Sahida sabil

"Make the most of yourself....for that is all there is of you." --Ralph Waldo Emerson
We've all made mistakes throughout our lives that haven't exactly put us in the best
light--like bullying someone in school or telling what seemed like a little white lie.
Chances are, however, you probably felt a little guilt and grew because of the situation.
I'm an average guy trying to become better in both my work and home life. I'll never be
perfect, but it doesn't mean I won't try.
If you want to continue to grow as a person, here are 15 ways to make the most of
yourself.
1. Compliment Yourself
Every morning before you go on with your daily routine, take a couple of minutes to
give yourself a compliment. Whether you compliment your outfit, haircut, or how you
recently completed a task using your unique skill sets, giving yourself a little emotional
boost will make you happy. And, when you're happy with yourself, that emotion can be
contagious to those around you. Inspirational speaker Tony Robbins has a mantra he
says aloud to himself most days to put him in a peak performance state.
2. Don't Make Excuses
Blaming your spouse, boss, or clients is fruitless and won't get you very far. Instead of
pointing fingers and making excuses about why you aren't happy or successful in your
personal or professional life, own your mistakes and learn from them. When you do this,
you will become a better person. When I personally started living up to my mistakes and
downfalls, my life turned itself around. I became happier and healthier, and my
relationship with my wife improved. We are happier than ever.
3. Let Go of Anger
Letting go of anger is easier said than done. While anger is a perfectly normal emotion,
you can't let it fester. When this happens, you may make unwise decisions, and more
important, it may affect your health. Research suggests pent up anger can cause
digestive problems, difficulty sleeping, and even heart disease.
To help you let go of anger, Roya R. Rad, MA, PsyD, suggests you write your feelings
down, pray or meditate, or begin to manage your thoughts.
4. Practice Forgiveness
Joyce Marter, LCPC, suggests you forgive and let go of resentment. She notes, "If for no
other reason than for yourself, forgive to untether yourself from the negative experiences
of the past. Take time to meditate, and give thanks for the wisdom and knowledge
gained from your suffering. Practice the mantra, 'I forgive you and I release you.'"
5. Be Honest and Direct
How would you feel if a loved one or business partner lied to you? Chances are you
would see that as a violation of your trust. If you want to be a better person in either
your personal or professional life, you should always tell the truth and state as clearly as
possible what you are trying to convey. Learn to articulate your thoughts, feelings, and
ideas in an open and honest manner.
6. Be Helpful
Whether giving up your seat to an elderly person on the subway, assisting a co-worker
on a project, or carrying in the groceries when your spouse comes back from the store,
being helpful is one of the easiest and most effective ways to practice becoming a better
person. I find that the more I help others, the better I feel about myself and everyone
around me.
7. Listen to Others
As Jeet Banerjee notes on Lifehack, "listening to people and giving everyone a voice is
one of the greatest things you can do." He adds that he "got to meet some of the most
amazing people, close some of the biggest deals, and develop connections that will last
me a lifetime all because I took time to listen to people. Being a good listener can
change your life in a positive manner."
8. Act Locally
It may not seem like a big deal, but supporting a local cause, donating clothes, or buying
from local farmers' markets or businesses are simple ways you can help your specific
region. You may not be able to save the world, but you very well could make a
difference in your neck of the woods. Get to know and care about your community.
9. Always Be Polite
How much effort does it take to say, "Thank you," or to hold the elevator door open for
someone? Not much at all. However, these acts of kindness can make someone's day. I
decided a few years ago that it doesn't matter if someone is ultra rude, condescending, or
worse. The way someone else behaves is not going to determine my behavior.
10. Be Yourself
Tiffany Mason has five excellent reasons on Lifehack why you should be
yourself. These include being able to align yourself with your values and beliefs,
establish your identity, build courage, create boundaries, and find focus and direction.
11. Be Open to Change
Whether trying a new restaurant, traveling to an unknown part of the world, or doing
something that has always scared you, you should always be open to change. This
allows you to grow because you experience something new. It helps you be high
functioning and self-confident if you are not wary of change.
12. Be Respectful
How would you feel if you had just cleaned your home and someone came in and
tracked mud everywhere? You'd probably be a little ticked that they hadn't taken off
their shoes. Take this mentality and apply it to everyday life. For example, don't toss
your trash or cigarette butts on the floor of public restrooms or sidewalks just because
someone else will clean it up. Be respectful of others' time, thoughts, ideas, lifestyles,
feelings, work, and everything else. You don't have to agree with any of it, but people
have a right to their opinions and yours is not necessarily correct.

13. Don't Show Up Empty-handed

Going to a party this weekend at your friend's apartment? Make sure you don't arrive
empty-handed. Even if you've been assured that there will be plenty of food and drink,
bring along a little something to show you appreciate being invited.
14. Educate Yourself
If you don't understand why one country is invading another, take the time to educate
yourself on the current event. Ask a person intimately connected with the event for his
or her thoughts. Remember, we're all interconnected, and being aware of different
cultures, different people, and what their lives are like can make you a more well-
rounded individual. This will also help you understand points of view different from
your own.
15. Surprise People
How good does it feel to make someone smile? It feels pretty good, right? Surprise your
loved ones or co-workers now and then, with a gift, a night out on the town, or by
offering help when you know they could use it.
 Becoming a better person doesn't happen overnight, but it is possible. Believe in
yourself and know that it is possible!
8 Memorization Tips to Make Arabic Vocabulary Stick
1. Flash Cards. Everyone is familiar with flash cards. ...
2. Hear & Associate. Memorization works best when the word being memorizedis associated with
something your mind already recognizes. ...
3. 3. Make Your Own Phrases and Sentences. ...
4. Read, Read, Read! ...
5. Use Onomatopoeia to Remember. ...
6. Use Cognates. ...
7. Straight Repetition. ...
8. Review Often.

Summary of methods for learning Arabic vocabulary

Exposure. Read and listen to as much Arabic as possible to increase your passive vocabulary

Memorize words using multiple lists of the same words but written in different orders, and spend

a different amount of time on each one

Use the words you learn in active interactions, whether speaking or writing

Group words into meaningful groups when memorizing, such as by consonantal root*, or word

type (adjective, noun, etc.), synonyms, antonyms, etc.

Write vocabulary items on cards and place them around your house where you will see them

often

A new word is better remembered in the context of a

short phrase or simple sentence.

But memorising is easy for some, so they can do that too.

Here are some more tips:

1) Say the new word aloud.

2) Repeat the new word in a natural, relaxed way.

3) Listen to it being spoken in a short phrase or sentence.

4) If you have recording equipment, record your voice and

listen to the new word in the simple sentence.

(For those not at the pre-Madinah Books stage, the audio

files at LQToronto's main web-site are very helpful as
they contain the conversations in the Madinah Books which
are read aloud and explained.)

5) Write the word and the sentence containing it.

6) Keep a notebook assigned just for new words and / or

short sentences.

7) Read and continue to read Arabic.

Shaykh Abdur Rahim will continously recommend the last

point to students of Arabic as it greatly helps to revise
and increase one's vocabulary since all new words we have
learnt, will be encountered in more and more contexts.

Also, reading what is relevant to us and is from real-life,

helps develops the ability to construct sentences in a more
natural way.

wa bi llaahi l-tawfiiqu.
 Listen Up! How to Improve Your Arabic Listening Skills
1. Improve your vocabulary. It sounds simple because it is simple. ...
2. Patience will take you a long way. Be patient with yourself and your level of uncertainty. ...
3. Guess, guess and guess again. ...
4. Ask for help. ...
5. Surf the web. ...
6. Find listening resources with exercises. ...
7. Chill out.

Arabic learning resources

 home
 vocabulary
 grammar
 faq
 about
 links

Introduction to the Arabic sentence

 Types of sentences
 Subject and predicate
 Negation

Types of sentences
In traditional Arabic grammar, there are two basic types of sentence, based on what the

sentence's first word is.

1. ‫( الجملة االسمية‬al-jumla l-ismiyya) - the nominal sentence, where the sentence's

first word is a noun.

.The boy is Egyptian - )al-walad miSri( .‫الولد مصري‬

2. ‫( الجملة الفعلية‬al-jumla l-fi3liyya) - the verbal sentence, where the sentence's first

word is a verb.
.The boy was born in Egypt - )wulida l-walad fi miSr( .‫ولد الولد في مصر‬

Those categories are different from the ones used in many Arabic classes in the West, where

sentences are classified simply according to whether or not they include a verb — regardless

of where the verb is in the sentence.

1. Equational sentence - a sentence without a verb.

.The boy is Egyptian - )al-walad miSri( .‫الولد مصري‬

Although this sentence contains a verb in English, it doesn't in Arabic. Remember
that since Arabic doesn't use a present-tense form of "to be," this is a verbless
sentence consisting only of a noun and adjective. It literally translates as "The boy
.Egyptian"; the "is" is understood
 .There are three people in my family - )fi usrati talaatat afraad( .‫في أسرتي ثالثة أفراد‬
Again, the English translation contains a verb ("are"), but the original Arabic doesn't.
It literally translates as "In my family three individuals." Since there's no present-
.tense form of "to be," "In my family [are] three individuals" is implied

2. Verbal sentence - a sentence with a verb.

.The boy was born in Egypt - )wulida l-walad fi miSr( .‫ولد الولد في مصر‬

Subject and predicate

Now let's look at the parts of these sentences.

 The subject ( ‫المبتداء‬ al-mubtada') is what the sentence is talking about.

It could be a noun (the boy; Cairo; Ahmed), pronoun (I; he; they), or noun phrase (the

math teacher; a long book).

 The predicate ( ‫الخبر‬ al-xabar) tells us something about the subject.

The Arabic ‫خبر‬ means a piece of news, so you can think of the predicate as

delivering news about the subject. It may be an adjective (happy), verb (woke up), or

noun (student).

Here are some simple examples. The subject is in bold, and the predicate is underlined.

)al-walad miSri( .‫الولد مصري‬

The boy is Egyptian. - The subject is a noun, and the predicate is an adjective.

)bint 3ammi mudarrisa( .‫بنت عمي مدرسة‬

My cousin is a teacher. - The subject is a noun phrase (a genitive construction), and the
predicate is a noun.

)howwa Tawiil( .‫هو طويل‬

He is tall. - The subject is a pronoun, and the predicate is an adjective.

)xarajat Manaal mubakkiran( .‫خرجت منال مبكرا‬

Manal went out early. - The subject is a (proper) noun, and the predicate is a verb paired with
an adverb.
Note: In sentences with a verb, standard Arabic usually follows a Verb-Subject-Object order,

though sometimes it uses a Subject-Verb-Object order. The Egyptian dialect pretty much

always follows a Subject-Verb-Object order.

Manal went out early.

‫( خرجت منال مبكرا‬xarajat Manaal mubakkiran) ‫( منال خرجت بدري‬Manaal xargit badri)

The boy ate an apple.

‫( أكل الولد تفاحة‬akala l-waladu tuffaaHatan) ‫( الولد كل تفاحة‬il-walad kal tuffaaHa)

Negation

Now, how do we negate these sentences? Negating a sentence with a verb is simple; you just

negate the verb. (To learn how to negate a verb in Egyptian Arabic, go here .)

Negating a sentence without a verb, however, requires a different — but still quite simple —
 approach. In standard Arabic, you simply insert ‫ليس‬ (laysa), conjugated to match the

noun. Here are the conjugations of ‫ليس‬ :

‫( ليس‬to not be)

English Standard Arabic
I am not )lastu( ‫لست‬
you (masc.) are not )lasta( ‫لست‬
Singular you (fem.) are not )lasti( ‫لست‬
he is not )laysa( ‫ليس‬
she is not )laysat( ‫ليست‬
we are not )lasna( ‫لسنا‬
you are not )lastuma( ‫لستما‬
Dual
they (masc.) are not )laysaa( ‫ليسا‬
they (fem.) are not )laysataa( ‫ليستا‬
we are not )lasna( ‫لسنا‬
you (masc.) are not )lastum( ‫لستم‬
Plural you (fem.) are not )lastunna( ‫لستن‬
they (masc.) are not )laysuu( ‫ليسوا‬
they (fem.) are not )lasna( ‫لسن‬

Here are examples of negated verbless sentences in standard Arabic:

‫( أنا لبنانية‬ana lubnaaniyya) ‫( أنا لست لبنانية‬ana lastu lubnaaniyya)

I am Lebanese. I am not Lebanese.

‫( بنت عمي مدرسة‬bint 3ammi mudarrisa) ‫( بنت عمي ليست مدرسة‬bint 3ammi laysat mudarrisa)
My cousin is a teacher. My cousin is not a teacher.

‫( هو طويل‬howwa Tawiil) ‫( هو ليس طويل‬howwa laysa Tawiil)

He is tall. He is not tall.

‫( من الالزم أن تصحو مبكرا‬min al-laazim an ‫( ليس من الالزم أن تصحو مبكرا‬laysa min al-laazim an
taSHu mubakkiran) taSHu mubakkiran)
 You need to wake up early. You don't need to wake up early.

‫( هناك خيار آخر‬honaaka xiyaar aaxar) ‫( ليس هناك خيار آخر‬laysa honaaka xiyaar aaxar)
There is another choice. There is no other choice.

‫( لديها خبرة في هذا المجال‬ladayha xibra fi haada ‫( ليس لديها خبرة في هذا المجال‬laysa ladayha xibra fi
l-majaal) haada l-majaal)
She has experience in this field. She doesn't have experience in this field.

To negate verbless sentences in Egyptian Arabic, you insert ‫مش‬ (miš) between the

subject and predicate.

‫( أنا لبنانية‬ana libnaniyya) ‫( أنا مش لبنانية‬ana miš libnaniyya)

I am Lebanese. I am not Lebanese.

‫( بنت عمي مدرسة‬bint 3ammi mudarrisa) ‫( بنت عمي مش مدرسة‬bint 3ammi miš mudarrisa)
My cousin is a teacher. My cousin is not a teacher.

‫( هو طويل‬howwa Tawiil) ‫( هو مش طويل‬howwa miš Tawiil)

He is tall. He is not tall.

‫( الزم تصحى بدري‬laazim tiSHa badri) ‫( مش الزم تصحى بدري‬miš laazim tiSHa badri)
You need to wake up early. You don't need to wake up early.

‫( في خيار تاني‬fii xiyaar taani) ‫( مافيش خيار تاني‬mafiiš xiyaar taani)*

There is another choice. There is no other choice.

‫( عندها خبرة في المجال ده‬3andaha xibra fil- ‫( ماعندهاش خبرة في المجال ده‬ma3andahaaš xibra fil-
magaal da) magaal da)*
She has experience in this field. She doesn't have experience in this field.
* Note: In Egyptian Arabic, if a verbless sentence contains an inverted predicate

(that is, where the predicate comes before the subject instead of after) consisting of

either ‫في‬ , "there is," or a preposition and pronoun suffix, like ‫عندها‬ , then the

predicate is negated with the ‫ـش‬...‫ما‬ (ma...š) form.

Structurally, there three types of sentences in Arabic: the

basic ‫اااااااااااا‬ , the compound ‫ااااااااا‬ ,

and the clausal ‫اااااااااا‬ (i.e. a clause). The basic, which

can be either verbal ‫اااااااااا‬ or

nominal ‫اااااااااا‬ , has two parts. In the case of the verbal,

which is our focus here, the first part is the verb ‫ااااااا‬ and

the second is the subject ‫اااااااا‬ . Following are some

essentials that you should help you make communicative basic verbal

sentences.
The Verbal Sentence:
The verbal sentence always starts with a fully conjugable verb. The verb can be perfective (past),
imperfective (present), or imperative (command). Only particles, such as ‫ قَد‬qadd ‘maybe,
already’, ‫ َما‬maa ‘not’, ‫ ال‬laa ‘not’, ‫ ِلـ‬li- ‘why not, shall we’, among others, can precede the verb. Here are
some examples:
‫الولَد‬
َ ‫ َخ َر َج‬. kharaja al-waladu The boy went out.
‫سا ِلي‬ َ ْ‫قَ ّد َخ َر َجت‬. qadd kharajat Sally. Sally already went out.
‫!ا ْخرجوا‬ ukhrujuu! Go out!
‫س ْينَ َما‬ّ ِ ‫ ِلنَ ْذ َه ْب إِلَى ال‬. li-nadhhab ilaa assiinama. Let’s go to the cinema.

It is an action sentence (i.e. expresses an action). The action is represented by the verb, and this why it
should be put at the beginning. If a sentence begins with a noun, then the noun becomes the focus, and
the sentence becomes declarative (i.e. states a piece of news of some sort). To illustrate, let’s invert the
order of the first two examples above:
‫الولَد‬
َ ‫( َخ َر َج‬verbal) becomes ‫الولَد َخ َر َج‬ َ ْ‫( قَد َخ َر َجت‬verbal)
َ (declarative, nominal). Likewise, ‫سا ِلي‬
becomes ‫سا ِلي قَد َخ َرجَت‬
َ (nominal). Hence, the difference between the two is the focus, and subsequently,
the type. With respect to meaning, they are almost the same.
Parts of the Verbal Sentence:
For a verbal sentence to be meaningful, it should be composed of two essential parts: the verb ‫ال ِف ْعل‬and
the subject ‫الفَا ِعل‬. The verb by itself does not constitute a complete meaning. If you come across a
meaning sentence composed of one word, such as ‫ اكْت ْب‬uktub ‘write!’, it means that its subject is
implicit (i.e. it not overt, rather it is implied within the verb, known ‫ستَتِر‬
ْ ‫ م‬in Arabic).
The remaining parts of the sentence are called ‫ مك َِمالت‬complements. They can be an object ‫ َم ْفعول‬, a
ِ , an adverb ‫ َظ ْرف‬, among others. They complete the verb or the subject. See
prepositional phrase ‫شبْه ج ْملَة‬
the table at the top for illustrations.
The Type of Subject:
The subject of the verb can be ‫سم َظا ِهر‬
ْ ِ‫ ا‬ism DHahir ‘an overt noun’ (i.e. proper noun, common noun,
interrogative noun and so forth) ‫ ض َِميْر‬Damiir ‘a pronoun’. The pronoun can be ‫ مت َّ ِصل‬muttaSil ‘attached’
or ‫ستَتِر‬
ْ ‫ م‬mustatir ‘implicit’. The subject can also be ‫صدَر مؤ ََّول‬
ْ ‫ َم‬maSdar m’awwal ‘a noun clause’. For
now, we will focus on the first two. Here are some examples:
(a) overt noun subject:
َ ‫ َرقَ َد‬. raqada al-waladu ‘the boy slept.’
‫الولَد‬
‫تَ ْرقص ال ِب ْنت‬. tarquSu al-bint ‘the girl dances.’
‫الرجَال‬
ِ ‫يَجْ ِري‬. yajrii ar-rijaal ‘the men run.’
‫ساء‬
َ ِ‫ج ََرت الن‬. jarat an-nisaa’ ‘the women ran.’
(b) covert/implicit or attached pronoun subject:
‫ر َق َد‬.
َ raqada ‘he slept.’ [implicit subject]
‫نَ ْرقص‬. narquS ‘we dance.’ [implicit subject]
‫ج َِريْـنَا‬. jarajna ‘we ran.’ [attached subject]
َ‫يَجْ َريْـن‬. yajrajna ‘they (f) run.’ [attached subject]
The subject can also be singular, dual or plural. In terms of gender, it can be masculine or feminine, as
in:

‫ األَ ْو َالد‬/ ‫الو َلدَان‬ َ ‫ َرقَ َد‬. raqada al-waladu / al-waladaan / al-awlaad ‘the boy/two boys/boys slept.’
َ / ‫الولَد‬
Verb-subject Agreement:
As for the gender, the verb must agree with the subject. That is, if the subject is feminine in form, the
feminine marker, which is ْ‫ ت( ـت‬with sukoon) should be appended to the end of the perfective (past)
verb and ‫ ت( تَـ‬with fatHah) should be added to the beginning of the imperfective verb, as in these
examples:
 َ ْ‫سافَ َرت‬
‫سا ِلي‬ َ . saafarat Sally ‘Sally travelled.’
َ َ‫ َجل‬. jalasat al-bintan ‘the two girls sat.’
‫سـتْ البِ ْنتَان‬
َ ‫ َخ َرجَـتْ المد َِر‬. kharajat al-mudarrisaat ‘the teachers (f) went out.’
‫سات‬
‫تــ ْق ِفز ال َب َنات‬. taqfiz al-banat ‘the girls jump.’
As to number, if the subject an overt noun, the verb remains singular in form even if the subject is dual,
plural, or compound (more than one doer/actor). If the subject is attached or implicit pronoun, the
agreement is reflected on the verb through the respective pronominal suffixes, as illustrated above.

Tags: Arabic, basic, sentence

Basic Arabic Course - Lesson 2:

Arabic Grammar
This lesson is all about Arabic grammar. Don't be scared though - I'll explain everything in easy steps. Upon
completion of the lesson you will be able to form simple Arabic sentences. First, let me give you a quick outline of the
grammatical aspects of Arabic discussed here:

The verb "to be" is not necessary to form a simple sentence.

Arabic has two grammatical genders.

Arabic words are formed according to a root system.

Arabic verbs change according to the subject.

Let's go through these points in more detail.

The verb "to be" is not necessary to form a simple sentence.

In English, the verb "to be" is used to form simple sentences such as "The house is big". In Arabic, the verb "to be" is
usually dropped when describing something in the present tense. So, our example sentence would become "The house
big."
Let me show you some examples. Remember to start reading from the right:

‫كبير‬ ‫البيت‬
kabeer al-bayt
big the-house
The house is big.

‫ممتاز‬ ‫األكل‬
mumtaaz al-akl
excellent the-food
The food is excellent.

‫صغيرة‬ ‫البنت‬
Sagheera al-bint
small the-girl
The girl is small (young).
Note that when describing past occurences, the verb "to be" is necessary:

‫كبيرا‬ ‫البيت‬ ‫كان‬

kabeeran al-bayt kaana
big the-house was
The house was big.

The word "kaana" is the past tense of the verb "to be".

Arabic has two grammatical genders.

In Arabic a word can be either masculine or feminine - just like in French. Feminine words are usually easy to spot,

because most of them end in ‫( ـة ة‬taa' marbooTa). Below are some examples:
Word Feminine Singular Masculine Singular

student ‫طالبة‬ ‫طالب‬

Taaliba Taalib

friend ‫صديقة‬ ‫صديق‬

Sadeeqa Sadeeq

moslem ‫مسلمة‬ ‫مسلم‬

muslima muslim

ambassador ‫سفيرة‬ ‫سفير‬

safeera safeer

dog ‫كلبة‬ ‫كلب‬

kalba kalb

Arabic words are formed according to a root system.

Most Arabic words derive from a three or four letter root. This can best be explained using a concrete example.

The following words all derive from the same three root letters - ‫( كتب‬k t b):
to write ‫كتب‬
kataba

writer ‫كاتب‬
kaatib

written ‫مكتوب‬
maktoob

book ‫كتاب‬
kitaab

writing ‫كتابة‬
kitaaba

office ‫مكتب‬
maktab

bookstore / library ‫مكتبة‬

maktaba

dictation ‫استكتاب‬
istiktaab
Once you've figured out how this system works, you will be able to construct a lot of words from the same root,
saving you valuable time in memorizing voaculary. For now, simply try to recognize similarities between words and
see if you can spot the three (or four) root letters.

Arabic verbs change according to the subject.

Another similarity Arabic has to French is that verbs change according to their subject. In English, verbal
conjugations have been grately simplified over the last few centuries. All that remains now is the "s" added to verbs
for "he", "she", "it". E.g. "I run", but "he runs". So, let's take a look at the verb "to write":
You will notice that Arabic has more personal pronouns than English. Specifically, Arabic has something called a
"dual" that only applies to two persons. There is also a feminine and a masculine "they".

I write ‫أكتب‬ ‫أنا‬

aktub(u) ana

you (sgl.) write (masculine) ‫تكتب‬ ‫أنت‬

taktub(u) anta

you (sgl.) write (feminine) ‫تكتبين‬ ‫أنت‬

taktubeen(a) anti
he writes ‫يكتب‬ ‫هو‬
yaktub(u) huwa

she writes ‫تكتب‬ ‫هي‬

taktub(u) hiya

you two write ‫تكتبان‬ ‫أنتما‬

taktubaan(i) antuma

we write ‫نكتب‬ ‫نحن‬

naktub(u) naHnu

you (pl.) write (masculine) ‫تكتبون‬ ‫أنتم‬

taktuboon(a) antum

you (pl.) write (feminine) ‫تكتبن‬ ‫أنتن‬

taktubna antunna

they write (masculine) ‫يكتبون‬ ‫هم‬

yaktuboon(a) hum

they write (feminine) ‫يكتبن‬ ‫هن‬

yaktubna hunna
1. Note that in Arabic it is not necessary to use the personal pronouns in front of the verbs. This is because the
conjugated verb itself makes it clear who its subject is.
In the example below both sentences mean "I write a letter".

ana aktub(u) risaalatan

aktub(u) risaalatan

‫)رسالة‬.
"letter" is risaala (
2. Note that some endings (e.g. the "a" at the end of taktuboon(a) ) are usually omitted in normal speech.

Did you know?

The Arabic language has quite a few popular quotes that have influenced the
western world. One of the most popular Arabic quote is “ ‫( ”الكتاب يقرأ من عنوانه‬Al
kitabu yuqra’a min inwanihi) which means that a book can be judged by its title or
what you see is what you get. This is the opposite of the more popular saying
nowadays: “You can’t judge a book by its cover”.
A popular Arabic proverb is “‫( ”يد واحدة ال تصفـق‬Yadon waheeda la tusaffek) which
means that you need to cooperate to get things done. In direct translation it means
“You cannot clap with one hand”. Another popular proverb is “ ‫من عاشر القوم اربعين‬
‫ إما صار منهم أو رحل عنهم‬،‫( ”يوما‬Man a’asharal qawna arba’eena yawman, imma sara
minhum aw rahala a’anhum) which refers to the fact that it takes time to really
know people. In literal translation this Arabic phrase means “Stay among people
for 40 days and you will either become one of them or vanish”.