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Is there a one-letter word in Arabic?

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 year ago

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” .

One-letter-words in Arabic – let's look at some examples.

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

WATCH OUT!


It can be difficult to understand these forms correctly. Let's have a look at this example:

…and protect us from the punishment of the Fire  (:201)…  وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ

That was a quick bite.

If you are still interested in reading more – learn how to use Arabic for encryption. Or read one of the following articles:

picture credit: Image by Pexels from Pixabay

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K. Shahabudeen
K. Shahabudeen
4 years ago

“Ri” is also one letter imperative arabic word.

John
John
6 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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