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.
So here we attempt to explain the core rules of the Arabic verb. Mastering these rules can insha Allah provide you a strong foundation which will help you along on your Arabic journey.
Tenses
Three Cases of Verbs in Arabic
Every verb in Arabic has 3 forms: Past, Present and Command tense.
Examples:
| Command | Present | Past |
| اُكتُبْ | يَكْتُبُ | كَتَبَ |
| كُلْ | يَأْكُلُ | أَكَلَ |
| اِجّلِسْ | يَجْلِسُ | جَلَسَ |
If you have noticed, the patterns are different for each of these examples. We will come to the reason in the later sections.
Past Tense Verb Forms
The past tense verbs are divided into different forms based on person, gender and number.
| – | Plural | Dual | Singular | – |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Third Person | They wrote كَتَبُوا | They wrote كَتَبَا | He wrote كَتَبَ | M |
| Second Person | You wrote كَتَبّتُم | You wrote كَتَبْتٌما | You wrote كَتَبْتَ | M |
| First Person | We wrote كَتَبْنَا | – | I wrote كَتَبْتُ | M or F |
M: Masculine F: Feminine
Examples of Usage:
قَرَأَ الطَّالِبُ الكِتَابَ
The student read the book.
قَرَأَتْ الطَّالِبَةُ الكِتَابَ
The student (female) read the book
الطَّالباتُ قرأْنَ الكِتابَ
The students (female) read the book.
Present Tense Verb Forms
The present tense verbs are also divided into 14 forms according to person, gender and number:
| – | Plural | Dual | Singular | – |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Third Person | They write يَكْتُبُونَ | They write يَكْتُبَانِ | He writes يَكْتُبُ | M |
| Third Person | They write يَكْتُبْنَ | They write تَكْتُبَانِ | She writes تَكْتُبُ | F |
| Second Person | You write تَكْتُبَونَ | You write تَكْتُبَانِ | You write تَكْتُبُ | M |
| Second Person | You write تَكْتُبْنَ | You write تَكْتُبَانِ | You write تَكْتُبِينَ | F |
| First Person | We write نَكْتُبُ | Same as plural | I write أَكْتُبُ | M or F |
Imperative Verbs
The imperative or command tense verb is always used in the second person. Therefore each verb can occur in all these forms:
| Pronoun | Imperative | Gender |
|---|---|---|
| You = أنتَ | اُكْتُبْ | M |
| You = أنتِ | اُكْتُبِي | F |
| You = أنتما | اُكْتُبَا | M or F |
| You = أنتم | اُكْتُبُوا | M |
| You = أنتنَّ | اُكْتُبْـنَ | F |
The Imperative differs for different types of verbs. We will look at this in detail in the following sections.
Regular Verbs ( الفِعْلُ الصَّحِيْح)
The root of these verbs does not include a weak letter (و ، ا ، ي), so they are regular verbs (i.e. their conjugation is regular).
The Healthy Verb has three types:
| الفِعْلُ الصَّحِيْح | ||
|---|---|---|
| Salim - sound | Mahmuz - hamzated | Muda'af - doubled |
| – | Plural | Dual | Singular | – |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Third Person | They write يَكْتُبُونَ | They write يَكْتُبَانِ | He writes يَكْتُبُ | M |
| Third Person | They write يَكْتُبْنَ | They write تَكْتُبَانِ | She writes تَكْتُبُ | F |
| Second Person | You write تَكْتُبَونَ | You write تَكْتُبَانِ | You write تَكْتُبُ | M |
| Second Person | You write تَكْتُبْنَ | You write تَكْتُبَانِ | You write تَكْتُبِينَ | F |
| First Person | We write نَكْتُبُ | – | I write أَكْتُبُ | M or F |
Healthy Salim Verbs (الفعل الصحيح السالم)
The Healthy Salim Verb does not have a hamza, doubled letter or sick letter.
Ex.: – خرجَ محمد من الفصل
Mohammad went out of the class.
| Command | Present | Past |
|---|---|---|
| أُدْرُسْ Study | يَدْرُسُ He studies/is studying | دَرَسَ He studied |
| اِجْلِسْ Sit | يَجْلِسُ He sits/is sitting | جَلَسَ He sat |
| اِذْهَبْ Go | يَذْهَبُ He goes/is going | ذَهَبَ He went |
Rules to keep in mind:
If the third letter of the present tense has kasra or fatha, the first letter of the imperative will have kasra. If it is dhamma, then the first letter of the imperative will also be dhamma.
Questions:
How do you determine the imperative for each of these verbs if you were speaking to a female?
Not sure? Read the section on imperatives again.
| Past tense | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | Plural | Dual | Singular | – |
| Third Person | دَرَسُوا They studied | دَرَسَا They studied | دَرَسَ He studied | M |
| Third Person | دَرَسْنَ They studied | دَرَسَتَا They studied | دَرَسَتْ She studied | F |
| Second Person | دَرَسْتُمْ You studied | دَرَسْتُمَا You studied | دَرَسْتَ You studied | M |
| Second Person | دَرَسْتُنَّ You studied | دَرَسْتُما You studied | دَرَسْتِ You studied | F |
| First Person | دَرَسْنَا We studied | – | دَرَسْتُ I studied | M or F |
| Present tense | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plural | Dual | Singular | – | |
| Third Person | يَدْرُسونَ They study | يَدْرُسانِ They study | يَدْرُسُ He studies | M |
| Third Person | يَدْرُسْنَ They study | تَدْرُسانِ They study | تَدْرُسُ She studies | F |
| Second Person | تَدْرُسونَ You study | تَدْرُسانِ You study | تَدْرُسُ You study | M |
| Second Person | تَدْرُسْنَّ You study | تَدْرُسانِ You study | تَدْرُسينَ You study | F |
| First Person | نَدْرُسُ We study | أَدْرُسُ I study | M or F |
| Imperative (command) tense | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plural | Dual | Singular | .. | |
| Third Person | .. | .. | .. | M |
| Third Person | .. | .. | .. | F |
| Second Person | أُدْرُسوا Study | أُدْرُسا Study | أُدْرُسْ Study | M |
| Second Person | أُدْرُسْنَ Study | أُدْرُسا Study | أُدْرُسي Study | F |
| First Person | .. | .. | .. | M or F |
