اِفْتَقَدَ
iftaqada
In Arabic, the verb for miss can be expressed in two ways depending on the context. The default form is اِفْتَقَدَ (iftaqada). Wiktionary also lists اِشْتَاقَ (ištāqa).
Meaning: to feel the absence of someone or something, to feel the want or need of (verb)
Ways to say it
| Arabic | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| اِفْتَقَدَ | iftaqada |
| اِشْتَاقَ | ištāqa |
Arabic uses different verbs to express the concept of missing. You use اِفْتَقَدَ when you notice the absence of someone or something, often implying that something is missing or lacking. Conversely, اِشْتَاقَ is used to express a deep emotional longing or yearning for someone or something.
Which one should you use?
The verb اِفْتَقَدَ is used to miss someone or something in the sense of noticing their absence or a lack of something. In contrast, اِشْتَاقَ is used to convey a sense of longing or yearning.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
When using the verb اِشْتَاقَ to say you miss someone, it is typically followed by the preposition لِـ (li-).
How do you pronounce it?
iftaqada
Did you know?
- The deep longing expressed by اِشْتَاقَ is closely related to the concept of شَغَف (shaghaf), which refers to the outer membrane of the heart. To long for someone is to feel a passion that reaches the very shell of the heart.
- In some dialects, instead of a verb for 'miss', people say على بالي (ala bali), which means 'on my mind'. This replaces the active verb of yearning with a state of constant remembrance.
- The verb اِفْتَقَدَ shares its root with the word for 'poverty' or 'need', suggesting that missing someone is literally experiencing a state of lack.
Example sentences for Arabic are not verified yet.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “miss” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
