Learn Arabic › A1 › ثُمَّ
ثُمَّ
then /ˈθum.ma/
particleA1#171 most common
Also: thereupon, afterwards, subsequently
Example sentences
شَرِبْتُ الْمَاءَ ثُمَّ خَرَجْتُ.
I drank the water, then I went out.
ذَهَبَ إِلَى السُّوقِ ثُمَّ عَادَ إِلَى الْبَيْتِ.
He went to the market, then returned home.
تَنَاوَلْنَا الْعَشَاءَ ثُمَّ تَمَشَّيْنَا فِي الْحَدِيقَةِ.
We had dinner, then we walked in the garden.
أَنْهَى دِرَاسَتَهُ الْجَامِعِيَّةَ، ثُمَّ الْتَحَقَ بِشَرِكَةٍ كَبِيرَةٍ.
He finished his university studies, then joined a large company.
فَكَّرَ الْوَزِيرُ طَوِيلًا فِي الْأَمْرِ، ثُمَّ اتَّخَذَ قَرَارَهُ النِّهَائِيَّ.
The minister thought about the matter for a long time, then made his final decision.
تَقَلَّبَتْ بِهِ الْأَحْوَالُ وَتَنَقَّلَ بَيْنَ الْمُدُنِ، ثُمَّ اسْتَقَرَّ بِهِ الْمَقَامُ فِي قَرْيَةٍ نَائِيَةٍ.
Circumstances tossed him about and he moved between cities, then he finally settled in a remote village.
Word family
Etymology
ثُمَّ is a primitive Semitic particle of succession. Many scholars link it to the locative deictic ثَمَّ, meaning "there," with the temporal sense "then" developing out of the spatial one. The Arabic ث corresponds regularly to Hebrew שׁ, which supports the comparison with the Semitic word for "there."
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