- In this lesson we will discuss the main parts of speech in the Arabic language:
- We will also learn some signs عَلامَاتٌ through which we can identify nouns, verbs (past, present and imperative) and particles. For example, in the verbs below we will be able to identify from the signs - i.e. letters - whether the verb is in past, present or imperative tense – i.e. based on the letters and pattern of the verb.
|
Past
|
Present
|
Imperative (Command)
|
|
Kataba
(he wrote)
|
Yaktubu
(he writes)
|
Uktub
(write)
|
|
Baξatha
(he sent)
|
Yabξathu
(he sends)
|
Ibξath
(send)
|
- We will also discuss the types of verbs in Arabic - namely past, present and imperative form in more detail (we previously discussed this topic in lesson 4, part 12), as follows:
|
Verb
|
Past
|
Present
|
Imperative
|
|
Kataba
(to write)
|
Kataba
(he wrote)
|
Yaktubu
(she writes)
|
Uktub
(write!)
|
|
Darasa
(to study)
|
Darasa
(he studied)
|
Yadrusu
(he studies)
|
Udrus
(Study!)
|
|
Nāma
(to sleep)
|
Nāma
(he slept)
|
Yanāmu
(he sleeps)
|
Nam
(Sleep!)
|
|
Istayqađha
(to wake up)
|
Istayqađha
(he woke up)
|
Yastayqiđhu
(he wakes up)
|
Istayqiđh
(Wake up!)
|
- We will also discuss the concept of radicals – i.e. the number of letters present in a verb. The vowel of the first letter in the verb of the present tense changes based on the number of radicals of its past form. The past form may be made up of three, four, five or six radicals, as shown in the following table – these are examples and we will go into the rules a bit later so you understand this:
|
Number of root letters of past form
|
Past
|
Present
|
Imperative
|
Translation
|
Three
|
Ĵalasa
|
Yaĵlisu
|
Iĵlis
|
Sit down
|
Three
|
bada'a
|
yabda'u
|
ibda'
|
Start
|
Four
|
Aŝlaħa
|
Yuŝliħu
|
Aŝliħ
|
Reform
|
Four
|
Afsada
|
Yufsidu
|
Afsid
|
Spoil
|
Five
|
Iqtaraba
|
يَقْتَرِبُYaqtaribu
|
iqtarib
|
Approach
|
Five
|
Ibtaξada
|
Yabtaξidu
|
Ibtaξid
|
Go away
|
Six
|
Istakhraĵa
|
Yastakhriĵu
|
Istakhriĵ
|
Extract
|
Six
|
Istaξlama
|
Yastaξlimu
|
Istaξlim
|
Inquire (about)
|
- The Arabic sentence is composed of a number of types of words. A word in Arabic can be a noun, a verb, or a particle.
- Below are some examples of the different types of words in Arabic:
|
Noun
|
Verb
|
Particle
|
|
Muhammad
|
(he wrote) – yaktubu
|
(in) – fi
|
|
Pupil
|
(he sat) – yaĵlisu
|
(on) – ξala
|
A- Noun الاسْمُ:
- We have already studied Arabic nouns in previous lessons and learnt some of their signs, as follows:
Picture
|
Translation
|
Sentence
|
Sign
|
Noun
|
 |
Muhammad is generous
|
Muhammadu-n karimu-n
|
The tanwīn
|
Muhammadu-n
|
 |
The food is delicious
|
Al- ŧaξāmu
ladhīdhu-n |
The word prefixed with definite article (al-)
|
الطَّعَامُ
Aŧ-ŧaξāmu |
 |
Fatima is generous
|
Fāŧimat-u karīma-tun
|
The affixed -tā' in the feminine noun
|
Fāŧimatu
|
 |
Success lies in study
|
Al-Naĵāħu fil-Mudhākara-ti
|
مَجِيء حَرْفِ الْجَرِّ قَبْلَهَا
Preceded by a preposition |
Al-Mudhākara-ti
|
 |
I had dinner
|
تَنَاوَلْتُ طَعَامَ العَشَاءِ
Tanāwaltu taξāma al-ξAshā’i |
Due to annexation
|
Al-ξashā’i
|
- In the first example, the word (Muhammad مُحَمَّدٌ) is a proper noun (i.e. a name of a person or thing) and the sign on its final letter is the tanwīn of đammah (ـٌ) on the final letter of the word.
- In the second example, the noun is the word (aŧ-ŧaξām الطَّعَامُ) and the sign of this is the prefix (al-) before the noun.
- In the third example, the noun is the word (Fāŧimah (فَاطِمَةُ and its sign is the affixed (ة) tā' marbūŧah تَاءٌ مَرْبُوطَةٌ that is attached to the feminine noun.
- In the fourth example, the noun is (al-mudhākara الْمُذَاكَرَةِ) and the sign here is –in addition to the prefixed (al-) it is in the genitive case (Maĵrūr مَجْرُورٌ) as it is preceded by the preposition (fi فِي) – hence the last letter takes a Kasrah.
- In the fifth example, the noun is the word (al-ξashā’ الْعَشَاءِ) and the sign of the noun here is that it is also in the genitive case (Maĵrūr). It is Maĵrūr due to the annexation as the genitive has also to do with nouns only.
B- Verb الْفِعْلُ:
- Verbs have their own signs that distinguish them from nouns. This is what we are going to discuss in this lesson. See the following examples:
|
Type of doer
|
Pronoun
|
Type of verb
| ||
|
Present
|
Past
|
Imperative
| ||
singular
|
ana (I)
|
aktubu ( I write)
|
katabtu ( I wrote)
| |
|
anta (you – masculine)
|
taktubu (you write)
|
katabta (you wrote)
|
uktub (write)
| |
|
anti (you – feminine)
|
taktubīna (you write)
|
katabti (you wrote)
|
uktubi (write)
| |
|
huwa (he)
|
yaktubu (he writes)
|
kataba (he wrote)
| ||
|
hiya (she)
|
taktubu (she writes)
|
katabat (she wrote)
| ||
dual
|
humā (they - masculine)
|
yaktubāni (they write)
|
katabā (they wrote)
| |
|
humā (they – feminine)
|
taktubāni ( they write)
|
katabatā (they wrote)
| ||
|
antumā (you - masculine)
|
taktubāni (you write)
|
katabtumā (you wrote)
|
uktubā (write)
| |
|
antumā (you – feminine)
|
taktubāni (you write)
|
katabtumā (you wrote)
|
uktubā (write)
| |
plural
|
naħnu (we)
|
naktubu (we are writing)
|
katabnā (we wrote)
| |
|
hum (they - masculine)
|
yaktubūna (they are writing)
|
katabū (they wrote)
| ||
|
hunna (they – feminine)
|
yaktubna (they are writing)
|
katabna (they wrote)
| ||
|
antum (you – feminine)
|
taktubūna (you write)
|
katabtum (you wrote)
|
uktubū (write)
| |
|
antunna (you – feminine)
|
taktubna (you are writing)
|
katabtunna (you wrote)
|
uktubna (write)
| |
- The verb has certain signs through which we can identify it and distinguish it from the noun. To illustrate, verbs do not have the signs of nouns we have mentioned above – e.g.:
- The tanwīn.
- The prefix (al-).
- The genitive case (being preceded by a preposition).
- The affix (ة).
- We already learnt that there are three types of verbs: past, present and imperative. The imperative has the same formula in English as in Arabic, which distinguishes it from the present and past forms.
- If we look at the table above, we see what is typically called the present verb signs. All present verbs start with one of the following letters (أ، ي، ت، ن), which are called the present form letters حُرُوفُ الْمُضَارَعَةِ, that is the letters that have to do with the present verb only. A present verb cannot start with any other letters but those four ones.
|
Verb radicals
|
Verb in present tense
|
Present verb letters
|
Pronoun
|
|
kataba (to write)
|
naktubu (we are writing)
|
nūn
|
We
|
|
kataba (to write)
|
yaktubūna (they are writing)
|
ya
|
they
|
|
kataba (to write)
|
aktubu (I am writing)
|
أَ
hamza |
I
|
|
kataba (to write)
|
taktubūna (you write)
|
Ta
|
You
|
|
kataba (to write)
|
yaktubāni (they write)
|
ya
|
They (dual)
i.e. two of them (masculine) |
- The present verb is always prefixed with the present form letter حَرْفُ الْمُضَارَعَةِ. It is not necessary to be affixed with a letter. In case it is affixed with letters like -āni as in (antumā taktubāni أنتما تَكْتُبانِ), -ūna as in(antum taktubūna أنتُم تكْتُبونَ) and -īna as in (anti taktubīnaأنتِ تَكْتُبِينَ), these letters indicate either the dual, plural or feminine.
- If we have another look at the above table in the previous section – i.e. showing present and past tense verbs, we will see clearly the past tense verb signs, because all past verbs are suffixed and not prefixed with letters – i.e. the letter to indicate the pronoun comes after the verb. This pronoun is the doer (person performing the action) in the verbal sentence, as in the following examples:
|
Verb
|
Pronoun
|
|
katabtu (I wrote)
|
kataba + ana (I)
|
|
katabta (you wrote)
|
kataba + anta (you)
|
|
katabti (you wrote)
|
kataba + anti (you)
|
|
katabnā (We wrote)
|
kataba + naħnu (we)
|
|
katabta (He wrote)
|
kataba + huwa (he)
|
|
katabat (She wrote)
|
kataba + Hiya (she)
|
- The sign of the past verb is therefore that it comes either without any letter such as kataba كَتَبَ(this is the standard “root” form we use when we discuss a verb in Arabic) or with suffixed pronouns such as تُ، تَ، تِ)) as in katabtu, katabta and katabti كَتَبْتُ، كَتَبْتَ، كَتَبْتِ, or the plural of these pronouns (نَا، تُمْ، تُنَّ) as in katabna, katabtum and katabtunna (كَتَبْنَا، كَتَبْتُمْ، كَتَبْتُنَّ).
C- Particle الْحَرْفُ:
- The third part of speech in Arabic mentioned above is the particle. The meaning of a particle is often understood in the context of the sentence and words before and after the particle. The sign of the particle is that it does not accept the signs of nouns or verbs. Every Arabic word that does not have the signs of either nouns or verbs is a particle. Prepositions are examples of particles. There are many prepositions in Arabic. Some examples of particle are below:
Particle - Transliteration
|
Particle -Arabic
|
Type (English)
|
Type (Arabic)
|
min, ilā, fī
|
Prepositions
| ||
wa, fa- aw, thumma
|
Conjunctions
| ||
hal, a-
|
Interrogative particles
| ||
ya
|
vocative particle
|
- It is useful to think of the Arabic verb as being made of individual letters. The number of letters in the past tense form determines the change of signs in the present and imperative forms.
- The simple trilateral verb (which is composed of three letters) is the most common form; examples of this include بَعَثَ، هَدَمَ، دَرَسَ، غَسَل، مَسَحَ، كَنَسَ. This past form is composed of three letters, and that is why the present form derived from it starts with a fatħah on its initial prefixed letter, as in the following examples:
Picture
|
Past
|
present
|
Imperative
|
 |
baξatha (sent)
|
(send) yabξathu
|
ibξath (send)
|
 |
hadama (demolished)
|
yahdimu (demolish)
|
ihdim (demolish)
|
|
darasa (studied)
|
yadrusu (study)
|
udrus (study)
|
 |
ghasala (washed)
|
yaghsilu (wash)
|
ighsil (wash)
|
 |
kanasa (swept)
|
yaknusu (sweep)
|
uknus (sweep)
|
- The present form ends (originally) with a đamma.
- The imperative form starts with alif. The alif is either:
- Maksūrah (i) - in this case the penultimate letter in the present form is maftūħ such asاِبْعَثْ or maksūr such as اِهْدِمْ.
- Mađmūma (u) in this case the penultimate letter in the present form is mađmūm such as (اُكْنُسْ، اُدْرُسْ)
- The four letter verb (which is composed of four letters in the past tense form) such as أَخَرَجَ، دَرَّسَ، خَاصَمَ، أَسْرَفَ، دَنَّسَ، شَاهَدَ.
- The present form of these verbs always starts with a đammah on its initial letter.
- As for the imperative form, the sign on the penultimate letter changes into kasrah, as in the following table:
Picture
|
Past
|
present
|
Imperative
|
 |
أخَرَجَ
akhraĵa (evicted) |
yukhriĵu (evict)
|
akhriĵ (take out)
|
 |
دَرَّسَ
darrasa (taught) |
yudarrisu (teach)
|
darris (teach)
|
 |
خَاصَمَ
khâŝama (quarreled) |
yukhâŝimu (quarrel)
|
khâŝim (quarrel)
|
 |
أَسْرَفَ
asrafa (squandered) |
yusrifu (squander)
|
asrif (squander)
|
 |
دَنَّسَ
dannasa (desecrated) |
yudannisu (desecrate)
|
dannis (desecrate)
|
 |
شَاهَدَ
shāhada (watched) |
yushāhidu (watch)
|
shāhid (watch)
|
- Five letter verb (that is made up of five letters in the past tense form) such as اِرْتَفَعَ، تَقَدَّمَ، اِنْقَلَبَ، انْتَشَرَ، تَبَرَّأَ، اِنْبَهَرَ.
- The present form of these verbs starts with fatħah on its initial letter as the case in the trilateral verb.
- The imperative form of these verbs is derived through changing the diacritical sign on the penultimate letter to kasrah, as in the following table:
Picture
|
Past
|
present
|
Imperative
|
 |
irtafaξa (rose)
|
يَرْتَفِعُ
yartafiξu (rise) |
irtafiξ (rise)
|
 |
Takallama
(spoke)
|
Yatakallamu
(speak)
|
Takallam
(speak)
|
 |
inqalaba (overturned)
|
yanqalibu (overturn)
|
inqalib (overturn)
|
 |
intashara (spread)
|
yantashiru (spread)
|
intashir (spread)
|
 |
taŝawwara (imagined)
|
yataŝawwaru (imagine)
|
taŝawwar (imagine)
|
 |
inbahara (was/were dazzled)
|
yanbahiru (be dazzled)
|
inbahir (be dazzled)
|
- The only difference between the imperative and past forms of the verbs (تَكَلَّمَ، تَصَوَّر) is that the fatħah vowel-ending changes into sukūn.
- The six letter verb (that is made up of six letters). This verb has only one form, as follows:اسْتَخْرَجَ، اسْتَعْمَلَ، اِسْتَخْدَمَ، اِستَعْلَمَ، اِسْتَبْشَرَ، اِسْتَكْبَرَ.
- These verbs are similar to the five letter verb as its present form starts with the fatħah on its initial letter and the kasrah on the penultimate letter, as in the following examples:
|
Past
|
present
|
Imperative
|
|
istakhraĵa (extracted)
|
yastakhriĵu (extract)
|
istakhriĵ (extract)
|
|
Istaξmala (used)
|
yastaξmilu (use)
|
istaξmil (use)
|
|
istakhdama (used)
|
yastakhdimu (use)
|
istakhdim (use)
|
|
istaξlama (inquired)
|
yastaξlimu (inquire)
|
istaξlim (inquire)
|
|
istabshara (rejoiced)
|
yastabshiru (rejoice)
|
istabshir (rejoice)
|
|
istakbara (to be proud)
|
yastakbiru
|
istakbir
|
- At the end of this part, it is worth mentioning that the subject of the imperative verb is always one of the following (note – all of these are in the 2nd person – i.e. person(s) we are speaking to that is / are present): (anta, anti, antumā, antum or antunna) أنْتَ، أنْتِ، أنْتُمَا، أنْتُمْ، أنْتُنَّ.
- Let us look at some examples of sentences using the 3 different forms of verbs that we have discussed (past, present and imperative).
Picture
|
English
|
Arabic
|
 |
Allah sent prophets to guide people.
| |
|
The student sweeps his room.
| |
 |
Clean your room, my son.
| |
 |
Islam spread in many countries
|
|
 |
I love to use the computer.
| |
 |
Do not be proud, Saξīd.
| |
 |
Be modest with other people, Khalīl.
| |
 |
The traveller inquires about the plane departure time.
|
Vocabulary Revision – مُرَاجَعَةُ الْمُفْرَدَاتِ
| |||
English:
|
Arabic:
|
English:
|
Arabic:
|
To build
|
Study
| ||
Hand
|
Spring
| ||
I donated
|
Time
| ||
He (it) overturned
|
Nation
| ||
He progressed
|
Weather
| ||
He spread
|
Customer
| ||
He swept
|
Call
| ||
He disowned
|
He sent
| ||
He was dazzled
|
He demolished
| ||
He extracted
|
He fell ill
| ||
Clean (imperative)
|
He washed
| ||
He taught
|
He Took out
| ||
He quarreled (with)
|
Computer
| ||
Squandered
|
He was humble
| ||
Traveler
|
Way
| ||
He used
|
He desecrated
| ||
He used
|
Appointment
| ||
He disown
|
Plane
| ||
He rejoiced
|
He inquired (about)
| ||
He was proud
| |||
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