# All dialects/MSA: Take a shower



## Anatoli

Hi,

How do you say "to take a shower" in Arabic, not just "wash yourself". Do you use the word دوش?


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## clevermizo

Anatoli said:


> Hi,
> 
> How do you say "to take a shower" in Arabic, not just "wash yourself". Do you use the word دوش?




There's the verb "dawwash" but "to bathe" just might be more common - I don't know.

In Spanish for example you can say duchar, but really bañar is more common in my experience although it's less specific.


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## ayed

Anatoli said:


> Hi,
> 
> How do you say "to take a shower" in Arabic, not just "wash yourself". Do you use the word دوش?


 يستحم

We sometimes say يتروش etarawwash and يتسبح etisabbaH


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## Anatoli

Thank you. How about أخذ دوشاً ('akhadha dushan)? Does it sound too much like a literal translation from English?


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## azeid

Anatoli said:


> Thank you. How about أخذ دوشاً ('akhadha dushan)? Does it sound too much like a literal translation from English?


We say in Egypt
يأخد دوش  
يستحم
يتسبح


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## Abu Rashid

khush 3ala dush.
This is a rhyming way of saying it in Egyptian, but is more of a command I think.

Most commonly I've heard asta7amma.


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## elroy

I think you mean "*i*sta7amma," Abu Rashid.  (Also, it would have to be "khush 3ala *d-*dush.")

In Palestinian Arabic, "yit7ammam" can be used for both "take a shower" and "take a bath."  "Yookhod dush" is sometimes used for "take a shower" specifically, but it's not as common as "yit7ammam."

By the way, "ducharse" is very common in the Spanish of Spain.  This may be different in other Spanish-speaking countries.


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## tabyyy

elroy said:


> In Palestinian Arabic, "yit7ammam" can be used for both "take a shower" and "take a bath."  "Yookhod dush" is sometimes used for "take a shower" specifically, but it's not as common as "yit7ammam."



Would you say this goes for all or most Levantine dialects?



> By the way, "ducharse" is very common in the Spanish of Spain.  This may be different in other Spanish-speaking countries.


I believe this use is pretty much restricted to Spain; I for one have never heard or used this terminology when speaking with those from Latin America. It's sounds very alien to my ears. I'd agree with clevermizo - "bañar" is much more common.


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## cherine

azeid said:


> We say in Egypt
> يأخد دوش
> يستحم
> يتسبح


I only heard yetsabba7 from شخصيات صعيدية in tv shows. It's not used in Alexandria nor in Cairo. 


Abu Rashid said:


> khush 3ala dush.
> This is a rhyming way of saying it in Egyptian, but is more of a command I think.


I think it's to be pronounced khoshsh 3ad-doshsh. And yes, it's for command.
Yes, by the way, we pronounce the ش with a slight shadda.


elroy said:


> I think you mean "*i*sta7amma," Abu Rashid.


It is asta7amma with the pronoun (ana).

As for Anatoli's questions:
In Egypt, we say aakhod doshsh آخد دش (from the French word "douche"). Recently, with the growing influence of English, many people started using "shower" insteach of douche.

Unlike Palestinians, we don't use/have a verb for douche nor shower.

استحمى/باستحمى is "I take a bath".


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## פפאיה

Hello!

How about words with the root غسل? Are they used commonly? Or do they have a meaning of washing in general, dishes for instance, and you can't use them in the meaning of "taking a shower"?


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## azeid

cherine said:


> I only heard yetsabba7 from شخصيات صعيدية in tv shows. It's not used in Alexandria nor in Cairo.


You are right, i don't use it but it is used in some regions in upper Egypt and they are Egyptians too.


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## azeid

פפאיה said:


> Hello!
> 
> How about words with the root غسل? Are they used commonly? Or do they have a meaning of washing in general, dishes for instance, and you can't use them in the meaning of "taking a shower"?


Yes, we use إغتسال in Fusha.
إغتسل - يغتسل - إغتسال


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## cherine

פפאיה said:


> Hello!
> 
> How about words with the root غسل? Are they used commonly? Or do they have a meaning of washing in general, dishes for instance, and you can't use them in the meaning of "taking a shower"?


Yes, we use it for washing clothes or dishes. but not for taking showers of bathing.
We do, however, use أغتسل for bathing as a religious ritual (if I can express it like this) it's called الاغتسال من الجنابة (washing one's body from impurity).
And for washing the dead before burrial, in Egypt we use the verb ghassel/yeghassel and the noun is taghsiil.



azeid said:


> You are right, i don't use it but it is used in some regions in upper Egypt and they are Egyptians too.


Of course they are!  But I usually don't give the regional variations and go with the pan-Egyptian ones.


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## elroy

tabyyy said:


> Would you say this goes for all or most Levantine dialects?


 I'm not sure, but my guess would be that it does. 





cherine said:


> It is asta7amma with the pronoun (ana).


 Is it???   I would say "asta7*i*mm(u/a)."  "Asta7amma" doesn't sound like a correct form.





פפאיה said:


> How about words with the root غسل? Are they used commonly?


 In Sakhnin (in the Galilee), the commonly used verb for "to take a bath" is "yitghassal" (and not "yit7ammam," which is used in Jerusalem).  I think they use the same verb for "to take a shower" as well.


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## be.010

cherine said:


> It is asta7amma with the pronoun (ana).


You mean in Egyptian colloquial?! This doesn't sound a valid Standard Arabic form!

In Syria, we use the same terms used in Palestinian with tiny "pronounciation" differences...
yit7ammam / yaa5od duush. yitghassal is used in some regions...


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## elroy

be.010 said:


> yaa5od


 "Yaa5od" is actually the prevalent pronunciation in Jerusalem, but "yoo5od" is what I say.  In the Galilee, the word is commonly pronounced "yoo5ed."

The same applies to the verb for "to eat": "yaakol," "yookol," and "yookel" all occur.


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## clevermizo

elroy said:


> I think you mean "*i*sta7amma," Abu Rashid.





cherine said:


> استحمى/باستحمى is "I take a bath".





elroy said:


> Is it???   I would say "asta7*i*mm(u/a)."



I find it fascinating that the Egyptian verb is استحمّى since the root is ح م م .


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## Josh_

cherine said:


> פפאיה said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hello!
> 
> How about words with the root غسل? Are they used commonly? Or do they have a meaning of washing in general, dishes for instance, and you can't use them in the meaning of "taking a shower"?
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, we use it for washing clothes or dishes. but not for taking showers of bathing.
Click to expand...

It isn't used with the meaning of to bathe or to take a shower, but it is used to mean "wash" in a general sense.  For example if I wanted to remind someone to wash their face while bathing I might say ما تنساش تغسل وشك لما تستحمى.



elroy said:


> Is it???   I would say "asta7*i*mm(u/a)."  "Asta7amma" doesn't sound like a correct form.


It sounds correct to me.   It may sound incorrect non-Egyptians, but it is the form used in Egypt.



clevermizo said:


> I find it fascinating that the Egyptian verb is استحمّى since the root is ح م م .


Since this is the first form I learned it never occurred to me strange, but now that you mention it, it is interesting.  I wonder how it developed.  Perhaps a remnant of the subjunctive case (حالة النصب).  Just a wild guess.


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## londonmasri

פפאיה said:


> Hello!
> 
> How about words with the root غسل? Are they used commonly? Or do they have a meaning of washing in general, dishes for instance, and you can't use them in the meaning of "taking a shower"?


 
Just to add to what Cherine already said regarding _ghusl_. _ghusl_ is the offical name for the (Islamic) washing of the body (completely). 

When one engages in conjugal relations, he/she must perform _ghusl_ in order to come out of a state of _janaabah._

It is also performed as an optional ritual to prepare for the weekly Friday prayer.

So if you say to someone 'I need to do ghusl' they will most likely understand it as pertaining to one of the above. (This is not to say that ghusl is any different from a normal shower/bath, it is just that it only becomes a requirement in certain states).


This only refers to the use of the noun 'ghusl' as already stated.


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## cherine

elroy said:


> Is it???   I would say "asta7*i*mm(u/a)."  "Asta7amma" doesn't sound like a correct form.





be.010 said:


> You mean in Egyptian colloquial?! This doesn't sound a valid Standard Arabic form!


Elroy and Be, I was indeed speaking of the Egyptian colloquial usage. I thought it was clear that all my post was about colloquial, not MSA. Sorry for the confusion.



clevermizo said:


> I find it fascinating that the Egyptian verb is استحمّى since the root is ح م م .


Good catch! But I'm afraid I don't have an explanation.

Having read أتحمم (at7ammam) in other posts, I remembered that I heard it used a very few times in Egypt too.

And Josh is write about the verb غسل/يغسل is about washing in general.


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## Anatoli

Thank you all but so many answers, I am confused. 

استحم (istá7amma) seems the most common answer for both Fus-ha and dialects, Egyptian: آخد دش ('aakhod doshsh). Does it work for MSA as well? I saw دوشاً written with tanwiin fat-ha (Word Reference dictionary, BTW) but Hans Wehr says it's a diptote (ممنوع من الصرف mamnuu3(u) mina 'S-Sarf), so it shouldn't take accusative markers!?

For some other suggestions, I couldn't find words in a dictionary or they seem in the imperative or present from or only romanisation was given.

Could you please add the verbs/expressions in their dictionary form (3rd person sg, past tense) - Arabic and Roman (Fus-ha or `Ammiyya).


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## clevermizo

Josh_ said:


> Perhaps a remnant of the subjunctive case (حالة النصب).  Just a wild guess.



I doubt this, but I'm of the camp that believes that those endings for raf3, naSb, etc. died out far too long ago if they were ever used in speech at all.

My best explanation is that it's an old epenthetic vowel used to alleviate the shadda at the end of the verb, or it was borrowed from fus7a pronunciation (استحمَّ) but since verbs don't end in a short vowel this way in colloquial Egyptian, it was generalized to استحمّى. 

Do you say إنتي تستحمّي with [-i] at the end?


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## Abu Rashid

elroy, be.010,



> Is it???   I would say "asta7*i*mm(u/a)."  "Asta7amma" doesn't sound like a correct form.





> You mean in Egyptian colloquial?! This doesn't sound a valid Standard Arabic form!



Yes sorry, I should've mentioned that's Egyptian.


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## elroy

Wow, I totally missed the ألف مقصورة in Cherine's post.  أستحمى sounds totally bizarre to me.  (I'm not saying that to make fun of it or anything, but just to show how a Palestinian might react to it; I don't think it's one of those "Egyptianisms" that are familiar to speakers of PA. )

Also, for פפאיה's benefit, I'd like to reiterate - because my earlier comment may have gone unnoticed - that يتغسل *is used* in Northern Palestinian Arabic for "to take a bath."

 אז את יכולה להשתמש בזה כשאת מדברת עם ערבים מהצפון בארץ אבל אולי עדיף להימנע מזה במצרים. ​


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## cherine

Anatoli said:


> Thank you all but so many answers, I am confused.


That's very understandable, with so many variations. 


> استحم (istá7amma) seems the most common answer for both Fus-ha and dialects


Yes, but the stress is on the م not the fat7a.


> Egyptian: آخد دش ('aakhod doshsh). Does it work for MSA as well? I saw دوشاً written with tanwiin fat-ha (Word Reference dictionary, BTW) but Hans Wehr says it's a diptote (ممنوع من الصرف mamnuu3(u) mina 'S-Sarf), so it shouldn't take accusative markers!?


As it's a loan word, I don't think it would be easy to determine for sure wether or not it's ممنوع من الصرف .
As for the usage, I'm not sure I saw it used before in MSA, but I don't see why not, as I've never seen an Arabic word for "shower".


> Could you please add the verbs/expressions in their dictionary form (3rd person sg, past tense) - Arabic and Roman (Fus-ha or `Ammiyya).


Which verbs/expressions you need to know? 


clevermizo said:


> I doubt this, but I'm of the camp that believes that those endings for raf3, naSb, etc. died out far too long ago if they were ever used in speech at all.
> 
> My best explanation is that it's an old epenthetic vowel used to alleviate the shadda at the end of the verb, or it was borrowed from fus7a pronunciation (استحمَّ) but since verbs don't end in a short vowel this way in colloquial Egyptian, it was generalized to استحمّى.
> 
> Do you say إنتي تستحمّي with [-i] at the end?


I thought about this today. I think there's nothing strange in the Egyptian asta7amma -concerning the root- because the shadda does keep the root ح-م-م as for the last fat7a (wich is not pronounce as a long alef) it's maybe because it's easier to end words with vowels rather than sukuun.

And yes, we say "testa7ammi".
If you want the conjugation  here it is:
أنا باستحمى ana basta7amma
إنت بتستحمى enta betesta7amma
إنتي بتستحمي enti betesta7ammi
هو بيستحمى howwa beyesta7amma
هي بتستحمى heyya betesta7amma
إحنا بنستحمى e7na benesta7amma
إنتو بتستحموا ento betesta7ammo
هما بيستحموا homma beyesta7ammo


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## Finland

Hello!



elroy said:


> "Yaa5od" is actually the prevalent pronunciation in Jerusalem, but "yoo5od" is what I say. In the Galilee, the word is commonly pronounced "yoo5ed."
> 
> The same applies to the verb for "to eat": "yaakol," "yookol," and "yookel" all occur.


 
Having spent six months in the West Bank I got used to using these forms, yookel and yookhed, but my friends from other Arab countries found it so weird they had to check what I meant! Same goes for the participle maakhed, maakel. Interesting!

S


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## nn.om

Here we say يتغسل (yitghassal). We also say بِتْغُس (bitghus) when a girl/woman is doing the ghusl.


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## clevermizo

cherine said:


> I thought about this today. I think there's nothing strange in the Egyptian asta7amma -concerning the root- because the shadda does keep the root ح-م-م as for the last fat7a (wich is not pronounce as a long alef) it's maybe because it's easier to end words with vowels rather than sukuun.
> 
> And yes, we say "testa7ammi".
> If you want the conjugation  here it is:
> أنا باستحمى ana basta7amma
> إنت بتستحمى enta betesta7amma
> إنتي بتستحمي enti betesta7ammi



I think this data is essentially a "missing link" of sorts. I think it's fantastic. What I mean is that most dialects have taken verbs that end in shadda, say حبّ and instead of following a fus7a rule and using "حببت" for the past they use a form like "حبّيت". Well, it's normal in fus7a to make this sort of conjugation for a verb that ends in ـى even though "حبّى" does not exist with the meaning of "حبّ". Nevertheless, the change from حببت to حبّيت begs the question if there are any verbs for which the colloquial has actually decided to add ـى in addition to conjugating in ـيت. A verb like this would be "in between" - cognate with a verb ending in shadda, but in form exactly like a verb ending in ـى. This verb in Egyptian استحمّى is the perfect example.


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## Anatoli

cherine said:


> ...
> Which verbs/expressions you need to know?
> ...


Thank you, Cherine.  I'll let it go for now and use what I am more comfortable with.


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