Arabic Verbs 1
Perfective Structures (continued)
Triliteral Roots with Additional Letters
The three structures we have talked about so far did not have any additional letters. They were composed solely of the root letters plus short vowels, which do not count as letters. Those are called in Arabic the “bare” structures or measures الأَوْزَاْنُ الْمُجَرَّدَةُ .
With the employment of additional letters, there will be as many as 14 other structures of perfective verbs based on triliteral roots, making a total of fifteen forms.
Structures with additional letters are called in Arabic the “added to” or “augmented” structures الأَوْزَاْنُ الْمَزِيْدَةُ .
Here is a list of all the triliteral-rooted perfective verb structures:
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Structures of Perfective Verbs with Triliteral Roots (Active Voice) |
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No additional letters |
Form I |
fa“al(a) |
فَعَلَ |
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fa“il(a) |
فَعِلَ |
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fa“ul(a) |
فَعُلَ |
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1 additional letter |
Form II |
fa““al(a) |
فَعَّلَ |
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Form III |
faa“al(a) |
فَاْعَلَ |
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Form IV |
‘af”al(a) |
أَفْعَلَ |
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2 additional letters |
Form V |
tafa”“al(a) |
تَفَعَّلَ |
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Form VI |
tafaa“al(a) |
تَفَاْعَلَ |
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Form VII |
‘infa“al(a) |
اِنْفَعَلَ |
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Form VIII |
‘ifta“al(a) |
اِفْتَعَلَ |
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Form IX |
‘if”all(a) |
اِفْعَلََّ |
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3 additional letters |
Form X |
‘istaf”al(a) |
اِسْتَفْعَلَ |
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Form XI |
‘if”aall(a) |
اِفْعَاْلَّ |
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Form XII |
‘if”aw”al(a) |
اِفْعَوْعَلَ |
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Form XIII |
‘if”awwal(a) |
اِفْعَوَّلَ |
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Form XIV |
‘if”anlal(a) |
اِفْعَنْلَلَ |
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Form XV |
‘if”anlaa |
اِفْعَنْلَىْ |
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The last five structures (highlighted in red) are rare.
Note that the short vowel between the final two letters (the green short vowel) is fixed as a in all the forms other than form I. The only form that has a changeable green vowel is form I, as we have already seen. When those perfective verb forms are turned into imperfective, the green vowel will be fixed as i in all forms except forms V & VI which will still have a fixed a. Form I will still have a changeable green vowel in the imperfective like in the perfective. We are going to cover the imperfective verbs later.
Forms IX and XI are irregular doubled verbs. The green vowel is omitted in the 3rd person masculine singular conjugation of these verbs as well as in some other conjugations.
Form XV is an irregular defective verb. This form ends with a weak ‘alif that becomes a letter y in other conjugations.
All the forms conjugate in the regular way mentioned earlier except for the irregular ones (i.e. forms IX and XI, the doubled verbs, and form XV, the defective verb). The conjugation of irregular verbs will be covered later.
Examples on the conjugation of the different forms:
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Re-conjugated |
Example ([he] did) |
Form |
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(We) sat |
جَلَسْنَاْ |
جَلَسَ |
فَعَلَ |
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jalasnaa |
jalas(a) |
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(I) thought |
حَسِبْتُ |
حَسِبَ |
فَعِلَ |
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hasibt(u) |
hasib(a) |
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(She/it) was/became small(er) |
صَغُرَتْ |
صَغُرَ |
فَعُلَ |
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sarurat |
sarur(a) |
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(You, dual) taught |
عَلَّمْتُمَاْ |
عَلَّمَ |
فَعَّلَ |
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“allamtumaa |
“allam(a) |
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(They, masc. dual) fought |
قَاْتَلا |
قَاْتَلَ |
فَاْعَلَ |
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qaatalaa |
qaatal(a) |
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(They, masc. plu.) dignified |
أَكْرَمُوْا |
أَكْرَمَ |
أَفْعَلَ |
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‘akramoo |
‘akram(a) |
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(They, fem. dual) were late |
تَأَخَّرَتَاْ |
تَأَخَّرَ |
تَفَعَّلَ |
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ta’akhkharataa |
ta’akhkhar(a) |
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(You, masc. plu.) wondered |
تَسَاْءَلْتُمْ |
تَسَاْءَلَ |
تَفَاْعَلَ |
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tasaa’altum |
tasaa’al(a) |
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(She/it) exploded |
اِنْفَجَرَتْ |
اِنْفَجَرَ |
اِنْفَعَلَ |
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‘infajarat |
‘infajar(a) |
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(They, fem. plu.) became disconcerted |
اِرْتَبَكْنَ |
اِرْتَبَكَ |
اِفْتَعَلَ |
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‘irtabakn(a) |
‘irtabak(a) |
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(You, masc. sing.) reddened up |
اِحْمَرَرْتَ * |
اِحْمَرَّ |
اِفْعَلََّ |
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‘ihmarart(a) |
‘ihmarr(a) |
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(We) used |
اِسْتَعْمَلْنَاْ |
اِسْتَعْمَلَ |
اِسْتَفْعَلَ |
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‘ista”malnaa |
‘ista”mal(a) |
*A doubled verb.
Just like how the first three structures showed differences in meaning, each one of the other structures also has its distinct meaning, or meanings. However, having deep knowledge of the different meanings of each structure is not that important. The important thing is to know what a verb means and to be able to conjugate it correctly.
A comprehensive review of the meanings of each structure with large numbers of examples are available here.
Here is a simplified list of the meanings of verb structures:
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Meanings of Verb Forms |
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Form I |
فَعَلَ fa“al(a)
tr./intr. |
Basic (he) did |
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فَعِلَ fa“il(a)
tr./intr. |
Stative (he) was/became something |
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فَعُلَ fa“ul(a)
intr. |
Stative (he) was/became something |
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Form II |
فَعَّلَ fa““al(a)
tr./intr. |
Causative (he) made do |
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Intensive (he) did much |
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Form III |
فَاْعَلَ faa“al(a)
tr./intr. |
Conative (he) sought to do |
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Mutual (he) initiated mutual doing with |
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Intensive (he) did much |
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Form IV |
أَفْعَلَ ‘af”al(a)
tr./intr. |
Causative (He) made do |
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Reflexive Causative (He) made himself do |
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Form V |
تَفَعَّلَ tafa”“al(a)
tr./intr. |
Reflexive Causative (He) made himself do |
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Reflexive Intensive (he) did himself much |
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Form VI |
تَفَاْعَلَ tafaa“al(a)
tr./intr. |
Conative (he) sought to do |
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Mutual (he) initiated mutual doing with |
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Pretension (he) pretended to do |
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Reflexive Intensive (he) did himself much |
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Form VII |
اِنْفَعَلَ ‘infa“al(a)
intr. |
Reflexive (he) was/became done |
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Agentless Passive (he) was/became done |
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Form VIII |
اِفْتَعَلَ ‘ifta“al(a)
tr./intr. |
Reflexive (he) did himself |
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Reflexive Causative (he) made himself do |
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Form IX |
اِفْعَلََّ ‘if”all(a)
intr. |
Stative (he) was/became color/bodily characteristic |
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Form X |
اِسْتَفْعَلَ ‘istaf”al(a)
tr./intr. |
Causative (He) made do |
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Reflexive Causative (he) made himself do |
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Arrangement/Request (he) had/asked to do (He) sought to be done by |
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Details about these meanings are available here. It should be noted that all of these structures are considered active verbs, although the reflexive structures can overlap in meaning with the passive (especially form VII which can be used as a real passive). Each one of these structures has a passive voice version which we will go through later.
It can often be not easy in real life to identify the meaning of a certain verb with the general meaning of its structure.
Exercise 1
Can you fill in the missing English pronouns inside the brackets?
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(?) hurried (up) |
أَسْرَعْتُمْ |
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(?) waited |
اِنْتَظَرُوْا |
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(?) came close(er) |
اِقْتَرَبْتُنَّ |
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(?) received |
اِسْتَلَمْنَاْ |
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(?) tried |
جَرَّبْنَ |
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(?) blued (became blue) |
اِزْرَقَّتْ |
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(?) tried |
حَاْوَلا |
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(?) became surprised |
تَفَاْجَأْتِ |
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(?) won |
اِنْتَصَرُوْا |
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(?) learned |
تَعَلَّمْتُمَاْ |
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(?) roughened |
اِخْشَوْشَنْتَ |
Answers
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(You plu. masc.) hurried (up) |
أَسْرَعْتُمْ |
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(They plu. masc.) waited |
اِنْتَظَرُوْا |
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(You plu. fem.) came close(er) |
اِقْتَرَبْتُنَّ |
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(We) received |
اِسْتَلَمْنَاْ |
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(They plu. fem.) tried |
جَرَّبْنَ |
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(She) blued (became blue) |
اِزْرَقَّتْ |
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(They dual masc.) tried |
حَاْوَلا |
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(You sing. fem.) became surprised |
تَفَاْجَأْتِ |
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(They plu. masc.) won |
اِنْتَصَرُوْا |
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(You dual) learned |
تَعَلَّمْتُمَاْ |
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(You sing. masc.) roughened |
اِخْشَوْشَنْتَ |
Exercise 2
Can you tell the forms of the verbs in the previous exercise?
Answers
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Form IV |
أَسْرَعْتُمْ |
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Form VIII |
اِنْتَظَرُوْا |
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Form VIII |
اِقْتَرَبْتُنَّ |
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Form II |
جَرَّبْنَ |
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Form IX |
اِزْرَقَّتْ |
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Form III |
حَاْوَلا |
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Form VI |
تَفَاْجَأْتِ |
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Form VIII |
اِسْتَلَمْنَاْ |
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Form VIII |
اِنْتَصَرُوْا |
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Form V |
تَعَلَّمْتُمَاْ |
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Form XII |
اِخْشَوْشَنْتَ |
Perfective Structures (continued)
Quadriliteral Roots-Basic Structure