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The Present (Imperfect) Tense in Arabic Posted by on Mar 9, 2009 in Grammar

In Arabic, the time of the verb is marked by prefixes and suffixes that differ from present (imperfect) and past (perfect). The present or imperfect is used with actions that are still in progress or with repeated actions, e.g. things that you do everyday or usually, etc.

Examples of the imperfect tense:

 

أدرس اللغة العربية.

“I study Arabic.”

نسكن في مدينةبغداد.

“We live in Baghdad”

يشاهدون التليفزيون في المساء.

“They watch television in the evening.”

 

In Arabic, there are not any distinct forms used to distinguish the present simple, present continuous, or present perfect, as the case in English. There is only one form used for the present, and it is marked with prefixes and suffixes that differ from one pronoun to another. The following table gives the appropriate suffixes used to mark the present or imperfect in Arabic.

Example

Present prefixes & suffixes

الفعل المضارع

Pronouns

الضمائر

أدرس

أـ

أنا

1st person sing.

تدرس

تـ

أنتَ

2nd person sing. Masc.

تدرسين

تـ ين

أنتِ

2nd person sing. Fem.

يدرس

يـ

هو

3rdperson sing. Masc.

تدرس

تـ

هي

3rdperson sing. Fem.

تدرسان

تـ ـان

أنتما

2nd person dual.

يدرسان

يـ ـان

هما (m)

3rdperson dual. Masc.

تدرسان

تـ ـان

هما (f)

3rdperson dual. Fem.

ندرس

نـ

نحن

1st person pl.

تدرسون

تـ ـون

أنتم

2nd person pl. Masc.

تدرسن

تـ ـن

أنتن

2nd person pl. Fem.

يدرسون

يـ ـون

هم

3rdperson pl. Masc.

يدرسن

يـ ـن

هن

3rdperson pl. Fem.

The present tense in negated by the particle (لا) which must be used immediately before the verb.

لا أحبهذا المكان.

“I do not like this place.”

أنتم لا تعرفون الإسبانية.

“You do not know Spanish.”

جدي لا يعيش معنا.

“My grandfather does not live with us.”

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Comments:

  1. Reem:

    this is very informative and useful ^^

    Great Job! *thumbs up*

  2. Alamin:

    Barakallahu feekum