- A verb is a part of speech that refers to an action happening at a certain time.
- Tense is the word used when speaking about the time of an action (verb).
- The form of the verbs depends on which tense it is.
- A verb must agree with its subject in both number and gender.
- Arabic verbs fall into Three main tense (time) categories: past, present and imperative.
(1) The Past Tense الزمن الماضي
- A verb in the past tense refers to an action that was finished some time in the past (before speaking); e.g. محمد ذهبَ إلى المدرسة = Mohammad went to school.
- The root verb in Arabic is always in the past tense; e.g. كَتَبَ = he wrote.
- Verbs are categorized according to their minimum root number of letters.
1 – A Threefold Verb الفعل الثلاثى : that which has three letters as its root; كتبَ = He wrote
2 – A Fourfold Verb الفعل الرباعى : that which has four letters as its root; أطلقَ = He launched.
(These two types are called Mojarrad Verbs الأفعال المجردة )
3 – A Fivefold Verb الفعل الخماسى : that which has five letters as its root; تعلَّمَ = He learnt.
4 – A Sixfold Verb الفعل السداسى : that which has six letters as its root; استخرجَ = He took/dug out.
(These two types of Verbs belong to the Mazeed Verbs الأفعال المزيدة )
- Since a verb must agree with its subject in gender and number, the shape of the above verbs changes in the past tense as follows:
|
|
كتبَ |
أطلقَ |
تعلّمَ |
اِستخرجَ |
|
|
First Person
( I= أنا )
|
كَتبْتُ |
أطلقْتُ |
تعلَّمْتُ |
اِستخرجْتُ |
Verb + Taa of the Subject (with Damma)
|
|
First Person
(We = نحنُ )
|
كتَبْنَا |
أطلقْنَا |
تعلَّمْنَا |
اِستخرجْنَا |
Verb + Naa’ of the Speakers
|
|
Second Person
(You = أنتَ )
|
كتبْتَ |
أطلقْتَ |
تعلَّمْتَ |
استخرجْتَ |
Verb + Taa of the Person Spoken to (with a Fatha)
|
|
Second Person
(You = أنتِ )
|
كتبْتِ |
أطلقْتِ |
تعلَّمْتِ |
اِستخرجْتِ |
Verb + Taa of the Person Spoken to (With a Kasra)
|
|
Second Person
(You = أنتما )
|
كتَبتُمَا |
أطلقتُمَا |
تعلَّمْتُمَا |
استخرَجْتُمَا |
Verb + Taa of the Person Spoken to + Dual Alif |
|
Second Person
(You = أنتُم )
|
كتبتُم |
أطلقتُم |
تعلَّمتُم |
استخرجتُم |
Verb + Taa of the Person Spoken to (M. Plural)
|
|
Second Person
(You = أنتُنَّ )
|
كتبْتُنَ |
أطلقتُنَ |
تعلَّمْتُنَ |
استخرجْتُنَ |
Verb + Taa of the Person Spoken to + Noon of the Feminine.
|
|
Third Person
(He = هو )
|
كتَبَ |
أطلقَ |
تعلَّمَ |
استخرجَ |
Root or base verb
|
|
Third Person
(She = هى )
|
كتبَتْ |
أطلقَتْ |
تعلَّمَتْ |
استخرجَتْ |
Verb + The Ta’neeth Taa (With Sukoon)
|
|
Third Person
(He Both = هما )
|
كتَبَا |
أطلقَا |
تعلَّمَا |
استخرجَا |
Verb + Dual Alif
|
|
Third Person
(She Both = هما )
|
كتَبَتَا |
أطلقَتَا |
تعلَّمَتَا |
استخرجَتَا |
Verb + Ta’neeth Taa + Dual Alif
|
|
Third Person
(They = هم )
|
كتبُوا |
أطلقُوا |
تعلَّمُوا |
استخرجُوا |
Verb + Waw of the Masculine Plural
|
| Third person (They = هُنَّ ) |
كتَبْنَّ |
أطلقْنَّ |
تعلَّمْنَّ |
استخرجْنَّ |
Verb + Noon of the Feminine Plural
|
(Note 1 : We will get back to these roots later when studying derivatives and conjugations)
Past Verbs Table
Next time, we will continue looking at Present Tense.
For videos and pronunciation, check our Arabic Transparent Youtube Channel at
http://www.youtube.com/user/ArabicTransparent
Check us back soon
Peace سلام / Salam/
