Gateway to Arabic verbs

Introduction Verbs & Methodology:

In this chapter we introduce the student to Arabic verbs, Insha’Allah. These lessons are primarily
based on the book of Shaykh (Dr) Husain Abdul Sattar (HA) and then gradually advance to higher
levels. Insha’Allah it is intended that this single page will teach the student which is usually taught
to an average Darul-uloom student as far as the science of Arabic verb conjugation is concerned.

In the traditional Darul-uloom system (in India) an average student was expected to recite each
table 5 times (in one minute) without breaking his breath! You MUST MASTER these tables
through sheer practise and pick up speed to the point where your mind is on “Auto-Pilot” and
conjugating at the speed of lightening; there is NO short-cut! The modern students (of today)
severely lack the skills to recite and decipher classical text on the fly which inhibits their levels of
understanding.

The classical system of reciting, reciting and reciting these tables until you can do so on “Auto-
Pilot” still works. Shaykh Abul-Hasan Ali Nadwi (RA) who is considered as one of the Masters of
Arabic language of our times used to say that the student should not move on UNLESS & UNTIL
he can recite a table of a given verb 5 times (in one minute) without breaking his breath! Test
yourself against the method given by one of the Masters of the Arabic language.
Lesson 1: Introduction to Active Past Tense (‫الماض المعلوم‬ ُ
‫الفعل‬ )
‫ي‬

The first thing a student needs to know that the basic pattern of simple Arabic past tense used in
majority of grammar books is
َ‫ َف َعل‬which consists of 3 letters as follows. The student needs to
understand the following rules with regard to simple past tense which consists of 3 letters:

1 The first letter is of the three letter past tense is commonly referred to and called ‫ف‬letter
َ
and this will always have a Fatha on it like ‫ف‬

2 The second letter is of the three letter past tense is commonly referred to and called ‫ع‬
َ ُ
letter and but this middle letter can carry all three vowels so it can be ‫ع‬or ‫ع‬or ‫ع‬

3 The last letter is of the three letter past tense is commonly referred to and called ‫ل‬letter
and this will always have a Fatha on it like ‫َل‬

4 The simple past tense is ‫( َم ْب ين‬fixed) so its appearence never changes and it always looks
the same!

Remember that English grammar only has Singular and Plural but Arabic grammar actually has
Singular, Dual and Plural so accounting for 3rd person, 2nd person and 1st person a student has to
memorise 14 conjugations of the verbs. We suggest using a simply technique and associating
each conjugated state with a position on the right hand finger. Experience has taught us that
after a few sessions’ students begin to pick their own mistakes and associate each conjugated
state to its correct grammatical form. Here is a sample which the students need to come to
terms with in English before practising with real verbs.
All forms of simple past tense are demonstrated as follows:

Meaning Subject/Suffix Base Form Verb

َ
3rd
(M)
Person He did
N/A ‫فعل‬ ‫ف َع َل‬ Advanced
Lesson:
َ َ
They (Dual)
Did ‫ا‬ ‫فعل‬ ‫ف َعل‬
Saakin
َُ َ
They (Plural)
Did ‫ْوا‬ ‫فعل‬ ‫فعلوا‬ Form of the
ْ َ َ
3rd Person (F) She did
(not ‫فعل‬ ‫ف َعلت‬ verb, note
that the
ْ
Subject) ‫ت‬ suffix has a

They (Dual) َ َََ َ Sukoon on

Did ‫تا‬ ‫فعل‬ ‫فعلتا‬ it

َ َ ْ َ
They (Plural)
Did ‫ن‬ ‫فعل‬ ‫ف َعلن‬ Advanced
Lesson:
َ َ ْ َ
2nd Person
(M)
You Did
‫ت‬ ‫فعل‬ ‫ف َعلت‬ Mutaharrik
ُ ُْ َ
They (Dual)
Did ‫ت َما‬ ‫فعل‬ ‫ف َعلت َما‬ Form of the
You (Plural) ْ‫ُتم‬ ‫فعل‬ ْ‫َف َع ْل ُتم‬ verb, note
Did that the
ْ َ
‫ف َعلت‬
nd
2 Person (F) You Did suffix has a
‫ت‬ ‫فعل‬ vowel on it
َ‫ُتما‬ ُْ َ
They (Dual)
Did
‫فعل‬ ‫ف َعلت َما‬
You (Plural) ُ ‫فعل‬ ‫ت‬ ‫َف َع ْل ُ ن‬
Did ‫تن‬
1st Person I did ُ ُ َْ َ
‫ت‬ ‫فعل‬ ‫فعلت‬
َ َْ َ
We did ‫نا‬ ‫فعل‬ ‫ف َعلنا‬

At this point we need to point out a few observations in the table above:

ْ َ َ
1 The ‫ت‬in the verb conjugation form ‫ف َع َل ْت‬is a suffix but not a subject. The subject is
implied just like it is in the base form of ‫فعل‬
َ َ

2The extreme right column dividing the verbs into Saakin and Mutaharrik is a little advanced to
explain at this point so it should be skipped for beginner students except for just showing them
the vowel signs.

2He/She is the same as "It"

These conjugated verb forms should be taught to the students using the right hand as follows:

Drill:

Do not move beyond this lesson unless and until you can recite the pattern at least 3 times in a

minute!

Assignment:

Students should be given the following common past tense and made to conjugate them first
and then pointing out the subject in each of them:

1 He went ‫ذهب‬
َ َ َ
َ َ َ
2 He left ‫خرج‬

3 He returned ‫رجع‬
َ َ َ

َ َ َ
4 He helped ‫نص‬

َ
5 He heard ‫سمع‬
َ

6 He understood ‫فهم‬
َ َ
َ َ
7 He memorised ‫حفظ‬
 َ
8 He rode ‫ركب‬
َ

َ َ
9 He worked ‫عمل‬

10 He became noble ‫كرم‬

ََُ

11 He became large/bigger ‫كب‬

ََُ
َ َُ
12 He approached ‫قرب‬

Drill:

Do not move beyond this lesson unless and until you can recite all of the patterns at least 3
times in a minute!
Lesson 2: Negative past tense?
َ َ َ َ َ
1 Add a ‫ما‬in front of the past tense e.g. ‫ما فعل‬and it becomes "He did not do!"

Drill:

Do not move beyond this lesson unless and until you can recite the first pattern (with a negative)
at least 3 times in a minute!

Drill:

Do not move beyond this lesson unless and until you can recite the all of the patterns (with a
negative) given as an exercise at least 3 times in a minute!

Advance Rule:

1 If you are using an either or statement and two past tense then you do have the option of
َ
‫ل‬in front of the
using past tense but it should be used in front of both of the past tenses e.g.
ُ ْ ََ َ َ ُ ْ َ َ َ
‫ما أ كلت و ما شبت‬and it becomes I neither eat nor drank.
Lesson 3: Introduction to Passive Past Tense (‫الماض المجهول‬ ُ
‫الفعل‬ )
‫ي‬

Take a normal past tense which you have learned and convert it this way; there is no other
pattern. The meaning changes from He did to It was done to him.

1 The last letter of the verb or in case of three letter past tense commonly referred to and
called ‫ل‬letter will have no change and this will always have a Fatha on it like ‫َل‬
2 The letter immediately preceding the last letter which in case of three letter past tense is
commonly referred to and called ‫ع‬letter and this will always have a Kasrah on it like ‫ع‬
3 All other vowelled letters get replaced with a Damma. In the case of three letter past
tense, the first letter is of the three letter past tense is commonly referred to and called ‫ف‬
ُ
letter and this will always have a Damma on it like ‫ف‬

Drill:

Do not move beyond this lesson unless and until you can recite the first pattern (with a negative)
at least 3 times in a minute!

Drill:

Do not move beyond this lesson unless and until you can recite the all of the patterns (with a
negative) given as an exercise at least 3 times in a minute!
Lesson 4: Negative Passive Past tense?

ُ
1 Add a ‫ َما‬in front of the past tense e.g. ‫ َما فع َل‬and it becomes "It was not done to him!"

Drill:

Do not move beyond this lesson unless and until you can recite the first pattern (with a negative)
at least 3 times in a minute!

Drill:

Do not move beyond this lesson unless and until you can recite the all of the patterns (with a
negative) given as an exercise at least 3 times in a minute!
Lesson 5: Active Participle (‫)السم الفاعل‬

The active participle (‫الفاعل‬ ‫ )السم‬refers to a person whoَ does the action described by the
َ َ
base letters. For example, the basic past tense letters of ‫فعل‬make the active participle of
َ
‫فاعل‬so just an ‫ا‬is added.
There are three good things about this pattern which you need to remember:

1It is now a Noun and not a Verb which means that it will go to three states i.e.State of Rafa
or Marfoo, State of Nasab or Mansoob and State of Jar or Majroor. This concept is
thoroughly covered in Part 3 of our Introductory lesson (please revise if needed) but know
that the method of converting the state differs and it is not as simple as described in
Introduction.

2 It is the same pattern used for 3rd person or 2nd person or 1st person just singular, dual,
plural and gender matters.

3 It is the same pattern for nearly all 3 letter verbs.

Plural Dual
َ ُ َ َ َ Singularَ Masculine
‫فاعل فاعلن فاعلون‬
َ َ ََ َ َ َ Feminine
‫فاعلة فاعلتان فاعلت‬
Drill:

Students should make active participle of the verbs provided above in examples.

Drill:

Allah (SWT) has blessed you with a baby boy and you and your wife came across an Arabic verb
َ َ
‫ َسجد‬which means “He Prostrated” what would you name the baby boy?

Drill:

Allah (SWT) has blessed you with a baby boy and you and your wife came across an Arabic
َََ
verb ‫عبد‬which means “He worshipped” what would you name the baby boy?
Drill:

Allah (SWT) has blessed you with a baby girl and you and your wife came across an Arabic verb
َ َ
‫ َسجد‬which means “He Prostrated” what would you name the baby girl?

Drill:

Allah (SWT) has blessed you with a baby girl and you and your wife came across an Arabic
َََ
verb ‫عبد‬which means “He worshipped” what would you name the baby girl?
Lesson 6: Passive Participle ( ‫)السم المفعول‬

The passive participle (‫الفاعل‬ ‫ )السم‬refers to a person or thing upon which the action َ
َ َ
described by the base letters is enacted. For example, the basic past tense letters of ‫فعل‬make
ْ ُ َ
the passive participle of ‫مفعول‬. Please keep in mind that this rule only applies to transitive
ِّ َ َ ُ ُ ْ ُ َ
(‫ )الفعل المتعدي‬verbs i.e. verbs which require an object (‫)مــ ـف ـعـــ ــول بـــــه‬. In addition also
remember:

1It is now a Noun and not a Verb which means that it will go to three states i.e.State of Rafa
or Marfoo, State of Nasab or Mansoob and State of Jar or Majroor. This concept is
thoroughly covered in Part 3 of our Introductory lesson (please revise if needed) but know
that the method of converting the state differs and it is not as simple as described in
Introduction.

2 It is the same pattern used for 3rd person or 2nd person or 1st person just singular, dual,
plural and gender matters.

3 It is the same pattern for nearly all 3 letter verbs.

Plural Dual Singular

َ ُ ُ ْ َ َ ُ ْ َ ْ
‫َمف ُعول مفعولن مفعولون‬ Masculine
َ ْ ََ ْ َ ْ
‫َمف ُعولة َمف ُعولتان َمف ُعولت‬ Feminine

Drill:

Students should make passive participle of the verbs provided above.

Drill:

Allah (SWT) has blessed you with a baby boy and you and your wife came across an Arabic
verb ‫ص‬ َ َ ‫ َن‬which means “He Helped” what would you name the baby boy?

Drill:

Allah (SWT) has blessed you with a baby boy and you and your wife came across an Arabic
َ َ
verb ‫شك َر‬which means “He Thanked” what would you name the baby boy?
 ْ‫ن‬
Lesson 7: Superlative Noun ( ‫)السم التفض ْيل‬
This is to convert a verb into a comparative or superlative degree, its the same pattern for both in
َ َْ
Arabic. For example, the basic past tense letters of ‫ف َع َل‬make the superlative degree of ‫أف َع ُل‬so
just an ‫ا‬is added. There are a few things which you need to remember:

1 The lack of Tanween on the last letter should indicate to you that this conversion is diptote!
We have covered the issue of diptotes (vs full grammatical inflection) in Part 3 of Lesson 4
(please revise if needed).

2 The female singular pattern is fixed (‫بن‬

َ
‫ )م ي‬meaning that it will not reflect the changes in
grammatical states.

3 The plural forms of both masculine and feminine forms have a sound and a broken plural
pattern.

4 The comparative noun is the same but in Arabic you simply add ‫أفعل من‬after the noun i.e.
ْ ُ َ َْ
ْ
while without the ‫من‬it is superlative degree (or noun)

Plural Plural
Dual Singular
(Broken) (Sound)
ُ‫َأ َفاعل‬ َ َُ َْ
‫أفعلون‬ ‫أفعلن‬
ََ َْ ُ‫َأ ْف َعل‬ Masculine
(Marfoo)
َ‫َأ َفاعل‬ َ‫َأ ْف َعلت‬ ‫أفعلت‬ َ َْ َ‫َأ ْف َعل‬ Masculine
(Mansoob)
َ‫َأ َفاعل‬ َ‫َأ ْف َعلت‬ ‫أفعلت‬ َ َْ َ‫َأ ْف َعل‬ Masculine
(Majroor)
َ ُ َ َْ ُ َ َْ ُ َْ ُ
‫ف عل‬ ‫فعليات‬ ‫فعليان‬ ‫فعل‬ Feminine (Marfoo)
‫ُ َ ا‬ َ َْ ُ ْ َ َْ ُ َْ ُ Feminine
‫ف عل‬ ‫فعليات‬ ‫فعليت‬ ‫فعل‬ (Mansoob)
َ ُ َ َْ ُ ْ َ َْ ُ َْ ُ
‫ف عل‬ ‫فعليات‬ ‫فعليت‬ ‫فعل‬ Feminine (Majroor)

Drill:

Make superlative noun of all the examples which you have learnt.
 ُ
Lesson 8: Introduction to Active Present Tense (‫الفعل المضارع المعلوم‬)
The first thing a student needs to know that the basic pattern of simple Arabic present tense
ُ َ َْ
used in majority of grammar books is ‫يفعل‬which consists of 4 letters as follows. The student
needs to understand the following rules with regard to simple past tense which consists of 3
letters:

1 The first letter is of the four letter

َ present tense is a prefix with always carries a Fathah so
َ َ
this will always be ‫ َي‬or ‫ت‬or ‫أ‬or ‫ن‬. You won't have any other letters in the start.

2 The second letter of the four letter present tense is called ‫ف‬letter and this will always
ْ
have a Sukoon on it like ‫ف‬

3 The third letter of the four letter present tense is called ‫ع‬letter and but this middle letter
َ ُ
can carry all three vowels so it can be ‫ع‬or ‫ع‬or ‫ع‬

4 The last letter of the four letter present tense is called ‫ل‬letter and this will always have a
Damma on it like ‫ ُل‬.The position of Damma on the last letter makes the verb "Marfoo"

All forms of simple Arabic present tense are demonstrated as follows:

 Meaning Subject/Suffix Base Form Prefix Verb

َْ
3rd Person
(M)
He does N/A (Subject
optional)
‫فعل‬ ‫َي‬ ‫يف َع ُل‬
َ َْ
They (Dual)
Do
‫ان‬ ‫فعل‬ ‫َي‬ ‫يف َعلن‬

َ َُ َْ
They ‫ْون‬ ‫فعل‬ ‫َي‬ ‫يفعلون‬
(Plural) Do
َ َْ
3rd Person
(F)
She does N/A (Subject
optional)
‫فعل‬ ‫ت‬ ‫تف َع ُل‬
They (Dual) َ َ َ َْ
Do
‫ان‬ ‫فعل‬ ‫ت‬ ‫تفعلن‬

َ َ ْ َْ
They
(Plural) Do
‫ن‬ ‫فعل‬ ‫َي‬ ‫يف َعلن‬
َ َْ
2nd Person
(M)
You Do ‫فعل‬ ‫ت‬ ‫تف َع ُل‬
َ َ َْ
You (Dual)
Do
‫ان‬ ‫فعل‬ ‫ت‬ ‫تف َعلن‬
َ َ ُ َْ
You (Plural)
Do
‫ْون‬ ‫فعل‬ ‫ت‬ ‫تف َعلون‬
2nd Person You Do ‫فعل‬ ‫ت‬
َ
‫ت‬َ ‫َت ْف َعل‬
(F)

َ َ َْ
You (Dual)
Do
‫ان‬ ‫فعل‬ ‫ت‬ ‫تف َعلن‬
َ َ َ ْ َْ
You (Plural)
Do
‫ن‬ ‫فعل‬ ‫ت‬ ‫تف َعلن‬
َ ُ‫َأ ْف َعل‬
1st Person I Do N/A (Subject ‫فعل‬ ‫أ‬
always
assumed)
َ َْ
We Do N/A (Subject
always
‫فعل‬ ‫ن‬ ‫نف َع ُل‬
assumed)
Five (5) easy ones:
The easiet way to introduce the present tense is to teach students five (5) easy ones which simply
carry a prefix as follows:

1 Change the vowel on the last which is the ‫ل‬letter and from Damma to Fatha like ‫َل‬ and
this makes the verb "Mansoob"

2 Change the vowel on the last which is the ‫ل‬letter and from Damma to Sukoon like ‫ ْل‬and
this makes the verb "Majzoom"

Assignment:

Students should be given the following common past tense verbs to convert to present tense
and derive the five (5) easy ones in all three grammatical states i.e. Marfoo, Mansoob and
Majzoom.

َ ََ
1 He wrote ‫كتب‬

َ َ َ
2 He entered ‫دخل‬

َ َ َ
3 He sought ‫طلب‬

َ ََ
4 He killed ‫قتل‬

َ ََ
5 He studies ‫درس‬

Two (2) Mabni ones:

ُ َ َْ ُ َ َْ ْ َ َْ ْ َ َْ
These are created by taking ‫يفعل‬or ‫تفعل‬and first converting it into ‫يفعل‬or ‫تفعل‬
َ
respectively and then adding ‫ن‬to it. These are Mabni so there is no visible change in Marfoo,
Mansoob and Majzoom.

These two are the only Mutaharrik forms of present tense and rest of the conjugations are all
Saakin.
Assignment:

Students should be given the following common past tense verbs to convert to present tense
and seven conjugations in all three grammatical states i.e. Marfoo, Mansoob and Majzoom.

َ ََ
1 He wrote ‫كتب‬

َ َ َ
2 He entered ‫دخل‬

َ َ َ
3 He sought ‫طلب‬

َ ََ
4 He killed ‫قتل‬

َ ََ
5 He studies ‫درس‬

Seven (7) Vanishing Noones:

This isn't a grammatical classification but something easy to remember. In these conjugations
the ‫ن‬at the end vanishes when the verb goes from Marfoo to Mansoob or Marfoo to Majzoom
states. First the entire table in the Marfoo state:

You have guessed it correctly the Mansoob and Majzoom states of these conjugation states are
the same!

Assignment:

Students should be given the following common past tense verbs to convert to present tense in
all three grammatical states i.e. Marfoo, Mansoob and Majzoom.

َ ََ
1 He wrote ‫كتب‬

َ َ َ
2 He entered ‫دخل‬

َ َ َ
3 He sought ‫طلب‬

َ ََ
4 He killed ‫قتل‬
 َ ََ
5 He studies ‫درس‬

Drill:

Do not move beyond this lesson unless and until you can recite the pattern at least 3 times in a
minute!

Drill:

Do not move beyond this lesson unless and until you can recite all of the patterns at least 3
times in a minute!
Lesson 9: Six (6) groups of Past-Present tense conversion:

The second letter is of the three letter past tense is commonly referred to and called ‫ع‬letter
َ ُ
and but this middle letter can carry all three vowels so it can be ‫ع‬or ‫ع‬or ‫ع‬.The third letter of
the four letter present tense is called ‫ع‬letter and but this middle letter can carry all three
َ ُ
vowels so it can be ‫ع‬or ‫ع‬or ‫ع‬
Therefore when all possible combinations from past tense to present tense are settled we end
up six basic groups as follows:

ُ ُ َْ َ َ َ ُ
/
1 ( ‫باب نص ينص‬ )A-U Group: In this group the ‫ ع‬in the past tense gets converted to ‫ع‬
in the present tense.

ُ ْ َ َ َ َ َ
2 ( ‫يصب‬/ ‫ضب‬ ‫باب‬ )A-I Group: In this group the ‫ ع‬in the past tense gets converted
to ‫ع‬in the present tense.
ُ َ ْ َ/ َ َ َ َ
3 ( ‫) باب فتح يفتح‬A-A Group: In this group the ‫ ع‬in the past tense remains as the same as
َ
‫ع‬in the present tense.
ُ ُْ َ ََُ ُ
4 ( ‫يكرم‬/ ‫) باب كرم‬U-U Group: In this group the ‫ ع‬in the past tense remains as the same
ُ
as ‫ع‬in the present tense.

ُ َ ْ َ َ َ ُ َ
5 ( ‫يسمع‬/ ‫) باب سمع‬I-A Group: In this group the ‫ ع‬in the past tense gets converted to ‫ع‬
in the present tense.

ُ ْ َ َ ‫باب َحس‬
6 ( ‫يحسب‬/ ‫ب‬ )I-I Group: In this group the ‫ ع‬in the past tense remains as the
same as ‫ع‬in the present tense.

The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic Dictionary you will find that after the past
tense in brackets you will find the vowel sign which the present tense will take when it gets
َ ُ
converted i.e. it can be ‫ع‬or ‫ع‬or ‫ع‬
Lesson 10: Negative present tense?

َ َْ َ
1 Add a ‫ل‬in front of the present tense e.g. ‫ل يف َع ُل‬and it becomes "He is not doing", this
َ
type of ‫ل‬where the verb remains in its Marfoo form is called ‫ل النافية‬

َ َْ َ
2 Add a ‫ل‬in front of the present tense e.g. ‫ل يف َع ْل‬and it becomes "He shouldn't do!", this
َ
type of ‫ل‬where the verb coverts to Majzoom form is called ‫ل الناهية‬and this is the
prohibitive Laa

َ ُ َ َْ َ
3 Add a ‫ما‬in front of the present tense e.g. ‫ما يفعل‬restricts the negation to this present
moment i.e. this will mean "He is not doing, right now!"

َ َ
4 Add a ‫ل ْم‬in front of the present tense (where the verb coverts to Majzoom )e.g. ‫َ ل ْم‬
ْ‫ َي ْف َعل‬and it negates to the past and it becomes "He did not do!", this is simailar to ‫َما ف َع َل‬
and can be used interchangebly.

ْ َ َْ ْ َ
5 Add a ‫لن‬in front of the present tense (where the verb coverts to Mansoob) e.g. ‫لن يف َع َل‬
restricts the negation to future i.e. this will mean "He will not be doing!"

Drill:

Do not move beyond this lesson unless and until you can recite the pattern at least 3 times in a
َ
minute with the simple ‫ل‬mentioned in rule 1.
Drill:

Do not move beyond this lesson unless and until you can recite all of the patterns at least 3
َ
times in a minute with the simple ‫ل‬mentioned in rule 1.
Lesson 11: Active Present Tense Mansoob?
َ ْ َ ْ َ
Unlike the past tense which is fixed (‫بن‬
‫ )م ي‬the present tense changes patterns and when ‫لن‬, ‫أن‬,
َْ ْ َ
‫ يك‬, or ‫إذن‬are inserted before the present tense it becomes Mansoob. Remember that you
learned 3 groups:

1 Five Easy Ones

2 Two fixed (‫بن‬

َ
‫ )م ي‬ones

3 The Vanishing Noon group

Drill:

Do not move beyond this lesson unless and until you can recite the pattern at least 3 times in a
ْ َ
minute with the simple ‫لن‬mentioned in rule.

Drill:

Do not move beyond this lesson unless and until you can recite all of the patterns at least 3
ْ َ
times in a minute with the simple ‫لن‬mentioned in rule.

Assignment:

Students need to perform the exercises covered in Madina Series Book 2 (Lessons 11-18)
Lesson 12: Active Present Tense Majzoom?
َ َ ْ
Unlike the past tense which is fixed (‫بن‬ ‫ي‬ ‫ )م‬the present tense changes patterns and when ‫ل ْم‬, ‫إن‬,
َ
َ ‫إ‬, or ‫ل نما‬are inserted before the present tense it becomes Mansoob. Remember that you
‫ذما‬
learned 3 groups:

1 Five Easy Ones

2 Two fixed (‫بن‬

َ
‫ )م ي‬ones

3 The Vanishing Noon group

Drill:

Recite Surah Al-Ikhlas (Chapter112) and note down Present tense in Majzoom state and explain
why (i.e. which prefix) caused it to become Majzoom?

Drill:

Do not move beyond this lesson unless and until you can recite the pattern at least 3 times in a
َ
minute with the simple ‫ل ْم‬mentioned in rule.

Drill:

Do not move beyond this lesson unless and until you can recite all of the patterns at least 3
َ
times in a minute with the simple ‫ل ْم‬mentioned in rule.

Assignment:

Students need to perform the exercises covered in Madina Series Book 2 (Lessons 11-18)
 ُ
Lesson 13: Introduction to Passive Present Tense ( ‫الفعل المضارع‬
‫)المجهول‬

1 The first letter is of the four letter

ُ present tense is a prefix with always carries a Damma so
ُ ُ ُ
this will always be ‫ي‬or ‫ت‬or ‫أ‬or ‫ن‬. You won't have any other letters in the start.

2 The second letter of the four letter present tense is called ‫ف‬letter and this will always
ْ
have a Sukoon on it like ‫ف‬

3 The third letter of the four letter present tense is called ‫ع‬letter and but this middle letter
َ
will always a Fatha can be ‫ع‬

‫ل‬letter and this will always have a

4 The last letter of the four letter present tense is called
Damma on it like
ُ‫ل‬.The position of Damma on the last letter makes the verb "Marfoo"

5 The rules of negative, Mansoob and Majzoom respectively apply the same way.

Drill:

Do not move beyond this lesson unless and until you can recite all the patterns in the examples at
least 3 times in a minute
Introduction to Command Verb:
You can only command someone who is in front of you so you have only 2nd person verb
conjugation to memorise with the following rules:

1 Change the vowel on the last letter which is the‫ل‬letter

َ and from Damma to Sukoon
ْ ُ َ ْ ْ َ َْ
like ‫ ل‬and this makes the verb "Majzoom" so ‫تفعل‬becomes ‫تفعل‬

َ ُ َ ْ
2 Drop the first letter which is ‫ت‬and add an ‫ا‬so your verb now looks like this ‫افعل‬the
problem which you now have is which vowel to put on this ‫ا‬which you have just added? Is
َ ُ
it ‫ا‬or ‫ا‬or ‫?ا‬

ُ ُ
3 You look at the ‫ع‬letter and if its ‫ع‬then you add ‫ا‬otherwise it is always ‫ا‬you can
َ
NEVER have ‫ا‬

Meaning Subject/Suffix Base Form Prefix Verb

ْ
2nd Person
(M)
You Do ‫فعل‬ ‫ا‬ ‫اف َع ْل‬

ْ
You (Dual) ‫اف َعل‬
Do
‫ا‬ ‫فعل‬ ‫ا‬
ْ
You (Plural) ‫اف َعلو‬
Do
‫و‬ ‫فعل‬ ‫ا‬
ْ
2nd Person You Do ‫اف َع يل‬
(F)
‫ي‬ ‫فعل‬ ‫ا‬

ْ
You (Dual) ‫اف َعل‬
Do
‫ا‬ ‫فعل‬ ‫ا‬
You (Plural) َ َ ْ ْ
‫اف َعلن‬
Do
‫ن‬ ‫فعل‬ ‫ا‬

Assignment:

Students need to perform the exercises covered in Madina Series Book 2 (Lessons 11-18)
Progress check?
If you have read the lessons carefully and done the drills you should be able to pick up patterns
while reciting the Qur’aan on almost every page (if not every verse). You may not know the
meanings but you should be able to distinguish various verbs and their grammatical states etc.

STOP: LESSONS FROM HERE ON ARE BEING

REVISED
Introduction to weak Verbs:
Lets recall the definition of simple past tense which we discussed earlier, it was as follows:

1 The first letter is of the three letter past tense is commonly referred to and called ‫ف‬letter
َ
and this will always have a Fatha on it like ‫ف‬

2 The second letter is of the three letter past tense is commonly referred to and called ‫ع‬
َ ُ
letter and but this middle letter can carry all three vowels so it can be ‫ع‬or ‫ع‬or ‫ع‬

3 The last letter is of the three letter past tense is commonly referred to and called ‫ل‬letter
and this will always have a Fatha on it like

َ ْ
In a weak verb any of these letters are either ‫ي‬or ‫و‬thus they are called or ‫ال ُم ْعتل‬weak
verbs. The rules of where this ‫ي‬or ‫و‬appears in the verb i.e. beginning, middle or end are
different and are discussed here.
َ ْ َْ َ ْ
Al-Mithaal OR Al-Mu'tall Al-Fa (‫او المثال‬ ‫)ال ُم ْعتل الف ُاء‬:
 1 The first letter is of the three letter past tense which is commonly referred to and called
‫ف‬letter is ‫ي‬or ‫و‬

Weak letter ‫و‬:

The past tense to present tense conversion only takes places in two groups:

ُ ْ َ َ َ َ َ
1 ( ‫يصب‬/ ‫ضب‬ ‫باب‬ )A-I Group: In this group the ‫ ع‬in the past tense gets converted
to ‫ع‬in the present tense.

ُ ََْ َ ََ َ
2 ( ‫يفتح‬/ ‫) باب فتح‬A-A Group: In this group the ‫ع‬ in the past tense remains as the
َ
same as ‫ع‬in the present tense.

When converting from past tense to present tense the weak letter ‫و‬i.e. is simply dropped, see
examples below:
ُ َ َ َ
‫ يجد‬- ‫( َوجد‬He found)
ُ َ َ َ
‫ يزن‬- ‫( َوزن‬He weighed)
ُ َ َ َ
‫ يعد‬- ‫( َوعد‬He promised)
ُ ََ َ َ
‫ يلج‬- ‫( َولج‬He entered)
َ َ َ
‫ يض ُع‬- ‫( َوض َع‬He placed)
َ ‫( َو َه‬He granted)
ُ ‫ َي َه‬- ‫ب‬
‫ب‬
Lets recall the rules of normal conversion from present tense to Amr as follows:

1 Change the vowel on the last letter which is the ‫ل‬letter and from Damma to Sukoon
like
ْ‫ ل‬and this makes the verb "Majzoom" so ‫ َت ْف َع ُل‬becomes ‫َت ْف َع ْل‬
 َ ْ
‫ت‬and add an ‫ا‬so your verb now looks like this ‫اف َع ُل‬the
2 Drop the first letter which is
problem which you now have is which vowel to put on this ‫ا‬which you have just added? Is
َ ُ
it ‫ا‬or ‫ا‬or ‫?ا‬

ُ ُ
3 You look at the ‫ع‬letter and if its ‫ع‬then you add ‫ا‬otherwise it is always ‫ا‬you can
َ
NEVER have ‫ا‬

When converting these versb where the first letter in the past tense was something interesting
happens as follows:

ُ َ َ
‫تجد‬which is ‫ت‬is dropped and Sukoon is placed on
1 The first letter is of the verb form
ْ
the last letter so the word becomes ‫جد‬

2There is no reason to add ‫ا‬because the first letter doesn't have a Sukoon and it is
ْ
pronouncable so the Amr is simply ‫جد‬

Active Participle (‫)السم الفاعل‬

The active participle (‫الفاعل‬ ‫ )السم‬refers to a person whoَ does the action described by the
َ َ
base letters. For example, the basic past tense letters of ‫فعل‬make the active participle of
َ
‫فاعل‬so just an ‫ا‬is added.

Passive Participle ( ‫)السم المفعول‬

The passive participle (‫الفاعل‬ ‫ )السم‬refers to a person or thing upon which the action َ
َ َ
described by the base letters is enacted. For example, the basic past tense letters of ‫فعل‬make
ْ ُ َ
the passive participle of ‫مفعول‬.
Assignment:

Students need to perform full present tense conjugation in Marfoo, Mansoob and Majzoom
states and then conversion to Amr and then also create active and passive particples.

Weak letter ‫ي‬:

This will be covered later.

ْ َ َْ ْ َ ْ
Al-Ajwaf OR Al-Mu'tall Al-Ain (‫او اْلجوف‬ ‫)ال ُم ْعتل ال َعت‬:
1 The second letter is of the three letter past tense which is commonly referred to and
called ‫ع‬letter is ‫ي‬or ‫و‬
Two Saakin Rule in Arabic:

In Arabic a word having two letters (both with Saakin on it) cannot be pronounced and
something has to change e.g. these words are unpronouncable:

َ َْْ
‫قالن‬
َ َْ
‫َزا ْ ْرن‬
َ ْ
‫ذاقن‬
ْ
The only solution is to drop the weak letter illustrated in these by ‫ا‬and place some kind of a
vowel on the next letter to pronounce it!

Weak letter ‫ و‬or ‫ي‬:

The past tense to present tense conversion only takes places in three groups:

ُ ُ َْ َ َ َ
/
1 ( ‫) باب نص ينص‬A-U Group: In this group the ‫ ع‬in the past tense gets converted to
ُ
‫ع‬in the present tense. In this group the Mutahhirk verb takes a Damma (to be explained
below)
 ُ ْ َ َ َ َ َ
2 ( ‫يصب‬/ ‫ضب‬ ‫باب‬ )A-I Group: In this group the ‫ ع‬in the past tense gets converted
to ‫ع‬in the present tense. In this group the Mutahhirk verb takes a Kasra (to be explained
below)

ُ َ ْ َ ‫) باب َسم َع‬I-A Group: In this group the ‫ ُع‬in the past tense gets converted
5 ( ‫يسمع‬/
َ
to ‫ع‬in the present tense. In this group the Mutahhirk verb takes a Kasra (to be explained
below)

ْ
Here are some exmaples in which the weak letter is illustrated by ‫ا‬and you have no choice but
to find the present tense form and then you notice what the weak letter actually is i.e. either ‫ي‬
or ‫و‬. In each of these cases notice how you can figure out what the weak letter actually is by
just noticing the letter positioning.
َُ َ َ
‫(قال يقول‬He said)
ُ‫( َقام َي ُقوم‬He stood)
ُ َُ َ َ
‫(ذاق يذوق‬He tasted)
َ َ َ
‫(باع يبي ُع‬He sold)
َ
‫( َسا َر يس ُب‬He walked)
‫ش‬ُ ‫ش َيعي‬ َ ‫( َعا‬He lived)

But there comes a group of these where this strategy of looking at the present tense doesn't
work so you have no choice but to look at the Masdar form to figure out what the weak letter
actually is:
َ ََ َ
‫(نا َم ينا ُم نوم‬He said)
َ ُ َ َ َ َ
‫(خاف يخاف خوف‬He stood)
The rules for conjugating them are actually very simple:

When converting these versb where the first letter in the past tense was something interesting
happens as follows:
 1 If the weak letter is ‫و‬then in the Mutaharrik past tense it gets dropped and replaced with
a Damma on the previous letter and in the Mutaharrik present tense it gets dropped and
replaced with a Damma on the previous letter.

2If the weak letter is ‫ي‬then in the Mutaharrik past tense it gets dropped and replaced
with a Damma on the previous letter and in the Mutaharrik present tense it gets dropped
and replaced with a Damma on the previous letter. Same rules applies if you have to go to
Masdar to detect the weak letter.

The following illustrations of the past tense will make it easier to understand. You need to
ِّ ُ
understand that once you get to the ‫هن‬part the rest is smooth sailing!
The two Mutaharrik present tense conjugations in this case (above) will be:

َ َُْ
‫يقلن‬
َ َُْ
‫تقلن‬
َ ْ َ َ
‫يخفن‬
َ ْ َ َ
‫تخفن‬
The two Mutaharrik present tense conjugations in this case (above) will be:

Assignment:

Students need to perform full past and present tense conjugations of the examples given.

Majzoom Five (5) easy ones:

Recall the five (5) easy one and the prefixes which they have:

ْ َ َْ َ ْ َْ ُ ْ
When the five easy ones of the Al-Ajwaf OR Al-Mu'tall Al-Ain (‫ )المعتل العت او اْلجوف‬gets
َْ
a Lam (‫ )لم‬or gets concerted to Majooz form again the weak letter is dropped again because in
Arabic a word having two letters (both with Saakin on it) cannot be pronounced.
 َُ َ
‫ل ْم يق ْل‬
َُ َ
‫ل ْم َتق ْل‬
ُ َ
‫ل ْم َت ُق ْل‬
َ
‫ل ْم َأق ْل‬
ُ َ
‫ل ْم نق ْل‬

Assignment:

Students need to perform full present tense conjugation in Marfoo, Mansoob and Majzoom
states of all the examples given above.

Conversion to Amr

Recall the rules for conversion to Amr above, then here are specific rules for these kinds of verbs:
َُ ْ ُ
1 In the first instance ‫تقول‬becomes ‫قول‬then the weak letter ‫و‬of also gets dropped and
ْ ُ
it simply becomes ‫قل‬BUT this only happens in the first conversion, in the rest the becomes
visible and remember that there is no ‫و‬in the last conjugation anyways to example is:

ْ‫ُقل‬
َ ُ
‫قول‬
ُ ُ
‫قولو‬
ُ
‫قو يل‬
َ ُ
‫قول‬
َ ُْ
‫قلن‬
Active Participle (‫)السم الفاعل‬

The active participle (‫الفاعل‬ ‫ )السم‬refers to a person whoَ does the action described by the
َ َ
base letters. For example, the basic past tense letters of ‫فعل‬make the active participle of
َ
‫فائل‬so just an‫ء‬is added.

Passive Participle ( ‫)السم المفعول‬

To be described later.

Assignment:

Students need to perform full present tense conjugation in Marfoo, Mansoob and Majzoom
states and then convert to Amr of all the examples given above. Also produce active participles.

ُ َ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ َْ ُْ
An-Naaqis OR Al-Mu'tall Al-Laam (‫)المعتل اللم او الناقص‬:

1 The third letter is of the three letter past tense which is commonly referred to and called
‫ل‬letter is ‫ي‬or ‫و‬
There are certain instances pronunciation of a weak letter becomes difficult so certain vowels
are substituted:

ْ REPLACED WITH ُْ
‫لؤ‬ ‫لؤ‬
ُْ ُ
‫ل‬ ُْ
‫ل‬

Three (3) groups of Past-Present tense conversion for An-Naaqis OR Al-Mu'tall Al-Laam
ُ َ ‫ن‬
(‫او الناقص‬
‫ن‬ َ ْ
‫)ال ُم ْعتل اللم‬:

The second letter is of the three letter past tense is commonly referred to and called ‫ع‬letter
َ ُ
and but this middle letter can carry all three vowels so it can be ‫ع‬or ‫ع‬or ‫ع‬.The third letter of
the four letter present tense is called ‫ع‬letter and but this middle letter can carry all three
َ ُ
vowels so it can be ‫ع‬or ‫ع‬or ‫ع‬
Therefore when all possible combinations from past tense to present tense are settled we end
up six basic groups as follows:

ُ َْ
ُ ‫ين‬/ ‫نص‬
1(‫ص‬
َ َ ‫باب‬ َ
)A-U Group: In this group the ‫ ع‬in the past tense gets converted to
ُ
‫ع‬
َ َ
in the present tense. To demonstrate this we will use the example of ‫دعا‬

ُ ْ َ َ َ َ َ
2 ( ‫يصب‬/ ‫ضب‬ ‫باب‬ )A-I Group: In this group the ‫ ع‬in the past tense gets converted
to ‫ع‬in the present tense. To demonstrate this we will use the example of‫َر َم‬
ُ َ ْ َ َ َ ُ َ
3 ( ‫يسمع‬/ ‫) باب سمع‬I-A Group: In this group the ‫ ع‬in the past tense gets converted to ‫ع‬
َ ‫َر‬
in the present tense. To demonstrate this we will use the example of ‫ض‬

Meaning
‫دﹶعﹷا‬ ٰ‫رﹶمﻰ‬ ‫رﹶضﹻﻰﹶ‬
‫دﹶعﹷوﹶا‬ ‫رﹶمﹷيﹷا‬ ‫رﹶضﹻيﹷا‬
‫دﹶعﹷوﹾا‬ ‫رﹶمﹷوﹾا‬ ‫رﹶضﹹوﹾا‬
‫دﹶعﹷت‬ ‫رﹶمﹷتﹾ‬ ‫رﹶضﹻيﹷتﹾ‬
‫دﹶعﹷتﹷا‬ ‫رﹶمﹷتﹷا‬ ‫رﹶضﹻيﹷتﹷا‬
‫دﹶعﹷوﹾنﹶ‬ ‫رﹶمﹷيﹿنﹶ‬ ‫رﹶضﹻينﹶ‬
‫دﹶعﹷوﹾتﹶ‬ ‫رﹶمﹷيﹿتﹶ‬ ‫رﹶضﹻيﹿتﹶ‬
‫دﹶعﹷوﹾتﹹمﹷا‬ ‫رﹶمﹷيتﹹمﹷا‬ ‫رﹶضﹻيﹿتﹹما‬
‫دﹶعﹷوﹾتﹹمﹾ‬ ‫رﹶمﹷيتﹹمﹾ‬ ‫رﹶضﹻيﹿتﹹمﹾ‬
‫دﹶعﹷوﹾتﹺ‬ ‫رﹶمﹷيﹿتﹺ‬ ‫رﹶضﹻيﹿتﹺ‬
‫دﹶعﹷوﹾتﹹمﹷا‬ ‫رﹶمﹷيﹿتﹹمﹷا‬ ‫رﹶضﹻيﹿتﹹما‬
‫دﹶعﹷوﹾتﹹنن‬ ‫رﹶمﹷيتﹹنن‬ ‫رﹶضﹻيﹿتﹹنن‬
‫دﹶعﹷوﹾتﹸ‬ ‫رﹶمﹷيﹿتﹸ‬ ‫رﹶضﹻيﹿتﹸ‬
‫دﹶعﹷوﹾنﹷا‬ ‫رﹶمﹷيﹿنﹷا‬ ‫رﹶضﹻيﹿنﹷا‬
Rules for the first 2 conjugations are simplified as follows:

1 First conjugation: Recall that whenever a ‫و‬or ‫ﻯ‬is preceded by a letter with a ‫فﹷتﹿحة‬
on it the ‫و‬or ‫ﻯ‬is changed to ‫ ;ا‬thus, the first conjugation was actually ‫دﹶعﹷوﹶ‬which
changed into ‫دﹶعﹷا‬due to the simple change to alif rule. The same is true for ٰ‫رﹶمﻰ‬which
was initially ‫رﹶمﹷﻰﹶ‬

2 Second conjugation: The verb actually displays all its letters (including weak letters). This
should actually be ‫دﹶعﹷوﹶا‬rhyming with ‫فﹷعﹷلﹶ‬. However, the simple change to alif
rule will cause it to become ‫دﹶعﹷاا‬which is difficult to pronounce and thus the final alif will
drop leaving us with ‫دﹶعﹷا‬. Note that this is exactly the same as the first conjugation so
there is actually no ‫تﹷعلﹻيل‬allowed here. Thus the final form remains ‫دﹶعﹷوﹶا‬

3 Third conjugation: Rhyming with ‫فﹷعﹷلﹹوﹾا‬this should be ‫دﹶعﹷوﹸوﹾا‬. The first ‫و‬
changes to ‫ا‬due to the simple change to alif rule, leaving us with ‫دﹶعﹷاوﹾا‬. This form,
however, has two ‫سﹷاكﹻن‬letters coming together in it therefore we drop the first ‫ا‬
leaving us with ‫دﹶعﹷوﹾا‬

4 Fourth Conjugation: This was originally ‫ دﹶعﹷوﹶتﹾ‬rhyming with‫فﹷعﹷلﹷتﹾ‬. The ‫و‬

changed to ‫ا‬causing it to become ‫دﹶعﹷاتﹾ‬. Because of the gathering of ‫سﹷاكﹻن‬letters
the ‫ ا‬is dropped leaving us with ‫دﹶعﹷتﹾ‬

5 Fifth Conjugation: This was originally ‫دﹶعﹷوﹶتﹷا‬rhyming with ‫فﹷعﹷلﹷتﹷا‬. The ‫و‬
changed to ‫ا‬giving us ‫دﹶعﹷاتﹷا‬. It is important to note here that in this last form the ‫ت‬is
actually ‫سﹷاكﹻن‬but has to carry a ‫فﹷتﹿحة‬because of the final ‫ ا‬which is the pronoun of
duality. Thus the ‫ ا‬in the middle will drop because of gathering of two ‫سﹷاكﹻن‬letters
leaving us with ‫دﹶعﹷتﹷا‬

Now lets discuss our 3rd conjugations with the rules simplified as follows:
 1 First conjugation: It was actually ‫رﹶضﹻوﹶ‬but changed its form due a rule which is called
the edge rule. It states that “any ‫لم‬position ‫( و‬i.e. occurring at the edge of a word)
preceded by a ‫كﹷسﹿرﹶﺓ‬will change to ‫“ﻯ‬. This rule deals with the concept of ‘ small
‫ ‘تﹷعلﹻيل‬whereby one letter changes to another but the form of the verb is not disfigured:
‫رﹶضﹻﻰﹶ‬still rhymes with ‫سﹷمﹻعﹶ‬.

Note: this ‘small ‫ ‘تﹷعلﹻيل‬happens in all 14 conjugations for ‫رﹶضﹻﻰﹶ‬

‫(رﹶضﹻيﹹوﹾا‬rhyming with
2 Third conjugation: The 3rd conjugation was originally
‫ )سﹷمﹻعﹹوﹾا‬which is hard for pronunciation since the ‫ﻯ‬is preceded by a ‫ضﹷمﳲة‬.
Moreover, this ‫ﻯ‬here is then followed by a ‫ و‬which makes it even harder on the tongue. In
this case, the ‫ضﹷمﳲة‬moved from ‫ﻯ‬to ‫ﺽ‬, which lost it ‫كﹷسﹿرﹶﺓ‬. The ‫ﻯ‬is then
dropped because it is left with a ‫و‬which is ‫سﹷاكﹻن‬. The ‫ و‬cannot be dropped since it is a
pronoun (denoting ‘they, group of males’).

Meaning
‫يﹷدﹾعﹹوﹾ‬ ‫يﹷرﹾمﹻﻲﹾ‬ ‫يﹷرﹾضٰﻰ‬
‫يﹷدﹾعﹹوﹶانﹺ‬ ‫يﹷرﹾمﹻيﹷان‬ ‫يﹷرﹾضﹷيﹷانﹺ‬
‫يﹷدﹾعﹹوﹾنﹶ‬ ‫يﹷرﹾمﹹوﹾنﹶ‬ ‫يﹷرﹾضﹷوﹾنﹶ‬
‫تﹷدﹾعﹹوﹾ‬ ‫تﹷرﹾمﹻﻲﹾ‬ ‫تﹷرﹾضٰﻰ‬
‫تﹷدﹾعﹹوﹶانﹺ‬ ‫تﹷرﹾمﹻيﹷانﹺ‬ ‫تﹷرﹾضﹷيﹷانﹺ‬
‫يﹷدﹾعﹹوﹾنﹶ‬ ‫يﹷرﹾمﹻيﹿنﹶ‬ ‫يﹷرﹾضﹷيﹿنﹶ‬
‫تﹷدﹾعﹹوﹾ‬ ‫تﹷرﹾمﹻﻲﹾ‬ ‫تﹷرﹾضٰﻰ‬
‫تﹷدﹾعﹹوﹶانﹺ‬ ‫تﹷرﹾمﹻيﹷانﹺ‬ ‫تﹷرﹾضﹷيﹷانﹺ‬
‫تﹷدﹾعﹹوﹾنﹶ‬ ‫تﹷرﹾمﹹوﹾنﹶ‬ ‫تﹷرﹾضﹷوﹾنﹶ‬
‫تﹷدﹾعﹻيﹿنﹶ‬ ‫تﹷرﹾمﹻيﹿنﹶ‬ ‫تﹷرﹾضﹷيﹿنﹶ‬
‫تﹷدﹾعﹹوﹶانﹺ‬ ‫تﹷرﹾمﹻيﹷانﹺ‬ ‫تﹷرﹾضﹷيﹷانﹺ‬
‫تﹷدﹾعﹹوﹾنﹶ‬ ‫تﹷرﹾمﹻيﹿنﹶ‬ ‫تﹷرﹾضﹷيﹿنﹶ‬
‫أﹶدﹾعﹹوﹾ‬ ‫أﹶرﹾمﹻﻲﹾ‬ ‫اﹶرﹾضٰﻰ‬
‫نﹷدﹾعﹹوﹾ‬ ‫نﹷرﹾمﹻﻲﹾ‬ ‫نﹷرﹾضٰﻰ‬
Continues...s

Meaning Subject Base Form Verb

3rd Person (M)

3rd Person (F)

2nd Person (M)

2nd Person (F)

1st Person

The lack of Tanween on the last letter should indicate to you that this conversion is diptote! We
have covered the issue of diptotes (vs full grammatical inflection) in Part 3 of Lesson 4 (please
revise if needed).