Learn Arabic › B2 › حَفَر
حَفَر
to dig /ˈħa.fa.ra/
verbB2#3255 most common
Also: to excavate, to burrow, to dig out (a well, grave, trench)
Example sentences
حَفَرَ الوَلَدُ حُفرَةً صَغِيرَةً فِي الحَدِيقَةِ.
The boy dug a small hole in the garden.
يَحْفِرُ العُمَّالُ نَفَقًا تَحْتَ الشَّارِعِ.
The workers are digging a tunnel under the street.
حَفَرْنَا بِئْرًا لِلْمَاءِ فِي القَرْيَةِ.
We dug a well for water in the village.
حَفَرَتِ الشَّرِكَةُ خَنْدَقًا طَوِيلًا لِمَدِّ الأَنَابِيبِ.
The company dug a long trench to lay the pipes.
ظَلَّ الجُنُودُ يَحْفِرُونَ الخَنَادِقَ طَوَالَ اللَّيْلِ اسْتِعْدَادًا لِلْمَعْرَكَةِ.
The soldiers kept digging trenches all night in preparation for battle.
بِتَصَرُّفِهِ الطَّائِشِ، يَكُونُ قَدْ حَفَرَ قَبْرَهُ بِيَدِهِ.
With his reckless behavior, he will have dug his own grave with his own hand.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أَحْفِرُ | حَفَرْتُ | سَأَحْفِرُ |
| 2sg | تَحْفِرُ | حَفَرْتَ | سَتَحْفِرُ |
| 3sg | يَحْفِرُ | حَفَرَ | سَيَحْفِرُ |
| 1pl | نَحْفِرُ | حَفَرْنَا | سَنَحْفِرُ |
| 2pl | تَحْفِرُونَ | حَفَرْتُمْ | سَتَحْفِرُونَ |
| 3pl | يَحْفِرُونَ | حَفَرُوا | سَيَحْفِرُونَ |
Word family
حُفْرَة (ḥufra)hole, pit
حَفْر (ḥafr)digging, excavation (verbal noun)
حَفَّار (ḥaffār)digger, excavator machine or worker
مَحْفُور (maḥfūr)dug, excavated
اِحْتَفَرَ (iḥtafara)to dig out, excavate for oneself
Etymology
Ḥafara comes from the Semitic triliteral root ḥ-f-r, which carries the core sense of digging or excavating. The root is not unique to Arabic; it runs through other Semitic languages with the same basic meaning. Because Arabic is Semitic rather than Indo-European, the word has no Proto-Indo-European ancestor.
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