Learn Arabic in Hundred Step- Arabic Grammar
59. The Phonological Environment for Form VIII Verb. The
characteristic feature of Form VIII is the reflexive affix / ـتـَ/ which is inserted after the first radical of the root. That / ـتـَ/ will create the environment for a phonological rule of assimilation that applies itself if the first radical is a dental stop or fricative. The result is that the inserted / ـتـَ/ is assimilated. Involved here are the following consonants:
ت ث د ذ ز ص ض ط ظ
Compare the following examples:
(a) a fully pronounced / ـتـَ/ جَمَعَ إجتَمَعَ
(b) a fully assimilated / ـتـَ/ زادَ – إزدادَ ، دَعا – إدَّعی
Luckily, Arabic does not have many verbs of this type. However, you need to remember the three following related phonological rules:
(1). After the emphatic consonants ص ض طthe inserted / ـتـَ/ becomes emphatic ط,as in صَدَمَ – إصطدَمَ
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(2). After the fricativesت ظthere is a complete assimilation and the resultant double consonant is written with Shadda, as in ظَلـَمَ – إظـَّلـَمَ
(3). If the first radical of the verb is (و) as in وَصَلَ , the (و) will be completely assimilated by the inserted / ـتـَ/, and thus the use of the Shadda would be required. Consider the following example:
وَصَلَ – إتـَّصَلَ
60. Non-human Plurals are treated as feminine singular in terms
of adjective, pronoun, and subject-verb agreement.
السيَّاراتُ جديدةٌ. هي جميلة ٌ أيضاً.
The cars are new. They are pretty, too.
61. Multiples of 10 do not show gender distinction. Consider the following sentence:
کتبتُ عشرينَ رسالة ً وقرأتُ عشرينَ کتاباً.
I wrote twenty letters and I read twenty books.
62.The Conjunction لکنَّis usually followed by a noun or a pronoun suffix in the accusative case. On the other hand, لکنْtolerates the use of verbs after it. Both are used to make compound sentences and mean “but.”
لا أحبُّ القهوةَ لکنْ أحِبُّ الحليبَ.
I don’t like coffee but I like milk.
البرنامجُ جميلٌ لکنـَّهُ طويلٌ.
The program is beautiful but it is long.
63. The Singular Subject and its mood markers for verbs in the present tense are prefixed and suffixed to the verb stem. This is necessary to demonstrate subject/verb agreement. These singular markers are:
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أنا أنتِ أنتَ هي هو
Subject markers أ تـَ …ـيـ تـَ تـَ تـَ
Mood markers -ُ ـنَ -ُ -ُ -ُ
64. The Plural Subject and mood markers. It was mentioned above that for verbs in the present tense subject and mood markers are prefixed and suffixed to the verb stem in order to demonstrate subject/verb agreement. The same is true with plural markers, which are:
أنتـُم هُنَّ هُم أنتـُنَّ نحنُ
Subject marker نـَ تـَ ..ـْنَ تـَ …و يـَ ..ـنَ يَـ …
Mood markers ـنَ none ـنَ none -ُ
65. The Present Tense of the Arabic verb requires that you prefix the subject marker and suffix the mood marker to the stem of the verb. However, this is not as easy as it sounds, especially for Form I. The vowels you need to add are going to be a little bit challenging. Note the following paradigm.
1.1. فـَعَلَ – يَفعَلُ ذَهَبَ- يَذهَبُ
2.1. فـَعَلَ – يَفعِلُ رَجَعَ – يَرجِعُ
3.1. فـَعَلَ – يَفعُلُ کـَتـَبَ – يَکتـُبُ
4.1. فـَعِلَ – يَفعَلُ شَرِبَ – يَشرَبُ
2. فـَعَّلَ – يُفـَعِّلَ دَرَّسَ – يُدرِّسُ
3. فاعَلَ – يُفاعِلُ شاهَدَ – يُشاهِدُ
4. أفعَلَ – يُفعِلُ أقبَلَ – يُقبـِلَ
5. تـَفـَعَّلَ – يَتـَفـَعَّـلُ تـَحَدَّثَ – يَتـَحَدَّثُ
6. تـَفاعَلَ – يَتـَفاعَلُ تـَقابَلَ – يَتـَقابَلُ
7. إنفـَعَلَ – يَنفـَعِلُ إنصَرَفَ – يَنصَرِفُ
8. إفتـَعَلَ- يَفتـَعِلُ إعتـَمَدَ – يَعتـَمِدُ
9. إفعَلَّ – يَفعَلُّ إحمَرَّ – يَحمَرُّ
10. إستـَفعَلَ – يَستـَفعِلُ إستـَخدَمَ – يَستـَخدِمُ
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66. The Moods. The Present tense verb in Arabic has three moods.
1. Indicative is the regular present tense verb.
تـَسکـُنُ أختي في هذهِ الشقـَّةِ.
My sister lives in this apartment.
2. Subjunctive is used when there is doubt, fear, hope, purpose, obligation, negated future, etc.
لنْتـَسکـُنَ أختي في هذهِ الشقـَّةِ.
My sister will not live in this apartment.
3. Jussive is used in negating the past tense with the particle لمْ
لم تـَسکـُنْ أختي في هذهِ الشقـَّةِ.
My sister did not live in this apartment.