Learn Arabic › B2 › أَلْفَى
أَلْفَى
to find /ʔalˈfaː/
verbB2#4023 most common
Also: to come upon, to encounter, to discover
Example sentences
دَخَلَ الغُرْفَةَ وَأَلْفَى الكِتَابَ عَلَى الطَّاوِلَةِ.
He entered the room and found the book on the table.
أَلْفَيْتُ صَدِيقِي فِي الحَدِيقَةِ صَبَاحَ اليَوْمِ.
I found my friend in the garden this morning.
أَلْفَتِ الشُّرْطَةُ اللِّصَّ مُخْتَبِئًا فِي الظَّلَامِ.
The police found the thief hiding in the dark.
أَلْفَوْا البَابَ مَفْتُوحًا حِينَ عَادُوا مِنَ السَّفَرِ.
They found the door open when they returned from their trip.
يُلْفِي المَرْءُ نَفْسَهُ أَحْيَانًا فِي مَوَاقِفَ لَمْ يَكُنْ يَتَوَقَّعُهَا.
A person sometimes finds himself in situations he did not expect.
وَأَلْفَيَا سَيِّدَهَا لَدَى البَابِ.
And the two of them found her master at the door.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أُلْفِي | أَلْفَيْتُ | سَأُلْفِي |
| 2sg | تُلْفِي | أَلْفَيْتَ | سَتُلْفِي |
| 3sg | يُلْفِي | أَلْفَى | سَيُلْفِي |
| 1pl | نُلْفِي | أَلْفَيْنَا | سَنُلْفِي |
| 2pl | تُلْفُونَ | أَلْفَيْتُمْ | سَتُلْفُونَ |
| 3pl | يُلْفُونَ | أَلْفَوْا | سَيُلْفُونَ |
Word family
إلْفَاءthe act of finding or coming upon
مُلْفٍone who finds or comes upon (active participle)
مُلْفًىfound, come upon (passive participle)
وَجَدَto find (the common everyday synonym)
Etymology
أَلْفَى is a Form IV verb (أفعل) built on the triliteral Semitic root ل ف ي, whose core sense is finding or coming upon something. The Form IV hamza prefix turns the root into an event that happens to the subject rather than a plain action, so the verb often frames finding as a sudden or notable encounter. It shows up in classical prose and the Quran, most famously in the Joseph story, where it introduces a scene of unexpectedly coming upon someone. In modern usage the far more common synonym وجد has largely taken its place.
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