A few Arabic adverbs

I do have that dictionary, as well as a new one, but my study habits could do with some improving. I'll try a few of your tips and let you know. That's actually a very good dictionary, probably one of the best that has an English-Arabic section, if not the best. I've seen and used the Al-Mawrid dictionaries and I just don't care for them. The font size is way too small, I think that vowels are marked but they don't give the "clean" transliteration that the Hippocrene dictionary gives. I find that for dictionary references, Hans Wehr and the Hippocrene dictionary are really the only ones that I use on a consistent basis.

The only issue I have with the Hippocrene dictionary is the verbal form abbreviations. They aren't explained or listed anywhere in the qamus.

The only issue I have with the Hippocrene dictionary is the verbal form abbreviations. They aren't explained or listed anywhere in the qamus. I don't have a copy on me right now, but I'm guessing that you mean the u, a, or i that sometimes appears after the verb? Yeah, I don't recall the dictionary explaining what they mean, though with time I figured that it referred to the short vowel in yaktub.

...though with time I figured that it referred to the short vowel in yaktub. I thought perhaps it refered to one of the ten forms? I'm not sure what you mean...the vowel in the verb?

...though with time I figured that it referred to the short vowel in yaktub. I thought perhaps it refered to one of the ten forms? I'm not sure what you mean...the vowel in the verb? The Form I past tense (the default form) can be either fa3ala, fa3ila, or fa3ula. The present tense is yaf3al, yaf3il, or yaf3ul. When you look up the Arabic word in the dictionary, you see which of the past tense forms it uses. When you see kataba, you see that it's a Form I verb under fa3ala, and when you see shariba, you see that it is a Form I verb under fa3ila. However, this doesn't tell you anything about the short vowel in the present tense, which can change. kataba is in the fa3ala form in the past, but the yaf3ul form in the present. Note the u - this is what will be listed in the dictionary. There isn't really any pattern to this, and the forms must be memorized. However, it's not something you should stress about. You'll only need to worry about it if you plan to fully vowel what you write in Arabic, and when they are pronounced, the vowels are so short that the difference is negligible. Say a kasra when a fatHa would be the "correct" form, and what you said might just be correct in a different dialect. When in doubt, I say simply pronounce the vowel as a schwa <@>. I hope that made the vowel stuff more clearer - if I had my book with me I'd cite some more examples for comparison. EDIT: One more important thing I forgot to mention. You only need to worry about this stuff with Form I verbs. The vowels in all other measures are completely predictable (that is, except for stuff like "hollow verbs").

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