Learn Arabic › A1 › خَطَأ
خَطَأ
mistake /ˈxa.tˤaʔ/
nounA1#312 most common
Also: error, fault, wrong
Example sentences
هٰذَا خَطَأٌ.
This is a mistake.
لَا تَقْلَقْ، هٰذَا خَطَأٌ بَسِيطٌ.
Don't worry, this is a minor mistake.
كُلُّ شَخْصٍ يَرْتَكِبُ الْأَخْطَاءَ أَحْيَانًا.
Everyone makes mistakes sometimes.
اكْتَشَفَ الْمُهَنْدِسُ خَطَأً خَطِيرًا فِي التَّصْمِيمِ.
The engineer found a serious error in the design.
لَوْ لَمْ نُصَحِّحْ هٰذَا الْخَطَأَ مُبَكِّرًا، لَتَفَاقَمَتِ الْمُشْكِلَةُ.
Had we not corrected this mistake early, the problem would have worsened.
يُمَيِّزُ النُّقَّادُ بَيْنَ الْخَطَأِ الْعَفَوِيِّ وَالْخَطَأِ الْمُتَعَمَّدِ عِنْدَ تَقْيِيمِ النُّصُوصِ.
Critics distinguish between an accidental error and a deliberate one when evaluating texts.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | خَطَأٌ | أَخْطَاءٌ |
| Genitive | خَطَأٍ | أَخْطَاءٍ |
| Accusative | خَطَأً | أَخْطَاءً |
| Vocative | يَا خَطَأُ | يَا أَخْطَاءُ |
Word family
خَطِيئَةsin, transgression
أَخْطَأَto make a mistake, to err
خَطِئَto err, to sin
مُخْطِئmistaken, erringخَطَّأَto declare something wrong, to fault
Etymology
Khaṭaʼ comes from the Semitic root kh-ṭ-ʼ, whose base image is missing a target. From it Arabic builds the verb khaṭiʼa, to err or to sin. The same root appears in Hebrew and Aramaic, where it carries the sense of sinning and going astray.
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