Page 275 - The Rough Guide Phrasebook - Egyptian Arabic

imperfect
perfect
perfect
aamal
aamalt
third person sing, first person sing, first person sing, make; do HOW
aamil
hat ahot hatayt put
‘āl a’ool olt say; tell THE
shāf ashoof shoft see
nām anām nimt sleep
itkallim atkallim kallimt speak
khad ākhod khat take LANGUAGE
fakkar afakkar fakkart think
fehim afham fehimt understand*
mishee imshee mishayt walk; go away
aāz aayiz aozt want*
ishtaghal ashtaghal ishtaghalt work
* see pages 276-278 WORKS
Tenses
There are only two true tenses of the verb in Arabic: the
imperfect (indicates incomplete action in the present or the
future) and the perfect (indicates completed action in the ■ Ve r b s
past). Whether the present or future is meant, is indicated by
the different prefixes added to the imperfect verb form.
Imperfect Tense
The imperfect tense is used to make general statements and
is formed by adding prefixes and suffixes to the verb stem.
To obtain the verb stem, remove the initial a- from the first
person singular imperfect form in the table above:
ashrab (I drink) gives the stem -shrab
The basic conjugation is obtained by adding the following
prefixes and suffixes to the stem.

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