Arabic A1, Unit 17: I and you did

I and you did

Arabic A1 · Unit 17

GoalSay what I did and what you did, to a man and to a woman.

New words

ذَهَبْتُ (dhahabtu) · I wentذَهَبْتَ (dhahabta) · you went (to a man)ذَهَبْتِ (dhahabti) · you went (to a woman)أَكَلْتُ (ʾakaltu) · I ateشَرِبْتُ (sharibtu) · I drankقَرَأْتُ (qaraʾtu) · I read (past)كَتَبْتُ (katabtu) · I wroteعَمِلْتُ (ʿamiltu) · I worked

Explanation

For “I” and “you” the verb takes a small ending after the stem. Start with ذَهَبَ and drop its last vowel: ذَهَبْ. Then add تُ for “I”, تَ for “you” to a man, and تِ for “you” to a woman. Only the last vowel changes: u is “I”, a is a man, i is a woman. So ذَهَبْتُ is “I went”, ذَهَبْتَ is “you went” (man), and ذَهَبْتِ is “you went” (woman).

Who	Ending	Example	Say
I	تُ	ذَهَبْتُ	dhahabtu
you (man)	تَ	ذَهَبْتَ	dhahabta
you (woman)	تِ	ذَهَبْتِ	dhahabti

Worked examples

The same verb with three endings. Listen to the last vowel.

Layla

أَيْن ذَهَبْتَ؟

Karim

ذَهَبْتُ إِلَى الْجَامِعَة. وَأَنْتِ؟ أَيْن ذَهَبْتِ؟

Layla

ذَهَبْتُ إِلَى الْمَدْرَسَة.

Karim

جَيِّد.

Layla asks Karim, then Karim asks Layla. She says ذَهَبْتَ to him, and he says ذَهَبْتِ to her.

To a man	To a woman
هَل شَرِبْتَ؟	هَل شَرِبْتِ؟
هَل كَتَبْتَ؟	هَل كَتَبْتِ؟

The same question to a man and to a woman.

Class activity

Ask two friends. Ask a boy أَيْن ذَهَبْتَ؟ and a girl أَيْن ذَهَبْتِ؟ and write each answer with ذَهَبْتُ. If nobody is near, write both questions and your own answer, then read the three lines aloud.

Practice

Press Listen. Which ending do you hear: -tu (I), -ta (you, man) or -ti (you, woman)?

…

Write “I wrote” in Arabic.

You speak to the man in the picture. Ask him: “did you eat?”.

You speak to the woman in the picture. Ask her: “did you go?”.

Which vowel on the ت shows a man and which shows a woman?

Yesterday and work: the past tense

I and you did