Learn Arabic › B2 › عَبَر
عَبَر
to cross /ˈʕa.ba.ra/
verbB2#4135 most common
Also: to pass, to traverse, to pass through
Example sentences
عَبَرَ الرَّجُلُ الشَّارِعَ.
The man crossed the street.
عَبَرْتُ الطَّرِيقَ بِحَذَرٍ.
I crossed the road carefully.
تَعْبُرُ السَّيَّارَاتُ الجِسْرَ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ.
Cars cross the bridge every day.
عَبَرَ اللَّاجِئُونَ الحُدُودَ بَحْثًا عَنِ الأَمَانِ.
The refugees crossed the border in search of safety.
عَبَرَتِ السَّفِينَةُ المُحِيطَ الأَطْلَسِيَّ فِي أُسْبُوعَيْنِ.
The ship crossed the Atlantic Ocean in two weeks.
لَمْ يَكَدِ الجَيْشُ يَعْبُرُ النَّهْرَ حَتَّى بَاغَتَهُ العَدُوُّ.
The army had barely crossed the river when the enemy ambushed it.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أَعْبُرُ | عَبَرْتُ | سَأَعْبُرُ |
| 2sg | تَعْبُرُ | عَبَرْتَ | سَتَعْبُرُ |
| 3sg | يَعْبُرُ | عَبَرَ | سَيَعْبُرُ |
| 1pl | نَعْبُرُ | عَبَرْنَا | سَنَعْبُرُ |
| 2pl | تَعْبُرُونَ | عَبَرْتُمْ | سَتَعْبُرُونَ |
| 3pl | يَعْبُرُونَ | عَبَرُوا | سَيَعْبُرُونَ |
Word family
عَابِرpassing, transient, passerby
مَعْبَرcrossing point, ford
عَبَّارَةferry
عُبُورthe act of crossingعَبَّرَto express (literally, to carry meaning across into words)
Etymology
The verb comes from the Semitic root ʿ-b-r, meaning to pass over or cross. The same root gives Hebrew its name: ʿIvri, traditionally understood as the one who crossed over from the other side of the river. Arabic kept the core sense of physical crossing while later derived forms extended it to figurative movement, such as expressing thoughts by 'crossing' them into words.
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