Palestinian Arabic Lesson 43: Do this! The imperative

1

Dialogue

Imm Khalil needs a few things from the market, and Sam and Lina are there to help. You will learn the imperative, "go!", "take!", "bring!", for a man, a woman and several people, and how to say "don't!"

Saturday morning at the Khalil house. Sam has come for coffee.

Imm Khalilya Sām, ya Līna, taʿālu shwayy!Sam, Lina, come here a moment!
Samaywa, ya khālto?Yes, auntie?
Imm KhalilSām, khud hal-kīs w rūḥ ʿas-sūʾ, ʿind Abu Samīr.Sam, take this bag and go to the market, to Abu Samir.
Sammāshi! shu ajīb?OK! What shall I bring?
Imm Khaliljīb talāte kīlo bandōra w kīlo khyār.Bring three kilos of tomatoes and a kilo of cucumbers.
Linaw ana, ya khālto?And me, auntie?
Imm Khalilinti rūḥi maʿo, w khudi l-maṣāri. w ma tinsūsh il-khubz!You go with him, and take the money. And don't forget the bread, you two!
Samil-khubz min wēn?The bread, from where?
Imm Khalilmin il-furn jamb il-jāmeʿ. w ma tākhdūsh bandōra min maḥall tāni!From the bakery next to the mosque. And don't take tomatoes from another shop!
Linalēsh?Why?
Imm Khalilil-bandōra ʿind Abu Samīr ḥilwe ktīr. yalla, rūḥu, w dīru bālkom!Abu Samir's tomatoes are very good. Off you go, and be careful!

2

New words

Palestinian Arabic	English
taʿāl	come! (to a man)to a woman: taʿāli; to several people: taʿālu
akhad	to takeakhad / yākhod; b-present bākhod; imperative khud, khudi, khudu
jāb	to bring, getjāb / yjīb; b-present bajīb; imperative jīb, jībi, jību; jibli = bring me
hāt	give (me)! bring (me)!to a woman: hāti; to several people: hātu
aʿṭa	to giveaʿṭa / yaʿṭi; b-present baʿṭi; aʿṭīni = give me
ḥaṭṭ	to putḥaṭṭ / yḥuṭṭ; b-present baḥuṭṭ; imperative ḥuṭṭ, ḥuṭṭi, ḥuṭṭu
shāf	to seeshāf / yshūf; b-present bashūf; shūf! = look!
istanna	to wait (for)istanna / yistanna; b-present bastanna; stanna! = wait!, to a woman stanni!
nisi	to forgetnisi / yinsa; b-present bansa; ma tinsāsh! = don't forget!
fataḥ	to openfataḥ / yiftaḥ; b-present baftaḥ; imperative iftaḥ
sakkar	to close; to locksakkar / ysakker; b-present basakker; imperative sakker
khalla	to let; to leavekhalla / ykhalli; b-present bakhalli; khallīni ashūf = let me see
dīr bālak	be careful! (to a man)to a woman: dīri bālik; to several people: dīru bālkom
māshi	OK, fine, agreed

3

Grammar

1. Making the imperative

The imperative gives an order or makes a request. Take the "you" form of the present without b- (lesson 25) and drop the t-: trūḥ → rūḥ!, tshūf → shūf!, tiftaḥ → iftaḥ! To a woman add -i, to several people -u.

To a man	To a woman	To several people	English
rūḥ	rūḥi	rūḥu	go
shūf	shūfi	shūfu	look
jīb	jībi	jību	bring
ḥuṭṭ	ḥuṭṭi	ḥuṭṭu	put
iftaḥ	iftaḥi	iftaḥu	open

2. Special forms

A few very common imperatives are irregular. Learn them as words.

To a man	To a woman	To several people	English
taʿāl	taʿāli	taʿālu	come
khud	khudi	khudu	take
kul	kuli	kulu	eat
hāt	hāti	hātu	give me

"Wait!" is stanna!, to a woman stanni! When the "you" form ends in -i, a man and a woman get the same word: khalli, aʿṭi; aʿṭīni is "give me".

3. Don't!

For "don't", keep the full "you" form, with its t-, and put ma … -sh around it. A final vowel becomes long before -sh.

ma trūḥsh! Don't go! (to a man)

ma tinsāsh il-khubz! Don't forget the bread! (to a man)

ma tinsīsh! Don't forget! (to a woman)

ma tākhdūsh bandōra min maḥall tāni! Don't take tomatoes from another shop! (to several people)

4

Practice

1Choose the right form

You ask Lina to come.
You say "Look!" to Sam and Lina together.
Imm Khalil says ma tinsūsh! to Sam and Lina. What does she mean?
You tell a man "Don't go!"

2Complete the sentence

___ hal-kīs, ya Sām! = Take this bag, Sam!
___ l-maṣāri, ya Līna! = Take the money, Lina!
___ talāte kīlo bandōra. = Bring three kilos of tomatoes. (to a man)
ma ___ il-khubz, ya Līna! = Don't forget the bread, Lina!
___ il-bāb, law samaḥt. = Open the door, please. (to a man)

3Match the Arabic and the English

taʿāl
stanna
ḥuṭṭ
sakker
dīr bālak
māshi

4Put the words in order

Sam, take this bag and go to the market.
Don't take tomatoes from another shop! (to several people)

5Say it in Palestinian Arabic, then check

Wait a little! (to a woman)
Bring me a glass of water, please. (to a man)

6True or false?

Imm Khalil sends Sam to Abu Samir.
Lina has to buy the bread at Abu Samir's.

Well done — your score: .

5

Summary

You can make the imperative for a man, a woman and several people: rūḥ, rūḥi, rūḥu.
You know the special forms taʿāl, khud, kul, hāt and stanna.
You can say "don't": ma trūḥsh!, ma tinsīsh!, ma tākhdūsh!
You can answer an instruction with māshi and warn someone with dīr bālak!