Verb of the Day
Dhahaba
ذَهَبَ
In our verb series, we continue to learn about new Arabic verbs. Today’s verb is ذَهَبَ /Dhahaba/
This is a common verb that you will find yourself needing to use for everyday actions and situations.
You use it mainly to talk about going to a place, but since Arabic is a rich language, you will see in our blog the many ways you can use it and its different meanings within different contexts.
Main Meaning
The verb essentially means “to go”. In the Present tense, the form is يَذْهَب /Yathhabu/, and in the past, it is: ذَهَبَ /Dhahaba/
Other meanings indicated by the verb are: going, taking off, leaving, and disappearing.
Let’s check the following past tense examples and the different meanings in each one:
My father went to the market
Dhhba abī ilá alswqi
ذهبَ أَبِي إلى السوقِ
This is an example of the main meaning, which is “going or leaving”.
The fever went away from me
Dhhbati alḥumá ʻany
ذهبَتِ الحُمَى عَنْي
This verb means he was cured and the fever disappeared and left.
His work is gone
Dhahaba ʻmalahu
ذَهَبَ عملُه
Here it is used to mean that his effort was lost in vain and was useless.
His efforts were in vain
Dhhab jhduh sudan
ذهَبَ جهدُه سُدًى
This expression means that his work did not yield any fruitful results.
He went with someone’s opinion
Dhahaba ilá qwli fulānin
ذَهَبَ إلى قولِ فلانٍ
It means that he adopted and embraced it.
Verb Conjugation with Pronouns
English
Transcription
Arabic
I go
Anā adhhabu
أَنا أَذهَبُ
We go
Naḥnu nadhhbu
نَحنُ نَذهبُ
He goes
Huwa yadhhabu
هُوَ يَذهَبُ
They go (P/M)
Hum yadhhbwn
هُم يَذهبون
She goes
Hya tadhhbu
هيَ تَذهبُ
They go (P/F)
Hunn yadhhbna
هُنّ يَذهبنَ
You go (S/2nd)
Anta tadhhbu
أنتَ تَذهب
They go (P/F)
Hunn yadhhbna
هُنّ يَذهبنَ
You go (P/2nd)
Antum tadhhbwn
أَنتُم تَذهبون
You go (S/2nd)
Anta tadhhbu
أنتَ تَذهب
You go (P/F)
Antunn tadhhbna
أَنتُنّ تَذهبنَ
You go (D/F)
Antumā tadhhbāni
أَنتما تَذهبانِ
They go (D/M)
Humā yadhhbāni
هُما يَذهبانِ
*S = Singular, P = Plural, M = Masculine, F = Feminine, D = Dual
Let’s check the following present tense examples:
My father goes to work early
Ydhhbu Wālidī ilá ʻamalih bākran
يذهبُ والدي إلى عمله باكرًا
I go to school every day
ʼdhhbu kulla yawm ilá al-Madrasah
أذهبُ كلَّ يوم إلى المدرسة
In the Quran
One example of the use of the verb /Dhahaba/ ذَهَبَ (to go) to mean (to leave) can be found in the Quran in the Almighty’s saying:
فَلَمَّا ذَهَبَ عَنۡ إِبۡرَٰهِيمَ ٱلرَّوۡعُ وَجَآءَتۡهُ ٱلۡبُشۡرَىٰ يُجَٰدِلُنَا فِي قَوۡمِ لُوطٍ [هود: 74]
falammā dhahaba ʻanۡ ibۡraāhīma lrrawۡʻu wajāʼatۡhu lۡbushۡráā yujaādilunā fī qawۡmi lūṭin
The English translation of the verse is as follows: “Then when the fear had gone away from (the mind of) Ibrahim (Abraham), and the glad tidings had reached him, he began to plead with Us (Our Messengers) for the people of Lout (Lot). 74.” [Hud: 74]
The meaning of the verb as used in the above verse is to “leave”, “disappear” and “depart”.
In Poetry
We have an example also from poetry:
فَعَلَى الصِّبَا وَعَلَى الزَّمَانِ سَلامُ
ذَهَبَ الصِّبَا وَتَوَلَّتِ الأَيَّامُ
Dhahaba alṣiibā watawalaati alʼayaaāmu faʻalá alṣiibā waʻalá alzaamāni salāmu
The English translation of the verse is as follows: “Then when the fear had gone away from (the mind of) Ibrahim (Abraham), and the glad tidings had reached him, he began to plead with Us (Our Messengers) for the people of Lout (Lot). 74.” [Hud: 74]
The meaning of the verb as used in the above verse is to “leave”, “disappear” and “depart”.
More Examples
Let’s look at some more examples of the verb ذهب used in the main sense to mean “to go” or “move” physically to a destination:
The student went to school
Dhahba alṭṭālibu ilá almadrasti
ذَهبَ الطّالِبُ إلى المَدرَسةِ
They went to work
Hum dhahbwā ilá ʻamalihim
هُم ذَهبوا إلى عَمَلِهِم
Do you go to the cinema on weekends?
Hal tadhhabwna ilá alssīnmā fī alʻuṭlh?
هَل تَذهَبونَ إلى السِّينما في العُطلة؟
Where will you go to complete your studies?
Ayna satadhhabu litukmila drāsataka?
أَينَ سَتَذهَبُ لِتُكمِلَ دراسَتَكَ؟
The English translation of the verse is as follows: “Then when the fear had gone away from (the mind of) Ibrahim (Abraham), and the glad tidings had reached him, he began to plead with Us (Our Messengers) for the people of Lout (Lot). 74.” [Hud: 74]
The meaning of the verb as used in the above verse is to “leave”, “disappear” and “depart”.
Derivations
Now, we are going to look at different derivations from the root word ذَهَبَ:
Going
Dhāhib
ذَاهِب
This is a noun that refers to the subject doing the action of going.
Sect
Madhhab
مَذْهب
Departing
Dhahaban
ذَهَابًا
Synonyms
to head to
Itaajaha
اِتَّجَهَ
This verb focuses on directing yourself toward the destination you are headed to. So the action “going” is there too but we can visualize someone facing his destination with the meaning this verb carries.
intended
Qaṣada
قَصَدَ
This verb is similar to ذهب and it also carries in it the word “destination” as it is the root word of مقصد which means “target” or “destination”.
Examples
In the following examples, you can see the two verbs used in the same sense like the verb ذهب:
He went to the garden
Dhahaba ilá alḥadyqti
ذَهَبَ إلى الحَديقةِ
He headed to the garden
Ittjaha ilá alḥadyqti
اِتّجَهَ إلى الحَديقةِ
He intended to go to the garden
Qaṣada alḥadyqata
قَصدَ الحَديقةَ
Opposites
There are two main opposites to the verb ذهب and both mean “to return” or “to come back”
to return
ʻĀda
عَادَ
This is a noun that refers to the subject doing the action of going.
to come back
Rajiʻa
رَجِعَ
Examples
Ahmad went to the garden and returned before sunset
Dhahaba aḥmadu ilá alḥadīqti wʻāda qabl ghurwb alshshmsi
ذَهَبَ أَحمَدُ إلى الحَدِيقةِ وعادَ قَبل غُروب الشّمسِ
My father went to work, but he came back early
Dhhaba aby ilá alʻamli lakinaahu rajaʻa bākiran
ذهَبَ أَبي إلى العَملِ لَكِنَّهُ رَجَعَ باكِرًا
Final word
Now, our dear friends, we hope you liked our verb for today.
Go to our Verb of the Day page to learn other important Arabic verbs.
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