Beginner - Other reasons

asalamu alikum...jazaklahu khair for everything your guys are doing..may allah swt grant you guys junatul firdose.i just had one question.i go to a madrasa in chicago il.and i always wanted to ask my teacher.may i go to the bathroom or go get a drink.i always wanted to learn arabic because its the language of jannah.so please can you guys help me...thanks..

Bless your pure heart ya Ehab ;-)

@ mq2010

You should start off with the podcast entitled "Silly". There are several other podcasts in which bodily functions and lavatories are discussed in greater detail. Ehab and Mohamed are real experts in this domain, and their discussions sometime verge on the scatological.

If the Arabic words are too hard to remember diapers might be a viable solution.

There is also a lesson on diapers, by the way. "Nappies," I guess in English English.

Mohamed - this is at least the second podcast where you say the correct pronunciation of your name and contrast it with an incorrect common mispronunciation. Frankly, however, I can't hear much difference between the two. Is the incorrect like "Muhammed"? What is the Arabic spelling?

@Chazyouwin, the correct transliteration of محمد is Muhammad. meem damma - 7a fatha - meem shadda fatha - daal.

(this is kind of a lengthy comment - youve been warned :))

It is my strong belief that the cause for different transliterations stem from the various arabic countries and the way they interpret English sounds. I could be wrong, by my experience with Arabs from different countries support my hypothesis.

For example, some people write "Assalaamo Alaykom". However, it should be written with "u" and not "o" because in English, the short O sound is "o" as in "not" "pot" "bot". As students of Arabic, we know that the Damma is clearly a "u" sound as in "tu-tu".

I personally use the "i" when transliterating words with kasrah, while Ehab and Mohamed chooses to use the letter "e".

Final note: The only time the letter "o" in English makes the damma sound is when it is a long vowel, such as "boot" or when its a dipthong. However, we know that Muhammad is not spelled with a long vowel, nor does the word contain a dithong.

^^ Erm, I spelled "dipthong" wrong. Forgive me -_-

@ chazyouwin

That's perfectly correct, Charles. "Nappy" is British English, and "diaper" is American English. "Diaper", however, is becoming increasingly common in the UK. (That's why I used the word.) In the British media "nappy" and "diaper" are sometimes used as stylistic variants in order to avoid inelegant repetitions.

By an odd coincidence, I was re-listening to the podcast about nappies when you posted your comment.

Nappy is derived from napkin rather than referring to a downy surface (that, I suppose, some may indeed have). The older towelling kind bears some similarity to the traditional table napkin (as opposed to paper serviettes) although requiring a greater absorbent capacity!

Regarding diapers, although I've never heard that term used in the UK yet, I recently heard someone use faucet instead of tap and confess to feeling a little irritated when American words supplant perfectly apt English ones

Going back a bit in the UK, marriages (especially aristocratic ones) were arranged for various reasons (often political) and although not an enthusiast for arranged marriages, formally or informally, matches made by family, friends or professional matchmakers who consider compatible temperament and interests have sometimes worked very well, especially when compared to ill considered impulse marriages! Celebrity marriages are generally in a strange world of their own!

Marhaba,there is something I couldn't understand in this lesson.Would you explain it to me,please?

you marry:tazawwajt
In this case,is 'ta'an indicator like tashtary,ta2teeny,or taqool?
if so,when it is said,'tazawwajta' and 'tazawwajtu',why do 'ta'and 'tu'come at the end of this verb? Does it have something to do with the past tense? Usually,everything was broken down so I can understand clearly,but I can't catch up in this case.

I always appreciate your help.

@Kurumi,

In present tense verbs, the first letter usually indicates the person doing the action. Usually, if this "indicator" is the letter 'ta' then it refers to either "you" or "she". For example,

تكتب - Taktub - You write or she writes
أكتب - Aktub - I write
يكتب - Yaktub - He writes

Now what might be confusing you with the word تزوجت, is that the first letter is actually part of the word and not an "indicator". So if you wanted to say "she marries" for example, you will have to add another 'ta' e.g.

تتزوج - Tatazawwaj - You or She marries
أتزوج - Atazawwaj - I marry
يتزوج - Yatazawwaj - he marries

Further on, in past tense verbs, it is the last letter that indicates who is doing the action and not the first letter, also classically the vowels are important. If the last letter on the past tense verb is 'ta' then it either refers to "you" or "I", the vowel defines whether it is 'you' or 'i' i.e. If the vowel on the last letter is 9'ammah then it indicates 'I', if it's Fat7a then it indicates 'you'. The following examples should make it clearer

تزوجْتُ - Tazawwajtu - I married
تزوجْتَ - Tazawwajta - You married (masculine)
تزوجْتِ - Tazawwajti - You married (feminine)
تزوجَ - Tazawwaja - He married
تزوجَتْ - Tazawwajat - She married

Further examples with the word "wrote"

كَتَبْتُ - Katabtu - I wrote
كَتَبْتَ - Katabta - You wrote (You is masculine)
كَتَبْتِ - Katabti - You wrote (You is feminine)
كَتَبَ - Kataba - He wrote
كَتَبَتْ - Katabat - She wrote

You will get used to the patterns over the time.

@Moshaya,
Thank you so much for more detailed explanations.now I think I could understand.So,'tazawwaj' is similar to'ta3allom',since 'ta'is already part of each verbs.Correct?It is great that whenever I have a question,I can have an answer for it from excellent teachers.You are really helpng me to get going. ;)
btw the more I know about Arabic language,the more I got surprised how powerfully it can pass on many imformations within short sentences!it is completely different system from Japanese,really interesting and fascinating.♥

@Kurumi,

Yes that's correct. Here is another example of a word that begins with 'ta'
تآمر - Ta2aamara - He conspired

Change to present tense "You", add an additional 'ta' to the beginning
تتآمر - Tata2aamar - You conspire

Change it to past tense 'I' i.e.
تآمرت - Ta2aamartu - I conspired

I'm glad you're enjoying the podcasts. Keep it up :)