ragħa

Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic رَعَى (raʕā).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /raː/
• IPA^(key): /raˤː/ (archaic)
• Homophone: ra (standard only)

Verb

ragħa (imperfect jirgħa)

1. to graze (animals); to herd
2. (figurative, also Christianity) to tend; to lead (e.g. a congregation)

Usage notes

• The perfect forms are today entirely homophonous with those of ra (“to see”). The confusion can be dispelled e.g. by using kien + imperfect: kien jirgħa n-nagħaġ (“he grazed sheep”).

Conjugation

Conjugation of ragħa
		singular				plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person
perfect	m	rgħajt	rgħajt	ragħa		rgħajna	rgħajtu	rgħaw
	f			rgħat
imperfect	m	nirgħa	tirgħa	jirgħa		nirgħu	tirgħu	jirgħu
	f			tirgħa
imperative			irgħa				irgħu

Related terms

• ragħaj