Learn Arabic › A2 › تَخَيَّل
تَخَيَّل
to imagine /taˈxajjal/
verbA2#889 most common
Also: to picture to oneself, to visualize, to fancy
Example sentences
أَتَخَيَّلُ بَيْتًا كَبِيرًا.
I imagine a big house.
هَلْ تَتَخَيَّلُ حَيَاةً بِدُونِ هَاتِف؟
Do you imagine a life without a phone?
تَخَيَّلَتْ نَفْسَهَا مُعَلِّمَةً فِي الْمُسْتَقْبَل.
She imagined herself as a teacher in the future.
لَمْ أَكُنْ أَتَخَيَّلُ أَنَّ الرِّحْلَةَ سَتَكُونُ بِهَذِهِ الصُّعُوبَة.
I had not imagined that the trip would be this difficult.
يَتَخَيَّلُ الْكَاتِبُ عَوَالِمَ لَمْ يَزُرْهَا أَحَدٌ مِنْ قَبْل، ثُمَّ يَصِفُهَا بِدِقَّةٍ مُذْهِلَة.
The writer imagines worlds no one has visited before, then describes them with astonishing precision.
كُلَّمَا تَخَيَّلْنَا مَآلَ الْأُمُورِ عَلَى نَحْوٍ مُغَايِر، أَدْرَكْنَا كَمْ كَانَتْ خِيَارَاتُنَا مَحْكُومَةً بِالظُّرُوف.
Whenever we imagined how things might have turned out differently, we realized how much our choices were governed by circumstance.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أَتَخَيَّلُ | تَخَيَّلْتُ | سَأَتَخَيَّلُ |
| 2sg | تَتَخَيَّلُ | تَخَيَّلْتَ | سَتَتَخَيَّلُ |
| 3sg | يَتَخَيَّلُ | تَخَيَّلَ | سَيَتَخَيَّلُ |
| 1pl | نَتَخَيَّلُ | تَخَيَّلْنَا | سَنَتَخَيَّلُ |
| 2pl | تَتَخَيَّلُونَ | تَخَيَّلْتُمْ | سَتَتَخَيَّلُونَ |
| 3pl | يَتَخَيَّلُونَ | تَخَيَّلُوا | سَيَتَخَيَّلُونَ |
Word family
خَيَالimagination, fantasy, phantom
تَخَيُّلimagining, imagination (the act)
مُتَخَيِّلimaginative, one who imagines
خَيَّلَto make appear, to evoke an image
مُتَخَيَّلimagined, imaginary
Etymology
تَخَيَّل comes from the Semitic root خ-ي-ل, which carries the sense of appearance, fancy, and mental images. The related noun خَيَال means a phantom or a picture in the mind. The verb follows the Form V (تَفَعَّل) reflexive pattern, so it means to form such an image for oneself: to imagine. The same root names the old shadow-puppet theater, خَيَال الظِّل.
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