TO DO

TO DO / TO MAKE

Dialogue 16

A: What are you doing? / What are you in the process of doing?

ما الَّذِي تَفْعَلُهُ؟ / ما الَّذِي أَنْتَ مُنْشَغِلٌ بِفِعْلِهِ الآنَ؟

Mā alladhī tafʿaluhu? / Mā alladhī anta munshaghilun bi-fiʿlihi al-āna?

B: I am writing a letter to my fiancée.

أَنَا أَكْتُبُ رِسالَةً إِلى خَطِيبَتِي

Anā aktubu risālatan ilā khaṭībatī.

A: What is your mother doing?

ما الَّذِي تَفْعَلُهُ أُمُّكَ؟

Mā alladhī tafʿaluhu ummuka?

B: She is cooking (preparing the food).

هِيَ تُعِدُّ الطَّعامَ

Hiya tuʿiddu aṭ-ṭaʿām.

A: What is your sister doing?

ما الَّذِي تَفْعَلُهُ أُخْتُكَ؟

Mā alladhī tafʿaluhu ukhtuka?

B: She is reading a book.

هِيَ تَقْرَأُ كِتاباً

Hiya taqra'u kitāban.

A: What do you do for a living?

ما مِهْنَتُكَ؟ / بِمَ تَعْمَلُ؟

Mā mihnatuka? / Bimā taʿmalu?

B: I am unemployed.

أَنَا عاطِلٌ عَنِ العَمَلِ

Anā ʿāṭilun ʿani al-ʿamal.

A: Why are you unemployed?

لِماذا أَنْتَ عاطِلٌ عَنِ العَمَلِ؟

Limādhā anta ʿāṭilun ʿani al-ʿamal?

B: I am unemployed because I cannot find work in my city.

أَنَا عاطِلٌ لِأَنَّني لا أَسْتَطِيعُ إِيجادَ عَمَلٍ في مَدِينَتِي

Anā ʿāṭilun li-annanī lā astaṭīʿu ījāda ʿamalin fī madīnatī.

A: What does your father do?

ما عَمَلُ أَبِيكَ؟

Mā ʿamalu abīka?

B: My father is a doctor.

أَبِي طَبِيبٌ

Abī ṭabīb.

A: What does your mother do?

ما عَمَلُ أُمِّكَ؟

Mā ʿamalu ummika?

B: My mother is a housewife.

أُمِّي رَبَّةُ بَيْتٍ

Ummī rabbatu bayt.

A: What does your sister do?

ما عَمَلُ أُخْتِكَ؟

Mā ʿamalu ukhtika?

B: She is a hairdresser.

هِيَ  مُصَفِّفَةُ شَعْرٍ

Hiya khayyāṭah / Muṣaffifatu shaʿr. 

A: What does your brother do?

ما عَمَلُ أَخِيكَ؟

Mā ʿamalu akhīka?

B: He works in a factory in Casablanca.

هُوَ يَعْمَلُ في مَصْنَعٍ في الدَّارِ البَيْضاءِ

Huwa yaʿmalu fī maṣnaʿin fī ad-Dār al-Bayḍā'.

Glossary (Dialogue 17):

*   a letter: رِسالَة - Risālah.

*   a book: كِتابٌ - Kitāb.

*   life: حَياة - Ḥayāh.

*   a city: مَدِينَةٌ - Madīnah.

*   a housewife: رَبَّةُ بَيْتٍ - Rabbatu bayt.

*   a hairdresser: مُصَفِّفَةُ شَعْرٍ - Muṣaffifatu shaʿr.

*   to do/to make: يَفْعَلُ - Yafʿalu.

*   to cook: يُعِدُّ الطَّعامَ - Yuʿiddu aṭ-ṭaʿām.

*   to write: يَكْتُبُ - Yaktubu.

*   to read: يَقْرَأُ - Yaqra'u.

*   to manage to/ to succeed in: يَسْتَطِيعُ / يَتَمَكَّنُ مِنْ - Yastaṭīʿu / Yatamakkanu min.

*   to find: يَجِدُ - Yajidu.

*   to work: يَعْمَلُ - Yaʿmalu.