Present vs. Future Tense
The imperfective verb on its own can express both the present and future tenses. However, in order to disambiguate between the two tenses, especially in sentences not containing time expressions such as tomorrow, later, etc., Arabic uses the following word before the imperfective when it is meant as a future tense verb:
| sawf(a) | سَوْفَ |
| Future Tense | Present/Future Tense |
| سَوْفَ يَفْعَلُ | يَفْعَلُ |
| sawf(a) yaf”al(u) | yaf”al(u) |
| (He) will do (He) will be doing | (He) does (He) is doing (He) will do (He) will be doing |
This word is similar to the English “will,” although it will not necessarily always carry the connotation of prediction or spontaneity as in English.
Sawf(a) can often be reduced to sa- ; this happens most of the time in modern standard Arabic.
| sa- | سَـ |
| Future Tense | Present/Future Tense |
| سَيَفْعَلُ | يَفْعَلُ |
| sa–yaf”al(u) | yaf”al(u) |
| (He) will do (He) will be doing | (He) does (He) is doing (He) will do (He) will be doing |
More details will be available in the tense section.
Examples:
| Future | Present/Future | Past |
| سَوْفَ يَذْهَبُ sawfa yathhab(u) (he) will go |
يَذْهَبُ yathhab(u) (he) goes (he) will go | ذَهَبَ thahab(a) (he) went |
| سَيَذْهَبُ sa-yathhab(u) (he) will go | ||
| سَوْفَ تَأْتِيْ sawfa ta'<tee (you 1/m) will come | تَأْتِيْ ta'<tee (you 1/m) come (you 1/m) will come | أَتَيْتَ ‘atayt(a) (you 1/m) came |
| سَتَأْتِيْ sa-ta'<tee (you 1/m) will come | ||
| سَوْفَ أَقُوْلُ sawfa ‘aqool(u) (I) will say | أَقُوْلُ ‘aqool(u) (I) say (I) will say | قُلْتُ qult(u) (I) said |
| سَأَقُوْلُ sa-‘aqool(u) (I) will say | ||
| سَوْفَ تَسْمَعِيْنَ sawfa tasma”een(a) (you 1/f) will hear | تَسْمَعِيْنَ tasma”een(a) (you 1/f) hear (you 1/f) will hear | سَمِعْتِ sami”ti (you 1/f) heard |
| سَتَسْمَعِيْنَ sa-tasma”een(a) (you 1/f) will hear | ||
| سَوْفَ نَعْرِفُ sawfa na”rif(u) (we) will know | نَعْرِفُ na”rif(u) (we) know (we) will know | عَرَفْنَاْ “arafnaa (we) knew |
| سَنَعْرِفُ sa-na”rif(u) (we) will know | ||
| سَوْفَ تَقْرَؤُوْنَ sawfa taqra’oon(a) (you >2/m) will read | تَقْرَؤُوْنَ taqra’oon(a) (you >2/m) read (you >2/m) will read | قَرَأْتُمْ qara'<tum (you >2/m) read |
| سَتَقْرَؤُوْنَ sa-taqra’oon(a) (you >2/m) will read | ||
| سَوْفَ يَكْتُبْنَ sawfa yaktubn(a)
(they >2/m) will write | يَكْتُبْنَ yaktubn(a) (they >2/m) write (they >2/m) will write | كَتَبْنَ katabn(a) (they >2/m) wrote |
| سَيَكْتُبْنَ sa-yaktubn(a)
(they >2/m) will write | ||
| سَوْفَ يَتَكَلَّمَاْنِ sawfa yatakallamaan(i) (they 2/m) will speak | يَتَكَلَّمَاْنِ yatakallamaan(i) (they 2/m) speak (they 2/m) will speak | تَكَلَّمَاْ takallamaa (they 2/m) spoke |
| سَيَتَكَلَّمَاْنِ sa-yatakallamaan(i) (they 2/m) will speak | ||
| سَوْفَ تَرَيْنَ sawfa tarayn(a) (you >2/f) will see | تَرَيْنَ tarayn(a) (you >2/f) see (you >2/f) will see | رَأَيْتُنَّ ra’aytunn(a) (you >2/f) saw |
| سَتَرَيْنَ sa-tarayn(a) (you >2/f) will see | ||
| سَوْفَ تُحَاْوِلانِ sawfa tuhaawilaan(i) (they 2/f) will try | تُحَاْوِلانِ tuhaawilaan(i) (they 2/f) try (they 2/f) will try | حاوَلَتَاْ haawalataa (they 2/f) tried |
| سَتُحَاْوِلانِ sa-tuhaawilaan(i) (they 2/f) will try | ||
| سَوْفَ نُسَاْفِرُ sawfa nusaafir(u) (we) will travel | نُسَاْفِرُ nusaafir(u) (we) travel (we) will travel | سافَرْنَاْ saafarnaa (we) traveled |
| سَنُسَافِْرُ sa-nusaafir(u) (we) will travel | ||
| سَوْفَ يَصِلُ sawfa yasil(u) (he) will arrive | يَصِلُ yasil(u) (he) arrives (he) will arrive | وَصَلَ wasal(a) (he) arrived |
| سَيَصِلُ sa-yasil(u) (he) will arrive | ||
| سَوْفَ تُغَاْدِرُ sawfa turaadir(u) (she) will leave | تُغَاْدِرُ turaadir (she) leaves (she) will leave | غَادَرَتْ raadarat (she) left (intr.) |
| سَتُغَاْدِرُ sa-turaadir(u) (she) will leave | ||
| سَوْفَ تَرْكَبَاْنِ sawfa tarkabaan(i) (you 2/m) will ride | تَرْكَبَاْنِ tarkabaan(i) (you 2/m) ride (you 2/m) will ride | رَكِبْتُمَاْ rakibtumaa (you 2/m) rode |
| سَتَرْكَبَاْنِ sa-tarkabaan(i) (you 2/m) will ride |
Exercise 1
Can you fill in the missing English pronouns inside the brackets?
| (?) hurry (up) | تسْرعُوْنَ |
| (?) win | ينْتَصرْنَ |
| (?) cooperate | تتَعَاْونُ |
| (?) try | نجَرّبُ |
| (?) try, attempt | يحَاْولانِ |
| (?) blue (become blue) | تزْرَققْنَ |
| (?) fidget | تتَمَلْملُوْنَ |
| (?) blow up | تفَجّرَاْنِ |
| (?) make, force (to do) | أجْبرُ |
| (?) speak | تتَكَلَمِيْنَ |
| (?) use | أسْتَخْدمُ |
| (?) become lame | يعْرَاْججْنَ |
| (?) commit (do wrong) | نرْتَكبُ |
| (?) reiterate | تكَرّرِيْنَ |
| (?) mutter | يتَمْتمَاْنِ |
| (?) send | يرْسلُوْنَ |
| (?) roughen | تخْشَوْشنُ |
Answers
| (You masc. plu.) hurry (up) | تسْرعُوْنَ |
| (They fem. plu.) win | ينْتَصرْنَ |
| (You masc. sing.) cooperate (She) cooperates | تتَعَاْونُ |
| (We) try | نجَرّبُ |
| (They masc. dual) try, attempt | يحَاْولانِ |
| (You fem. plu.) blue (become blue) | تزْرَققْنَ |
| (You masc. plu.) fidget | تتَمَلْملُوْنَ |
| (You dual) blow up (They fem. dual) blow up | تفَجّرَاْنِ |
| (I) make, force (to do) | أجْبرُ |
| (You fem. sing.) speak | تتَكَلَمِيْنَ |
| (I) use | أسْتَخْدمُ |
| (They fem. plu.) become lame | يعْرَاْججْنَ |
| (We) commit (do wrong) | نرْتَكبُ |
| (You fem. sing.) reiterate | تكَرّرِيْنَ |
| (They masc. dual) mutter | يتَمْتمَاْنِ |
| (They masc. plu.) send | يرْسلُوْنَ |
| (You masc. sing.) roughen (She) roughens | تخْشَوْشنُ |
Exercise 2
Can you tell the missing vowel-marks in the Arabic words of the previous example?
Answers
| Form IV | تُسْرِعُوْنَ |
| Form VIII | يَنْتَصِرْنَ |
| Form VI | تَتَعَاْوَنُ |
| Form II | نُجَرِّبُ |
| Form III | يُحَاْوِلانِ |
| Form IX | تَزْرَقِقْنَ |
| Form QII | تَتَمَلْمَلُوْنَ |
| Form II | تُفَجِّرَاْنِ |
| Form VI | أُجْبِرُ |
| Form V | تَتَكَلَّمِيْنَ |
| Form X | أَسْتَخْدِمُ |
| Form XI | يَعْرَاْجِجْنَ |
| Form VIII | نَرْتَكِبُ |
| Form II | تُكَرِّرِيْنَ |
| Form QI | يُتَمْتِمَاْنِ |
| Form IV | يُرْسِلُوْنَ |
| Form XII | تَخْشَوْشِنُ |
Imperfective Structures (continued)
Conjugation of Irregular Verbs