B1Unit 8 · Work, studies and stories · Lesson 79 of 100
Things that break: verb pairs
kasart il-kāse · il-kāse nkasarat · il-kahraba nʾaṭaʿat · kharbān
Goal: Say that something broke, stopped working or was fixed, and tell "I broke it" from "it broke".
Dialogue
On Monday morning the power is off at the language school, and everything seems to break at once. You will learn verb pairs such as kasar "to break (something)" and inkasar "to break (by itself)", and how to say that a thing is broken, works again, or is switched on and off.
Monday morning at the language school. The lights are off and the computers are dark. Sam is in the small kitchen.
- Linaṣabāḥ il-khēr, Sām! lēsh ma fīsh ḍaww?Good morning, Sam! Why are there no lights?
- Samil-kahraba nʾaṭaʿat min sāʿa, w ṭabʿan ma fīsh intarnet.The power went off an hour ago, and of course there's no internet.
- Linaw lēsh inte fil-maṭbakh?And why are you in the kitchen?
- Samḥāwalt aʿmal shāy, bass ma kānsh fī ḍaww, w kasart kāstik il-ḥamra. āsef!I tried to make tea, but there was no light, and I broke your red glass. Sorry!
- Linail-kāse nkasarat? maʿlēsh, kāse ʾadīme. bass dīr bālak ʿala īdak!The glass broke? Never mind, it's an old glass. But mind your hand!
- Samw kamān il-ḥanafiyye kharbāne, w sayyārti ʿaṭṭalat ʿalayy iṣ-ṣubḥ!And the faucet is broken too, and my car broke down on me this morning!
- Linaya ḥarām! kull ishi khirib il-yōm!Oh dear! Everything has broken down today!
- Manṣabāḥ il-khēr! ana l-kahrabji. wēn il-mushkile?(The electrician arrives.) Good morning! I'm the electrician. Where's the problem?
- Linail-kahraba nʾaṭaʿat fi kull il-madrase.The power is off in the whole school.
- Mankhalaṣ, ṣallaḥtha. iḍwi l-lamba, law samaḥt.(A few minutes later.) There, I've fixed it. Turn on the light, please.
- Samẓabaṭ! fī ḍaww!It worked! There's light!
- Linayislam īdēk! w il-ḥanafiyye? mumkin tṣalleḥha kamān?Thank you so much! And the faucet? Can you fix it too?
- Manlaʾ, ya ustāze, hāda mish shughli. ana kahrabji bass!No, ma'am, that's not my job. I'm only an electrician!
- Samṭayyib, ana baṣalleḥha!OK, I'll fix it!
- Linalaʾ, laʾ, ya Sām! baʿd il-kāse, khallīni aḥill il-mushkile ana!No, no, Sam! After the glass, let me solve this problem myself!
- Manw iṭfu l-lambāt lamma tiṭlaʿu!And turn off the lights when you leave!
New words
| Palestinian Arabic | English |
|---|---|
| kasar | to break (something)kasar / yiksir; b-present baksir; kasart = I broke |
| inkasar | to break, get broken (by itself)mostly in the perfect: inkasar (m), inkasarat (f); īdo nkasarat = he broke his arm |
| inʾaṭaʿ | to be cut off (electricity, water, the line)inʾaṭaʿ / yinʾaṭeʿ; b-present (it) binʾaṭeʿ |
| tghayyar | to change, be changedtghayyar / yitghayyar; b-present (it) bitghayyar |
| kharbān | broken, out of order; gone badfeminine kharbāne, plural kharbānīn |
| khirib | to break down; to go badkhirib / yikhrab; b-present (it) bikhrab |
| ʿaṭṭal | to stop working, break downʿaṭṭal / yʿaṭṭel; b-present (it) biʿaṭṭel |
| kahraba | electricityfeminine |
| kahrabji | electrician |
| ṣallaḥ | to fix, repair; to correctṣallaḥ / yṣalleḥ; b-present baṣalleḥ |
| ẓabaṭ | to work, function; to work outẓabaṭ / yuẓboṭ; b-present (it) buẓboṭ; ma ẓabaṭsh = it didn't work |
| ṭafa | to turn off (a light, a device); to put outṭafa / yiṭfi; b-present baṭfi; iṭfi! = turn it off! |
| ḍawa | to turn on (a light); to shineḍawa / yiḍwi; b-present baḍwi; iḍwi! = turn it on! |
| ḥall | to solveḥall / yḥill; b-present baḥill; ḥallēt = I solved |
| ḍaww | light |
| ḥanafiyye | faucetplural ḥanafiyyāt |
Grammar
1. "I broke it" or "it broke"
Many verbs come in pairs. The first says who does something to a thing: "I broke the glass". The second says what happens to the thing, with nobody named: "the glass broke". The second verb often starts with in- or t-. Like ishtaghal (lesson 72), inkasar and inʾaṭaʿ drop their first i after a vowel: il-kāse nkasarat, il-kahraba nʾaṭaʿat.
| someone does it | it happens to the thing |
|---|---|
| kasar to break (something) | inkasar to break, get broken |
| ʾaṭaʿ to cut (off) | inʾaṭaʿ to be cut off |
| ghayyar to change (something) | tghayyar to change |
| ʿallam to teach | tʿallam to learn |
The second verb agrees with the thing: il-finjān inkasar (m), il-kāse nkasarat (f). kahraba "electricity" is feminine.
2. It doesn't work
kharbān is an adjective: "broken, out of order". khirib says that something broke down or went bad; ʿaṭṭal is used for cars and machines that stop working. ẓabaṭ means "it worked".
3. On, off, fix, solve
ḍawa turns a light on, ṭafa turns it off. Like iḥki, their imperatives are the same to a man and to a woman: iḍwi, iṭfi; to several people iḍwu, iṭfu. ṣallaḥ fixes a thing; ḥall solves a problem.
Practice
1Choose the right sentence
"The glass broke."
kasar needs someone who breaks the thing; for the thing alone, use inkasar.
"Sam broke the cup."
You want Sam to turn off the light. You say:
Your car stopped working this morning. You say:
2Complete the sentence
il-ḥanafiyye ___. = The faucet is broken.
ḥanafiyye is feminine: kharbāne.
il-kahrabji ___ il-kahraba. = The electrician fixed the electricity.
ḥāwalt, bass ma ___. = I tried, but it didn't work.
il-finjān ___. = The cup broke.
finjān is masculine, and the sentence names nobody who broke it: inkasar.
lāzim ___ il-mushkile. = We have to solve the problem.
After lāzim the verb is in the present without b-.
Rana ___ il-kāse. = Rana broke the glass.
3Match the Arabic and the English
kahraba
kahrabji
ḍaww
ḥanafiyye
ṭafa
ḍawa
4Put the words in order
The power went off an hour ago.
I tried, but it didn't work.
5Say it in Palestinian Arabic, then check
Turn on the light, please! (to a man)
iḍwi l-lamba, law samaḥt!
The weather has changed.
il-jaww tghayyar.
6True or false?
Sam broke Lina's glass.
The electrician fixed the faucet.
He says ana kahrabji bass: he only does the electricity.
Sam's car broke down this morning.
Summary
- You can tell "I broke it" from "it broke": kasart il-kāse, il-kāse nkasarat.
- You can use other pairs: ʾaṭaʿ / inʾaṭaʿ, ghayyar / tghayyar, ʿallam / tʿallam.
- You can say that something does not work: kharbān, khirib, ʿaṭṭalat, ma ẓabaṭsh.
- You can turn lights on and off and talk about repairs: iḍwi, iṭfi, ṣallaḥ, ḥall il-mushkile.