Lesson 38 – الدَّرْسُ الثَّامِنُ وَالثَّلاثُونَ

The Present verb when indeclinable on Sukoon - بِناء الفِعْلِ الْمُضارِعِ على السُّكُونِ

• The Arabic present verb is normally (originally) declinable. Sometimes it is, exceptionally, indeclinable. There only two cases exceptional cases in which the present verb is indeclinable.
• In this part we will learn the first case; when the present verb is attached to feminine plural pronoun. In this case the verb will have Sukoon on its ending, regardless the grammatical case of the verb (indicative, accusative, or genitive).
• Consider the following examples:

Example
English	Arabic
The believers treat their husbands with kindness	الْمُؤْمِنَاتُ يُعَامِلْنَ أَزْوَاجَهُنَّ مُعَامَلَةً كَرِيْمَةً
The girls are playing with the ball in the sporting club	الْبَنَاتُ يَلْعَبْنَ الْكُرَةَ فِي النَّادِي
The (female) doctors examine the patients	الطَّبِيبَاتُ يَفْحَصْنَ الْمَرْضَى
The female nurses help the female doctors	الْمُمَرِّضَاتُ يُسَاعِدْنَ الطَّبِيبَاتِ

• When we look at these examples, we notice that they are all present verbs as follows:

يُسَاعِدْنَ	يَفْحَصْنَ	يَلْعَبْنَ	يُعَامِلْنَ	Verb
They (fem.) help	They (fem.) examine	They (fem.) play	They (fem.) treat	Meaning

• We also notice that all these verbs are attached to (نُونُ النِّسْوَةِ) Noon of feminine plural. Let’s see how the attachment happens and how affects the present verb changing it from declinable to indeclinable:

Indeclinable present verb	Declinable Present verb + Noon of feminine plural
يُعَامِلْنَ	يُعَامِلُ + نَ
يَلْعَبْنَ	يَلْعَبُ + نَ
يَفْحَصْنَ	يَفْحَصُ + نَ
يُتَابِعْنَ	يُتَابِعُ + نَ

• We notice that the verb before the attachment is declinable, i.e. its ending will change according to the grammatical situation. Therefore the present verb, before attachment, could be indicative with Dhammah on its ending, accusative with Fatħa, and jussive with Kasrah.
• After the attachment of (نون النِسوَة) Noon of feminine plural, the verb will have a constant ending in the three cases. Please, consider the verb (يَلْعَب play) in three cases before and after being attached to (نون النِسوَة) Noon of feminine plural:

After the attachment ofNoon of feminine plural	Before the attachment ofNoon of feminine plural	Grammatical case
يَلْعَبْنَ They (fem.) play	يَلْعَبُ He plays	حالة الرفع Indicative case
لَنْ يَلْعَبْنَ They (fem.) will not play	لَنْ يَلْعَبَ He will not paly	حالة النصب Accusative case
لَمْ يَلْعَبْنَ	لَمْ يَلْعَبْ He did not play	حالة الجزم Jussive case

• You may notice in the above mentioned examples that:
• When the present verb IS NOT attached to the Noon of feminine plural, it WILL BE affect by the preceding accusative or jussive article and it will be signed with their proper vowel.
• When the present verb IS attached to the Noon of feminine plural it WILL NOT BE affected by any preceding article, i.e. it will have the same constant ending regardless the grammatical case. This is the meaning of INDECLINABLE verb.  
• More examples with explanation:

Declinable case			Indeclinable case
Explanation	English	Arabic	Explanation	English	Arabic
The verb here is indeclinable	TheHousemaids clean the house	الخَادِمَاتُ لا يُنَظِّفْنَ البَيْتَ	The verb here has Dammah on its ending, as it is indicative (Main case)	TheHousemaidclean the house	الخَادِمَةُ لاتُنَظِّفُالبَيْتَ
The verb here is indeclinable	They (fem.) will not continue (keeping) their job.	هُنَّ لَنْيَسْتَمْرِرْنَ فِي عَمَلِهِنَّ	The verb here is accusative with Fatħah, as it is preceded by an accusative article.	She will not continue (keeping) her job	هي لَنْتَسْتَمِرَّ فِي عَمَلِها
The verb here is indeclinable	They (fem.) did not have big experience in this work	هُنَّ لَمْ يَأْخُذْنَ خِبْرَةً كَبِيرة فِي العمَلِ	The verb here is jussive singed with Sukoon, as it is preceded by a jussive article.	She did not have big experience in this work	هِي لَمْ تَأْخُذْخِبْرَةً كَبِيرة فِي العمَلِ

• Quick notes on the above mentioned examples:
• In the first sentence the article (لا) meaning (not) is not a jussive article. The jussive article which we studied in lesson 37 is the prohibitive Laa (لا النَّاهِيَةُ) while the one here is the normal negating Laa (لا النَّافِيةُ) and it has no grammatical effect.
• In the second example, the verb (يسْتَمِرُّ) is ended with double consonant, i.e. Shaddah. When we attach it to the Noon of feminine plural we and put the Sukoon on the final (راء r) we notice that we have to solve the double sound and remove the shaddah (يسْتَمْرِرْنَ) and so the first (راء r) has to be signed with Kasrah.
• The Sukoon on the verb (يأخُذْ) of the last sentence is a sign of a jussive case, while the Sukoon in the verb (يأخُذْنَ) is constant ending of indeclinable verb.
  
  
  The present verb when indeclinable on Fatħah –بِنَاءُ الْفِعْلِ الْمُضَارِعِ عَلَى الْفَتْحَةِ
  • The second case (in which the present verb is indeclinable) occurs when it is attached (directly) to Noon of confirmation (نُونُ التَّوْكِيدِ). The Noon of confirmation is different from Noon of feminine plural (نُونُ النِّسْوَةِ) in two important aspects:
  1. The Noon of feminine plural is sign with Fatħa, while the Noon of confirmation is signed with Shaddah and Fatħah. Consider the following examples:

  Verb with Noon of feminine plural		Verb with Noon of confirmation
  English	Arabic	English	Arabic
  They (fem.) think	هُنَّ يَحْسَبْنَ	Indeed, don’t think	لا تَحْسَبَنَّ

  2. The second difference between Noon of feminine plural and the Noon of confirmation is the meaning; the first is a pronoun referring to (they, feminine plural), while the second gives the sentence a meaning of certainty or confirmation. Consider the following examples:

  Verb with Noon of feminine plural		Verb with Noon of confirmation
  The female students don’t think that the teacher is absent	الطَّالِباتُ لا يَحْسَبْنَ الْمُدَرِّسَ غَائِبًا	Indeed, don’t think that Allaah is unaware of what the wrong-doers do.	لا تَحْسَبَنَّ الله غَافِلا عَمَّا يَعْمَلُ الظَّالِمُون

  • When the present verb is attached (directly) to the Noon of confirmation it should be indeclinable on Fatħa. Consider the following examples:

  Arabic	English
  لَيَكْتُبَنَّ الطَّالِبُ الدَّرْسَ	Indeed, the student must write the lesson
  لَيَسْتَيْقِظَنَّ الطَّالِبُ مُبَكِّراً	Indeed, the student must get up early
  لَيَسْمَعَنَّ الولَدُ نَصِيحَةَ أَبِيهِ	Indeed, the child must listen to his father’s advice
  لَيَتَّبِعَنَّ النَّاسُ الحَقَّ	Indeed, people must follow the right
  لَيُطِيعَنَّ الطَّالِبُ أُسْتَاذَهُ أو لَيفْشَلَنَّ فِي دِراسَتِهِ	Indeed, the student must obey his professor, otherwise he will fail in his study

  ·         The following table summarizes the verbs used in the sentences above:

  لَيفْشَلَنَّ	لَيُطِيعَنَّ	لَيَتَّبِعَنَّ	لَيَكْتُبَنَّ	Verb
  Indeed, he will fail	Indeed, he should obey	Indeed, he should follow	Indeed, he should write	Meaning

  • We notice that each verb in the above mentioned table consists of three parts as follows:

  Components			Verb
  The Noon of confirmation نونُ التَّوْكِيدِ	The present form	Laam of confirmation لامُ التَّوْكِيدِ
  نَّ	يَكْتُبَ	لَ	لَيَكْتُبَنَّ
  نَّ	يَتَّبِعَ	لَ	لَيَتَّبِعَنَّ
  نَّ	يُطِيعَ	لَ	لَيُطِيعَنَّ
  نَّ	يَفْشَلَ	لَ	لَيفْشَلَنَّ

  • In this structure, it is not obligatory to put Laam of confirmationلامُ التَّوْكِيد in the front of each verb, rather we can put the prohibitive Laa لا النَّاهِيَة, negating Laa لا النَّافِية or any similar particle. The general rule is that we don’t use The Noon of confirmation نونُ التَّوْكِيدِ without any particle (negating, prohibiting, questioning or requesting) as we will learn soon in this lesson.
  • The direct attachment between the present verb and The Noon of confirmation نونُ التَّوْكِيدِ causes the present verb to be indeclinable on Fatħa, i.e. the verb has to be signed with Fatħa in all three grammatical cases (indicative, accusative, and nominative). Therefore the accusative particles (asأنْ، لَنْ) and the jussive particles (as لَمْ، لا النَّاهية) don’t affect the verb in this case.
  • Consider the following examples:  

  Arabic	English
  لَنْ أَلْعَبَنَّ مَعَكَ بَعْدَ اليَوْم	Indeed, I will not play with you (anymore) after today
  لَنْ أذْهَبَنَّ إلَى السُّوقِ اليَوْم	Indeed, I will not go to the market today
  يا مَحُمَّدُ لا تَخْرُجَنَّ اليَوْمَ مِنَ البَيْتِ	O, Muhammad, indeed, don’t get out of your home today

  • We notice that the verbs in the examples mentioned above are respectively (أَلْعَبَنَّ، أذْهَبَنَّ، تَخْرُجَنَّ). Each verb is signed with Fatħa on its ending, regardless the preceding accusative or jussive particles.
    
    
    Revision – مُرَاجَعَةٌ

    English	Arabic	English	Arabic
    Marry	يتَزَوَّجُ	Take care of	يعْتَنِي بـ
    Growing up	تَرْبِيَة	Neglect	يُقَصِّرُ
    The project	المَشْرُوعُ	The engineer	المُهَنْدِسُ
    The weakest	أَضْعَفُ	The reports	التّقاريرُ
    Advice	نَصِيحَةٌ	Think (suppose)	يحْسَبُ
    Prize	جائِزَةٌ	Succeed	يَنْجَحُ
    Fail	يفْشَلُ	Follow	يَتَّبِعُ
    Work hard	يَجْتَهِدُ	Obey	يُطِيعُ
    Continue	يسْتَمِرُّ	Celebrate	يَحْتَفِلُ
    The female nurses	المُمَرِّضاتُ	The sickness	المَرْضُ
    Treat	يُعَامِلُ	Examine	يَفْحَصُ
    Clean	يُنَظِّفُ	Housemaid	الخَادِمَةُ