Lesson 89 · فَإِذَا
And suddenly: فَإِذَا
إِذَا usually means “if” or “when” (lesson 56). With فَـ before a noun it means “and suddenly” or “and there was…”: فَتَحْتُ الْبَابَ فَإِذَا صَدِيقِي (I opened the door, and there was my friend!). Stories use it for a surprise.
Learn with pictures
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Examples
فَتَحْتُ الْبَابَ فَإِذَا صَدِيقِيfataḥtu l-baaba fa-idhaa ṣadiiqiiI opened the door, and there was my friend!
خَرَجْتُ فَإِذَا الْمَطَرُ يَنْزِلُkharajtu fa-idha l-maṭaru yanziluI went out, and suddenly it was raining.
نَظَرْتُ فَإِذَا الطَّائِرَةُ فَوْقَنَاnaẓartu fa-idha ṭ-ṭaa’iratu fawqanaaI looked, and there was the plane above us.
اِسْتَيْقَظْتُ فَإِذَا الشَّمْسُ طَالِعَةٌistayqaẓtu fa-idha sh-shamsu ṭaaliʿatunI woke up, and the sun was already up.
فَإِذَا بِالْقِطِّ تَحْتَ السَّرِيرِfa-idhaa bil-qiṭṭi taḥta s-sariiriAnd there was the cat, under the bed!
فَأَلْقَاهَا فَإِذَا هِيَ حَيَّةٌ تَسْعَىfa-alqaahaa fa-idhaa hiya ḥayyatun tasʿaaSo he threw it down, and suddenly it was a snake, moving. (20:20)
Key points
- A noun with -u follows, often with a describing word or a verb: خَرَجْتُ فَإِذَا الْمَطَرُ يَنْزِلُ (I went out, and suddenly it was raining) · اِسْتَيْقَظْتُ فَإِذَا الشَّمْسُ طَالِعَةٌ (I woke up, and the sun was already up).
- You may put بِـ on the noun, which then ends in -i: فَإِذَا بِالْقِطِّ تَحْتَ السَّرِيرِ (and there was the cat, under the bed!).
- The Quran uses it in the story of Musa: فَأَلْقَاهَا فَإِذَا هِيَ حَيَّةٌ تَسْعَى (so he threw it down, and suddenly it was a snake, moving, 20:20). The إِذَا that means “when” is followed by a verb instead.
Practice
Tap a question to see the answer.
Say “I went in, and there was the teacher!”
دَخَلْتُ فَإِذَا الْمُدَرِّسُ dakhaltu fa-idha l-mudarrisu
Say “I opened the bag, and the pen was broken.” Broken: مَكْسُورٌ.
فَتَحْتُ الْحَقِيبَةَ فَإِذَا الْقَلَمُ مَكْسُورٌ fataḥtu l-ḥaqiibata fa-idha l-qalamu maksuurun
Say “I looked, and there was the moon!”
نَظَرْتُ فَإِذَا الْقَمَرُ naẓartu fa-idha l-qamaru
