Arabic vocabulary
حَرِّكُmoved in Arabic
حَرِّكُ is how you say “moved” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in real example sentences from classical texts below.
Root ح ر ك (ḥ-r-k)verb (form II, حرّك)Pronounced ḥarriku
Meaning of moved in Arabic
- to move, set in motion, stir, agitate, shake (something or someone) — Transitive/causative; the quasi-passive is تحرّك (form V), "it moved itself, became agitated."
- (grammar) to vocalize a letter — make it movent by giving it a following vowel — Opposite of سكّن "to leave a letter quiescent (with sukūn)."
حرّك is the form II (causative) verb built on حَرُكَ "to move, be in motion" (opposite of سكن "to be still"); its inflected forms cover "he moved / moves / move (it)" depending on context. Besides physical motion, it is the standard term in Arabic grammar for giving a letter a vowel, as opposed to leaving it silent (سكّن).
Words from the same root
- حَرَكَةٌmotion, movement; also, in grammar, a vowel
- تحرّكto move, be in motion (intransitive; quasi-passive of حرّك)
- حَرَاكٌmotion, movement, as in "there is no ḥarāk in him"
- حَارِكٌthe withers; upper part of a horse's back at the base of the neck
- مُحَرِّكٌone who moves, a mover — e.g. "muḥarrik al-qulūb," Mover of hearts
- مِحْرَاكٌa stick or poker used to stir a fire
Common questions
- How do you say "moved" in Arabic?
- حرّك (ḥarraka), from the root ح ر ك — to move, set in motion, or stir something.
- What is the difference between حرّك and تحرّك?
- حرّك (form II) is transitive — "he moved/stirred it"; تحرّك (form V) is its quasi-passive — "it moved itself, became agitated."
Definitions synthesised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).
Example sentences
فَإِذَا إِنْسَانٌ يُحَرِّكُ الْبَابَ،
Then a man moved the door.
يُحَرِّكُ — he moved. A present-tense verb 'is moving/rattling' with a built-in 'he', painting the ongoing action discovered at the door. Arabic uses the present to freeze this as a live scene even mid-narrative.
From: Three Companions Promised Paradise →فَجَاءَ إِنْسَانٌ يُحَرِّكُ الْبَابَ،
Then a man came, moving the door.
يُحَرِّكُ — he is moving. A present-tense verb describing an action in progress, with its 'he' subject built into the prefix so the door-mover is the man just named. Coming straight after the past 'came', it paints what he was doing at that moment, the way English uses an '-ing' form to overlay one action on another.
From: Three Companions Promised Paradise →
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