسَلْتُ الْقَمِيص
قَرَأْتُ	I read	قَرَأْتُ الْجَرِيدَة
نِمْتُ	I slept	نِمْتُ مُبَكِّرًا

Worked examples

أَمْس اِسْتَيْقَظْتُ فِي السَّاعَة السَّابِعَة، وَشَرِبْتُ الْحَلِيب.
ثُمَّ لَبِسْتُ الْقَمِيص وَذَهَبْتُ إِلَى الْمَدْرَسَة.
بَعْد ذَلِك قَرَأْتُ الْكِتَاب فِي الْمَكْتَبَة.
فِي الْمَسَاء أَكَلْنَا مَعًا، وَنِمْتُ مُبَكِّرًا.

Yusuf tells about yesterday. Read it first, then press Listen.

Hassan

مَاذَا فَعَلْتِ أَمْس يَا دِينَا؟

Dina

ذَهَبْتُ إِلَى السُّوق مَعَ أُمِّي، ثُمَّ أَكَلْنَا السَّمَك فِي الْمَطْعَم.

Hassan

وَبَعْد ذَلِك؟

Dina

رَجَعْنَا إِلَى الْبَيْت، وَنِمْتُ.

Hassan asks Dina about yesterday. Press each line.

Saying “not” and “late”.

Class activity

Write six sentences about yesterday: when you woke up, what you wore, where you went, what you did after that, what you ate, and when you slept. Use the time words from Lesson 1 and one sentence with مَا.

Practice

Press Listen. Which verb: I drew, I played or I ran?

Write: “Yesterday I woke up late.”

The picture shows a coat. Write: “I wore the coat.”

The picture shows a book. Write: “I did not read the book.”

Ask a man: “What did you do on Friday?”

Telling a story

A day in the past