Arabic vocabulary

اسْتَطَاعَbe able

How to say “be able” in Arabic, with pronunciation and real example sentences from OpenArabic texts.

Example sentences

فانفرجت شيئاً لا يستطيعون الخروج منه
The rock then moved slightly, but they could not exit.
يَسْتَطِيعُونَ — they could. This is a present-tense verb in the plural, with 'they' in the ending, meaning 'they are able'. Under the negation before it, it states the men's inability; it governs the following noun as the thing they could not manage.
From: Three Men Saved by Sincerity →
اللهم إن كنت فعلت ذلك ابتغاء وجهك فافرج عنا ما نحن فيه، فانفرجت الصخرة غير أنهم لا يستطيعون الخروج منها
O Allah, if I did that seeking Your face, then relieve us from this situation we are trapped in. The rock moved slightly, but they still could not exit.
يَسْتَطِيعُونَ — they could. This is a present-tense verb in the plural, 'they are able', with 'they' in the ending. Under the negation before it, it states the men's inability and governs the following noun as the act they could not do.
From: Three Men Saved by Sincerity →

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