Learn Arabic › B1 › أَثْناء
أَثْناء
during /ʔaθˈnaːʔ/
nounB1#2965 most common
Also: in the course of, while, amid
Example sentences
أَتَحَدَّثُ مَعَ صَدِيقِي أَثْنَاءَ الْغَدَاءِ.
I talk with my friend during lunch.
نَمْنَعُ اسْتِخْدَامَ الْهَاتِفِ أَثْنَاءَ الدَّرْسِ.
We forbid using the phone during class.
تَعَرَّضَتِ الْمَدِينَةُ لِأَضْرَارٍ كَبِيرَةٍ أَثْنَاءَ الْحَرْبِ.
The city suffered great damage during the war.
أُصِيبَ عَدَدٌ مِنَ الْعُمَّالِ أَثْنَاءَ تَنْفِيذِ أَعْمَالِ الصِّيَانَةِ.
A number of workers were injured during the maintenance work.
تَبَادَلَ الْوَفْدَانِ وُجْهَاتِ النَّظَرِ أَثْنَاءَ الْمُفَاوَضَاتِ الَّتِي اسْتَمَرَّتْ لِسَاعَاتٍ.
The two delegations exchanged views during the negotiations that lasted for hours.
لَاحَظَ الْبَاحِثُونَ تَغَيُّرًا مَلْحُوظًا فِي نَشَاطِ الدِّمَاغِ أَثْنَاءَ مُعَالَجَةِ الْمَعْلُومَاتِ الْمُعَقَّدَةِ.
The researchers observed a notable change in brain activity during the processing of complex information.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | أَثْناءُ | None |
| Genitive | أَثْناءِ | None |
| Accusative | أَثْناءَ | None |
| Vocative | None | None |
Word family
Etymology
أثناء comes from the Arabic root ث ن ي, which carries the sense of folding or doubling. The word is historically the broken plural of ثِنْي, meaning a fold or bend. Arabic speakers extended the image of a fold to time itself: something happening أثناء a period happens within its folds, that is, during it. The word now functions almost entirely as a time adverbial rather than as a literal noun for folds.
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