Lesson 42: The Merchant and His Partners

Step 1 of 5: Learn

In the passage you will count plurals of things such as أَقْمِشَةٌ, قُمْصَانٌ, أَحْذِيَةٌ and دَنَانِيرُ, each followed by a feminine singular adjective, next to plurals of persons such as شُرَكَاءُ and تُجَّارٌ, which keep plural agreement. Four new tools are explained first.

Rule 1: 1. Colours: أَسْوَدُ، أَبْيَضُ and their feminines

The basic colours are adjectives of the pattern أَفْعَلُ: أَسْوَدُ black, أَبْيَضُ white, أَحْمَرُ red, أَخْضَرُ green, أَصْفَرُ yellow, أَزْرَقُ blue. They take no tanwīn: قَمِيصٌ أَبْيَضُ, رَأَيْتُ قَمِيصًا أَبْيَضَ. Their feminine is فَعْلَاءُ: سَوْدَاءُ, بَيْضَاءُ, حَمْرَاءُ, خَضْرَاءُ, also without tanwīn. Since plurals of things are feminine singular, a plural of things takes the فَعْلَاءُ form: أَقْمِشَةٌ بَيْضَاءُ white cloths.

اَلْقَمِيصُ أَبْيَضُ وَالْحِذَاءُ أَسْوَدُ.
al-qamīṣu abyaḍu wa-l-ḥidhāʾu aswadu
The shirt is white and the shoe is black.
اِشْتَرَيْتُ قُمَاشًا أَحْمَرَ.
ishtaraytu qumāshan aḥmara
I bought a red cloth.
Accusative with fatḥa, no tanwīn.
هٰذِهِ الْمَائِدَةُ سَوْدَاءُ.
hādhihi-l-māʾidatu sawdāʾu
This table is black.
Feminine singular فَعْلَاءُ.
اَلْأَكْيَاسُ خَضْرَاءُ وَالصَّنَادِيقُ بَيْضَاءُ.
al-akyāsu khaḍrāʾu wa-ṣ-ṣanādīqu bayḍāʾu
The bags are green and the boxes are white.
Plurals of things: feminine singular colour.

Rule 2: 2. كَمْ 'how many?' and بِكَمْ 'for how much?'

كَمْ asks how many. The noun counted follows it in the indefinite accusative singular: كَمْ قَمِيصًا اشْتَرَيْتَ؟ how many shirts did you buy? With the preposition بِ for it asks a price: بِكَمْ هٰذَا الْكِتَابُ؟ how much is this book?, answered with بِ and the sum: بِدِينَارٍ for a dinar.

كَمْ دُكَّانًا فِي هٰذَا السُّوقِ؟
kam dukkānan fī hādha-s-sūqi
How many shops are in this market?
كَمْ شَرِيكًا لِلتَّاجِرِ؟
kam sharīkan li-t-tājiri
How many partners does the merchant have?
بِكَمْ هٰذَا الْقَمِيصُ الْأَبْيَضُ؟ بِدِينَارٍ.
bi-kam hādha-l-qamīṣu-l-abyaḍu? bi-dīnārin
How much is this white shirt? One dinar.
بِكَمْ بَاعَ الْفَلَّاحُ الْجَمَلَ؟ بِدَنَانِيرَ كَثِيرَةٍ.
bi-kam bāʿa-l-fallāḥu-l-jamala? bi-danānīra kathīratin
For how much did the farmer sell the camel? For many dinars.
دَنَانِيرَ: genitive shown by fatḥa, since this pattern has no tanwīn.

Rule 3: 3. The imperative خُذْ

The verb أَخَذَ to take (imperfect يَأْخُذُ) loses its initial hamza in the imperative: خُذْ take! (m.), خُذِي (f.), خُذُوا (pl.). The same happens to أَكَلَ to eat: كُلْ. A shopkeeper says خُذْ as he hands over the goods.

خُذْ هٰذَا الْكِيسَ يَا وَلَدُ.
khudh hādha-l-kīsa yā waladu
Take this bag, boy.
خُذِي الصُّحُونَ إِلَى الْمَطْبَخِ.
khudhi-ṣ-ṣuḥūna ila-l-maṭbakhi
Take (f.) the plates to the kitchen.
خُذُوا بِضَاعَتَكُمْ وَادْفَعُوا الثَّمَنَ.
khudhū biḍāʿatakum wa-dfaʿu-th-thamana
Take (pl.) your goods and pay the price.

Rule 4: 4. بَاعَ 'to sell' and اِشْتَرَى 'to buy'

بَاعَ he sold behaves like جَاءَ: with a consonant ending the long ā becomes i, بِعْتُ I sold, بِعْنَا; the imperfect is يَبِيعُ. اِشْتَرَى he bought begins with a joining hamza and ends in an alif maqṣūra that turns into ـيْ before consonant endings: اِشْتَرَيْتُ I bought, اِشْتَرَتْ she bought, اِشْتَرَوْا they bought; the imperfect is يَشْتَرِي. The price goes with بِ.

بَاعَ التَّاجِرُ الْأَقْمِشَةَ بِثَمَنٍ رَخِيصٍ.
bāʿa-t-tājiru-l-aqmishata bi-thamanin rakhīṣin
The merchant sold the cloths at a cheap price.
بِعْتُ الْجَمَلَ وَاشْتَرَيْتُ حِمَارًا.
biʿtu-l-jamala wa-shtaraytu ḥimāran
I sold the camel and bought a donkey.
اِشْتَرَتْ أُمِّي قُمْصَانًا لِلْأَوْلَادِ.
ishtarat ummī qumṣānan li-l-awlādi
My mother bought shirts for the children.
اَلشُّرَكَاءُ يَشْتَرُونَ الْبِضَاعَةَ مِنَ الْقَرْيَةِ وَيَبِيعُونَهَا فِي الْمَدِينَةِ.
ash-shurakāʾu yashtarūna-l-biḍāʿata mina-l-qaryati wa-yabīʿūnahā fi-l-madīnati
The partners buy the goods from the village and sell them in the city.

Vocabulary

Why do words end with “-un”?

The -un ending is called tanween (nunation). It marks indefinite nouns — similar to “a/an” in English.

كِتَابٌ (kitaabun) = a bookvsكِتَاب (kitaab) = book (base word)

To find the base word, simply remove the final “-un” sound (the double-stacked damma بٌ on the last letter).

تَاجِرٌ

tājirun

merchant

شَرِيكٌ

sharīkun

partner

شَرِكَةٌ

sharikatun

company, partnership

دُكَّانٌ

dukkānun

shop

بِضَاعَةٌ

biḍāʿatun

goods, merchandise

ثَمَنٌ

thamanun

price

دِينَارٌ

dīnārun

dinar

قُمَاشٌ

qumāshun

cloth, fabric

قَمِيصٌ

qamīṣun

shirt

حِذَاءٌ

ḥidhāʾun

shoe

كِيسٌ

kīsun

bag, sack

أَسْوَدُ

aswadu

black

أَبْيَضُ

abyaḍu

white

أَحْمَرُ

aḥmaru

red

أَخْضَرُ

akhḍaru

green

رَخِيصٌ

rakhīṣun

cheap

كَمْ

kam

how many? how much?

بَاعَ / يَبِيعُ

bāʿa / yabīʿu

to sell

اِشْتَرَى / يَشْتَرِي

ishtarā / yashtarī

to buy

أَخَذَ / يَأْخُذُ

akhadha / yaʾkhudhu

to take

Step 2 of 5: Read

The merchant and his partners

اَلتَّاجِرُ وَشُرَكَاؤُهُ

Tap any word to look it up.

Notes

Comprehension

1.What is the merchant's name?
2.How much did Hamid first ask for the white shirt?
3.How many shirts did the man buy in the end?
4.Why are Hamid's partners richer than the merchants of the old market?

In the Quran

ٱشْتَرَوُا۟ ٱلضَّلَـٰلَةَ بِٱلْهُدَىٰ
Surah Al-Baqarah · 2:16
اشْتَرَوُا الضَّلَالَةَ بِالْهُدَى: the verb اِشْتَرَى in the plural, with the thing bought in the accusative and the price after بِ.
- ٱشْتَرَوُا۟ish'tarawūbought
- ٱلضَّلَـٰلَةَl-ḍalālata[the] astraying
- بِٱلْهُدَىٰbil-hudāfor [the] guidance
Read in context
وَشَرَوْهُ بِثَمَنٍۭ بَخْسٍۢ دَرَٰهِمَ مَعْدُودَةٍۢ
Surah Yusuf · 12:20
وَشَرَوْهُ بِثَمَنٍ بَخْسٍ دَرَاهِمَ مَعْدُودَةٍ: a selling verb with بِثَمَنٍ 'for a price', and the broken plural دَرَاهِمَ (pattern فَعَالِلُ, no tanwīn) followed by a feminine singular adjective.
- وَشَرَوْهُwasharawhuAnd they sold him
- بِثَمَنٍۭbithamaninfor a price
- بَخْسٍۢbakhsinvery low
- دَرَٰهِمَdarāhimadirhams
- مَعْدُودَةٍۢmaʿdūdatinfew
Read in context
أُحِلَّ لَكُمْ لَيْلَةَ ٱلصِّيَامِ ٱلرَّفَثُ إِلَىٰ نِسَآئِكُمْ ۚ هُنَّ لِبَاسٌۭ لَّكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ لِبَاسٌۭ لَّهُنَّ ۗ عَلِمَ ٱللَّهُ أَنَّكُمْ كُنتُمْ تَخْتَانُونَ أَنفُسَكُمْ فَتَابَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَعَفَا عَنكُمْ ۖ فَٱلْـَٔـٰنَ بَـٰشِرُوهُنَّ وَٱبْتَغُوا۟ مَا كَتَبَ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ ۚ وَكُلُوا۟ وَٱشْرَبُوا۟ حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمُ ٱلْخَيْطُ ٱلْأَبْيَضُ مِنَ ٱلْخَيْطِ ٱلْأَسْوَدِ مِنَ ٱلْفَجْرِ ۖ ثُمَّ أَتِمُّوا۟ ٱلصِّيَامَ إِلَى ٱلَّيْلِ ۚ وَلَا تُبَـٰشِرُوهُنَّ وَأَنتُمْ عَـٰكِفُونَ فِى ٱلْمَسَـٰجِدِ ۗ تِلْكَ حُدُودُ ٱللَّهِ فَلَا تَقْرَبُوهَا ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ ءَايَـٰتِهِۦ لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَّقُونَ
Surah Al-Baqarah · 2:187
الْخَيْطُ الْأَبْيَضُ مِنَ الْخَيْطِ الْأَسْوَدِ: the colour adjectives أَبْيَضُ and أَسْوَدُ agreeing with their nouns, the second in the genitive.
Read in context

Step 3 of 5: Practice

Exercises

Strict harakat

Exercise 1 of 60/0 correct

Fill in the blank

Complete with the right form of 'white':

Step 4 of 5: Quiz

Translate from Arabic to English

Type your translation, then check it. Spelling and vowel marks are graded leniently.

1.

فِي الدُّكَّانِ أَقْمِشَةٌ بَيْضَاءُ وَقُمْصَانٌ حَمْرَاءُ.

2.

بِكَمْ هٰذَا الْحِذَاءُ الْأَسْوَدُ؟ بِدِينَارَيْنِ.

3.

كَمْ كِيسًا اشْتَرَيْتَ مِنَ التَّاجِرِ؟

4.

خُذْ هٰذِهِ الْبِضَاعَةَ وَادْفَعِ الثَّمَنَ.

5.

بَاعَ شُرَكَاءُ التَّاجِرِ الْأَقْمِشَةَ بِثَمَنٍ رَخِيصٍ.

6.

اِشْتَرَيْتُ قَمِيصًا أَخْضَرَ وَاشْتَرَتْ أُخْتِي قَمِيصًا أَبْيَضَ.

Translate from English to Arabic

Type your translation, then check it. Spelling and vowel marks are graded leniently.

1.

The table is black and the plates are white.

2.

How many shops are in the market?

3.

I sold the camel for many dinars.

4.

Take (f.) the red cloth.

5.

The merchants bought goods from the village.

6.

These shoes are cheap.

Quiz: Test Your Knowledge

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