Learn Arabic › B2 › سَلَك
سَلَك
to follow or take (a path); to enter, pass through, or thread something into /ˈsa.la.ka/
verbB2#3095 most common
Also: to pursue (a course of action), to insert/thread through, to travel (a route)
Example sentences
هُوَ يَسْلُكُ الطَّرِيقَ إِلَى المَدْرَسَةِ.
He takes the road to school.
سَلَكْتُ طَرِيقًا آخَرَ أَمْسِ.
I took a different route yesterday.
يَجِبُ أَنْ نَسْلُكَ هٰذَا الشَّارِعَ لِلْوُصُولِ بِسُرْعَةٍ.
We must take this street to arrive quickly.
سَلَكَتِ الحُكُومَةُ سِيَاسَةً جَدِيدَةً فِي التَّعْلِيمِ.
The government adopted a new policy in education.
سَلَكَ الخَيَّاطُ الخَيْطَ فِي ثَقْبِ الإِبْرَةِ بِمَهَارَةٍ.
The tailor threaded the thread through the eye of the needle skillfully.
مَا سَلَكَكُمْ فِي سَقَرَ
What led you into Hellfire?
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أَسْلُكُ | سَلَكْتُ | سَأَسْلُكُ |
| 2sg | تَسْلُكُ | سَلَكْتَ | سَتَسْلُكُ |
| 3sg | يَسْلُكُ | سَلَكَ | سَيَسْلُكُ |
| 1pl | نَسْلُكُ | سَلَكْنَا | سَنَسْلُكُ |
| 2pl | تَسْلُكُونَ | سَلَكْتُمْ | سَتَسْلُكُونَ |
| 3pl | يَسْلُكُونَ | سَلَكُوا | سَيَسْلُكُونَ |
Word family
سِلْكwire, thread; also a professional corps, as in السِّلْك الدِّبْلُومَاسِي, the diplomatic corps
مَسْلَكpath, way, course of action
سُلُوكbehavior, conductسَالِكpassable (of a road); a wayfarer or traveler, used in Sufi writing for a spiritual seeker
Etymology
سَلَك comes from the Semitic triliteral root س-ل-ك (s-l-k), which centers on the idea of entering a course and moving along it, whether a road, a policy, or a thread through a needle. Classical Arabic dictionaries treat the physical sense, taking or entering a path, as basic, with the abstract senses (pursuing a policy, being led into a state) built on top of it. The same root gives سُلُوك, behavior, understood literally as one's manner of proceeding along a course.
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