The imperative in Arabic: اُكْتُبْ، اِقْرَأْ، اِشْرَبْ

What’s inside

• Your friend is thirsty. Which sentence tells him to drink water?
• What does اُكْتُبْ جُمْلَةً قَصِيرَةً mean?
• How do you say “Read this book!” (to a man)?
• What is the imperative of تَجْلِسُ (you sit)?
• What does اِفْتَحِ الْبَابَ مِنْ فَضْلِكَ mean?
• The teacher says to a (male) student: “Listen carefully!”
• To form the imperative, start from تَكْتُبُ, drop تَـ and add an alif at the start: اُكْتُبْ.
• لَا تَشْرَبْ means “drink!”.