Lesson 79 – الدَّرْسُ التَّاسِعُ والسَّبْعونَ

The followers (2) The adjective - التَّــوَابِع(٢)العَطْفُ وَحُروفُهُ

The coordinating particles (fa and thumma)– حروف العطف (فَ ، ثُـمَّ)

  • We are still in lesson seventy nine of our free Arabic language course. This Arabic course with images and audios will help you learn Arabic.
  • In this part we will learn two Arabic coordinating particles (فَ) and (ثُمَّ), In-Shaa’-Allaah (God willing).
  • (فَ) and (ثُمَّ) can join nouns and verbs. Their meaning are very closed, so it is important to understand the similitude and the difference between them, as follows:
  • They are similar in that each of them means that the following noun takes part after the preceding noun. I.e. they both means the order of the following and the preceding nouns. Consider the following examples:

English

Arabic

Khalid slept then Amer

نامَ خالِدٌ فعامِرٌ

نامَ خالِدٌ ثُمَّ عامِرٌ

  • In both of the above mentioned examples Khalid slept first, then Amer afterwards.
  • The difference between (فَ) and (ثُمَّ) is that (فَ) means that the following noun takes part directly after the preceding noun, while (ثُمَّ) means that the following noun takes part after certain period or action.
  • Therefore if we apply this to the two above mentioned example, we understand from the first example that Amer slept after Khalid directly, while in the second example Amer slept after certain period of the sleep of Khalid.
  • This difference is to be applied also when (فَ) and (ثُمَّ) coordinate verbs. Consider the following examples:

Picture

English

Arabic

Madinaharabic.com lesson image

The teacher came, and then we stood up

حَضَرَ الْمُعَلِّمُ فَقُمْنا لَهُ

Madinaharabic.com lesson image

The students came, then the teacher came afterwards

حَضَرَ الطُّلابُ ثُمَّ جاءَ الأُسْتاذُ

  • In the first example we notice that the teacher came, and the students stood up immediately after his arrival, while in the second example the teacher didn’t arrive directly after the arrival of the students, rather after something else has happened.

More examples:

The following noun (or verb)

Coordinating particle

The preceding noun (or verb)

Example

English

Arabic

الْمُوَظَّفُونَ

فَ

الْمُدِيرُ

The manager entered, then the employees

دَخَلَ الْمُدِيرُ فَالْمُوَظَّفُونَ

الإجابَةَ

ثُمَّ

السُّؤالَ

Write the question, then the answer

اُكْتُبِ السُّؤالَ ثُمَّ الإجابَةَ

بارِيسَ

فَ

لَنْدَنَ

I will visit London, and then Paris

سأَزُورُ لَنْدَنَ فَبارِيسَ

السَّيَّارَةَ

ثُمَّ

الشَّقَّةَ

I bought the flat, then I bought the car

اِشْتَرَيْتُ الشَّقَّةَ ثُمَّ السَّيَّارَةَ

بَلَّلَتِ

فَ

أَمْطَرَتِ

It rained, and then it made the land wet

أَمْطَرَتِ السَّماءُ فَبَلَّلَتِ الأَرْضَ

أَكَلْتُهُ

ثُمَّ

اِشْتَرَيْتُ

I bought the dates, and then I ate them

اِشْتَرَيْتُ التَّمْرَ ثُمَّ أَكَلْتُهُ

كُسِرَ

فَ

سَقَطَ

The glass fell down, and it was broken

سَقَطَ الْكُوبُ فَكُسِرَ

تَرَكْتُهُ

ثُمَّ

جَمَعْتُ

I collected my money, then I left it

جَمَعْتُ الْمَالَ ثُمَّ تَرَكْتُهُ