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Celebrations and festivals: the past tense
To describe how you celebrated, you need the past tense. In Arabic the past tense uses endings, not prefixes.
Festival words
عيدُ الفِطْر = Eid al-Fitr, the festival at the end of Ramadan. عيدُ الأَضْحى = Eid al-Adha.
رَمَضان = Ramadan, the month of fasting (الصِّيام) from dawn to sunset. الإفْطار = the meal that breaks the fast.
العيدِيّة = money or gifts given to children at Eid. عيدُ الميلاد = Christmas (عيدُ ميلادي = my birthday). رَأْسُ السَّنة = New Year.
اِحْتَفَلْنا (we celebrated), هَدِيّة / هَدايا (present / presents), مَلابِس جَديدة (new clothes).
رَمَضان = Ramadan, the month of fasting (الصِّيام) from dawn to sunset. الإفْطار = the meal that breaks the fast.
العيدِيّة = money or gifts given to children at Eid. عيدُ الميلاد = Christmas (عيدُ ميلادي = my birthday). رَأْسُ السَّنة = New Year.
اِحْتَفَلْنا (we celebrated), هَدِيّة / هَدايا (present / presents), مَلابِس جَديدة (new clothes).
The past tense of ذَهَبَ
Describing a celebration
في العيدِ الماضي زُرْنا أَقارِبَنا = Last Eid we visited our relatives.
لَبِسْتُ مَلابِسَ جَديدة وأَكَلْنا الحَلَوِيّات = I wore new clothes and we ate sweets.
كانَ يَوْمًا رائِعًا = It was a great day.
لَبِسْتُ مَلابِسَ جَديدة وأَكَلْنا الحَلَوِيّات = I wore new clothes and we ate sweets.
كانَ يَوْمًا رائِعًا = It was a great day.
Translate: Last year we celebrated Eid with my grandparents.
- Last year: في السنة الماضية.
- We celebrated: احتفلنا (ending ـنا), with بـ before the festival: بالعيد.
- With my grandfather and grandmother: مع جدّي وجدّتي.
Answer: في السنة الماضية احتفلنا بالعيد مع جدّي وجدّتي.
Past tense endings: ـتُ (I), ـتَ / ـتِ (you), none (he), ـتْ (she), ـنا (we), ـتم (you pl), ـوا (they). Eid al-Fitr ends Ramadan; العيدية is money for children.
The interactive lesson includes the diagrams for this topic.
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