Learn Arabic › B2 › فاجَأ
فاجَأ
to surprise (someone), to catch off guard /ˈfaː.dʒa.ʔa/
verbB2#4092 most common
Also: to take by surprise, to catch unawares, to spring something on someone
Example sentences
فاجأتني هذه الهدية.
This gift surprised me.
فاجأني صديقي بزيارته.
My friend surprised me with his visit.
فاجأتنا نتيجة الامتحان.
The exam result surprised us.
فاجأ الرئيس الجميع بإعلان قراره المفاجئ.
The president surprised everyone by announcing his sudden decision.
لم يفاجئني قرارها، فقد توقعت ذلك منذ زمن.
Her decision did not surprise me, since I had expected it for a long time.
فاجأتِ الشركةُ المستثمرين بإعادة هيكلة جذرية لم تكن في الحسبان.
The company surprised investors with a radical restructuring that no one had anticipated.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أُفَاجِئ | فَاجَأْتُ | سَأُفَاجِئ |
| 2sg | تُفَاجِئ | فَاجَأْتَ | سَتُفَاجِئ |
| 3sg | يُفَاجِئ | فَاجَأَ | سَيُفَاجِئ |
| 1pl | نُفَاجِئ | فَاجَأْنَا | سَنُفَاجِئ |
| 2pl | تُفَاجِئون | فَاجَأْتُم | سَتُفَاجِئون |
| 3pl | يُفَاجِئون | فَاجَأُوا | سَيُفَاجِئون |
Word family
فَجْأةsuddenness, surprise (as a quality)
مُفَاجَأةa surprise, an unexpected event
مُفَاجِئsurprising, sudden
مُفَاجَأsurprised, taken aback
فُجَائِيsudden, abrupt
Etymology
فاجَأ comes from the Semitic triliteral root ف-ج-أ, which carries the core idea of sudden occurrence. The same root gives فجأة, the common word for 'suddenly'. Arabic is a Semitic language, not Indo-European, so it has no Proto-Indo-European ancestor or PIE-derived cognates.
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