Arabic A1, Unit 17: Yesterday and last week

Yesterday and last week

Arabic A1 · Unit 17

GoalTalk about the past with time words.

New words

أَمْس (ʾams) · yesterdayأَمْس فِي الْمَسَاء (ʾams fī l-masāʾ) · yesterday eveningالْأُسْبُوع (al-ʾusbūʿ) · the weekالْأُسْبُوع الْمَاضِي (al-ʾusbūʿ al-māḍī) · last weekالشَّهْر الْمَاضِي (ash-shahr al-māḍī) · last monthالسَّنَة الْمَاضِيَة (as-sana l-māḍiya) · last year

Explanation

أَمْس means “yesterday”, and you use it with the past tense. الْمَاضِي means “last” or “past”. It comes after the noun, like every adjective: الْأُسْبُوع الْمَاضِي is “last week”. With a feminine noun it takes ة: السَّنَة الْمَاضِيَة is “last year”. Compare the tenses: أَمْس ذَهَبْتُ, “yesterday I went”, but الْيَوْم أَذْهَب, “today I go”. For tomorrow Arabic uses the present with غَدًا: غَدًا أَذْهَب.

When	Time word	Verb
yesterday	أَمْس	ذَهَبْتُ
today	الْيَوْم	أَذْهَب
tomorrow	غَدًا	أَذْهَب

Worked examples

Salma

هَل كَتَبْتَ الدَّرْس أَمْس؟

Hassan

نَعَم، كَتَبْتُ. وَأَنْتِ؟

Salma

أَنَا قَرَأْتُ الْكِتَاب.

Salma asks Hassan about yesterday.

Three sentences with time words. Read each one, then listen.

A calendar helps you count the days and the weeks.

Class activity

My last week. Write three lines about the past: أَمْس … / الْأُسْبُوع الْمَاضِي … / السَّنَة الْمَاضِيَة … Use verbs with تُ, such as ذَهَبْتُ, أَكَلْتُ or قَرَأْتُ. Read the lines aloud.

Practice

Press Listen. Is the verb in the past or in the present? Listen for the ending -tu.

…

Say “last week” in Arabic.

The picture shows an office. Say “last week I worked in an office”.

The picture shows a notebook. Say “yesterday she wrote in the notebook”.

Which sentence is about the past: أَمْس أَذْهَب or أَمْس ذَهَبْتُ?

Yesterday and work: the past tense

Yesterday and last week