Arabic for write

kataba

ﻛَﺘَﺐَ

write – past tense he

yaktubu

ﻳَﻜﺘُﺐُ

write – present tense he

The Arabic verb for write is written ﻛَﺘَﺐَ and pronunced kataba in its basic form (past tense masculinum singular). In present tense, the verb is written ﻳَﻜﺘُﺐُ and pronounced yaktubu. See more conjugations

About the audio files

Part of speech: verb. Pattern: verb

Using the word write

I write your name, oh my darling, on the old poplar.¹⁰

'aktubu ismaka yaa Habiibii 3alaa alHawari al3atiiqi

ﺃَﻛﺘُﺐُ ﺍِﺳﻤَﻚَ ﻳَﺎ ﺣَﺒِﻴﺒِﻲ ﻋَﻠَﻰ ﺍَﻟﺤَﻮَﺭِ ﺍَﻟﻌَﺘِﻴﻖِ

You write my name, oh my darling, oh the sand of the road.¹⁰

taktubu ismii yaa Habiibii 3alaa ramli aTTariiqi

ﺗَﻜﺘُﺐُ ﺍِﺳﻤِﻲ ﻳَﺎ ﺣَﺒِﻴﺒِﻲ ﻋَﻠَﻰ ﺭَﻣﻞِ ﺍَﻟﻄَّﺮِﻳﻖِ

I wrote the letter at dawn.

katabtu arrisaalata 3inda alfajri

ﻛَﺘَﺒﺖُ ﺍَﻟﺮِّﺳَﺎﻟَﺔَ ﻋِﻨﺪَ ﺍَﻟﻔَﺠﺮِ

Do you want to help arabic.fi?
We have thousands of words and almost two thousand phrases with detailed information, grammar lessons and many other resources. Everything is free to use. With your help, this website can be even better.
Read more here

Important letters: ﻙ ﺕ ﺏ

The root of the word write consists of three Arabic letters: kaf that is written ﻙ and pronounced k, ta that is written ﺕ and pronounced t and beh that is written ﺏ and pronounced b. Words with the same root letters are often related.

Words related to write

The word write letter by letter

ﻛَﺘَﺐَ

ﻛـ

ـﺘـ

ـﺐ

ﻛـ

ـﺘـ

ـﺐ

ﻙ

ﻛـ

ـﻜـ

ـﻚ

ﺕ

ﺗـ

ـﺘـ

ـﺖ

ﺏ

ﺑـ

ـﺒـ

ـﺐ

kaf

beh

The Arabic word for write consists of: The letter kaf that is written ﻙ ( here ﻛـ ) and pronounced k and is a part of the root of the word. The short vowel a that is written as the sign َ above the letter. The letter ta that is written ﺕ ( here ـﺘـ ) and pronounced t and is a part of the root of the word. The short vowel a that is written as the sign َ above the letter. The letter beh that is written ﺏ ( here ـﺐ ) and pronounced b and is a part of the root of the word. The short vowel a that is written as the sign َ above the letter. Therefore, the word is writen ﻛَﺘَﺐَ and pronounced kataba.

Arabic is written from right to left. Short vowels are placed above or under the letters, the are usually omitted.
Learn how to write with Arabic letters

The pattern for write

fa3ala becomes kataba

We have seen that the Arabic word for write is written ﻛَﺘَﺐَ and pronounced kataba. It follows the pattern verb form 1. All Arabic words with this pattern has the structure fa3ala where f, 3 and l is replaced with the root letters of the word.
Since the pattern is fa3ala and the root letters are k, t and b, the word becomes kataba.
All Arabic words with the same pattern follow the same structure. If you know the pattern and root of a word, you can often guess its meaning. Learn more about Arabic word patterns