3
We and you do
Arabic A1 · Unit 16
GoalSay what we do and what you do, and tell تَ for “you” from تَ for “she”.
New words
نَحْنُ (naḥnu) · weأَنْتَ (ʾanta) · you (to a man)نَذْهَب (nadhhab) · we goنَشْرَب (nashrab) · we drinkنَقْرَأ (naqraʾ) · we readنَعْمَل (naʿmal) · we workتَعْمَل (taʿmal) · you workتَسْكُن (taskun) · you live
Explanation
For “we” the verb begins with نَ. For “you” (one man) the verb begins with تَ, the same letter as for “she”. The pronoun tells you which one it is: هِيَ تَذْهَب is “she goes”, but أَنْتَ تَذْهَب is “you go”. The stem stays the same. In this unit, “you” always means one man. Now you have all four prefixes: أَ يَ تَ نَ.
| Who | Pronoun | Verb | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | أَنَا | أَذْهَب | I go |
| you (one man) | أَنْتَ | تَذْهَب | you go |
| he | هُوَ | يَذْهَب | he goes |
| she | هِيَ | تَذْهَب | she goes |
| we | نَحْنُ | نَذْهَب | we go |
Worked examples
Sentences with “we” and “you”. Read each one, then listen.
Karim
أَيْن تَسْكُن؟
Omar
أَسْكُن فِي بَيْت كَبِير.
Karim
وَأَنَا أَسْكُن فِي بَيْت صَغِير.
Omar
جَيِّد!
نَwe+شْرَبdrink (stem)
“We drink”: the prefix نَ and the stem.Class activity
You and a friend. Write four sentences about yourself and a friend: two with أَنَا (or no pronoun) and two with نَحْنُ, for example نَحْنُ نَقْرَأ. Say them aloud. Then ask a boy or a man you know: أَيْن تَسْكُن؟ and write his answer.
Practice
1
Press Listen. Is the doer “I” or “we”?
…
“We”. نَدْرُس (nadrus) means “we study”.
2
Write “we read” in Arabic.
نَقْرَأ (or نَحْنُ نَقْرَأ).
3
The picture shows a man you talk to. Ask him: “do you work here?”.
هَل تَعْمَل هُنَا؟
4
The picture shows a family. Say “we live in the house”.
نَحْنُ نَسْكُن فِي الْبَيْت.
5
Which letter starts the verb for “you” (one man), and which one for “we”?
تَ for “you” and نَ for “we”.