Learn Arabic › A1 › وَجَب
وَجَب
to be necessary / to be obligatory / to be incumbent /ˈwa.dʒa.ba/
verbA1#49 most common
Also: to be obligatory, to be incumbent (upon someone), to be due
Example sentences
يَجِبُ أَنْ أَذْهَبَ الآنَ.
I have to go now.
يَجِبُ عَلَيْكِ أَنْ تَأْكُلي الفُطورَ.
You (f.) must eat breakfast.
وَجَبَ عَلَيْنا دَفْعُ الإيجارِ قَبْلَ نِهايَةِ الشَّهْرِ.
We had to pay the rent before the end of the month.
يَجِبُ على كُلِّ مُواطِنٍ أنْ يَحْتَرِمَ القانونَ ويَدْفَعَ الضَّرائِبَ.
Every citizen must respect the law and pay taxes.
كانَ الاعْتِذارُ واجِباً، بَلْ وَجَبَ فَوْراً بَعْدَ أنْ تَبَيَّنَ الخَطَأُ.
An apology was a duty; indeed it became obligatory at once, after the mistake became clear.
في الفَلْسَفَةِ، ما يَجِبُ وُجودُهُ لِذاتِهِ يَسْتَحيلُ تَصَوُّرُ عَدَمِهِ.
In philosophy, that whose existence is necessary in itself cannot be conceived as non-existent.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أَجِبُ (ajibu) | وَجَبْتُ (wajabtu) | سَأَجِبُ (sa-ajibu) |
| 2sg | تَجِبُ (tajibu) | وَجَبْتَ (wajabta) | سَتَجِبُ (sa-tajibu) |
| 3sg | يَجِبُ (yajibu) | وَجَبَ (wajaba) | سَيَجِبُ (sa-yajibu) |
| 1pl | نَجِبُ (najibu) | وَجَبْنا (wajabnā) | سَنَجِبُ (sa-najibu) |
| 2pl | تَجِبونَ (tajibūna) | وَجَبْتُمْ (wajabtum) | سَتَجِبونَ (sa-tajibūna) |
| 3pl | يَجِبونَ (yajibūna) | وَجَبوا (wajabū) | سَيَجِبونَ (sa-yajibūna) |
Word family
وَاجِب (wājib)duty; obligatory, necessary
وُجوب (wujūb)necessity, obligatoriness
أَوْجَبَ (awjaba)to oblige, to necessitate, to require
مُوجِب (mūjib)reason, ground; necessitating
إيجاب (ījāb)affirmation; (in a contract) the offer
Etymology
وَجَبَ derives from the Proto-Semitic triconsonantal root w-g-b. Its earliest attested Arabic sense is concrete — 'to fall down, to come to rest, to become fixed in place' (as the sun 'sets' or a slaughtered animal collapses to the ground). From 'becoming settled/established' it developed metaphorically into 'to become due, necessary, incumbent', and in classical and modern usage the abstract notion of obligation now dominates.
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