5
Review: the past tense
Arabic A2 · Unit 3
GoalUse all past tense forms, مَا and كَانَ in short texts.
New words
دَخَلْتُ الْغُرْفَة وَجَلَسْتُ (dakhaltu l-ghurfa wa-jalastu) · I entered the room and satمَاذَا كَتَبْتِ أَمْس؟ (mādhā katabti ʾams?) · what did you (f.) write yesterday?الطُّلَّاب ذَهَبُوا إِلَى الْمَكْتَبَة (aṭ-ṭullāb dhahabū ʾilā l-maktaba) · the students went to the libraryمَا فَهِمْتُ الدَّرْس (mā fahimtu d-dars) · I did not understand the lessonكَانَتْ مَرْيَم فِي الْبَيْت (kānat Maryam fī l-bayt) · Maryam was at homeكُنَّا مَعًا أَمْس (kunnā maʿan ʾams) · we were together yesterdayهُنَّ مَا شَرِبْنَ الْقَهْوَة (hunna mā sharibna l-qahwa) · they (f.) did not drink coffee
Explanation
This is the review of unit 3. The past tense has endings only: ـْتُ, ـْتَ, ـْتِ, ـَتْ, ـْنَا, ـْتُم, ـُوا and ـْنَ. To say “did not”, put مَا before the past verb. To say “was” or “were”, use كَانَ and its forms. In the table you can see all the forms of one verb. Read the examples aloud, and then write about your own yesterday.
| Who | Verb كَتَبَ |
|---|---|
| أَنَا | كَتَبْتُ |
| أَنْتَ / أَنْتِ | كَتَبْتَ / كَتَبْتِ |
| هُوَ / هِيَ | كَتَبَ / كَتَبَتْ |
| نَحْنُ | كَتَبْنَا |
| أَنْتُم | كَتَبْتُم |
| هُمْ / هُنَّ | كَتَبُوا / كَتَبْنَ |
Worked examples
Karim tells what happened yesterday. Read each sentence, then listen.
Maryam
أَيْن كَانُوا أَمْس؟
Yusuf
كَانُوا فِي الْحَدِيقَة. لَعِبُوا مَعًا.
Maryam
وَأَنْتَ؟ هَل لَعِبْتَ؟
Yusuf
لَا، مَا لَعِبْتُ. كُنْتُ مُتْعَبًا.
The present and the past of one verb.
Class activity
My yesterday. Write a text of six sentences in the past. Say where you were, what you did, what you did not do, and what a friend or your family did. Use at least one مَا sentence, one كَانَ sentence, and one sentence with نَحْنُ. Give every word its vowels and read the text aloud.
Practice
1
Press Listen. Is the sentence positive or negative?
…
Negative: مَا جَلَسَ الْوَلَد (mā jalasa l-walad), “the boy did not sit”. The sentence starts with مَا.
2
Write in Arabic: “we were in the library.”
كُنَّا فِي الْمَكْتَبَة.
3
The picture shows a man. Say to him: “you went out.”
خَرَجْتَ.
4
The picture shows two girls. Say: “they (f.) played.”
لَعِبْنَ.
5
Make negative: ذَهَبَتْ مَرْيَم إِلَى السُّوق.
مَا ذَهَبَتْ مَرْيَم إِلَى السُّوق.