A2Unit 6 · Hospitality · Lesson 54 of 100
Me, you, him: object pronouns
shāfni · shuftak · shuftik · shufto · shuftha
Goal: Say who saw, asked or remembered whom, with the endings for "me, you, him, her, us, them" on verbs.
Dialogue
Nour missed a party on Saturday, so Lina tells her everything: who danced, who saw whom, and who asked about Nour. You will learn the endings that mean "me, you, him, her, us, them" after a verb.
Sunday afternoon. Nour missed Saturday's party at a friend's house, and Lina is telling her about it.
- Nourkīf kānat il-ḥafle? mīn shufti hunāk?How was the party? Who did you see there?
- Linashuft Khalīl w aṣḥābo, w Sām kamān.I saw Khalil and his friends, and Sam too.
- NourSām? ʿan jadd? raʾaṣ?Sam? Really? Did he dance?
- Linaā, raʾaṣ ʿala ughniye ʿarabiyye! kull in-nās shāfū.Yes, he danced to an Arabic song! Everybody saw him.
- Nourma baṣaddeʾsh! w inti, raʾaṣti?I don't believe it! And you, did you dance?
- Linalaʾ. bass fī shabb ḍall ydawwer ʿalēki!No. But there was a young man who kept looking for you!
- Nourʿalayy ana?! mīn? baʿrafo?For me?! Who? Do I know him?
- Linaā, btiʿrafī. ṣāḥeb Khalīl. tzakkarik min ḥaflit ʿīd mīlād Rana.Yes, you know him. Khalil's friend. He remembered you from Rana's birthday party.
- Nourā, hallaʾ tzakkarto! ṭawīl w dāyman bibtsem?Oh, now I remember him! Tall, always smiling?
- Linamazbūṭ! w saʾalni: lēsh Nūr ma ijatish?That's right! And he asked me: why didn't Nour come?
- Nourshiklo ḥabbni!Looks like he liked me!
- Linayimkin! w bil-ākher waddaʿni w ʾāl: sallmi ʿala Nūr!Maybe! And at the end he said goodbye to me and said: say hello to Nour!
New words
| Palestinian Arabic | English |
|---|---|
| saʾal | to asksaʾal / yisʾal, b-present basʾal; saʾalni he asked me |
| nāda | to call (someone over)nāda / ynādi, b-present banādi |
| tzakkar | to remembertzakkar / yitzakkar, b-present batzakkar; tzakkarto I remember him (now) |
| zakkar | to remindzakkar / yzakker, b-present bazakker |
| dawwar | to look for (ʿala); to turndawwar / ydawwer, b-present badawwer; dawwart ʿalē I looked for him |
| raʾaṣ | to danceraʾaṣ / yurʾoṣ, b-present barʾoṣ |
| lāḥaẓ | to noticelāḥaẓ / ylāḥeẓ, b-present balāḥeẓ |
| sāmaḥ | to forgivesāmaḥ / ysāmeḥ, b-present basāmeḥ |
| shikl | shape, look, appearanceplural: ashkāl; shiklo … it seems …, it looks like … |
| ughniye | songplural: aghāni |
| kirih | to hate, dislike stronglykirih / yikrah, b-present bakrah |
| waddaʿ | to say goodbye (to someone)waddaʿ / ywaddeʿ, b-present bawaddeʿ |
| ibtasam | to smileibtasam / yibtsem, b-present babtsem |
Grammar
1. Me, you, him: endings on the verb
"Me, you, him, her…" after a verb are endings, almost the same as the possessive endings (lesson 13). Only "me" is different: -ni.
| Ending | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| -ni | shāfni | he saw me |
| -ak | shāfak | he saw you (a man) |
| -ik | shāfik | he saw you (a woman) |
| -o | shāfo | he saw him |
| -ha | shāfha | he saw her |
| -na | shāfna | he saw us |
| -kom | shāfkom | he saw you (several people) |
| -hom | shāfhom | he saw them |
The same endings go on shuft "I saw": shufto "I saw him", shuftha "I saw her", shufthom "I saw them".
2. After a vowel
When the verb ends in a vowel, the vowel becomes long, and "him" is just that long vowel.
3. After a preposition
Some verbs need a preposition: dawwar ʿala "look for", sallam ʿala "say hello to". Then the ending goes on the preposition: ʿalayy "me", ʿalēk "you (a man)", ʿalēki "you (a woman)", ʿalē "him", ʿalēha "her".
Practice
1Choose the right words
Lina tells Nour: "He saw you!"
Speaking to a woman, "you" is -ik.
Lina says shuftha. What does it mean?
Nour asks Lina: "Do you know him?"
To a woman the verb ends in -i; with "him" it becomes a long ī.
Nour says: "He is looking for me!"
dawwar "look for" takes ʿala: ʿalayy "for me".
2Complete the sentence
kull in-nās ___. = Everybody saw him.
shāfu "they saw" + "him" gives a long ū.
ā, hallaʾ ___! = Oh, now I remember him!
Sām raʾaṣ ʿala ___ ʿarabiyye. = Sam danced to an Arabic song.
3Match the Arabic and the English
nāda
kirih
sāmaḥ
lāḥaẓ
waddaʿ
4Put the words in order
Everybody saw him and laughed.
He remembered you from the party. (to a woman)
5Say it in Palestinian Arabic, then check
Ask Nour: Did you see him?
shuftī?
Say to Sam: Forgive me!
sāmeḥni!
6True or false?
Nour was at the party.
Sam danced at the party.
Nour does not remember the young man.
She says ā, hallaʾ tzakkarto! "Oh, now I remember him!"
Summary
- You can put "me, you, him, her, us, them" on a verb: shāfni, shāfik, shufto, shuftha.
- You can make the long vowel after a vowel-final verb: shāfū, btiʿrafī?
- You can use the endings on a preposition: dawwar ʿalayy, sallmi ʿala Nūr.
- You can tell who saw, asked or remembered whom at a party.