Learn Arabic › B1 › قَلّ
قَلّ
to become few, to decrease /ˈqal.la/
verbB1#2039 most common
Also: to diminish, dwindle, to be scarce, be little, to grow less
Example sentences
قَلَّ المَاءُ.
The water grew scarce.
قَلَّتِ الأَمطارُ هٰذا العامَ.
The rains decreased this year.
قَلَّ اهتِمامُهُ بالقِراءَةِ بَعدَ التَّخَرُّجِ.
His interest in reading diminished after graduation.
كُلَّما تَقَدَّمَ في السِّنِّ قَلَّ صَبرُهُ.
The older he grew, the less his patience became.
قَلَّ مَن يَفهَمُ هٰذِهِ المَسألةَ فَهماً عَميقاً.
Few people understand this matter deeply.
ما قَلَّ ودَلَّ خَيرٌ مِمّا كَثُرَ وأَضَلَّ.
What is little but instructive is better than what is plentiful but misleading.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أَقِلّ | قَلَلْتُ | سَأَقِلّ |
| 2sg | تَقِلّ | قَلَلْتَ | سَتَقِلّ |
| 3sg | يَقِلّ | قَلَّ | سَيَقِلّ |
| 1pl | نَقِلّ | قَلَلْنا | سَنَقِلّ |
| 2pl | تَقِلّونَ | قَلَلْتُم | سَتَقِلّونَ |
| 3pl | يَقِلّونَ | قَلُّوا | سَيَقِلّونَ |
Word family
قَلِيلfew, little
قِلّةscarcity, shortage
أَقَلّless, fewer (comparative)قَلَّلَto reduce, lessen
قَلَّماrarely, seldom
Etymology
The word comes from the Semitic root q-l-l, which carries the sense of being light, slight, or small in amount. In Arabic it settled on the meaning of being few or decreasing in number. The same root appears across the Semitic family with related ideas of lightness and triviality.
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