Arabic vocabulary
بَدَأَ is how you say “to begin” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in real example sentences from classical texts below.
كل عادة تبدأ همسًا ثم تصير سلسلة
Every habit begins as a whisper then becomes a chain.
تَبْدَأُ — it begins. Present-tense verb 'tabda'' = 'it begins'; subject 'it' (the habit) is built in.
From: Small Daily Habits →ابدأ نهارك بمسحٍ داخلي سريع ما الذي يحركني الآن، خوف أم رجاء أم عادة عمياء
Start your day with a quick inner scan: what drives me now – fear, hope, or blind habit?
اِبْدَأْ — start. Command 'ibda'' = 'begin!, start!'; 'you' is built in.
From: On Sincerity →فهي ليستْ لفظًا مُنفردًا، بل جملةٌ مُقدَّرة معناها أبدأ عملي باسمِ الله، فأربطُ الفعلَ بالرّب
it is not an isolated utterance, but an implicit sentence meaning: I begin my action in the name of Allah, thus linking the act to the Lord.
أَبْدَأُ — I begin. 'I begin', present with the 'I' built into the verb's front. It launches the spelled-out meaning of the basmala in the first person.
From: Words That Nourish the Heart →لذلك وُضِعَتِ التسميةُ في مواضعَ ثابتة على الطعام، وعند الدخول والخروج، وعلى السكين والقلم ولوحة المفاتيح؛ لتتعلّم أنّ العملَ يبدأ بالله وينتهي إليه
Thus, naming was placed in fixed locations: over food, when entering and exiting, over the knife, pen, and keyboard; to teach that every action begins with Allah and ends with Him.
يَبْدَأُ — it begins. Present 'begins', subject 'it' inside — the predicate of 'anna'. Here intransitive: the deed itself 'starts with...'.
From: Remembrance That Reshapes the Heart →فَبَدَأَ الصدّيق بِدُخُولِهِ ليَكُون وقاية لَهُ إِن كَانَ ثَمَّ موذ
So the Truthful One began to enter it to be a protection for him if there was any harm.
فَبَدَأَ — so began. 'Fa-' (so) plus a past-tense verb 'began', its subject coming next. The 'fa-' threads the next move: Abu Bakr's entering first.
From: The Night of the Migration →بَدَأَتْ مَجَالِسُ ابْنِ الْجَوْزِيِّ تَسْتَقْطِبُ النَّاسَ،
Ibn al-Jawzi's gatherings began to attract people.
بَدَأَتْ — they began. A past-tense verb in the feminine singular even though its doer is a plural. Arabic treats non-human plurals as grammatically feminine singular, so a 'they-things' subject takes a 'she' verb. Here it also works as a starter verb ('began to...') leading into the action that follows.
From: Public Preaching →OpenArabic teaches words like بَدَأَ through real bilingual reading with native audio and spaced-repetition practice.
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