Lesson 17 · اِجْلِسْ
Telling someone what to do
To give an instruction, start from the present tense and drop the first letter: تَجْلِسُ (you sit) becomes اِجْلِسْ (ijlis, sit down!). If the word would then begin with two consonants, add ا at the front, said “i” or “u”: اُكْتُبْ (uktub, write!). The last vowel disappears.
Learn with pictures
Tap a picture to hear the sentence.
Examples
اِجْلِسْ مِنْ فَضْلِكَijlis min faḍlikaSit down, please. (to a man)
اُكْتُبِ اسْمَكَ هُنَاuktubi smaka hunaaWrite your name here. (to a man)
اِفْتَحِ الْبَابَiftaḥi l-baabaOpen the door.
اِسْمَعْ يَا أَحْمَدُismaʿ yaa aḥmaduListen, Ahmad.
اِجْلِسِي يَا فَاطِمَةُijlisii yaa faaṭimatuSit down, Fatima.
اُدْخُلُواudkhuluuCome in. (to a group)
لَا تَذْهَبْlaa tadh-habDon’t go. (to a man)
لَا تَقْلَقْlaa taqlaqDon’t worry. (to a man)
Key points
- If the present tense has u in the middle, the command starts with u: يَكْتُبُ → اُكْتُبْ. Otherwise it starts with i: يَجْلِسُ → اِجْلِسْ, يَفْتَحُ → اِفْتَحْ.
- To a woman add ـِي (-ii): اِجْلِسِي (sit down), اُكْتُبِي (write). To a group add ـُوا (-uu): اِجْلِسُوا.
- To say “don’t”, use لَا with the present tense and drop the last vowel: لَا تَذْهَبْ (don’t go), لَا تَتَكَلَّمْ (don’t talk).
Practice
Tap a question to see the answer.
Tell a man “Open the book.”
اِفْتَحِ الْكِتَابَ iftaḥi l-kitaaba
Tell a woman “Write.”
اُكْتُبِي uktubii
Tell a man “Don’t sit here.”
لَا تَجْلِسْ هُنَا laa tajlis hunaa