Arabic A1, Unit 17: He and she did

He and she did

Arabic A1 · Unit 17

GoalSay what he and she did with the past tense.

New words

ذَهَبَ (dhahaba) · he wentذَهَبَتْ (dhahabat) · she wentشَرِبَ (shariba) · he drankشَرِبَتْ (sharibat) · she drankكَتَبَ (kataba) · he wroteكَتَبَتْ (katabat) · she wroteأَكَلَ (ʾakala) · he ateأَكَلَتْ (ʾakalat) · she ate

Explanation

The past tense tells what happened before. For “he” the verb is its base form: ذَهَبَ, “he went”. For “she” add تْ at the end: ذَهَبَتْ, “she went”. The ending sounds like -at: dhahabat. The pronoun or the name can stand in front: هُوَ ذَهَبَ, هِيَ ذَهَبَتْ. Arabic also often puts the verb first, as in ذَهَبَ كَرِيم, and both orders are fine. In this course past verbs keep their last vowel (dhahaba, not dhahab), because the ending tells who did it.

Meaning	He	She
went	ذَهَبَ	ذَهَبَتْ
drank	شَرِبَ	شَرِبَتْ
wrote	كَتَبَ	كَتَبَتْ
ate	أَكَلَ	أَكَلَتْ

Worked examples

The same verb for a boy and a girl. Listen for the ending -at.

Tariq

أَيْن سَارَة؟

Omar

هِيَ ذَهَبَتْ إِلَى الْجَامِعَة.

Tariq

وَأَيْن يُوسُف؟

Omar

هُوَ ذَهَبَ إِلَى الْمَدْرَسَة.

Tariq asks Omar about two friends.

كَتَبَhe wrote+تْ+ she ending

From “he” to “she”: add تْ.

Class activity

Cards. Take six small papers. On each write one verb in the “he” form, and on the back the “she” form with تْ. Turn a card, read the front, say the back, and check. Then say what you think a boy and a girl did this morning.

Practice

Press Listen. Does the verb say “he” or “she”?

…

Make the “she” form of كَتَبَ.

The picture shows a girl. Say “she went”.

The picture shows a boy. Say “he ate”.

Which letters at the end of the verb show “she” in the past tense?

Yesterday and work: the past tense

He and she did