Learn Arabic › A1 › بُدّ
بُدّ
way out; escape (chiefly in لا بُدّ, 'there is no escape', hence 'must, inevitably') /ˈbudd/
nounA1#481 most common
Also: avoidance, alternative, no choice
Example sentences
لا بُدّ من النوم.
Sleep is a must.
لا بُدّ أن تشرب الماء كل يوم.
You must drink water every day.
لا بُدّ لنا من خطة واضحة قبل السفر.
We need a clear plan before the trip.
لا بُدّ أنّه نسي الموعد، فهو لم يصل حتى الآن.
He must have forgotten the appointment, since he has not arrived yet.
لم يكن هناك بُدّ من تأجيل الاجتماع بسبب الغياب.
There was no avoiding postponing the meeting because of the absences.
لا يجد المرء بُدّاً من الصبر إذا أراد أن يبلغ غايته.
A person finds no alternative to patience if he wants to reach his goal.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | بُدٌّ (buddun) | None |
| Genitive | بُدٍّ (buddin) | None |
| Accusative | بُدّاً (buddan) | None |
| Vocative | None | None |
Word family
لا بُدّ (lā budda)there is no escape; must, inevitably
بَدَّدَ (baddada)to scatter, squander
تَبَدُّد (tabaddud)dispersal, scattering
مُبَدِّد (mubaddid)squanderer, spendthrift
Etymology
بُدّ comes from the Semitic root b-d-d, whose core sense is separating or breaking apart. From the idea of getting away comes the noun's meaning of an escape or a way out. In modern Arabic the word almost never stands alone. It survives in the fixed phrase لا بُدّ, literally 'there is no escape', which now means 'must' or 'inevitably'.
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