Verb of the Day

Verb of the Day

Jamaʻa

جَمَعَ

 

Welcome to our verb series Verb of the Day and another useful Arabic verb.

Today’s verb is جَمع /Jamaʻa/

It’s another verb that is widely used in different everyday situations.

We will share with you the different meanings the verb has as well as its conjugations with the Arabic pronouns.

We will also provide you with derivations, opposites, and synonyms of the verb and show the different uses in the context of meaningful sentences.

Are you ready?

Main Meaning

The verb جَمَعَ has five main meanings:

Joining things together

The first meaning refers to the action of joining, gathering, or collecting things together, as in the following examples:

He gathered books and pens into a bag

Jamaʻa alkutuba wālʼaqlāma fī alḥaqybti

جَمَعَ الكُتُبَ والأَقلامَ في الحَقيبةِ

He gathered scattered papers

Jamaʻa alʼawrāqa almushattatata

جَمَعَ الأَوْرَاقَ الْمُشَتَّتَةَ

Combining two traits

The second meaning has a slightly different meaning, which essentially means “to add” or “to combine” two things, usually traits.

He combined the two best things (He added goodness to goodness).

Jamaʻa bayna alḥusnayayni

جَمَعَ بَيْنَ الحُسْنَيَيْنِ

Unifying multiple things

The third meaning does not use the literal meaning of the verb.

It refers to the metaphorical “bringing together” of two or more opposing forces or things.

He brought hearts together (He gathered or united them with love and harmony).

Jamaʻa alqulūba

جَمَعَ القُلُوبَ

Writing a book

The fourth meaning is only used with books to indicate the action of writing or authoring a book.

Using the verb جَمَعَ in this context could refer to the action of collecting information that is part of writing books and that is inherent in the verb جمع (to collect).

He wrote (assembled) a book.

Jamʻa alkitāba

جَمعَ الكِتابَ

Mobilizing armies

The fifth meaning is connected to war and the battlefield. It refers to the action of preparing or bringing together soldiers and armies ahead of battle.

People are preparing to confront their enemies (They are mobilizing and preparing for battle).

Jamʻ alqwmu lʼaʻdāʼhm

جمع القومُ لأَعدائهم

Verb Conjugation with Pronouns

English

Transcription

Arabic

I collected

Anā jamaʻtu

أَنا جَمَعتُ

I collect

Anā ajmaʻu

أَنا أَجمَعُ

We collected

Naḥnu jamaʻnā

نَحنُ جَمَعنا

We collect

Naḥnu najmaʻu

نَحنُ نَجمَعُ

He collected

Huwa jamaʻa

هُوَ جَمَعَ

He collects

Huwa yajmaʻu

هُوَ يَجمَعُ

They collected (P/M/3rd P)

Hum jamʻwā

هُم جَمعوا

They collect (P/M/3rd P)

Hum yajmaʻwn

هُم يَجمَعون

She collected

Hya jamaʻat

هيَ جَمَعَتْ

She collects

Hya tajmaʻu

هيَ تَجمَعُ

They collected (P/F/3rd P)

Hunna jamaʻna

هُنّ جَمعنَ

They collect (P/F/3rd P)

Hunna yajmaʻna

هُنّ يَجمَعنَ

You collected (S/2nd P)

Anta jamaʻta

أنتَ جَمَعتَ

You collect (S/2nd P)

Anta tajmaʻu

أنتَ تَجمَعُ

You collected (P/2nd P.)

Antum jamaʻtum

نتُم جَمَعتُم

You collect (P/2nd P.)

Antum tajmʻwn

أَنتُم تَجمعونَ

You collected (S/F/2nd P.)

Anti jamaʻti

أنتِ جَمَعتِ

You collect (S/F/2nd P.)

Anti tajmaʻyn

أنتِ تَجمَعينَ

You collected (P/F/2nd P.)

Antunna jamʻtunaa

أَنتُنَّ جَمعتُنَّ

You collect (P/F/2nd P.)

Antunna tajmaʻna

أَنتُنّ تَجمَعنَ

You collected (D/2nd P.)

Antumā jamʻtumā

أَنتما جَمعتُما

You collect (D/2nd P.)

Antumā tajmʻāni

أَنتما تَجمعانِ

They collected (D/M/3rd P.)

Humā jamaʻā

هُما جَمَعا

They collect (D/M/3rd P.)

Humā yajmaʻāni

هُما يَجمَعانِ

*P: Plural        S: Singular     D: Dual       F: Feminine      M: Masculine

Verb in the Quran

Now, our blogs cannot be as valuable as we want them to be without providing you with examples of the verb جَمَع in the Quran. One of the examples we would like to share with you is using the verb جَمَع to mean “to collect money”

Let’s look at the following verse from the Holy Quran:

Waylun liikulii humazatin luumazatin ** alldhy jamaʻa mālan wʻdaadah

وَيْلٌ لِّكُلِّ هُمَزَةٍ لُّمَزَةٍ * الّذي جَمَعَ مالًا وعدَّده (الهُمَزَة 1-2 )

 “Woe unto every slanderer, fault-finder! * [Woe unto him] who amasses wealth and counts it a safeguard“ (Surat Al-Humaza: Verses 1 – 2) 

The verse is warning the person who finds faults in others and amasses and collects wealth because such a person wrongly thinks that his wealth will make him eternal and immortal.

Verb in poetry

Now let’s see how the verb is used in poetry. In the following line, the verb جمع is also used to collect material wealth.

أَنفَعُ في البَيتِ مِنَ الخُبزِ

ما جَمَعَ الناسُ لِدُنياهُمُ

Mā jamaʻa alnāsu lidunyāhumu anfaʻu fī albayti mina alkhubzi

The most important thing in people’s lives is to collect bread in their homes.

The poet emphasizes the significance of having bread in homes, reflecting on their challenging living conditions.

More Examples

There are other similar meanings to use the verb جمع and they can be seen in the following examples:

I gather my friends for food.

Anā ajmaʻu aṣidqāʼy llṭṭʻām.

أَنا أجمَعُ أَصِدقائي للطّعام

You collect old stamps and coins.

Antumā tajmaʻāni alṭaawābiʻa wālʻumlāti alqadīmti

أنتُما تَجمَعانِ الطَّوابِعَ والعُملاتِ القَدِيمةَ

Did you collect the cost of clothes?

Hal jamaʻtum thamana almalābisi?

هل جَمَعتُم ثَمَنَ المَلابِسِ؟

Word Derivations

Numerous words in Arabic can be derived from the word root جمع:

Word Root ج – م – ع

Meeting

Ijtimāʻ

اِجتِماع

Society

Mujtamaʻ

مُجتَمَع

Club

Jamʻīyah

جمعِيَّة

Friday

Jumʻah

جُمعة

Congregation

Jamun

جَمعٌ

Mosque

Jāmiʻ

جامِع

Group

Majmūʻah

مَجمُوعة

University

Jāmiʻah

جامِعة

Synonyms

One of the synonyms of the verb جَمَعَ /Jamaʻa/ in the sense of “adding” and adding things to each other is the following verbs:

to combine

Ḍamma

ضَمَ

to add

Aḍāfa

أَضافَ

Example 1

He combined both money and wisdom.

Jamaʻa almāla maʻa alḥikmati

جَمَعَ المالَ مَعَ الحِكمَةِ

He added wisdom to money, meaning he had both.

Aḍāfa ilá almāli alḥikmta

أَضافَ إلى المالِ الحِكمةَ

Example 2

She combined pearls in a string.

Jamaʻt ḥabaaāta allluʼlʼi fī khayṭin

جَمَعتْ حَبَّاتَ اللُّؤلؤِ في خَيطٍ

She added pearls in a string.

Ḍamaat ḥabaaāta allluʼlʼi fī khayṭin

ضَمَّتْ حَبَّاتَ اللُّؤلؤِ في خَيطٍ

Opposites

The verb جَمَعَ  /Jamaʻa/ has two main opposites. Let’s look at them and see them in examples:

to separate

Farraqa

فَرَّقَ

to put apart

Bāʻada

باعَدَ

Examples

Love has gathered people, but money has separated them.

Jamʻaa alḥubbu alnaaāsa wfaraaq baynahum almālu

جَمعَ الحُبُّ النَّاسَ وفَرَّق بَينَهُم المالُ.

You collect the books in the library and you don’t put them apart.

Tajmaʻyna alkutba fī almkatabti wa-lā tbāʻdyna baynahā

تَجمَعينَ الكُتبَ في المكَتَبةِ ولا تباعدينَ بينها

Conclusion

Now before we conclude our blog, we would like to remind you to check our special planner that you can use to speed up your learning journey. This planner offers a rich 30-page worksheet accompanied by over 200 practical exercises and activities. It will serve as a powerful tool to back your acquired knowledge and newly learned language and push your learning journey forward with tons of practice opportunities.

If you liked our verb for today, make sure to learn other verbs from our Verb of the Day series, and download our app to enhance your knowledge with the needed practice through a wide variety of interactive and engaging exercises. 

Dania Ghraoui
Dania has worked as a language instructor and translator for almost 10 years. She has a special interest in the Arabic language and learning methods.
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