Irregular Present-Tense Verbs — “a” Remains “a”

Lesson objective

In this lesson, you will learn the third category of irregular verbs with a long a in the middle. In this category, the middle a does not change, and the normal present-tense prefixes and suffixes are added.

Example verb: “to spend the night” (bat)

English	Darija
I spend the night	kan-bat
You spend the night — masculine	kat-bat
You spend the night — feminine	kat-bati
He spends the night	kay-bat
She spends the night	kat-bat
We spend the night	kan-batu
You spend the night — plural	kat-batu
They spend the night	kay-batu

Verbs that follow the same pattern

• ban — to appear
• ban bнal — to look like
• sal — to owe
• xaf — to be afraid

Examples

l-far kay-xaf mn l-qṭ. — The mouse is afraid of the cat.

kat-ban bнal ila mriḍ. — You look like you are sick.