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
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English
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Arabic
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The believers treat their husbands with kindness
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The girls are playing with the ball in the sporting club
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The (female) doctors examine the patients
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The female nurses help the female doctors
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- When we look at these examples, we notice that they are all present verbs as follows:
Verb
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They (fem.) help
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They (fem.) examine
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They (fem.) play
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They (fem.) treat
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Meaning
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- 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
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Declinable Present verb + Noon of feminine plural
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- 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
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Before the attachment ofNoon of feminine plural
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Grammatical case
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They (fem.) play
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He plays
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Indicative case
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They (fem.) will not play
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He will not paly
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Accusative case
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He did not play
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Jussive case
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- 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
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Indeclinable case
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Explanation
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English
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Arabic
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Explanation
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English
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Arabic
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The verb here is indeclinable
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TheHousemaids clean the house
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The verb here has Dammah on its ending, as it is indicative (Main case)
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TheHousemaidclean the house
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The verb here is indeclinable
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They (fem.) will not continue (keeping) their job.
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The verb here is accusative with Fatħah, as it is preceded by an accusative article.
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She will not continue (keeping) her job
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The verb here is indeclinable
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They (fem.) did not have big experience in this work
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The verb here is jussive singed with Sukoon, as it is preceded by a jussive article.
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She did not have big experience in this work
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- 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 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:
- 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 pluralVerb with Noon of confirmationEnglishArabicEnglishArabicThey (fem.) thinkIndeed, don’t think- 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 pluralVerb with Noon of confirmationThe female students don’t think that the teacher is absentIndeed, don’t think that Allaah is unaware of what the wrong-doers do.- When the present verb is attached (directly) to the Noon of confirmation it should be indeclinable on Fatħa. Consider the following examples:
ArabicEnglishIndeed, the student must write the lessonIndeed, the student must get up earlyIndeed, the child must listen to his father’s adviceIndeed, people must follow the rightIndeed, the student must obey his professor, otherwise he will fail in his study· The following table summarizes the verbs used in the sentences above:VerbIndeed, he will failIndeed, he should obeyIndeed, he should followIndeed, he should writeMeaning- We notice that each verb in the above mentioned table consists of three parts as follows:
ComponentsVerbThe Noon of confirmationThe present formLaam of confirmation- 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:
ArabicEnglishIndeed, I will not play with you (anymore) after todayIndeed, I will not go to the market todayO, 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 – مُرَاجَعَةٌEnglishArabicEnglishArabicMarryTake care ofGrowing upNeglectThe projectThe engineerThe weakestThe reportsAdviceThink (suppose)PrizeSucceedFailFollowWork hardObeyContinueCelebrateThe female nursesThe sicknessTreatExamineCleanHousemaid