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Rare one-letter Arabic verbs explained

Yes, there are one-letter-words in Arabic. You probably know the word for and وَ. But there is more – the imperative.

Last updated: 1 month

One-letter-words, that are based on a root, are very rare. They are only possible in the im­perative (أَمْر) of some verbs.

These verbs have two weak letters (حَرْف الْعِلّة) in the root and only one “strong” .

Examples of one-letter-verbs in Arabic

meaningverbpronunciation
protect!وَقَىqi!قِ
pay attention!وَعَى3i!عِ
carry out!وَفَىfi!فِ

It can be difficult to understand these forms correctly. Let’s take a look at this example from the Qur’an, :201:

and protect us from the torment of the Fire…ۭ وَقِنَا عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ
Example of Sura 2:201

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K. Shahabudeen
K. Shahabudeen
5 years ago

“Ri” is also one letter imperative arabic word.

John
John
7 years ago

How are such imperatives pronounced in pausa? I understand each has an alternative form with a final هاء (e.g., قِهْ, عِهْ, فِهْ and لِهْ), which is pronounced with the vowel and a final [h], but is it even possible for the forms without the هاء to be pronounced in pausa?

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