Arabic Past Tense Verb 3

LESSON 3

ا ل فِ ع ل اُل ماضِى

Past Tense Verb

In this lesson, we will look at the various forms a past tense verb takes in accordance with the number and gender of the one(s) performing the action. To begin with, فَ عَلَُ means “he (S/M) did,”

فَ عَلََُ means “they (D/M) did,” فَ عَلُوْا means “they (P/M) did,” and فَ عَلَتُْ means “she (S/F) did.” These verbs are in active voice (فِعْلٌُ

مَعْرُوْفٌُ ).

In Arabic, each verb form is called صِيْ غَةٌُ (seeghah). Looking at the table below, we can see that there are fourteen seeghahs in it. Each of these seeghahs has a name. This name identifies, whether it is singular, dual or plural, whether it is masculine or feminine, and whether it is first person, second person or third person. In Arabic, the words for singular, dual and plural are وَاحِدٌُ , تَ ثُْنِيَةٌُ , and جَْْعٌُ , respectively. Thus, singular masculine of the third person will be called وَاحِدٌُ مُُذَكَّرٌ غَُائِبٌُ in Arabic. Dual masculine of the third person will be called تَ ثُْنِيَةٌُ مُُذَكَّرٌ غَُائِبٌُ , and plural masculine of the third person will be called جَْْعٌُ مُُذَكَّرٌ غَُائِبٌُ , and so on. In the case of the first person, because the gender is not identified, and there is no separate seeghah for dual, therefore, the two seeghahs, singular first person and plural first person will be called وَاحِدٌ مُُتَكَلُِّمٌُ and جَْْعٌ مُُتَكَلُِّمٌُ , respectively.

We are listing below the verb forms (also called conjugations) of the past tense verb in active voice. These should be memorized with their meanings.