A2Unit 5 · Out and about · Lesson 45 of 100
What did you do? The past 1
shu ʿmilti? · katabt · akalna · shirbu
Goal: Say what you and other people did, using the past tense of regular verbs in all persons.
Dialogue
On Sunday morning Rana wants to hear about Lina's weekend. You will learn the perfect, the past tense, of regular verbs such as katab "he wrote" and shirib "he drank", with its endings for every person.
Sunday morning in the kitchen of the Khalil house.
- Ranaṣabāḥ il-khēr! shu ʿmilti ākher il-usbūʿ?Good morning! What did you do on the weekend?
- Linayōm il-jumʿa nzilt ʿal-balad maʿ Nūr. akalna falāfel.On Friday I went into town with Nour. We ate falafel.
- Ranaw baʿdēn?And then?
- Linabaʿdēn ʾaʿadna fi ʾahwe w shribna shāy maʿ naʿnaʿ.Then we sat in a café and drank mint tea.
- Ranaw is-sabt?And on Saturday?
- Linais-sabt katabt la-immi fi Shikāgo. w baʿd iḍ-ḍuhr ana w Nūr ʿazamna Sām ʿal-ʿasha.On Saturday I wrote to my mother in Chicago. And in the afternoon Nour and I invited Sam to dinner.
- Ranaʿan jadd? wēn tʿashshētu?Really? Where did you have dinner?
- Linafi maṭʿam jamb il-Manāra. ṭalabna ḥummuṣ w jāj w ruzz. Sām akal ktīr!In a restaurant next to al-Manara. We ordered hummus, chicken and rice. Sam ate a lot!
- Ranaw baʿd il-ʿasha?And after dinner?
- Linaḥḍirna film fis-sinama. w inti, shu ʿmilti?We saw a movie at the movie theater. And you, what did you do?
- Ranaana darast kull il-yōm. bass Khalīl rakaḍ fil-ḥadīqa w ʾaʿad maʿ aṣḥābo.I studied all day. But Khalil went running in the park and hung out with his friends.
New words
| Palestinian Arabic | English |
|---|---|
| katab | to writekatab / yuktob; b-present baktob; katabt = I wrote |
| ʾaʿad | to sit; to stay; to hang outʾaʿad / yuʾʿod; b-present baʾʿod; ʾaʿadna = we sat |
| dakhal | to enter, go indakhal / yudkhol; b-present badkhol |
| zār | to visitzār / yzūr; b-present bazūr; its past forms come in lesson 46 |
| sāfar | to travelsāfar / ysāfer; b-present basāfer; sāfart = I traveled |
| tʿallam | to learntʿallam / yitʿallam; b-present batʿallam; tʿallamt = I learned |
| rakaḍ | to runrakaḍ / yurkoḍ; b-present barkoḍ |
| ṭalab | to order, ask forṭalab / yuṭlob; b-present baṭlob; ṭalabna = we ordered |
| ʿazam | to inviteʿazam / yiʿzim; b-present baʿzim; ʿazamna Sām ʿal-ʿasha = we invited Sam to dinner |
| tʿashsha | to have dinnertʿashsha / yitʿashsha; b-present batʿashsha; tʿashshēna = we had dinner |
| film | film, movieplural aflām |
Grammar
1. The perfect: the past tense
The perfect says what happened. The bare form is "he": katab "he wrote". An ending shows every other person.
| Person | Ending | katab write | shirib drink |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana | -t | katabt | shribt |
| inte | -t | katabt | shribt |
| inti | -ti | katabti | shribti |
| huwwe | — | katab | shirib |
| hiyye | -at | katbat | shirbat |
| iḥna | -na | katabna | shribna |
| intu | -tu | katabtu | shribtu |
| humme | -u | katabu | shirbu |
"I" and "you" (to a man) are the same: katabt. The pronoun or the situation tells you who.
2. Two small vowel changes
Verbs like shirib drop their first i before -t, -ti, -na and -tu: shribt, lbist, nzilt, ṭliʿt, ḥḍirna.
Before -at, the second vowel drops in verbs with three consonants like katab and shirib: katbat, shirbat, aklat, ṭalbat. Longer verbs keep it: sāfarat, tʿallamat. Before -u, verbs like shirib drop it too (shirbu, libsu), but verbs like katab keep it (katabu, akalu).
3. "What did you do?"
ʿimil "to do" follows shirib: shu ʿmilt? (to a man), shu ʿmilti? (to a woman), shu ʿmiltu? (to several people).
Practice
1Complete with the past tense
mbāreḥ ___ la-immi. = Yesterday I wrote to my mother.
Nūr ___ shāy maʿ naʿnaʿ. = Nour drank mint tea.
iḥna ___ falāfel. = We ate falafel.
intu ___ Sām? = Did you invite Sam? (to several people)
Khalīl ___ fil-ḥadīqa. = Khalil ran in the park.
2Choose the right answer
Rana asks Lina "What did you do?"
shu ʿmilt? is said to a man; shu btiʿmali? is the present, "what are you doing?"
Which sentence is about "they"?
katabt can mean:
3Match the Arabic and the English
katab
ʾaʿad
dakhal
sāfar
tʿallam
ṭalab
4Put the words in order
Then we sat in a café.
On Friday I went into town with Nour.
5Say it in Palestinian Arabic, then check
We saw a movie at the movie theater.
ḥḍirna film fis-sinama.
She got dressed and went out.
libsat w ṭilʿat.
6True or false?
Lina and Nour invited Sam to dinner.
Rana went to the movies.
Rana says ana darast kull il-yōm.
Summary
- You can say what happened with the perfect: katabt, akalna, shirbu.
- You know the endings for every person: -t, -ti, -at, -na, -tu, -u.
- You know that verbs like shirib say shribt, nzilt, lbist.
- You can ask shu ʿmilt?, shu ʿmilti?, shu ʿmiltu? and tell about your weekend.