Lesson 50: The Hunter

Step 1 of 5: Learn

The sentences of this lesson keep using the possessive suffixes, كَلْبِهِ his dog, صَدِيقِهِ his friend, أَوْلَادِكَ your children, so keep lesson 48 open. The new material is a question word, a verb of greeting, a formula every Arabic speaker uses many times a day, and one more hollow verb to place beside قَالَ and بَاعَ.

Rule 1: 1. كَمْ with the accusative singular

كَمْ how many? how much? is followed by the thing counted in the accusative singular with tanwīn, even when the answer will be plural: كَمْ أَرْنَبًا؟ how many hares?, literally how many, as to hare? The sentence then continues normally. The answer uses the ordinary forms: أَرْنَبَيْنِ two hares, أَرَانِبَ كَثِيرَةً many hares.

كَمْ أَرْنَبًا صِدْتَ أَمْسِ؟
kam arnaban ṣidta amsi
How many hares did you hunt yesterday?
كَمْ مَرَّةً زُرْتَ الْغَابَةَ؟
kam marratan zurta-l-ghābata
How many times did you visit the forest?
مَرَّةً, the accusative you learnt in lesson 49.
كَمْ وَلَدًا لَكَ؟ لِي وَلَدَانِ.
kam waladan laka? lī waladāni
How many children do you have? I have two children.
The question has a singular, the answer a dual.
كَمْ كَلْبًا عِنْدَ الصَّيَّادِ؟
kam kalban ʿinda-ṣ-ṣayyādi
How many dogs does the hunter have?

Rule 2: 2. سَلَّمَ عَلَى, to greet

سَلَّمَ عَلَى means to greet, literally to say salām over someone, from the greeting اَلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ. It is a verb of the second form, with a shadda on the middle letter, and its imperfect is يُسَلِّمُ. The person greeted follows عَلَى, so with a pronoun you get سَلَّمَ عَلَيَّ he greeted me, سَلَّمْتُ عَلَيْهِ I greeted him.

مَرَّ الصَّيَّادُ بِالْفَلَّاحِ وَسَلَّمَ عَلَيْهِ.
marra-ṣ-ṣayyādu bi-l-fallāḥi wa-sallama ʿalayhi
The hunter passed by the farmer and greeted him.
سَلَّمْتُ عَلَى جَدِّي وَجَلَسْتُ عِنْدَهُ.
sallamtu ʿalā jaddī wa-jalastu ʿindahu
I greeted my grandfather and sat with him.
دَخَلَ الْأَوْلَادُ وَسَلَّمُوا عَلَى مُعَلِّمِهِمْ.
dakhala-l-awlādu wa-sallamū ʿalā muʿallimihim
The children came in and greeted their teacher.
هُوَ يُسَلِّمُ عَلَيَّ كُلَّ صَبَاحٍ.
huwa yusallimu ʿalayya kulla ṣabāḥin
He greets me every morning.

Rule 3: 3. إِنْ شَاءَ اللّٰهُ

إِنْ with sukūn means if and is followed by a verb in the perfect: إِنْ شَاءَ اللّٰهُ if God wills. Do not confuse it with إِنَّ indeed, which has a shadda and takes a noun in the accusative. The phrase is added to any statement about the future, and in speech it is often the whole answer to a request. The verb شَاءَ to will, to wish is hollow: شَاءَ, يَشَاءُ.

أَزُورُكَ غَدًا إِنْ شَاءَ اللّٰهُ.
azūruka ghadan in shāʾa-llāhu
I will visit you tomorrow, God willing.
The imperfect with غَدًا points to the future.
مَتَى تَرْجِعُ مِنَ الْغَابَةِ؟ بَعْدَ الظُّهْرِ إِنْ شَاءَ اللّٰهُ.
matā tarjiʿu mina-l-ghābati? baʿda-ẓ-ẓuhri in shāʾa-llāhu
When will you return from the forest? After noon, God willing.
يُسَافِرُ أَخِي إِلَى مَكَّةَ فِي هٰذَا الْأُسْبُوعِ إِنْ شَاءَ اللّٰهُ.
yusāfiru akhī ilā makkata fī hādha-l-usbūʿi in shāʾa-llāhu
My brother is travelling to Makkah this week, God willing.
إِنَّ الْبَرْدَ شَدِيدٌ الْيَوْمَ، وَنَخْرُجُ غَدًا إِنْ شَاءَ اللّٰهُ.
inna-l-barda shadīduni-l-yawma, wa-nakhruju ghadan in shāʾa-llāhu
The cold is indeed severe today, and we will go out tomorrow, God willing.
إِنَّ with shadda and the accusative; إِنْ with sukūn and a verb.

Rule 4: 4. زَارَ / يَزُورُ, to visit

زَارَ is a hollow verb like قَالَ: its middle root letter is و, which appears as long ā in زَارَ, زَارَتْ, زَارُوا and as long ū in the imperfect يَزُورُ. Before the perfect endings that begin with a consonant the long vowel is shortened to ḍamma: زُرْتُ I visited, زُرْتَ, زُرْنَا, زُرْتُمْ. The object is a direct accusative: زَارَ صَدِيقَهُ, زَارَنِي he visited me.

زَارَ الصَّيَّادُ صَدِيقَهُ بَعْدَ الظُّهْرِ.
zāra-ṣ-ṣayyādu ṣadīqahu baʿda-ẓ-ẓuhri
The hunter visited his friend after noon.
زُرْتُ جَدَّتِي أَمْسِ وَأَزُورُ خَالِي غَدًا.
zurtu jaddatī amsi wa-azūru khālī ghadan
I visited my grandmother yesterday and I will visit my uncle tomorrow.
مَتَى زُرْتُمْ مَكَّةَ؟
matā zurtum makkata
When did you (pl.) visit Makkah?
أَقَارِبُنَا يَزُورُونَنَا فِي الشِّتَاءِ.
aqāribunā yazūrūnanā fi-sh-shitāʾi
Our relatives visit us in winter.

زَارَ, to visit: perfect and imperfect

Long ā in the perfect before a vowel, short u before a consonant; long ū throughout the imperfect.
Person	Perfect	Imperfect	Meaning
I	زُرْتُ	أَزُورُ	I visited / I visit
you (m.)	زُرْتَ	تَزُورُ	you visited / you visit
you (f.)	زُرْتِ	تَزُورِينَ	you visited / you visit
he	زَارَ	يَزُورُ	he visited / he visits
she	زَارَتْ	تَزُورُ	she visited / she visits
we	زُرْنَا	نَزُورُ	we visited / we visit
you (m. pl.)	زُرْتُمْ	تَزُورُونَ	you visited / you visit
they (m.)	زَارُوا	يَزُورُونَ	they visited / they visit

Vocabulary

Why do words end with “-un”?

The -un ending is called tanween (nunation). It marks indefinite nouns — similar to “a/an” in English.

كِتَابٌ (kitaabun) = a bookvsكِتَاب (kitaab) = book (base word)

To find the base word, simply remove the final “-un” sound (the double-stacked damma بٌ on the last letter).

صَيَّادٌ

ṣayyādun

hunter

صَادَ / يَصِيدُ

ṣāda / yaṣīdu

to hunt, to catch

زَارَ / يَزُورُ

zāra / yazūru

to visit

سَلَّمَ / يُسَلِّمُ عَلَى

sallama / yusallimu ʿalā

to greet

شَاءَ / يَشَاءُ

shāʾa / yashāʾu

to will, to wish

إِنْ

in

if

كَمْ

kam

how many? how much?

غَابَةٌ

ghābatun

forest

أَرْنَبٌ

arnabun

hare, rabbit

ثَلْجٌ

thaljun

snow

رِيحٌ

rīḥun

wind

بَرْدٌ

bardun

cold (noun)

بَارِدٌ

bāridun

cold (adjective)

شَدِيدٌ

shadīdun

severe, strong

فَلَّاحٌ

fallāḥun

farmer

غَدًا

ghadan

tomorrow

أَمْسِ

amsi

yesterday

مَسَاءٌ

masāʾun

evening

فَرِحَ / يَفْرَحُ بِـ

fariḥa / yafraḥu bi-

to be glad about, to rejoice at

Step 2 of 5: Read

The hunter

اَلصَّيَّادُ

Tap any word to look it up.

Notes

Comprehension

1.Who went with Khalid to the forest?
2.How many hares did Khalid catch yesterday?
3.What is Saʿīd's work?
4.What did Khalid give to Saʿīd's children?

In the Quran

إِن شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ
Surah Al-Kahf · 18:69
إِن شَاءَ اللَّهُ: the formula itself, 'if God wills', inside Mūsā's promise to be patient.
- إِنinif
- شَآءَshāaAllah wills
- ٱللَّهُl-lahuAllah wills
Read in context
وَتُسَلِّمُوا۟ عَلَىٰٓ أَهْلِهَا ۚ
Surah An-Nur · 24:27
وَتُسَلِّمُوا عَلَىٰ أَهْلِهَا: the verb سَلَّمَ with عَلَى, 'and greet its people'.
- وَتُسَلِّمُوا۟watusallimūand you have greeted
- عَلَىٰٓʿalā[on]
- أَهْلِهَا ۚahlihāits inhabitants
Read in context
أَوْ كَٱلَّذِى مَرَّ عَلَىٰ قَرْيَةٍۢ وَهِىَ خَاوِيَةٌ عَلَىٰ عُرُوشِهَا قَالَ أَنَّىٰ يُحْىِۦ هَـٰذِهِ ٱللَّهُ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا ۖ فَأَمَاتَهُ ٱللَّهُ مِا۟ئَةَ عَامٍۢ ثُمَّ بَعَثَهُۥ ۖ قَالَ كَمْ لَبِثْتَ ۖ قَالَ لَبِثْتُ يَوْمًا أَوْ بَعْضَ يَوْمٍۢ ۖ قَالَ بَل لَّبِثْتَ مِا۟ئَةَ عَامٍۢ فَٱنظُرْ إِلَىٰ طَعَامِكَ وَشَرَابِكَ لَمْ يَتَسَنَّهْ ۖ وَٱنظُرْ إِلَىٰ حِمَارِكَ وَلِنَجْعَلَكَ ءَايَةًۭ لِّلنَّاسِ ۖ وَٱنظُرْ إِلَى ٱلْعِظَامِ كَيْفَ نُنشِزُهَا ثُمَّ نَكْسُوهَا لَحْمًۭا ۚ فَلَمَّا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُۥ قَالَ أَعْلَمُ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ قَدِيرٌۭ
Surah Al-Baqarah · 2:259
قَالَ كَمْ لَبِثْتَ: 'He said: how long did you remain?' Here كَمْ asks about time with no counted noun expressed; when a noun follows it stands in the accusative singular.
Read in context

Step 3 of 5: Practice

Exercises

Strict harakat

Exercise 1 of 60/0 correct

Fill in the blank

Complete the question 'How many books do you have?' with the right form of كِتَابٌ:

Step 4 of 5: Quiz

Translate from Arabic to English

Type your translation, then check it. Spelling and vowel marks are graded leniently.

1.

كَمْ أَرْنَبًا صَادَ الصَّيَّادُ فِي الْغَابَةِ؟

2.

مَرَّ خَالِدٌ بِصَدِيقِهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَلَيْهِ.

3.

اَلثَّلْجُ عَلَى الْجِبَالِ وَالرِّيحُ شَدِيدَةٌ.

4.

زُرْتُ جَدِّي أَمْسِ وَأَزُورُ عَمِّي غَدًا إِنْ شَاءَ اللّٰهُ.

5.

كَمْ مَرَّةً زَارَكُمْ أَقَارِبُكُمْ فِي هٰذَا الشِّتَاءِ؟

6.

فَرِحَ الْأَوْلَادُ بِالْأَرْنَبِ كَثِيرًا.

Translate from English to Arabic

Type your translation, then check it. Spelling and vowel marks are graded leniently.

1.

How many dogs does the hunter have?

2.

I greeted the farmer in the morning.

3.

We will visit you (m.) after noon, God willing.

4.

The morning is cold and the forest is far.

5.

My friends visited me twice in the evening.

6.

How many hares did you (m.) catch yesterday? I caught two hares.

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