Egyptian Arabic A1, Unit 14: He, she, I did

He, she, I did

Egyptian Arabic A1 · Unit 14

GoalSay what you, he and she did, with the past tense.

New words

أَكَلْت (akalt) · I ateهُوَّ أَكَل (huwwa akal) · he ateهِيَّ أَكَلِت (hiyya akalit) · she ateرُحْت (ruḥt) · I wentهُوَّ رَاح (huwwa rāḥ) · he wentهِيَّ رَاحِت (hiyya rāḥit) · she went

Explanation

The past tense has no prefix. It changes at the end of the verb. For «he», use the plain verb: أَكَل (he ate). For «she», add -ِت: أَكَلِت (she ate). For «I», add -ْت: أَكَلْت (I ate). Some verbs change their first vowel: رَاح (he went), but رُحْت (I went). A man and a woman both say أَكَلْت for «I ate».

Pronoun	ate	went
أَنَا	أَكَلْت	رُحْت
هُوَّ	أَكَل	رَاح
هِيَّ	أَكَلِت	رَاحِت

Worked examples

Sara

رُحْت البَيْت وِأَكَلْت.

Mina

وِأَحْمَد؟

Sara

هُوَّ رَاح الشُّغْل.

Mina

وِمَرْيَم؟

Sara

هِيَّ أَكَلِت وِرَاحِت المَدْرَسَة.

Sara and Mina talk about their day. Press each line.

«Ate»: I, he, she. Press each card.

Class activity

Write five sentences about what happened today: three with أَنَا, one with هُوَّ and one with هِيَّ. Use أَكَل and رَاح. Read them aloud.

Practice

Say «he ate».

Say «she went».

Say «I went to school».

Say «I ate bread».

Press Listen. Who ate: I, he or she?

Yesterday and work: the past tense

He, she, I did