Grammar · Roots & Verbs · 8 min
Commands: The Imperative
Write! Listen! Sit down! — Arabic cuts its commands from the present exactly as Hebrew cuts them from the future
Open your books. Listen. Write in your notebooks. Don't talk. Every Arabic lesson runs on commands, and you will hear these long before you say them. The good news: Arabic makes its imperative with the same surgery Hebrew uses, on the same verb form, with the same endings.
Three steps
1. Start from the "you" form of the present: تَكْتُب (taktub), "you write". 2. Remove the prefix ta-: ktub. 3. If two consonants now stand at the front, add a helping vowel: u- when the stem vowel is u (uktub, udrus, unẓur), i- otherwise (ijlis, ismaʿ, iftaḥ, iqraʾ, ifham). In writing, the helping vowel sits on a plain alif, اُ or اِ. It is only there to get the word started, so it drops in connected speech: wa-ktub, "and write".
| Present (you) | Latin | Command | Latin | English | Hebrew |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| تَكْتُب | taktub | اُكْتُب | uktub | write! | כְּתֹב |
| تَدْرُس | tadrus | اُدْرُس | udrus | study! | לְמַד |
| تَنْظُر | tanẓur | اُنْظُر | unẓur | look! | הִסְתַּכֵּל |
| تَجْلِس | tajlis | اِجْلِس | ijlis | sit! | שֵׁב |
| تَسْمَع | tasmaʿ | اِسْمَع | ismaʿ | listen! | שְׁמַע |
| تَقْرَأ | taqraʾ | اِقْرَأ | iqraʾ | read! | קְרָא |
| تَفْتَح | taftaḥ | اِفْتَح | iftaḥ | open! | פְּתַח |
To a boy, a girl, a class
The command takes the same endings as the present, minus the final -na: -ī for a girl (taktubīna → uktubī), -ū for a group (taktubūna → uktubū, ifham → ifhamū), and -na for a group of girls only. The plural -ū is spelled وا, with a silent alif that is just a spelling convention. Now compare Hebrew: כִּתְבִי, כִּתְבוּ. The same -i for a girl, the same -u for a group.
| Speaking to | write! | Latin | sit! | Latin | Hebrew |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a boy | اُكْتُب | uktub | اِجْلِس | ijlis | כְּתֹב · שֵׁב |
| a girl | اُكْتُبِي | uktubī | اِجْلِسِي | ijlisī | כִּתְבִי · שְׁבִי |
| a group | اُكْتُبُوا | uktubū | اِجْلِسُوا | ijlisū | כִּתְבוּ · שְׁבוּ |
| girls only | اُكْتُبْنَ | uktubna | اِجْلِسْنَ | ijlisna | כְּתֹבְנָה · שֵׁבְנָה |
Two more shapes are worth knowing. Verbs whose present stem already starts with a consonant and a vowel need no helping vowel at all: تُكَرِّر (tukarrir, you repeat) → كَرِّر (karrir, repeat!), تَتَكَلَّم (tatakallam) → تَكَلَّم (takallam, speak!), just as Hebrew תְּדַבֵּר → דַּבֵּר. And hollow verbs, with a middle و or ي, keep a short stem: قُم (qum, stand up!), the very Hebrew קוּם — and like Hebrew קוּמִי, the feminine is قُومِي (qūmī).
Commands you will hear in class
- اِفْتَحُوا الْكُتُبאפתחו אל-כתבiftaḥū l-kutub
Open your books.
פִּתְחוּ אֶת הַסְּפָרִים پِتْخُو إِت هَاسْفَارِيمpitkhu et hasfarim
Root ف-ت-ح is פ-ת-ח, and even the plural -u matches פִּתְחוּ.
- اِسْمَعُوا جَيِّدًاאסמעו ג'ידןismaʿū jayyidan
Listen carefully.
שִׁמְעוּ טוֹב شِيمُو تُوڤshimu tov
ismaʿū and שִׁמְעוּ are the same word, root and ending.
- اُكْتُبُوا فِي الدَّفْتَرאכתבו פי א-דפתרuktubū fī d-daftar
Write in your notebooks.
כִּתְבוּ בַּמַּחְבֶּרֶת كِتْڤُو بَامَاخْبِرِتkitvu bamakhberet
دَفْتَر (notebook) is an old loanword, ultimately from Greek diphthera, "parchment".
- اِقْرَأ الْجُمْلَةאקרא אל-ג'מלהiqraʾ al-jumla
Read the sentence.
קְרָא אֶת הַמִּשְׁפָּט كْرَا إِت هَامِشْپَاتkra et hamishpat
Root ق-ر-أ is Hebrew ק-ר-א.
- اُنْظُرُوا إِلَى اللَّوْحאנט'רו אלא אל-לוחunẓurū ilā l-lawḥ
Look at the board.
הִסְתַּכְּלוּ עַל הַלּוּחַ هِسْتَاكْلُو أَل هَالُوَاخhistaklu al haluakh
لَوْح is Hebrew לוּחַ, the word for the tablets of the Ten Commandments as well as the classroom board.
- اِجْلِسُوا مِن فَضْلِكُمאג'לסו מן פצ'לכםijlisū min faḍlikum
Sit down, please.
שְׁבוּ בְּבַקָּשָׁה شْڤُو بِڤَاكَاشَاshvu bevakasha
- قُومِيקומיqūmī
Stand up! (to a girl)
קוּמִי كُومِيkumi
Root ق-و-م is ק-ו-ם: qum, qūmī, qūmū line up with קוּם, קוּמִי, קוּמוּ.
- كَرِّر بَعْدِيכרר בעדיkarrir baʿdī
Repeat after me.
חֲזֹר אַחֲרַי خَازُور أَخَارَايkhazor akharai
No helping vowel: the stem karrir already starts with a consonant and a vowel.
- تَكَلَّم بِالْعَرَبِيَّةתכלם באל-ערביהtakallam bi-l-ʿarabiyya
Speak in Arabic.
דַּבֵּר עֲרָבִית دَابِر أَرَاڤِيتdaber aravit
tatakallam → takallam, like תְּדַבֵּר → דַּבֵּר.
"Don't": lā + the present
The command form itself can never be negated. For "don't", Arabic goes back to the present and puts لَا (lā) in front: لَا تَكْتُب (lā taktub), "don't write". The present here is the short form, which drops the -na: taktubīna → lā taktubī, taktubūna → lā taktubū. In other words, take the command, put the ta- back, and add lā.
Don't…
- لَا تَكْتُب هُنَاלא תכתב הנאlā taktub hunā
Don't write here.
אַל תִּכְתֹּב כָּאן أَل تِخْتُوڤ كَانal tikhtov kan
- لَا تَتَكَلَّمُواלא תתכלמוlā tatakallamū
Don't talk. (to the class)
אַל תְּדַבְּרוּ أَل تِدَابْرُوal tedabru
The plural ū keeps its silent alif here too: تَتَكَلَّمُوا.
- لَا تَفْتَحُوا الْكُتُبלא תפתחו אל-כתבlā taftaḥū l-kutub
Don't open the books (yet).
אַל תִּפְתְּחוּ אֶת הַסְּפָרִים أَل تِفْتِخُو إِت هَاسْفَارِيمal tiftekhu et hasfarim
Compare iftaḥū l-kutub above: the ta- comes back, lā goes in front.
- لَا تَخَافِيלא תח'אפיlā takhāfī
Don't be afraid. (to a girl)
אַל תִּפְחֲדִי أَل تِفْخَادِيal tifkhadi
The feminine -ī, as in אַל תִּפְחֲדִי.
Saying please
To soften a command, add مِن فَضْلِكَ (min faḍlika, to a boy), مِن فَضْلِكِ (min faḍliki, to a girl) or مِن فَضْلِكُم (min faḍlikum, to a group): literally "out of your kindness". The same root gives تَفَضَّل (tafaḍḍal), which is itself a command — "please, go ahead", "come in", "help yourself" — said when offering a seat, a door or a plate. In speech, min faḍlak is common everywhere; Levantine and Egyptian speakers also say law samaḥt ("if you allow"), and Moroccans say ʿafak.