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In the simple triliteral verb, the first and third root consonants (or radicals) are vowelled with fat‟ha; but
the second radical may be vowelled with fat‟ha, kasra, or dwamma; e.g:
(to write) (to drink) (to become big or great)
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Conjugation of verb (to drink)
The normal order in an Arabic verbal sentence is verb - subject - direct object - adverbial and other
matter. Even if the subject is not mentioned separately, it is already implicit in the verb as a pronoun.
For example, we may say (Zaïd arrived). Here Zaïd is the subject. But if we merely say
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When the verb in the 3rd person comes before the subject it is always in the singular.
(the teacher wrote)
The verb preceding its subject, however, will agree with it in gender
NOTE: the kasra added to is due to the „hamzatul wasl‟ which follows.
For this purpose, broken plurals are considered to be feminine, unless they refer to male human beings.
E.g (the stars appeared) but (the men appeared). However, in classical
Arabic, a feminine verb will often be found with a broken plural, even referring to male human beings
(the men appeared)
Note that it is the actual gender which counts, not the form of the word. Thus (caliph) , is masculine,
though it has a feminine ending.
(the caliph sat down)
When the verb follows the subject it agrees with in number and gender
(the boys opened the door)
e.g (the man went out). But if it does not begin with a verb it is called a nominal sentence
Since, as we have already noted, the normal sentence order in Arabic is for the verb (in the singular) to
come first, the question of when the 3rd person plural verb is used arises. There are three situations in
which it is required:
(a) The subject may not be mentioned by name, e.g (they have gone)
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(b) The subject may be placed first for stress or emphasis,
(when the girls arrived, the boys went away)
(c) The subject may already have been mentioned in the preceding sentence,
(the girls arrived and sat down in the classroom)
particle, which may make the verb definitely Past Perfect , (he has arrived)
However, this particle may also make the verb Pluperfect, so that the verb given might also mean “ he had
arrived”, according to the context.
The Imperfect Tense ) expresses an action still unfinished at the time to which reference
is being made . It is most frequently translated into English by the Present or the Future. It has prefixes
and suffixes to denote number and gender.
The prefixes and suffixes (for the triliteral form) are as follows:
It will be noted that after the pronominal prefix the first radical or consonant of the verb has sukun. As
for the second radical it may takes dwamma or fat‟ha or kasra and in the majorityof verbs only the
dictionary will show which vowelling is used with any particular verb . But here we will indicate which
vowel must be used by writing it immediately after any given verb.
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Full form of Imperfect Indicative of (to write):
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The imperfect in itself denotes only unfinished action, but it may be made to indicate the future by putting
the independent word or the prefix before it. E.g or (he will
write).
But where it is clear from the context that the imperfect has a future meaning, these particles need not be
inserted.
E.g (he will go tomorrow)
Here the use of the word “ tomorrow” makes it clear that the verb refers to the future time.
When used with a Present significance, the Imperfect may give the meaning of the continuous present or
the Habitual present, e.g
(he is going now) continuous (he goes everyday) habitual
THE IMPERATIVE
We are going to study the Conjugation of the imperative for the first group of the triliteral verb; and as we
have already learned, the vowel of the middle radical of the verb in the Imperfect tense varies from one
verb to another. And this will help us to form the imperative; which may be considered a modification of
the Jussive by taking away the pronominal prefix, and replacing it by an alif, e.g.
(to write) jussive (let him write)
Imperative (write!)
This alif may be vowelled with dwamma or kasra.
a. Verbs having dwamma on the middle radical in the Imperfect take dwamma also on the alif of the
imperative,e.g.
(i) see above.
The vowellings of the alif of the imperative only apply at the beginning of a statement, or of a direct
speech. Otherwise, this alif takes the vowel of the end of the previous word, e.g.
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(go to the door and open it)
Here are the full conjugation of the Imperative (all second person):
Fem. Sing
Dual masc.
& fem
Masc.Plur
Fem.Plur
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VERBS HAVING HAMZA
The hamza is a consonant, and, as such, may be the initial or first consonant, as in (to eat), and
(to take); the middle or second radical, as in (to ask), (to be disgusted at); and the final or
In certain verbs : (to take); (to command); (to eat), the initial hamza is
dropped in the imperative, and we have:
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Conjugation of (to be accustomed to)
The Imperfect
The Perfect
The Imperative
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Conjugation of to quote - report)
The Imperfect
The Perfect
The Imperative
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Conjugation of (to hope)
The Imperfect
The Perfect
The Imperative
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Hamza as the middle radical
The middle radical may be vowelled with fat‟ha, dwamma, or kasra. This means that the hamza may be
written over alif, waw, or ya.
Conjugation of (to ask)
The Imperfect
The Perfect
The Imperative
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Example of the form (to be cast down):
Imperfect Imperative
The Perfect
The Imperative
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Example of the form (to be healthy)
Imperfect Imperative
Imperfect Imperative
Imperfect Imperative
WEAK VERBS
The weak verbs are those in which one radical is one of the two semi-vowels and .
They are of three classes:
a. Those with a weak initial radical , sometimes called in English the Assimilated verb.
c. Those with weak final radical , sometimes called the defective verb in English.
The initial may be or , but the latter (being rarer) will be dealt first.
The Perfect
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The Imperative
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The Perfect
The Imperative
Exercise:
Conjugate the following verbs in the Imperfect , perfect and imperative respectively:
(to despair) (to be sure) (to trust) (to inherit)
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THE HOLLOW VERB
The Imperfect
The Perfect
The Imperative
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Conjugation of verb (to become)
The Imperfect
The Perfect
The Imperative
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Conjugation of verb (to fear)
The Imperfect
The Perfect
The Imperative
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THE DEFECTIVE VERB
Defective verbs are those with weak final radicals. The weak radical may be considered to have been
originally either or , but it may be written as (alif) according to the following rules:
b. When the Perfect has , the Imperfect also must have . This occurs in the following types:
The Perfect
The Imperfect
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The Imperative
The Perfect
The Imperfect
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The Imperative
The Perfect
The Imperfect
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The Imperative
Exercise:
(to hope - request) (to approach) (to meet) (to forget) (to
be pure, clear) (to go away) (to remain) (to build) (to decide -
judge)
The great majority of the Arabic verbs are triliteral, i.e they consist of three radical letters only. The
quadriliteral verbs, which consist of four radical letters are less in number.
The triliteral verbs are of two kinds:
1. Those which contain merely the three radical letters which are known as e.g
(to go out).
2. Those which contain one, two or three additional letters, besides the three radical letters. These are
known as e.g (to take out). These in fact are the “derived forms of the triliteral
verbs”. They differ from the original, in meaning, to some extent. In the Arabic dictionaries, the triliteral
verb as such finds the first place and the meaning of its derived forms follow one by one.
The derived forms of the triliteral verb are twelve in number:
A. Forms increased by one letter :
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C. Forms increased by three letters :
FORM
This is formed by prefixing Hamza as a result of which the first radical loses its vowel. It implies causing
an act. It makes intransitive verbs transitive, and transitive verbs doubly transitive : (to sit)
(to make one sit)
There are a few intransitive verbs of this form , e.g (to become a muslim) (to approach)
The Perfect
The Imperfect
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The Imperative
FORM
This is formed by doubling the second radical. It implies that an act is done with intensity e.g (to
The Imperfect
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The Imperative
FORM
This is formed by the introduction of an alif after the first radical. This form normally expresses the
trelation or application of the act of the root form to another person, e.g (to write)
It also expresses the effort to perform the act upon the object e.g (to kill) (to try to kill -
therefore to fightagainst )
The Perfect
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The Imperfect
The Imperative
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FORMS AND
Derived forms and form a pair. They tend to be reflexives of Forms and , from
which they are formed by prefixing . Moreover, they are both vowelled entirely by „fatha‟ in the
imperfect, but take „dwamma‟ on the middle radical in the verbal noun.
FORM
The Imperfect
The Imperative
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MEANING PATTERNS
b. It is also used to form verbs from nouns, especially nouns of quality or status, e.g, a christian;
c. Closely related to meaning (b) is that of thinking or representing oneself to have a certain quality or
status :
great; to think oneself great, to be proud
FORM
This only differs from in having the alif after the first radical. It is conjugated as follows:
The Perfect
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The Imperfect
The Imperative
MEANING PATTERNS
a. The reflexive of ,e.g.
b. Even more than Form , Form is used with the meaning of simulating a state or status, or
representing oneself to have it, e.g
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Form
This is formed by prefixing “ Hamza tul wasl” and adding after the first radical which loses its vowel
Imperfect
Perfect
Imperative
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Form
This is formed by prefixing and . It has a reflexive signification and is generally used as a passive
Perfect
Imperative
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