Verb Tense: (1) Past الماضي Posted by Fisal on Apr 20, 2011 in Arabic Language, Grammar, Vocabulary
- 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)
Next time, we will continue looking at Present Tense.
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Peace سلام / Salam/
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About the Author: Fisal
Well, I was born near the city of Rasheed or Rosetta, Egypt. Yes, the city where the Rosetta Stone was discovered. It is a small city on the north of Egypt where the Nile meets the Mediterranean. I am a Teacher of EFL.