In Arabic, the time during which an action takes place determines the Verb Form. In talking about a completed action, we use the Perfective Form of the verb الفِعْلُ المَاضِي. If the action happens at the time of speaking or expresses habits and/or facts, we use the Imperfective Form of the verb الفِعْلُ المُضَارع. Since conjugating verbs with different pronouns is straightforward, the focus of this post is certain rules that are oftentimes overlooked.

Perfective Form: الفِعْلُ المَاضِي

As stated in an earlier post, the Arabic verb is simple مُجَرَّد or complex مَزِيْد. Normally, the simple is the default form. Take the verbs in the table above, it is obvious that the last consonant of the default perfective form should invariably have fatHah. This fatHah is indicative of the past form. However, certain pronominal (i.e. pronoun) affixes, which are always suffixes, affect this as follows:

1. If the verb is conjugated with the third person masculine plural, i.e. adding ـوا to the default form, the fatHah becomes dhammah, as in:

سَمِعَ:     ‘to hear’                                               سَمِعُوا

جَلَسَ:    ‘to sit’                                                  جَلَسُوا

كَبُرَ:       ‘to grow/become older’                      كَبُرُوا

2. If the suffix begins with ـتـ , i.e. ـتُ, ـتُما, ـتُم or ـن/ ن, the fatHah become sukoon, as in:

سَمِعَ :                سَمِعْتُ                سَمِعْتُمَا               سَمِعْتُم                سَمِعْنَ

جَلَسَ:                جَلَسْتُ                جَلَسْتُمَا               جَلَسْتُم                جَلَسْنَ

كَبُرَ:                   كَبُرْتُ                 كَبُرْتُمَا                كَبُرْتُم                 كَبُرْنَ

If the perfective form ends in the singular feminine marker ـتْ / تْ, which always has sukoon, the sukoon changes to kasrah if it is followed by words that start with sukoon, which is in most cases الـ, as in these example:

شَرِبَتْ:               شَرِبَتِ البِنْتُ العَصِيْرَ.          ‘the girl drank the juice.’

كَتَبَتْ:                 كَتَبَتِ الطَّالِبَةُ الوَاجِبَ.         ‘the female student wrote the homework.’

شَاهَدَتْ:              شَاهَدَتِ الفَتَياتُ الفِيلم.         ‘the girls watched the movie.’

Besides describing completed actions, the perfective form can be used to express future action in the following cases:

1. If it is intended for making dua’ دُعَاء ‘supplication to Allah’, as in:

سَامَحَكَ الله.                     ‘May Allah forgive you.’

بَارَكَ اللهُ فِيْك.                   ‘May Allah bless you.’

2. If the verb followsإِذَا ‘if’, as in:

إِذَا جَاءَتْ أُمِّي، سَأَذْهَبُ إِلَى السُّوْق.    ‘if my mom came, I would go shopping.’

إِذَا دَرَسْتَ، سَتَنْجَح.                        ‘if you studied, you would pass.’

Imperfective Form: الفِعْل المُضَارِع

The imperfective form is derived from the default perfective form by prefixing one of the four letters that indicate the present أ, نـ, يـ, تـ, as in: (also see the table above)

كَتَبَ:                  أَكْتُبُ                  نَكْتُبُ                  يَكْتُبُ                  تَكْتُبُ

If the verb has four letters, the letter indicating the present should be accompanied by dhammah rather than fatHah, as in:

عَلَّمَ:                  أُعَلِّمُ                   نُعَلِّمُ                   يُعَلِّمُ                   تُعَلِّمُ

شَاهَدَ:                أُشَاهِدُ                 نُشَاهِدُ                يُشَاهِدُ                تُشَاهِدُ

The imperfective form expresses the future if:

1. It is preceded by سـ or سَوْفَ, which both mean ‘will’, as in:

سَأَذْهَبُ إِلَى المَسْجِد.           ‘I will go to the mosque.’

سَوْفَ أُسَافِرُ بَعْدَ رَمَضَان.    ‘I will travel after Ramadhan.’

The difference between سـ and سَوْفَ is that the former is used for near future, while the latter is used for far future.

2. It is preceded by لَنْ ‘will not’, as in:

لَنْ أَلْعَبَ كُرَةَ القَدَم اليَوْم.      ‘I will not play football today.’

لَنْ نُشَاهِدَ التِّلْفَازَ اللَّيْلَة.       ‘we will not watch TV tonight.’

3. It is preceded by كَيْ or لِـ, both mean ‘in order to’, as in:

جُوْن يُذَاكِرُ كَثِيرًا كَيْ يَتَفَوَّقَ.             ‘John studies a lot in order to excel.’

أَذْهَبُ إِلَى المَسْجِد لِأُصَلِّي.                ‘I go to the mosque to pray.’

4. It is accompanied by the word غَدًا in the same sentence, as in:

أَذْهَبُ إِلَى المَدِيْنَة غَدًا.        ‘I go to the city tomorrow.’

يُسَافِرُون إلِى الرِّيْفِ غَدًا.     ‘they travel to the countryside tomorrow.’

5. It is preceded by negative imperative particle لا ‘don’t’, as in:

لا تَأكُلْ فِي نَهَارِ رَمَضَان.                 ‘don’t eat during the day in Ramadhan.’

لا تُدَخِّنْ هُنَا.                                 ‘don’t smoke here.

The imperfective form expresses the past if it is preceded by the negative particle لَمْ ‘not’, as in:

لَمُ أُسَافِر إِلَى المَدِيْنَة الصَيْفَ المَاضِي.             ‘I did not travel to the city last summer.’

رَسِبَ جُوْن لِأَنَّهُ لَمْ يُذَاكِر.                             ‘John flunked because he did not study.’

One distinctive feature of the imperfective form is that it changes mood. For this reason, it is not tied to a specific tense, i.e. used to express past events, present, or future. Mood is the change in diacritical mark on the last letter of the verb. If it is dhammah, the verb is said to be in the indicative moodمَرْفُوْع ; if it is fatHah, the verb is in the subjective mood مَنْصُوب ; and if it is sukoon, the verb is in the jussive mood مَجْزُوم . This will be explained in more detail in the next post.