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 the different meanings it carries within different contexts.
Verb of the Day: ذَهَبَ /Dhahaba/
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:
1. ذهبَ أَبِي إلى السوقِ
/Dhhba abī ilá alswqi/
(My father went to the market).
This is an example of the main meaning, which is “going or leaving”.
2. ذهبَتِ الحُمَى عَنْي
/Dhhbati alḥumá ʻany/
(The fever went away from me)
This verb means he was cured and the fever disappeared and left.
3. ذَهَبَ عملُه
/Dhahaba ʻmalahu/
(His work is gone)
Here it is used to mean that his effort was lost in vain and was useless.
4. ذهَبَ جهدُه سُدًى
/Dhhab jhduh sudan/
(His efforts were in vain)
This expression means that his work did not yield any fruitful results.
5. ذَهَبَ إلى قولِ فلانٍ
/Dhahaba ilá qwli fulānin/
(He went with someone’s opinion)
It means that he adopted and embraced it.
Verb Conjugation with Pronouns
| I went | /Anā dhahbtu / |
أَنا ذَهبتُ |
| I go | /Anā adhhabu/ |
أَنا أَذهَبُ |
| We went | /Naḥnu dhahbnā/ |
نَحنُ ذَهبنا |
| We go | /Naḥnu nadhhbu/ |
نَحنُ نَذهبُ |
| He went | /Huwa dhahaba / |
هُوَ ذَهَبَ |
| He goes | /Huwa yadhhabu/ |
هُوَ يَذهَبُ |
| They went
(Plural third person) masculine |
/Hum dhahbw/ |
هُم ذَهبوا |
| They go
(Plural third person) masculine |
/Hum yadhhbwn/ |
هُم يَذهبون |
| She went | /Hya dhahabat/ |
هيَ ذَهَبَتْ |
| She goes | /Hya tadhhbu/ |
هيَ تَذهبُ |
| They went
(Plural third person) feminine |
/Hunn dhahbna / |
هُنّ ذَهبنَ |
| They go
(Plural third person) feminine |
/Hunn yadhhbna/ |
هُنّ يَذهبنَ |
| You went
(Singular second person) |
/Anta dhahabata / |
أنتَ ذَهَبَتَ |
| You go
(Singular second person) |
/Anta tadhhbu/ |
أنتَ تَذهب
|
| You went
(Plural second person) |
/Antum dhahbtum / |
أَنتُم ذَهبتُم |
| You go
(Plural second person) |
/Antum tadhhbwn/ |
أَنتُم تَذهبون
|
| You went
(Singular second person) feminine |
/Anti dhahabti/ |
أنتِ ذَهَبتِ |
| You go
(Singular second person) feminine |
/Anti tadhhbyn/ |
أنتِ تَذهبين |
| You went
(Plural second person) feminine |
/Antunna dhahbtunn / |
أَنتُنَّ ذَهبتُنّ |
| You go
(Plural second person) feminine |
/Antunn tadhhbna/
|
أَنتُنّ تَذهبنَ |
| You went
(Dual second person) feminine |
/Antumā dhahabatumā / |
أَنتما ذَهَبَتُما |
| You go
(Dual second person) feminine |
/Antumā tadhhbāni/ |
أَنتما تَذهبانِ |
| They went
(Dual third person) masculine |
/Humā dhahbā / |
هُما ذَهبا |
| They go
(Dual third person) masculine |
/Humā yadhhbāni/ |
هُما يَذهبانِ |
Let’s check the following present tense examples:
1. يذهبُ والدي إلى عمله باكرًا
/Ydhhbu Wālidī ilá ʻamalih bākran/ (My father goes to work early),
2. أذهبُ كلَّ يوم إلى المدرسة
/ʼdhhbu kulla yawm ilá al-Madrasah/ (I go to school every day.)
3. يغادر
/Yughādr/ (He leaves)
أغادر
/Ughādr/ (I leave)
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 wajāٓʼatۡhu lۡbushۡráā yujaādilunā fī qawۡmi lūṭin/ [Hūd : 74]
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:
ذَهَبَ الصِّبَا وَتَوَلَّتِ الأَيَّامُ فَعَلَى الصِّبَا وَعَلَى الزَّمَانِ سَلامُ
/Dhahaba alṣiibā watawalaati alʼayaaāmu faʻalá alṣiibā waʻalá alzaamāni salāmu/
(The youth went away, and days went by, so goodbyes to youth and time)
In this context, ‘went away’ means that being young has departed and gone.
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:
ذَهبَ الطّالِبُ إلى المَدرَسةِ
/Dhahba alṭṭālibu ilá almadrasti/
(The student went to school)
هُم ذَهبوا إلى عَمَلِهِم
/Hum dhahbwā ilá ʻamalihim/
( They went to work)
هَل تَذهَبونَ إلى السِّينما في العُطلة؟
/Hal tadhhabwna ilá alssīnmā fī alʻuṭlh?/
(Do you go to the cinema on weekends?)
أَينَ سَتَذهَبُ لِتُكمِلَ دراسَتَكَ؟
/Ayna satadhhabu litukmila drāsataka?/
(Where will you go to complete your studies?)
Derivations
Now, we are going to look at different derivations from the root word ذَهَبَ:
1. ذَاهِب
/Dhāhib/ (Going away)
This is a noun that refers to the subject doing the action of going.
2. مَذْهَب
/Madhhab/ (Sect)
This is also a noun but it refers to something else. It means a sect, or a small religious group.
3. ذَهَابًا
/Dhahāban/ (Departing, leaving)
This word is a noun describing the action of leaving.
Synonyms
Let’s also look at synonyms of the common verb ذهب that can be helpful when we want to give a similar meaning to it. We have two main synonyms:
1. اِتَّجَهَ
/Itaajaha/ (to head to)
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.
2. قَصَدَ
/Qaṣada/ (intended)
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:
ذَهَبَ إلى الحَديقةِ
/Dhahaba ilá alḥadyqti/
(He went to the garden)
اِتّجَهَ إلى الحَديقةِ
/Ittjaha ilá alḥadyqti/
(He headed to the garden)
قَصدَ الحَديقةَ
/Qaṣada alḥadyqata/
He intended to go to the garden.
Opposites
There are two main opposites to the verb ذهب and both mean “to return” or “to come back”
1. عَادَ
/ʻĀda/ (He returned)
2. رَجِعَ
/Rajiʻa/ (He came back)
Examples
ذَهَبَ أَحمَدُ إلى الحَدِيقةِ وعادَ قَبل غُروب الشّمسِ.
/Dhahaba aḥmadu ilá alḥadīqti wʻāda qabl ghurwb alshshmsi./
(Ahmad went to the garden and returned before sunset)
ذهَبَ أَبي إلى العَملِ لَكِنَّهُ رَجَعَ باكِرًا.
/Dhhaba aby ilá alʻamli lakinaahu rajaʻa bākiran./
(My father went to work, but he came back early)
Conclusion
Now, our dear friends, we hope you like our verb for today.
Do you have suggestions for new verbs to talk about?
