TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING ROOT

LETTERS AND WORD PATTERNS IN

ARABIC
 UNDERSTANDING VERBS

• This lesson deals with basic verbs in the different tenses. We discuss past, present, future,
imperative or command, prohibition, and variations on these tenses. We also discuss how to
conjugate Arabic verbs in each of these.
• In Arabic, verb conjugation is the process of how verbs are derived from a set of root letters
(usually 3, sometimes 4) and how they change in the different tenses to reflect gender, plurality,
voice, and other aspects.
• Each of these verbs are divided into 14 forms according to person, gender and number. The subject
of a verb is always found in the word of the verb itself.
• Perfect or past tense verbs will get suffixes to denote the subject of the verb.
• Imperfect or present tense verbs will get prefixes and suffixes to denote the tense as well as the
subject of the verb.
• Each pronoun in Arabic has a suffix form that attaches to the verb to show the direct object.
• Therefore, if you say, “I saw him,” you’re really saying “Isawhim” all pushed together as one word.
• Understanding the grammar of verbs is essential to your mastery of Arabic. Fortunately, the verb
system in Arabic is fairly straightforward and not too difficult to grasp.
 NOTES ON CONJUGATION

• When conjugating verbs in Arabic, what should be kept in mind are the following 3 aspects of
the subject (i.e. the one doing the verb):
1) person (third, second, and first): The third person is used when you are talking about the
subject and the subject is not present, the second person is used when you are addressing
the subject, and the first person is used when you yourself are the subject.
2) gender (masculine and feminine)
3) plurality (singular, dual, and plural)
• Arabic uses all three persons and it uses the masculine and feminine genders with no neutral.
Furthermore, plurality in Arabic is of three types: singular, dual, and plural. Dual indicates on two
entities and plural indicates on three or more entities.
• Multiplying 3 persons with 2 genders with 3 pluralities yields 18 conjugations. However, not all of
the conjugations for the first person exist. First person pronouns are gender neutral and the dual
are plural form is merged. That leaves us with 14 conjugations.
 THE SIX B ASIC VERB FORMS

E V E RY S I N G L E T R I L AT E R A L RO OT W I L L FA L L O N O N E
OR M ORE OF TH ESE SIX FORM S

‫ع‬ َ َ َ َ َ ‫ع‬ َ َ َ َ ‫ع‬ َ َ َ َ

‫ يْفعل‬- ‫ يْفعل فعل‬- ‫فعل‬ ‫ يْفعل‬- ‫فعل‬

‫ع‬ َ َ َ َ ‫ع‬ َ َ َ ‫ع‬ َ َ َ

‫ يْفعل‬- ‫ يْفعل فعل‬- ‫فعل‬ ‫ يْفعل‬- ‫فعل‬
 THE SIX B ASIC VERB FORMS

T H E F O L L OW I N G RO OT L E T T E R S H AV E B E E N U S E D TO R E P R E S E N T
E AC H O F T H E S I X F O R M S I N A N AT T E M P T TO S I M P L I F Y T H E C O N C E P T.

‫ع‬ َ َ َ َ َ ‫ع‬ َ َ َ َ ‫ع‬ َ َ َ َ

‫ يضرب‬- ‫ضرب‬ ‫ يْفتح‬- ‫فتح‬ ‫ ينصر‬- ‫نصر‬

‫ع‬ َ َ َ َ ‫ع‬ َ َ َ ‫َ َ َع‬

‫ يحسب‬- ‫حسب‬ ‫ يسمع‬- ‫سمع‬ ‫ يكرم‬- ‫كرم‬
 THE TEN EXTRA VERB FORMS

• Trilateral roots could also fall on one or more of these ten forms. These forms will then give
an added meaning to the verb.The first form is the regular form which has six different forms
as discussed previously.
• The six basic verb forms do not have any effect or bearing on these ten verb forms
• There are actually fifteen verb forms for three-letter roots, but the ten mentioned here are
overwhelmingly more common
• Each verb form has a specific and special meaning. Understanding these meanings will make it
easier for you to understand Arabic with more accuracy InShaAllah.
 THE TEN EXTRA VERB FORMS

T R I L AT E R A L RO OT S C O U L D FA L L O N O N E O R M O R E O F T H E S E T E N F O R M S .
T H E S E F O R M S W I L L T H E N G I V E A N A D D E D M E A N I N G TO T H E V E R B .
 THE MEANINGS CONVEYED BY THE TEN
EXTRA VERB FORMS

َ َ ‫ع‬ ‫ع‬ ‫ع‬

Form 1 ‫ف َع َل‬ Form 2 ‫ف َّع َل‬ َ
Form 3 ‫فاع َل‬ Form 4 ‫أف َع َل‬ Form 5 ‫َت َْف َّع َل‬ َ ‫َت‬
Form 6 ‫ْفاع َل‬ Form 7 ‫ا عن َْف َع َل‬ Form 8 ‫ا ف َت َع َل‬ Form 9 ‫ا ف َع َّل‬ Form 10 ‫ا عس َت عْف َع َل‬

• This form • The second • This verb form • The fourth form • Form five is • The sixth form • The seventh • The eighth form • This verb form • The tenth form
conveys the form is is transitive or is causative or reflexive (i.e. is reflexive or form is passive is reflexive for is actually quite conveys a
standard or causative or relates to transitive the subject and passive of form of form 1. To nuances and can rare, but is used meaning of
basic meaning of intensive (makes another. For (requires an the direct 3. The verb to tie ‫ عقد‬in form 1 convey doing with a meaning seeking an
the root verb. It stronger or example the object) of form object are the be fast ‫ سرع‬in becomes to be something with of acquiring a action or quality
is roughly more intense) root verb to be 1. To dictate same) or form 1 becomes knit together detail or color or a of form 1. It can
similar to the of form 1. To safe ‫ سلم‬in the ‫ أكتب‬in form 4 passive of form to rush or to ‫ انعقد‬in form 7. intentionally. defect (as in the also mean to
English infinitive. know ‫ علم‬in third form instead of just 1 or 2. To hurry ‫ تسارع‬in For example to case of physical consider
To break ‫فجر‬
form 1 becomes becomes to to write ‫ كتب‬in observe ‫ رقب‬in hear ‫سمع‬in form defects). something to be
ّ form 6. To becomes to
to teach ‫ علم‬in make peace form 1 becomes 1 becomes to Examples such. To
form 1. To be work ‫ عمل‬in explode or
with someone to anticipate ‫ترقب‬ listen ‫استمع‬in include ‫احمر‬ increase ‫ زاد‬in
form 2. To good ‫ صلح‬in form 1 becomes detonate ‫ انْفجر‬in
ّ in
smash ‫كسر‬ ‫سالم‬. To become in form 5. To be form 8. To which means to form 1 becomes
form 1 versus to do business Form 7.
know ‫ علن‬in destroyed ‫تنقض‬ acknowledge turn red and to try to
form 2 is the to put in the with ‫ تعامل‬in
‫ اعترف‬in form 8 ‫اعوج‬which achieve more
more intense form becomes order ‫ أصلح‬in in form 5 versus form 6.
means to be ‫استزاد‬in form 10.
version of the to disclose form 4. This to destroy ‫نقض‬ instead of just
root verb to something to to know ‫ عرف‬in twisted. To be safe ‫سلم‬in
form can also in Form 1.
break ‫كسر‬ someone ‫ عالن‬in be related to form 1. form 1 becomes
form 3. different parts to surrender
of the day. ‫ استسلم‬in form
10.
 EXAMPLE TABLE FOR ALL ARABIC VERBS

Conjugation English Pronoun

Singular He
Masculine Dual They (2 male)
Plural They (3+ male)
3rd person
Singular She
Feminine Dual They (2 female)
Plural They (3+ female)
Singular You (1 male)
Masculine Dual You (2 male)
Plural You (3+ male)
2nd person
Singular You (1 female)
Feminine Dual You (2 female)
Plural You (3 female)
Masculine & Singular I
1st person
Feminine Plural We
THE PAST TENSE VERB
VARIATION IN THE PAST TENSE VERB
HAPPENS IN THREE ASPECTS:

Voice (active and passive): when a verb is active, its subject is mentioned; when it is
passive, its object takes the place of its subject. Compare, for example, “I helped” and “I
was helped”. In the first instance “I” is the subject while in the second “I” is the object and
the subject hasn’t been mentioned

Negation (affirmative and negative): whether something was done or not done

Distance (simple past, present perfect, past perfect): simple past is the past tense
without any distance indicated, as in “I helped”; present perfect adds “has/have” to give “I
have helped”; and past perfect adds “had” to give “I had helped”
 ACTIVE & PASSIVE

• An active past tense verb is rendered passive by using the following algorithm.
1. the last letter is left alone
2. the second last letter is given a ‫كسرة‬
3. all other vowels are changed to ‫ضمة‬
َ ‫ َن‬for example, would become ‫نص َر‬.The resulting verb is conjugated in the
• So ‫ص َر‬
exact same way as studied above. A small point to note here is that, in the
beginning of this lesson, mention was made of the fact that the past tense verb may
be on one of six patterns. It is important to note that, despite which of those six a
verb will use, the passive will always be constructed in the same way; the passive
verbs from all six of those patterns look exactly the same.
 ACTIVE PAST TENSE

Conjugation Conjugation and Translation

Singular ‫صََر‬ َ َ‫ ن‬he helped
Masculine Dual ‫صَرا‬ َ َ‫ ن‬they helped
Plural ‫صُرْوا‬َ َ‫ ن‬they helped
3rd person َْ ‫صَر‬
‫ت‬
Singular َ َ‫ ن‬she helped
Feminine Dual ‫صَرََت‬ َ َ‫ ن‬they helped
Plural ‫صْر َن‬ َ َ‫ ن‬they helped
Singular ََ ‫صْر‬
‫ت‬ َ َ‫ ن‬you helped
Masculine Dual ‫صْرُُتَا‬ َ َ‫ ن‬you helped
2nd person
Plural ‫صْرَُْت‬ َ َ‫ ن‬you helped
Singular َ‫صْرت‬ َ َ‫ ن‬you helped
Feminine Dual ‫صْرُُتَا‬ َ َ‫ ن‬you helped
Plural َ‫صْرتُن‬ َ َ‫ ن‬you helped
Masculine & Singular َُ ‫صْر‬
‫ت‬ َ َ‫ ن‬I helped
1st person ‫صْرََن‬
Feminine Plural َ َ‫ ن‬we helped
 PASSIVE PAST TENSE

Conjugation Passive Conjugations

Singular ‫ نص َر‬he was helped
Masculine Dual ‫ نص َرا‬they were helped
Plural ‫ نصر عوا‬they were helped
3rd person ‫ع‬
Singular ‫ نص َرت‬she was helped
َ
Feminine Dual ‫ نص َرتا‬they were helped
Plural ‫ نص عر َن‬they were helped
َ
Singular ‫ نص عرت‬you were helped
Masculine Dual ‫ نص عرت َما‬you were helped
Plural ‫ نص عرت عم‬you were helped
2nd person ‫ نص عرت‬you were helped
Singular
Feminine Dual ‫ نص عرت َما‬you were helped
Plural ‫ نص عرت َّن‬you were helped
Masculine & Singular ‫ نص عرت‬I was helped
1st person َ
Feminine Plural ‫ نص عرنا‬we were helped
 NEGATIVE PAST TENSE

S I M P LY A D D T H E W O R D ‫مَ ا‬ B E F O R E T H E PA S T T E N S E V E R B

Negative Active Negative Passive

‫صََر‬ َ َ‫ ماَن‬he did not help ‫ ماَنُصََر‬he was not helped
‫صَرا‬ َ َ‫ ماَن‬they did not help ‫ ماَنُصَرا‬they were not helped
‫صُرْوا‬َ َ‫ ماَن‬they did not help ‫ ماَنُصُرْوا‬they were not helped
َْ ‫صَر‬
‫ت‬ َ َ‫ ماَن‬she did not help َْ ‫ ماَنُصَر‬she was not helped
‫ت‬
‫صَرََت‬ َ َ‫ ماَن‬they did not help ‫ ماَنُصَرََت‬they were not helped
‫صْر َن‬ َ َ‫ ماَن‬they did not help ‫ ماَنُصْر َن‬they were not helped
ََ ‫صْر‬
‫ت‬ َ َ‫ ماَن‬you did not help ََ ‫ ماَنُصْر‬you were not helped
‫ت‬
‫صْرُُتَا‬ َ َ‫ ماَن‬you did not help ‫ ماَنُصْرُُتَا‬you were not helped
‫صْرَُْت‬ َ َ‫ ماَن‬you did not help ‫ ماَنُصْرَُْت‬you were not helped
َ‫صْرت‬ َ َ‫ ماَن‬you did not help َ‫ ماَنُصْرت‬you were not helped
‫صْرُُتَا‬َ َ‫ ماَن‬you did not help ‫ ماَنُصْرُُتَا‬you were not helped
َ‫صْرتُن‬ َ َ‫ ماَن‬you did not help َ‫ ماَنُصْرتُن‬you were not helped
َُ ‫صْر‬
‫ت‬ َ َ‫ ماَن‬I did not help َُ ‫ ماَنُصْر‬I was not helped
‫ت‬
‫صْرََن‬ َ َ‫ ماَن‬we did not help ‫ ماَنُصْرََن‬we were not helped
 SIMPLE PAST

S I M P LY A D D T H E W O R D ْ‫قَد‬ B E F O R E T H E PA S T T E N S E V E R B

Present Perfect Active Present Perfect Passive

‫صََر‬ َ َ‫ قَ ْدَن‬he has helped ‫ قَ ْدَنُصََر‬he has been helped
‫صَرا‬ َ َ‫ قَ ْدَن‬they have helped ‫ قَ ْدَنُصَرا‬they have been helped
‫صُرْوا‬َ َ‫ قَ ْدَن‬they have helped ‫ قَ ْدَنُصُرْوا‬they have been helped
َْ ‫صَر‬
‫ت‬ َ َ‫ قَ ْدَن‬she has helped َْ ‫ قَ ْدَنُصَر‬she has been helped
‫ت‬
‫صَرََت‬ َ َ‫ قَ ْدَن‬they have helped ‫ قَ ْدَنُصَرََت‬they have been helped
‫صْر َن‬ َ َ‫ قَ ْدَن‬they have helped ‫ قَ ْدَنُصْر َن‬they have been helped
ََ ‫صْر‬
‫ت‬ َ َ‫ قَ ْدَن‬you have helped ََ ‫ قَ ْدَنُصْر‬you have been helped
‫ت‬
‫صْرُُتَا‬ َ َ‫ قَ ْدَن‬you have helped ‫ قَ ْدَنُصْرُُتَا‬you have been helped
‫صْرَُْت‬ َ َ‫ قَ ْدَن‬you have helped ‫ قَ ْدَنُصْرَُْت‬you have been helped
‫ت‬ َ ‫صْر‬ َ َ‫ قَ ْدَن‬you have helped َ‫ قَ ْدَنُصْرت‬you have been helped
‫صْرُُتَا‬َ َ‫ قَ ْدَن‬you have helped ‫ قَ ْدَنُصْرُُتَا‬you have been helped
َ‫صْرتُن‬ َ َ‫ قَ ْدَن‬you have helped َ‫ قَ ْدَنُصْرتُن‬you have been helped
َُ ‫صْر‬
‫ت‬ َ َ‫ قَ ْدَن‬I have helped َُ ‫ قَ ْدَنُصْر‬I have been helped
‫ت‬
‫صْرََن‬ َ َ‫ قَ ْدَن‬we have helped ‫ قَ ْدَنُصْرََن‬we have been helped
 PAST PERFECT AFFIRMATIVE

S I M P LY A D D T H E W O R D َْ‫كَ ان‬ B E F O R E T H E PA S T T E N S E V E R B

Past Perfect Active Past Perfect Passive

‫صََر‬ َ َ‫ َكا َنَن‬he had helped ‫ َكا َنَنُصََر‬he had been helped
‫صَرا‬ َ َ‫انَن‬َ ‫ َك‬they had helped ‫انَنُصَرا‬ َ ‫ َك‬they had been helped
‫صُرْوا‬ َ َ‫ َكانُْواَن‬they had helped ‫ َكانُْواَنُصُرْوا‬they had been helped
َْ ‫صَر‬
‫ت‬ َ َ‫تَن‬ ْ َ‫ َكان‬she had helped َْ ‫تَنُصَر‬
‫ت‬ ْ َ‫ َكان‬she had been helped
‫صَرََت‬ َ َ‫ َكانََتاَن‬they had helped ‫ َكانََتاَنُصَرََت‬they had been helped
‫صْر َن‬ َ َ‫ ُكنَن‬they had helped ‫ ُكنَنُصْر َن‬they had been helped
ََ ‫صْر‬
‫ت‬ َ َ‫تَن‬ َ ‫ ُكْن‬you had helped ََ ‫تَنُصْر‬
‫ت‬ َ ‫ ُكْن‬you had been helped
‫صْرُُتَا‬ َ َ‫ ُكْن تُ َماَن‬you had helped ‫ ُكْن تُ َماَنُصْرُُتَا‬you had been helped
‫صْرَُْت‬ َ َ‫ ُكْن تُ ْمَن‬you had helped) ‫ ُكْن تُ ْمَنُصْرَُْت‬you had been helped
َ‫صْرت‬ َ َ‫ ُكْنتَن‬you had helped َ‫ ُكْنتَنُصْرت‬you had been helped
‫صْرُُتَا‬َ َ‫ ُكْن تُ َماَن‬you had helped ‫ ُكْن تُ َماَنُصْرُُتَا‬you had been helped
َ‫صْرتُن‬ َ َ‫ ُكْن ُُتَن‬you had helped َ‫ ُكْن ُُتَنُصْرتُن‬you had been helped
َُ ‫صْر‬
‫ت‬ َ َ‫تَن‬ ُ ‫ ُكْن‬I had helped َُ ‫تَنُصْر‬
‫ت‬ ُ ‫ ُكْن‬I had been helped
‫صْرََن‬َ َ‫ ُكناَن‬we had helped ‫ ُكناَنُصْرََن‬we had been helped
 PAST PERFECT NEGATIVE

S I M P LY A D D T H E W O R D َْ‫ مَ ا ْكَ ان‬B E F O R E T H E PA S T T E N S E V E R B

Past Perfect Active Negative Past Perfect Passive Negative

‫صََر‬ َ َ‫ ماََكا َنَن‬he had not helped ‫ ماََكا َنَنُصََر‬he had not been helped
‫صَرا‬ َ َ‫انَن‬َ ‫ ماََك‬they had not helped ‫انَنُصَرا‬ َ ‫ ماََك‬they had not been helped
‫صُرْوا‬ َ َ‫ ماََكانُْواَن‬they had not helped ‫ ماََكانُْواَنُصُرْوا‬they had not been helped
َْ ‫صَر‬
‫ت‬ َ َ‫تَن‬ ْ َ‫ ماََكان‬she had not helped َْ ‫تَنُصَر‬
‫ت‬ ْ َ‫ ماََكان‬she had not been helped
‫صَرََت‬ َ َ‫ ماََكانََتاَن‬they had not helped ‫ ماََكانََتاَنُصَرََت‬they had not been helped
‫صْر َن‬ َ َ‫ ماَ ُكنَن‬they had not helped ‫ ماَ ُكنَنُصْر َن‬they had not been helped
ََ ‫صْر‬
‫ت‬ َ َ‫تَن‬ َ ‫ ماَ ُكْن‬you had not helped ََ ‫تَنُصْر‬
‫ت‬ َ ‫ ماَ ُكْن‬you had not been helped
‫صْرُُتَا‬ َ َ‫ ماَ ُكْن تُ َماَن‬you had not helped ‫ ماَ ُكْن تُ َماَنُصْرُُتَا‬you had not been helped
‫صْرَُْت‬ َ َ‫ ماَ ُكْن تُ ْمَن‬you had not helped ‫ ماَ ُكْن تُ ْمَنُصْرَُْت‬you had not been helped
َ‫صْرت‬ َ َ‫ ماَ ُكنْتَن‬you had not helped َ‫ ماَ ُكنْتَنُصْرت‬you had not been helped
‫صْرُُتَا‬َ َ‫ ماَ ُكنْ تُ َماَن‬you had not helped ‫ ماَ ُكنْ تُ َماَنُصْرُُتَا‬you had not been helped
َ‫صْرتُن‬ َ َ‫ ماَ ُكْن ُُتَن‬you had not helped َ‫ ماَ ُكْن ُُتَنُصْرتُن‬you had not been helped
َُ ‫صْر‬
‫ت‬ َ َ‫تَن‬ ُ ‫ ماَ ُكْن‬I had not helped َُ ‫تَنُصْر‬
‫ت‬ ُ ‫ ماَ ُكْن‬I had not been helped
‫صْرََن‬َ َ‫ ماَ ُكناَن‬we had not helped ‫ ماَ ُكناَنُصْرََن‬we had not been helped
THE IMPERFECT-PRESENT TENSE
VERB
 THERE ARE MANY VARIATIONS THAT
C AN OCCUR FOR THE IMPERFECT VERB:

Voice (active and passive): when a verb is active, its subject is mentioned; when it is passive, its object takes the place of its subject. For example, “I am
helping” and “I am being helped”. In the first instance “I” is the subject while in the second “I” is the object and the subject hasn’t been mentioned

Negation (affirmative and negative): whether something was done or not done

Limiting to the future (near future and distant future): simple past is the past tense without any distance indicated, as in “I helped”; present perfect
adds “has/have” to give “I have helped”; and past perfect adds “had” to give “I had helped”

Emphatically negating the future: “I will never hear”

Emphatically negating the past: “I have never heard”

Forming the past continuous: “I used to hear”

Emphasizing the verb: “I definitely hear” or “I will definitely hear”

 ACTIVE & PASSIVE

• An active present tense verb is rendered passive by using the following

algorithm.
1. The prefix of the imperfect verb will be given a ‫ضمة‬
2. the very last letter will be left as is
3. all the letters in between that have vowels will have their vowels changed
to a ‫فتحة‬
• So ‫ َي عس َمع‬for example, will become ‫ ي عس َمع‬And this algorithm applies despite the
variation in the middle letter that was mentioned in the beginning of this
tutorial.
 THE PRESENT ACTIVE TENSE VERB

Conjugation Conjugation and Translation

Singular ‫ يَ ْس َم َُع‬he hears
Masculine Dual َ‫ يَ ْس َم َعان‬they hear
Plural ‫ يَ ْس َمعُْو َن‬they hear
3rd person ‫ تَ ْس َم َُع‬she hears
Singular
Feminine Dual َ‫ تَ ْس َم َعان‬they hear
Plural ‫ يَ ْس َم ْع ََن‬they hear
Singular ‫ تَ ْس َم َُع‬you hear
Masculine Dual َ‫ تَ ْس َم َعان‬you hear
Plural ‫ تَ ْس َمعُْو َن‬you hear
2nd person ََ ْ ‫ تَ ْس َمع‬you hear
‫ي‬
Singular
Feminine Dual َ‫ تَ ْس َم َعان‬you hear
Plural ‫ تَ ْس َم ْع ََن‬you hear
Masculine & Singular ‫ أَ ْْسَ َُع‬I hear
1st person ‫ نَ ْس َم َُع‬we hear
Feminine Plural
 THE PRESENT PASSIVE TENSE VERB

Conjugation and Translation

Conjugation
Singular َ‫ يُ ْس َم ُع‬he is heard
Masculine Dual َ‫ يُ ْس َم َعان‬they are heard
Plural ‫ يُ ْس َمعُْو َن‬they are heard
3rd person ‫ تُ ْس َم َُع‬she is heard
Singular
Feminine Dual َ‫ تُ ْس َم َعان‬they are heard
Plural ‫ يُ ْس َم ْع ََن‬they are heard
Singular ‫ تُ ْس َم َُع‬you are heard
Masculine Dual َ‫ تُ ْس َم َعان‬you are heard
Plural ‫ تُ ْس َمعُْو َن‬you are heard
2nd person ََ ْ ‫ تُ ْس َمع‬you are heard
‫ي‬
Singular
Feminine Dual َ‫ تُ ْس َم َعان‬you are heard
Plural ‫ تُ ْس َم ْع ََن‬you are heard
Masculine & Singular ‫ أُ ْْسَ َُع‬I am heard
1st person ‫ نُ ْس َم َُع‬we are heard
Feminine Plural
 THE NEGATIVE PRESENT TENSE ACTIVE VERB

S I M P LY A D D T H E W O R D ْ‫ َل‬B E F O R E T H E P R E S E N T T E N S E A C T I V E V E R B

Conjugation Conjugation and Translation

Singular ‫ َلَ يَ ْس َم َُع‬he is not hearing
Masculine Dual َ‫ ََل يَ ْس َم َعان‬they are not hearing
Plural ‫ ََل يَ ْس َمعُْو َن‬they are not hearing
3rd person ‫ َلَ تَ ْس َم َُع‬she is not hearing
Singular
Feminine Dual َ‫ ََل تَ ْس َم َعان‬they are not hearing
Plural ‫ ََل يَ ْس َم ْع ََن‬they are not hearing
Singular ‫ ََل تَ ْس َم َُع‬you are not hearing
Masculine Dual َ‫ ََل تَ ْس َم َعان‬you are not hearing
Plural ‫ ََل تَ ْس َمعُْو َن‬you are not hearing
2nd person ََ ْ ‫ ََل تَ ْس َمع‬you are not hearing
‫ي‬
Singular
Feminine Dual َ‫ ََل تَ ْس َم َعان‬you are not hearing
Plural ‫ ََل تَ ْس َم ْع ََن‬you are not hearing
Masculine & Singular ‫ ََل أَ ْْسَ َُع‬I am not hearing
1st person ‫ َلَ نَ ْس َم َُع‬we are not hearing
Feminine Plural
 THE NEGATIVE PRESENT TENSE PASSIVE VERB

S I M P LY A D D T H E W O R D ْ‫ َل‬B E F O R E T H E P R E S E N T T E N S E PA S S I V E V E R B

Conjugation Conjugation and Translation

Singular ‫ َلَ يُ ْس َم َُع‬he is not heard
Masculine Dual َ‫ ََل يُ ْس َم َعان‬they are not heard
Plural ‫ ََل يُ ْس َمعُْو َن‬they are not heard
3rd person ‫ َلَ تُ ْس َم َُع‬she is not heard
Singular
Feminine Dual َ‫ ََل تُ ْس َم َعان‬they are not heard
Plural ‫ ََل يُ ْس َم ْع ََن‬they are not heard
Singular ‫ ََل تُ ْس َم َُع‬you are not heard
Masculine Dual َ‫ ََل تُ ْس َم َعان‬you are not heard
Plural ‫ ََل تُ ْس َمعُْو َن‬you are not heard
2nd person ََ ْ ‫ ََل تُ ْس َمع‬you are not heard
‫ي‬
Singular
Feminine Dual َ‫ ََل تُ ْس َم َعان‬you are not heard
Plural ‫ ََل تُ ْس َم ْع ََن‬you are not heard
Masculine & Singular ‫ ََل أُ ْْسَ َُع‬I am not heard
1st person ‫ َلَ نُ ْس َم َُع‬we are not heard
Feminine Plural
 LIMITING THE MEANING OF THE
PRESENT TENSE VERB TO THE FUTURE

• The imperfect verb’s meaning can be limited to the future tense. Adding
the prefix ‫ سـ‬which is a particle that joins onto the verb will limit the
meaning to the nearَ future, giving the meaning “I will soon hear”, and
adding the particle ‫ َس عوف‬before the verb limits it to the distant future,
giving the meaning “I will hear”. These particles are prefixed to both the
active and passive verb, but they are not negated. Examples for all four
possibilities will be given below. As for the entire verb pattern for all four,
you should be able to deduce them by yourself, but the entire verb scale
will be given for the active verb in the near future by way of example

Near Future Active Near Future Passive Future Active Future Passive
‫َسيَ ْس َم َُع‬ ‫َسيُ ْس َم َُع‬ ‫فَيَ ْس َم َُع‬
َ ‫َس ْو‬ ‫فَيُ ْس َم َُع‬
َ ‫َس ْو‬
he will soon hear he will soon be heard he will hear he will be heard
 THE NEAR FUTURE ACTIVE VERB
َ BEFORE THE PRESENT T ENSE A C T IVE VERB
S I M P LY A D D ‫س‬

Conjugation Conjugation and Translation

Singular َ‫ َسَي ْس َم ُع‬he will soon hear
Masculine Dual َ‫ َسَي ْس َم َعان‬they will soon hear
Plural ‫ َسَي ْس َمعُْو َن‬they will soon hear
3rd person ‫ َسَت ْس َم َُع‬she will soon hear
Singular
Feminine Dual َ‫ َسَت ْس َم َعان‬they will soon hear
Plural ‫ َسَي ْس َم ْع ََن‬they will soon hear
Singular ‫ َسَت ْس َم َُع‬you will soon hear
Masculine Dual َ‫ َسَت ْس َم َعان‬you will soon hear
Plural ‫ َسَت ْس َمعُْو َن‬you will soon hear
2nd person ََ ْ ‫ َسَت ْس َمع‬you will soon hear
‫ي‬
Singular
Feminine Dual َ‫ َسَت ْس َم َعان‬you will soon hear
Plural ‫ َسَت ْس َم ْع ََن‬you will soon hear
Masculine & Singular ‫ َسأَ ْْسَ َُع‬I will soon hear
1st person ‫ َسَن ْس َم َُع‬we will soon hear
Feminine Plural
 EMPHATIC ALLY NEGATING THE FUTURE

• The imperfect verb can be used to emphatically

َ‫ع‬ negate the future. This is achieved by prefixing the active
and passive verbs with the particle ‫لن‬
• This particle actually has an effect on the verb in the following manner.
1) The conjugations without a ‫ نون‬at the end (there are 5 of them) have a ‫ ضمة‬on their final letter.This ‫ ضمة‬will
change to a .‫فتحة‬
2) All the conjugations with a ‫ نون‬at the end except conjugations 6 and 12 (there are 7 of them) will lose their ‫نون‬
3) Conjugations 6 and 12 will remain as they are

• As for the entire verb pattern for both, you should be able to deduce them by yourself. By way of example
the entire verb scale will be given for the emphasized negative future tense verb in its active form

Negative Future Active Negative Future Passive

‫لَ ْنَيَ ْس َم ََع‬ ‫لَ ْنَيُ ْس َم ََع‬
he will not hear he will not be heard
 THE EMPHASIZED NEGATIVE FUTURE
TENSE VERB

Conjugation Conjugation and Translation

Singular َ‫ لَ َْن يَ ْس َم َع‬he will not hear
Masculine Dual ‫ لَ َْن يَ ْس َم َعا‬they will not hear
Plural ‫ لَ ْنَ يَ ْس َمعُْوا‬they will not hear
3rd person ‫ لَ َْن تَ ْس َم ََع‬she will not hear
Singular
Feminine Dual ‫ لَ َْن تَ ْس َم َعا‬they will not hear
Plural ‫ لَ َْن يَ ْس َم ْع ََن‬they will not hear
Singular ‫ لَ َْن تَ ْس َم ََع‬you will not hear
Masculine Dual ‫ لَ َْن تَ ْس َم َعا‬you will not hear
Plural ‫ لَ َْن تَ ْس َمعُْوا‬you will not hear
2nd person ‫ لَ َْن تَ ْس َمع َْي‬you will not hear
Singular
Feminine Dual ‫ لَ َْن تَ ْس َم َعا‬you will not hear
Plural ‫ لَ َْن تَ ْس َم ْع ََن‬you will not hear
Masculine & Singular ‫ لَ َْن أَ ْْسَ ََع‬I will not hear
1st person ‫ لَ َْن نَ ْس َم ََع‬we will not hear
Feminine Plural
 EMPHATIC ALLY NEGATING THE PAST

• The imperfect verb can be used to emphatically

َ‫ع‬ negate the past.This is achieved by prefixing the active
and passive verbs with the particle ‫لم‬
• This particle actually has an effect on the verb in the following manner.
1) The conjugations without a ‫ نون‬at the end (there are 5 of them) have a ‫ ضمة‬on their final letter.This ‫ ضمة‬will
change to a .‫سكون‬
2) All the conjugations with a ‫ نون‬at the end except conjugations 6 and 12 (there are 7 of them) will lose their ‫نون‬
3) Conjugations 6 and 12 will remain as they are

• As for the entire verb pattern for both, you should be able to deduce them by yourself. By way of example
the entire verb scale will be given for the emphasized negative past tense verb in its active form.

Negative Past Active Negative Past Passive

‫ََلَْيَ ْس َم َْع‬ ‫ََلَْيُ ْس َم َْع‬
he did not hear he was not heard
 THE EMPHASIZED NEGATIVE PAST TENSE
VERB

Conjugation Conjugation and Translation

Singular َ‫ ََلْ يَ ْس َم ْع‬he did not hear
Masculine Dual ‫ ََلْ يَ ْس َم َعا‬they did not hear
Plural ‫ َلَْ يَ ْس َمعُْوا‬they did not hear
3rd person ‫ ََلْ تَ ْس َم َْع‬she did not hear
Singular
Feminine Dual ‫ ََلْ تَ ْس َم َعا‬they did not hear
Plural ‫ ََلْ يَ ْس َم ْع ََن‬they did not hear
Singular ‫ ََلْ تَ ْس َم َْع‬you did not hear
Masculine Dual ‫ ََلْ تَ ْس َم َعا‬you did not hear
Plural ‫ ََلْ تَ ْس َمعُْوا‬you did not hear
2nd person ‫ ََلْ تَ ْس َمع َْي‬you did not hear
Singular
Feminine Dual ‫ ََلْ تَ ْس َم َعا‬you did not hear
Plural ‫ ََلْ تَ ْس َم ْع ََن‬you did not hear
Masculine & Singular ‫ ََلْ أَ ْْسَ َْع‬I did not hear
1st person ‫ ََلْ نَ ْس َم َْع‬we did not hear
Feminine Plural
 THE PAST CONTINUOUS VERB

• The imperfect verb can be used to create the past continuous verb. This is achieved
by bringing the verb ‫ كان‬in its past tense form before the active and passive imperfect
verbs. Remember that, since ‫ كان‬is a verb, it will be conjugated alongside the main
verb. This is actually tricky since ‫ كان‬will be conjugated in the perfect tense whereas
the main verb will be conjugated in the imperfect. And both of these tables can be
prefixed with ‫ ما‬to achieve the negative versions.
• As for the entire verb pattern for both, you should be able to deduce them by
yourself.

Past Continuous Past Continuous Past Continuous Past Continuous

Active Passive Active Negative Passive Negative
‫َكا َنَيَ ْس َم َُع‬ ‫َكا َنَيُ ْس َم َُع‬ ‫ماََكا َنَيَ ْس َم َُع‬ ‫ماََكا َنَيُ ْس َم َُع‬
he used to hear he used to be heard he would not hear he would not be
heard
 THE IMPERATIVE COMMAND

• The imperative verb, also called the command verb, is constructed from the imperfect conjugations. The table is divided
into two sections, each with its own method of construction.The first is the active second person conjugations and the
other is the third and first person conjugations as well as all the passives.

The method of constructing the first set is as follows. The method of constructing the other
َ conjugations is as follows.
1) Start with the imperfect and remove the prefix. E.g. ‫ ت عس َمع‬becomes
‫عس َمع‬ 1) Prefix the conjugations with .‫ لـ‬. This ‫ الم‬may
2) Add the eliding Hamza. The vowel on this Hamza will be determined have a ‫ سكون‬in certain situations
as follows
2) This ‫ لـ‬will do to the verb what ‫ لم‬did to it
a) If the second base letter has a ‫ ضمة‬the Hamza will be given a
‫ضمة‬
b) If the second base letter has either of the other two vowels,
the Hamza will be given a ‫كسرة‬. So in our example, we have ‫ا عس َمع‬
1) The same procedure will be carried out to the end of the new verb
as was carried out for the tables with ‫ لم‬E.g. our example verb will
become ‫ا عس َم عع‬
 THE IMPERATIVE ACTIVE COMMAND

Conjugation Conjugation and Translation

Singular َ‫ لَي ْس َم ْع‬he should listen
Masculine Dual ‫ لَي ْس َم َعا‬they should listen
Plural َ‫ لَي ْس َمعُْوا‬they should listen
3rd person ‫ لَت ْس َم َْع‬she should listen
Singular
Feminine Dual ‫ لَت ْس َم َعا‬they should listen
Plural ‫ لَي ْس َم ْع ََن‬they should listen
Singular َ‫ ا ْْسَ ْع‬listen
Masculine Dual ‫ ا ْْسَ َعا‬listen
Plural ‫ ا ْْسَعُْوا‬listen
2nd person ‫ ا ْْسَع َْي‬listen
Singular
Feminine Dual ‫ ا ْْسَ َعا‬listen
Plural ‫ ا ْْسَ ْع ََن‬listen
Masculine & Singular ‫َْسَ َْع‬
ْ ‫ ِل‬I should listen
1st person ‫ لَن ْس َم َْع‬we should listen
Feminine Plural
 THE NEGATIVE COMMAND

• The meaning of the prohibitive verb is opposite that of the imperative verb. Where the imperative
would mean “listen”, the prohibitive means “don’t listen.” And the other conjugations are similar.
• The method of constructing this verb is quite simple; again, it too is constructed from the imperfect. The
imperfect conjugations are prefixed with the particle ‫ ال‬and the ending of the verb is the same as the
ending given by ‫لم‬.
• It is also extremely similar to the negative present tense verb. The only difference is the effect that the ‫ال‬
gives to the end of the verb. In the present tense negative, the ‫ ال‬does not have any effect on the end of
the verb while in the case of the negative command, the ‫ ال‬does have an effect.
• This particle has an effect on the verb in the following manner.
1) The conjugations without a ‫ نون‬at the end (there are 5 of them) have a ‫ ضمة‬on their final letter.This ‫ ضمة‬will
change to a .‫سكون‬
2) All the conjugations with a ‫ نون‬at the end except conjugations 6 and 12 (there are 7 of them) will lose their
‫نون‬
3) Conjugations 6 and 12 will remain as they are
 THE NEGATIVE COMMAND

Conjugation Conjugation and Translation

Singular ‫ َلَ يَ ْس َم َْع‬he should not listen
Masculine Dual ‫ َلَ يَ ْس َم َعا‬they should not listen
Plural ‫ َلَ يَ ْس َمعُْوا‬they should not listen
3rd person ‫ َلَ تَ ْس َم َْع‬she should not listen
Singular
Feminine Dual ‫ َلَ تَ ْس َم َعا‬they should not listen
Plural ‫ ََل يَ ْس َم ْع ََن‬they should not listen
Singular ‫ ََل تَ ْس َم َْع‬do not listen
Masculine Dual ‫ َلَ تَ ْس َم َعا‬do not listen
Plural ‫ ََل تَ ْس َمعُْوا‬do not listen
2nd person ‫ ََل تَ ْس َمع َْي‬do not listen
Singular
Feminine Dual ‫ َلَ تَ ْس َم َعا‬do not listen
Plural ‫ ََل تَ ْس َم ْع ََن‬do not listen
Masculine & Singular ‫ ََل أَ ْْسَ َْع‬I should not listen
1st person ‫ َلَ نَ ْس َم َْع‬we should not listen
Feminine Plural