Walking in Arabic: A Comprehensive Guide to the Verb مَشَى & Sentence Examples

Walking is a fundamental activity that we engage in daily. Then, how to say walk in Arabic? Let this article explains you.

Arabic verb "walk"

In Arabic, the verb for "walk" is مَشَى (mashaa), and it is an essential verb to learn for anyone studying the language.

As with most verbs in Arabic, the verb مَشَى is closely related to the time and the pronoun.

Past tense of  "walk" in Arabic

مَشَى is الفعل الماضي or past, and for pronoun هُوَ (third person, singular, masculine).

Present tense of  "walk" in Arabic

The present in Arabic is called الفعل المضارع. The present form of  مَشَى is يَمْشِي. يَمْشِي is also for pronoun هُوَ.

In this article, we will explore the verb مَشَى in detail, covering its different forms and providing sentence examples.

The goal of this article is to know how to conjugating Arabic verbs, and memorize 14 forms both al-fi'l al-madi and al-fi'l al-mudari' related to the pronouns, and fi'l al-amr forms.

Recap Arabic Verb Tenses of "walk"

 

The verb "walk" in Arabic and the complete conjugation

al-madi = مَشَى

al-mudari' = يَمْشِي

al-masdar = مَشْيٌ

مَشْيٌ means "walking"

 

I repeat the fundamental concept of Arabic Verb

In Arabic, the verb is related to the time and the pronoun.

Time: الماضي (the past) , المضارع (the present), الأمر (the future)

Pronoun: 14 forms (هُوَ, هُمَا, etc.)

Now, we are going to learn al-fi'l al-madi conjugation related to the pronouns.

الماضي (tasrif fi'l madi/fi'l madi conjugation)

 هو مَشَى
هما مَشَيَا
 هم مَشَوْا
 هي مَشَتْ
هما مَشَتَا
هنّ مَشَيْنَ
 أنتَ مَشَيْتَ
أنتما مَشَيْتُمَا
أنتم مَشَيْتُم
أنتِ مَشَيْتِ
أنتما مَشَيْتُمَا
أنتنّ مَشَيْتُنَّ
أنا مَشَيْتُ
نحن مَشَيْنَا

المضارع (tasrif fi'l mudari'/fi'l mudari' conjugation)

هو يَمْشِي
هما يَمْشِيَانِ
هم يَمْشُونَ
هي تَمْشِي
هما تَمْشِيَانِ
هنّ يَمْشِينَ
أنتَ تَمْشِي
أنتما تَمْشِيَانِ
أنتم تَمْشُونَ
أنتِ تَمْشِينَ
أنتما تَمْشِيَانِ
أنتنّ تَمْشِينَ
أنا أَمْشِي
نحن نَمْشِي

الأمر (fi'l amr conjugation/tasrif fi'l amr)

أنت اِمْشِ
أنتِ اِمْشِي
أنتما اِمْشِيَا
 أنتما مؤ اِمْشِيَا
أنتم اِمْشُوا
أنتنّ اِمْشِينَ

Complete Arabic Verb Conjugation for "walk" or "mashaa" in picture

Additional rule

Future tense: Add سَ (sa) before the present conjugations to express future, e.g., سَأَمْشِي (sa'amshi) for "I will walk," سَيَمْشِي (sayamshi) for "he will walk," سَنَمْشِي (sanamshi) for "we will walk."

Arabic Sentence Examples

Here are three simple sentences in Arabic that contain the word "مَشَى" (mashaa), which means "walked":

مَشَى أَحْمَدُ إِلَى المَدْرَسَةِ اليَوْمَ. (Mashaa Ahmadu ila al-madrasati alyawma.)

English meaning: Ahmed walked to the school today.


نَحْنُ مَشَيْنَا فِي الحَدِيْقَةِ بَعْدَ الغَدَاءِ. (Nahnu mashayna fi al-hadeeqati ba'da al-ghadaa-i.)

English meaning: We walked in the park after lunch.


مَشَى مُحَمَّدٌ إِلَى المَتْجَرِ. (Mashaa 'Ali ila al-matjari.)

English meaning: Muhammad walked to the store.

Below are three simple sentences in Arabic that contain the word "يَمْشِي" (yamshii), which means "walk":

هُوَ يَمْشِي كُلَّ يَوْمٍ فِي الصَّبَاحِ. (Huwa yamshii kulla yawmin fi al-sabahi.)

English meaning: He walks every day in the morning.

You can also make simple translation in English like the following expression: He walks every morning.


الكَلْبُ يَمْشِي إِلَى الحَدِيْقَةِ مَعَ صَاحِبِهِ. (Alkalbu yamshii ila al-hadeeqati ma'a saahibihi.)

English meaning: The dog walks to the park with its owner.


الرَّجُلُ يَمْشِي فِي الشَّارِعِ وَهُوَ يَحْمِلُ حَقِيْبَةً. (Ar-rajulu yamshii fi ash-shari'i wahuwa yahmilu haqeebatan.)

English meaning: The man walks in the street carrying a bag.

Below are three simple sentences in Arabic that contain the word "اِمْشِ" (imshi), which means "walk" in imperative mood:

اِمْشِ مَعِي إِلَى المَحَطَّةِ. (Imshi ma'ii ila al-maHattati.)

English translation: Walk with me to the station.


اِمْشِ بِبُطْءٍ عَلَى الرَّصِيْفِ. (Imshi bibut'in 'ala al-rasif.)

English translation: Walk slowly on the sidewalk.


اِمْشِ بِحَذَرٍ عَلى الطَّابَقِ الرَّطْبِ. (Imshi biHadharin 'ala at-tabaqi ar-ratbi.)

English translation: Walk carefully on the wet floor.

Below are three sentences in Arabic that contain the masdar form "مَشْيٌ" (mashyun), which means "walking":

المَشْيُ مُفيدٌ للصِّحَّةِ. (Al-mash-yu mufeedun lis-siHhati.)

English meaning: Walking is beneficial for health.


أَحِبُّ المَشْيَةَ فِي الهَوِاءِ الطَّلْقِ. (Ahubb al-mashyata fi al-hawa-i al-Talqi.)

English meaning: I love walking outdoors.


الأَطْفَالُ يُفَضِّلُونَ المَشْيَةَ مَعَ الصَّاحِبِ فِي الحَدِيقَةِ. (Al-'atfal yufaDDiluuna al-mashyata ma'a al-waalidayni fi al-Hadeeqah.)

English meaning: Children prefer to walk with their friend in the park.


 

Additional Arabic Sentence Examples for the verb "walk"

Using مَشَى in sentences

 Combine مَشَى with prepositions to create various expressions.

  - مَشَى+ إلى (ilā) = مَشَى إلَيْهَا (masha ilayhā) = "He walked to her."

  - مَشَى + في (fī) = مَشَى في الحَدِيقَةِ (masha fīal-ḥadīqati) = "He walked in the garden."

 مَشَى + من (min) = مَشَى مِنَ البيتِ (masha min al-bayti) = "He walked from the house."

Using مَشْيٌ in sentences

 Combine مَشْيٌ with adjectives to describe the nature of the walk or the movement. 

  -  مَشْيٌ سَرِيعٌ (mashy sari') = "Fast walk" or "quick walking."

  - مَشْيٌ بَطِئٌ (mashy bat') = "Slow walk" or "slow walking."

Common expressions with مَشَى and مَشْيٌ

 Familiarize yourself with everyday phrases that use مَشَى or مَشْيٌ :

 - مَشَى الحال (masha al-haal) = "Things are going fine" or "life is going on."

- مشي على وَتِرٍ (mashy 'ala watirin) = "Walking on a tightrope" or "Walking the line" referring to cautiously dealing with a tough situation.

- مَشَى السُّرُر (masha al-surrur) = "happiness spread" or "the joy spread" which means a joyful or celebratory atmosphere.

- يَمْشِي على رِجْلِ (yamshi 'ala rijlin) = "Keep going" or "Carry on" to motivate or encourage someone.

Summary