Maltese

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Root
q-b-l
8 terms

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Arabic قَبْلَ (qabla).

Preposition

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qabel

  1. (temporal) before; prior to
    Antonym: wara
    • 2022, Alfred Massa, Il-Ħarba, Horizons, →ISBN, page 5:
      Dan minħabba l-interess li dejjem wera għat-tagħlim ferm qabel il-Griegi u r-Rumani.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • 2018, Antoinette Borg, Amina, Merlin Publishers, →ISBN:
      Setgħet ġibdet lejn il-Mellieħa, mit-triq jew mill-passaġġ, jew qabdet it-triq tal-Imġiebaħ, inkella minn ħdejn il-lukanda għan-naħa t’Għajn Ħadid, jew jista’ jkun anke telqet lejn Forti Campbell iktar kmieni, qabel ma wasalt jien.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Usage notes
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  • Unlike the Arabic etymon, not used for “ago”, for which ilu.
Inflection
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Inflected forms of qabel
Personal-pronoun-
including forms
singular plural
m f
1st person qabli qabilna
2nd person qablek qabilkom
3rd person qablu qabilha qabilhom
See also
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Etymology 2

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From Arabic قَبِلَ (qabila).

Verb

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qabel (imperfect jaqbel, past participle maqbul, verbal noun qbil)

  1. to agree with; to assent to [with ma’ ‘with’]
    Ma naqbilx magħha, imma għandha dritt tgħid li trid.
    I don’t agree with her, but she has a right to say what she wants.
  2. to agree with; to be in line with; to match [with ma’ ‘with’]
  3. (obsolete) to precede
Conjugation
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Conjugation of qabel
singular plural
1st person 2nd person 3rd person 1st person 2nd person 3rd person
perfect m qbilt qbilt qabel qbilna qbiltu qablu
f qablet
imperfect m naqbel taqbel jaqbel naqblu taqblu jaqblu
f taqbel
imperative aqbel aqblu
  NODES
Note 3