Learn Arabic › B1 › قارَب
قارَب
to approach, to come close to /ˈqaː.ra.ba/
verbB1#2722 most common
Also: to nearly reach or nearly do something, to verge on, to reconcile (bring two things close together)
Example sentences
هُوَ قارَبَ الخَمسينَ مِن عُمرِهِ.
He is nearing fifty years of age.
الرِحلَةُ قارَبَتِ الانتِهاءَ.
The trip was nearly over.
الفَريقُ قارَبَ الفَوزَ بِاللَقَبِ.
The team came close to winning the title.
عَدَدُ السُكّانِ يُقارِبُ عَشَرَةَ مَلايينَ.
The population is approaching ten million.
حاوَلَ الكاتِبُ أَن يُقارِبَ المَوضوعَ مِن زاوِيَةٍ جَديدَةٍ.
The writer tried to approach the subject from a new angle.
قارَبَتِ الحُكومَةُ بَينَ وُجهاتِ النَظَرِ المُتَعارِضَةِ لِلتَوَصُّلِ إلى حَلٍّ.
The government brought the conflicting viewpoints closer together to reach a solution.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أُقارِبُ | قارَبْتُ | سَأُقارِبُ |
| 2sg | تُقارِبُ | قارَبْتَ | سَتُقارِبُ |
| 3sg | يُقارِبُ | قارَبَ | سَيُقارِبُ |
| 1pl | نُقارِبُ | قارَبْنا | سَنُقارِبُ |
| 2pl | تُقارِبونَ | قارَبْتُم | سَتُقارِبونَ |
| 3pl | يُقارِبونَ | قارَبوا | سَيُقارِبونَ |
Word family
قريب (qarīb)near, close
قُرْب (qurb)nearness, proximity
اقتَرَبَ (iqtaraba)to draw near, approach
مُقارَبة (muqāraba)approach, approximation
أَقارِب (aqārib)relatives, kin
Etymology
قارَب comes from the Semitic root ق ر ب (q-r-b), which carries the idea of nearness and closeness across the Semitic languages. The Form III verb pattern (fāʿala) turns that basic idea into a transitive action: to bring oneself close to something, to approach it. The same root produced Hebrew קרב (to draw near) and the noun qorban, an offering brought near to the altar. Arabic has no Indo-European ancestry, so there is no PIE root behind this word.
Learn Arabic the way that sticks.
Every word here is a full Polylex card with native audio and spaced repetition, so 4,080 words actually move into long-term memory.
Start free
Every word here is a full Polylex card with native audio and spaced repetition, so 4,080 words actually move into long-term memory.
Start free