Hamzated and Wāw-Initial Verbs

Two groups of very common verbs change their first root letter.

• أخذ (to take), أكل (to eat) and أمر (to order) have short imperatives without the hamza: خذ، كل، مر. Endings are added as usual: خذي (take, to a woman), كلوا (eat, to a group).
• Other hamzated verbs are regular: سأل → يسأل، اسأل (ask), قرأ → قرأت، نقرأ، اقرئي (read).
• Verbs that begin with و (وصل، وجد، وضع، وقف) keep it in the past (وصلوا، وجدت) but drop it in the present: يصل، أجد، نضع، تقف.
• Their imperative is only the short stem: ضع (put), قف (stop, stand), ضعي، قفوا.
• ولد is mostly used in the passive: ولدت في القاهرة (I was born in Cairo).