تَفْعَلْyou (female) do

Example sentences

• وَهَذِهِ الْأَمَةُ يَقُولُونَ سَرَقْتِ زَنَيْتِ وَلَمْ تَفْعَلْ

  And this female slave, they say, "You stole, you committed adultery," and you did not do it.

  تَفْعَلْ — you (female) do it. A present-shape verb clipped by the preceding negator, which is the trick Arabic uses to deny the PAST: present shape plus that negator equals 'did not do'. The '-l' ending shows the clipping; the form is second-person feminine, 'you did it', here flatly denied.

  From: Those Who Spoke in the Cradle →

• قَالَتْ لَا تَفْعَلْ حَظِّي مِنْهُ لَهَا

  She said, "Don't do it; my share from him belongs to her."

  تَفْعَلْ — do (you). A present-tense verb addressed to a single male, but pushed into its clipped jussive shape by the prohibition word just before it; that trimmed ending is exactly what marks 'do not do it'. The 'you' addressee is built into the verb. So the prohibition and this shortened verb shape work together to forbid the act.

  From: Stories of Prophetic Judgments →