تَوَقَّفَ
tawaqqafa
The English phrase 'stop' is translated into Arabic as تَوَقَّفَ (tawaqqafa). Wiktionary also lists وَقَّف (wəggəf) and وَگَّف (wəggəf).
Meaning: not to continue (verb)
Ways to say it
| Arabic | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| تَوَقَّفَ | tawaqqafa | |
| وَقَّف | wəggəf | Gulf Arabic |
| وَگَّف | wəggəf | Gulf Arabic |
The verb is used to describe the act of not continuing an action or movement.
Which one should you use?
The forms are distinguished by whether the action is intransitive or transitive. The form تَوَقَّفَ is intransitive, meaning it is used when something stops on its own, such as a car stopping or a person stopping walking. In contrast, the form وَقَّفَ is transitive, used when an agent stops something else, such as stopping a machine or stopping a person.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Gulf-Arabic, the forms وَقَّف and وَگَّف are used.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The default form تَوَقَّفَ is in the third-person masculine singular past tense, meaning 'he stopped'.
How do you pronounce it?
tawaqqafa
Did you know?
- The word وَقَف is the root for the 'waqf', a charitable endowment under Islamic law. This is because the assets are 'stopped' or frozen from being sold or traded to ensure they provide a permanent benefit to the poor.
- In many Arabic dialects, the command to 'stop' is often rendered as خلاص (khalas), which literally means 'finished' or 'done' but functions as a way to end an activity or an argument.
- Arabic has a specific grammatical system of 'roots' where تَوَقَّفَ and the word for 'time' وَقْت share the same three-letter root. This suggests an ancient linguistic link between the idea of stopping and the measurement of time.
Examples in context
- أوقف الضجيج، من فضلك.Please stop the noise.
- توقف فوراً!Stop immediately!
- كفى! لا تزعجني!Cut it out! Don't bother me!
- تَوَقَّفَ العَمَلُ بِسَبَبِ المَطَرِ.tawaqqafa al-'amalu bi-sababi al-matar.Work stopped because of the rain.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “stop” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
