501 Arabic Verbs: Fully Conjugated in All Forms [Paperback]

Raymond Scheindlin Ph.D. (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764136224 | ISBN-13: 978-0764136221 | Publication Date: October 1, 2007 | Edition: Bilingual

Barron's 501 Arabic Verbs is printed in Arabic script with exemplary sentences in English for each verb. To reflect correct Arabic style, 501 Arabic Verbs has been printed back cover to front and back page to front. Verbs are arranged alphabetically in a table format, one verb per page with English translation, and conjugated in all tenses and forms. The book's additional features include common idioms with example sentences to demonstrate verb usage and a grammar review.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

(back cover)
Learning Arabic Becomes Easier
With This Helpful Guide to Verbs and Their Roots

The 501 most common Arabic verbs in a table format

Both the Arabic characters and their English infinitive form at the top of each page

Exemplary sentences presented for each verb

An enlightening explanatory essay discusses Arabic verb formation and usage

Indexes list verbs in both root order and strict alphabetical order

Product Details

• Paperback: 584 pages
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series; Bilingual edition (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764136224
• ISBN-13: 978-0764136221
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #41,070 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #12 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Arabic
  • #16 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Arabic > Instruction

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars useful, but needs much better indexing, June 3, 2008

By 

Ryan Calder (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 501 Arabic Verbs: Fully Conjugated in All Forms (Paperback)

Used together with Hans Wehr's indispensable dictionary, this book is very useful for the intermediate learner of Arabic. However, the lack of English indexing is extremely frustrating. In short, it's definitely worth having until the next edition comes out - hopefully with a much-improved index.

PROS:

1. Each of the 501 verbs is conjugated neatly in its 65 different forms according to:

- person (1st, 2nd, and 3rd)

- number (singular, dual, plural)

- gender (feminine and masculine)

- voice (active and passive)

- mood (perfect (maadhi), imperfect (marfoo'a), subjunctive (mansoob), jussive (majroor), imperative (amr))

- active participle (sighat al-fa'il), passive participle (sighat al-maf'ool), and verbal noun (masdar)

These are all the forms that Arabic professors expect you (as an intermediate or advanced student) to know off the top of your head, but that few of us can actually recite perfectly - especially for weak verbs, hollow verbs, etc. So it's great having it all in once place as a reference. Even for the beginner, seeing all of this laid out for each verb in one place will give you a good visual schema for how Arabic verbs work.

2. Each verb comes with three or four example sentences using different forms of the verb in context. Very helpful if you're trying to learn new verbs.

3. Each verb comes with its verb pattern (wazn, I to X) and root (jadhr). The book is alphabetized by jadhr, just like Hans Wehr. The verbs are also indexed at the back of the book alphabetically in Arabic as well (i.e. by spelling of the pattern of the verb listed, not just by root).

4. Unlike some other reviewers, I don't find the type to be too small. It's fine. A lot of Arabic texts are written in smaller print than this anyway.

CONS:

1. Although each verb comes with the English meaning, there is no way to look up a verb by its English meaning without flipping through the entire book. This quickly becomes really annoying. It would have taken the publisher a couple of hours and added only a few pages to the end of the book to include an index of the 501 verbs by English definition. This is by far the biggest problem with the book. Without this problem, this would be a five-star book. The way it is, it's about 3 1/2 stars.

2. Although the verbs are indexed at the back of the book and numbered 1-501, page numbers aren't listed to lead you to the verb. Even worse, although the index tells you what verb #70 (out of 501) is, there's no #70 written next to the verb in the body of the book! So the index numbering is completely useless. A big oversight.

3. To make this book even better, it would help to have (a) the plural of the verbal noun (masdar) listed (since these are often irregular) and (b) the prepositions that are used with each verb. I find that I have to look to the example sentences to sort out which preposition comes after each verb, and sometimes that doesn't even clear up the question.

4. There are a few typos to watch out for - I've noticed a couple of sukkuns that should actually be hamzas. But this is a very minor gripe - it's almost 100% correct as far as I can tell.

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Missing a verb index in English, October 14, 2007

By 

J. L. Adams (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 501 Arabic Verbs: Fully Conjugated in All Forms (Paperback)

This book does not contain an index of the verbs in English. If you're new to Arabic or don't already know the Arabic verb you wish to use, you're out of luck. You'll have to sift through hundreds of pages of verbs in the hopes of finding the one you want. It's such a shame that this book has so much to offer but is missing the one thing that would truly make it a valuable, user-friendly tool.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Indexing and Layout is Not As Good, October 26, 2007

By 

Ghulam Rabani (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 501 Arabic Verbs: Fully Conjugated in All Forms (Paperback)

I have a copy of the previous '201 verbs' and was sufficiently impressed. When I heard there was an opportunity to get the same book now with 501 verbs and examples I jumped at the chance (I bought it a day after it was available at Amazon).

I have just received my copy (so my feedback maybe a little premature as I haven't given the new edition a chance to grow on me). However, the layout of the new edition is poor. The conjugation of the verbs rather than placed on one page is allowed to spread/spill over to the next page. This detracts from the users ability to see the "whole" picture for that verb. I understand that with the addition of the examples more space is needed, but alas this is a painful compromise.

I saved the best for last. The index of this book is BAD. I mean really BAD. The previous edition, although disliked by others, was after a while self explanatory and logical. In the older edition you could find verbs based on their type/form which, for most, is more useful than an alphabetical listing which limits the users ability to find a verb which is of the same form he is trying to look up (I mean you will hardly be looking up the same verb that exists in the book!).

I will try and contact the publisher and see if they will produce and make freely available an index based on the previous form.

A great book that has had its potential straight-jacketed.