Ways to say it
| Arabic | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| تَابَعَ | tābaʕa | transitive |
| اِسْتَمَرَّ | istamarra | transitive |
| دَامَ | dāma | intransitive |
Arabic uses different verbs to express the concept of continuing depending on whether you are following a sequence, persisting in an activity or describing how long something lasts.
Which one should you use?
تَابَعَ is used when you continue a specific action, a sequence or follow up on a process or series. اِسْتَمَرَّ expresses the idea of persisting in a state or continuing an activity over a period of time. In contrast, دَامَ is an intransitive verb used to describe something that continues to exist or lasts for a certain duration, rather than an agent continuing an action.
How does it change in a sentence?
The form تَابَعَ is the third-person masculine singular past tense. Its present tense form is يُتَابِعُ. If you want to give a command to a male listener, the imperative form is تَابِعْ.
How do you pronounce it?
tābaʕa
Did you know?
- While اِسْتَمَرَّ means to continue, its root also relates to the concept of 'straightness'. To continue in this sense is to keep moving in a straight line without deviating.
- The word دَامَ is the basis for the common prayer أدام الله عزك, which asks God to make one's glory or honor continue forever.
- In certain contexts, the concept of continuing a process is tied to the idea of 'following up' or 'monitoring', making تَابَعَ the same word used for 'following' a news story or a social media account.
Examples in context
- استمرّ في هذا العمل الرائع.Continue with this excellent work.
- يرجى أن تواصل إجراء البحث.Please continue conducting the research.
- كمل التمرين وسوف تحصل على نتيجة جيدة.Continue with the exercise, and you will get a good result.
- يُرجى أن تكمل العرض من فضلك.Please continue the presentation.
- استمر في القيادةContinue driving
- تَابَعَ الْعَمَلَ بَعْدَ الْغَدَاءِ.tāba'a al-'amala ba'da al-ghadā'.He continued working after lunch.
- هَلْ تَابَعَ الْقِرَاءَةَ؟hal tāba'a al-qirā'ata?Did he continue reading?
- تَابَعَ الْمُدِيرُ الْاجْتِمَاعَ.tāba'a al-mudīru al-ijtimā'.The manager continued the meeting.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “continue” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
