Learn Arabic › A1 › كَفَى
كَفَى
to be enough, to suffice /ˈka.faː/
verbA1#354 most common
Also: to be sufficient, to suffice for someone, to spare or protect someone from something (with بـ)
Example sentences
هَذَا يَكْفِي.
This is enough.
كَفَى الْمَاءُ لِلْجَمِيعِ.
The water was enough for everyone.
لَمْ يَكْفِ الْوَقْتُ لِإِنْهَاءِ الِامْتِحَانِ.
There was not enough time to finish the exam.
كَفَتْنَا الْمُؤَنُ الَّتِي اشْتَرَيْنَاهَا لِأُسْبُوعٍ كَامِلٍ.
The supplies we bought were enough for us for a whole week.
كَفَى بِالْمَوْتِ وَاعِظًا.
Death is enough as a preacher.
وَكَفَى اللَّهُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ الْقِتَالَ.
And Allah spared the believers the fighting.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أَكْفِي | كَفَيْتُ | سَأَكْفِي |
| 2sg | تَكْفِي | كَفَيْتَ | سَتَكْفِي |
| 3sg | يَكْفِي | كَفَى | سَيَكْفِي |
| 1pl | نَكْفِي | كَفَيْنَا | سَنَكْفِي |
| 2pl | تَكْفُونَ | كَفَيْتُمْ | سَتَكْفُونَ |
| 3pl | يَكْفُونَ | كَفَوْا | سَيَكْفُونَ |
Word family
كِفَايَةsufficiency, adequacy
اكْتَفَىto content oneself with, to make do
كَافٍsufficient, enough
مُكْتَفٍself-sufficient, content
Etymology
كَفَى comes from the triliteral Semitic root ك-ف-ي (k-f-y), which carries the sense of being sufficient and of warding off need. The verb is old and frequent in Classical Arabic and the Quran. From the same root come كِفَايَة (sufficiency) and اكْتَفَى (to be content with).
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