Learn Arabic › A1 › فَضَّل
فَضَّل
to prefer /ˈfadˤ.dˤa.la/
verbA1#410 most common
Also: to favor, to give preference to
Example sentences
أُفَضِّلُ الشّايَ.
I prefer tea.
هَل تُفَضِّلُ القَهوَةَ أَمِ الشّايَ؟
Do you prefer coffee or tea?
فَضَّلَتْ لَيلى البَقاءَ في البَيتِ.
Layla preferred to stay home.
نُفَضِّلُ السَّفَرَ بِالقِطارِ عَلى الطّائِرَةِ.
We prefer traveling by train to the plane.
فَضَّلَ المُديرُ المُرَشَّحَ الأَكثَرَ خِبرَةً عَلى سِواهُ.
The manager preferred the more experienced candidate over the rest.
لَطالَما فَضَّلتُ العُزلَةَ عَلى صَخَبِ المُدُنِ الكَبيرَةِ.
I have always preferred solitude to the din of big cities.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أُفَضِّلُ | فَضَّلْتُ | سَأُفَضِّلُ |
| 2sg | تُفَضِّلُ | فَضَّلْتَ | سَتُفَضِّلُ |
| 3sg | يُفَضِّلُ | فَضَّلَ | سَيُفَضِّلُ |
| 1pl | نُفَضِّلُ | فَضَّلْنا | سَنُفَضِّلُ |
| 2pl | تُفَضِّلونَ | فَضَّلْتُمْ | سَتُفَضِّلونَ |
| 3pl | يُفَضِّلونَ | فَضَّلوا | سَيُفَضِّلونَ |
Word family
فَضْل (faḍl)grace, favor, merit
أَفْضَل (afḍal)better, best
مُفَضَّل (mufaḍḍal)preferred, favorite
تَفْضيل (tafḍīl)preference
فَضيلة (faḍīla)virtue
Etymology
The verb comes from the Semitic root f-ḍ-l, which carries the sense of excess, surplus, and merit. Arabic builds it on the Form II pattern faʿʿala, which doubles the middle consonant and adds a causative force. So the base idea of being more or being superior becomes to set one thing above another, that is, to prefer. The same root yields faḍl, grace, and afḍal, better.
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