Verb of the Day: جَمَعَ

Verb of the Day – جَمَعَ (Jamaʻa)

Welcome to our verb series 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:

1. Joining things together 

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

A. جَمَعَ الكُتُبَ والأَقلامَ في الحَقيبةِ /Jamaʻa alkutuba wālʼaqlāma fī alḥaqybti/

 He gathered books and pens into a bag

B. جَمَعَ الأَوْرَاقَ الْمُشَتَّتَةَ  /Jamaʻa alʼawrāqa almushattatata/

He gathered scattered papers

2. Combining two things

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

جَمَعَ بَيْنَ الحُسْنَيَيْنِ /Jamaʻa bayna alḥusnayayni/

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

3. 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. Check the following example:

جَمَعَ القُلُوبَ /Jamaʻa alqulūba/

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

4. 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).

جَمعَ الكِتابَ /Jamʻa alkitāba/

 He wrote (assembled) a book.

5. 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.

جمع القومُ لأَعدائهم /Jamʻ alqwmu lʼaʻdāʼhm/

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

Past and Present Conjugations

We cannot learn a new verb without learning how to conjugate it with Arabic pronouns since that will make our learning incomplete.

Read the following conjugations carefully, and save them for future reference and use:

• أَنا جَمَعتُ – /Anā jamaʻtu/ – I collected
• أَنا أَجمَعُ – /Anā ajmaʻu/ – I collect
• نَحنُ جَمَعنا – /Naḥnu jamaʻnā/ – We collected
• نَحنُ نَجمَعُ – /Naḥnu najmaʻu/ – We collect
• هُوَ جَمَعَ – /Huwa jamaʻa/ – He collected
• هُوَ يَجمَعُ – /Huwa yajmaʻu/ – He collects
• هُم جَمعوا – /Hum jamʻwā/ – They collected (P/M/3rd P.)
• هُم يَجمَعون – /Hum yajmaʻwn/ – They collect (P/M/3rd P.)
• هيَ جَمَعَتْ – /Hya jamaʻat/ – She collected
• هيَ تَجمَعُ – /Hya tajmaʻu/ – She collects
• هُنّ جَمعنَ – /Hunna jamaʻna/ – They collected (P/F/3rd P.)
• هُنّ يَجمَعنَ –  /Hunna yajmaʻna/ – They collect (P/F/3rd P.)
• أنتَ جَمَعتَ – /Anta jamaʻta/ – You collected (S/2nd P.)
• أنتَ تَجمَعُ – /Anta tajmaʻu/ – You collect (S/2nd P.)
• أنتَ تَجمَعُ – /Anta tajmaʻu/ – You collect (S/2nd P.)
• أَنتُم جَمَعتُم – /Antum jamaʻtum/ – You collected (P/2nd P.)
• أَنتُم تَجمعونَ – /Antum tajmʻwn/ – You collect (P/2nd P.)
• أنتِ جَمَعتِ – /Anti jamaʻti/ – You collected (S/F/2nd P.)
• أنتِ تَجمَعينَ – /Anti tajmaʻyn/ – You collect (S/F/2nd P.)
• أَنتُنَّ جَمعتُنَّ – /Antunna jamʻtunaa/ – You collected (P/F/2nd P.)
• أَنتُنّ تَجمَعنَ – /Antunna tajmaʻna/ – You collect (P/F/2nd P.)
• أَنتما جَمعتُما – /Antumā jamʻtumā/ – You collected (D/2nd P.)
• أَنتما  تَجمعانِ – /Antumā tajmʻāni/ – You collect (D/2nd P.)
• هُما جَمَعا – /Humā jamaʻā/ – They collected (D/M/3rd P.)
• هُما يَجمَعانِ – /Humā yajmaʻāni/ – They collect (D/M/3rd P.)

*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:

 The Almighty says:   وَيْلٌ لِّكُلِّ هُمَزَةٍ لُّمَزَةٍ * الّذي جَمَعَ مالًا وعدَّده (الهُمَزَة 1-2 )

/Waylun liikulii humazatin luumazatin ** alldhy jamaʻa mālan wʻdaadah/ 

 “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 in the sense of collecting material wealth.

ما جَمَعَ الناسُ لِدُنياهُمُ            أَنفَعُ في البَيتِ مِنَ الخُبزِ

/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:

1. أَنا أجمَعُ أَصِدقائي للطّعام /Anā ajmaʻu aṣidqāʼy llṭṭʻām./

I gather my friends for food.

2. أنتُما تَجمَعانِ الطَّوابِعَ والعُملاتِ القَدِيمةَ /Antumā tajmaʻāni alṭaawābiʻa wālʻumlāti alqadīmti/

You collect old stamps and coins.

3. هل جَمَعتُم ثَمَنَ المَلابِسِ؟ /Hal jamaʻtum thamana almalābisi?/

Did you collect the cost of clothes?

 Word Derivations 

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

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:

1. ضَمَ /Ḍamma/ to combine

2. أَضافَ /Aḍāfa/ to add

Example 1

جَمَعَ المالَ مَعَ الحِكمَةِ /Jamaʻa almāla maʻa alḥikmati/

He combined both money and wisdom.

Or

أَضافَ إلى المالِ الحِكمةَ /Aḍāfa ilá almāli alḥikmta/

 He added wisdom to money, meaning he had both.

Example 2 

جَمَعتْ حَبَّاتَ اللُّؤلؤِ في خَيطٍ /Jamaʻt ḥabaaāta allluʼlʼi fī khayṭin/

She combined pearls in a string.

 Or

ضَمَّتْ حَبَّاتَ اللُّؤلؤِ في خَيطٍ /Ḍamaat ḥabaaāta allluʼlʼi fī khayṭin/

 She added pearls in a string.

 Opposites

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

 1. فَرَّقَ /Farraqa/ to separate 

2. باعَدَ /Bāʻada/ to put apart

Examples

جَمعَ الحُبُّ النَّاسَ وفَرَّق بَينَهُم المالُ.

/ Jamʻaa alḥubbu alnaaāsa wfaraaq baynahum almālu/

Love has gathered people, but money has separated them.

تَجمَعينَ الكُتبَ في المكَتَبةِ ولا تباعدينَ بينها

/Tajmaʻyna alkutba fī almkatabti wa-lā tbāʻdyna baynahā/

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

 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.

Now it’s your turn to write sentences in the comments using the verb جَمَعَ  /Jamaʻa/.

Do you have any other verb suggestions to discuss?