Learn Arabic › B2 › طَفا
طَفا
to float /tˤaˈfaː/
verbB2#4042 most common
Also: to rise to the surface, to come to light (figurative)
Example sentences
طَفَا الخَشَبُ فَوْقَ الماءِ.
The wood floated on the water.
تَطْفُو الكُرَةُ عَلى سَطْحِ المُسَبَحِ.
The ball floats on the surface of the pool.
طَفَتِ الفَقاعاتُ إِلى أَعْلى كَأْسِ العَصيرِ.
The bubbles floated to the top of the juice glass.
طَفَتْ جُثَّةُ السَّمَكِ بِلا حَرَكَةٍ فَوْقَ النَّهْرِ.
The fish's carcass floated motionless on the river.
طَفَتْ بُقْعَةُ الزَّيْتِ عَلى سَطْحِ البَحْرِ بَعْدَ تَسَرُّبِ النَّاقِلَةِ.
An oil slick floated on the sea's surface after the tanker leak.
طَفَتْ إِلى السَّطْحِ حَقائِقُ كانَتْ مَطْمُورَةً مُنْذُ عُقودٍ، لِتُعيدَ كِتابَةَ التَّاريخِ.
Facts buried for decades floated to the surface, rewriting history.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أَطْفُو | طَفَوْتُ | سَأَطْفُو |
| 2sg | تَطْفُو | طَفَوْتَ | سَتَطْفُو |
| 3sg | يَطْفُو | طَفا | سَيَطْفُو |
| 1pl | نَطْفُو | طَفَوْنا | سَنَطْفُو |
| 2pl | تَطْفُونَ | طَفَوْتُمْ | سَتَطْفُونَ |
| 3pl | يَطْفُونَ | طَفَوْا | سَيَطْفُونَ |
Word family
طَفا / يَطْفُوto float
الطافي / طافٍfloating, buoyant
طَفْوfloating, buoyancy
Etymology
The verb comes from the Semitic root ṭ-f-w, which carries the basic sense of rising and staying on top of a liquid. Arabic is a Semitic language, not an Indo-European one, so it has no Proto-Indo-European ancestor. The root shows up across the Arabic verbal system in words for buoyancy and for things that surface, literally or figuratively.
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