Lesson 30 – الدَّرْسُ الثَّلاثُونَ

Masculinity and Feminization of Verb- تَذْكِيرُ الْفِعْلِ وَتَأْنِيثُهُ

Obligatory feminine – الْمُؤَنَّثِ وُجُوبًا

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  • After we have learned types of Arabic feminine nouns in detail, we will know when a verb must be obligatory feminine. Consider the following example:

Picture

English Translation

Arabic Example

No.

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Suad has exercised sports for a month

مَارَسَتْ سُعَادُ الرِّيَاضَةَ شَهْرًا

1

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Zaynab studies at Cairo University

تَدْرُسُ زَيْنَبُ في جَامِعَةِ القَاهِرَةِ

2

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Fatima works in a big company

فَاطِمَةُ تَعْمَلُ في شَرِكَةٍ كَبِيرَةٍ

3

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Suad studied hard and passed the exam

دَرَسَتْ سُعَادُ بِجِدٍ فَنَجَحَتْ في الِامْتِحَانِ

4

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The giraffe ate a lot of carrots

أَكَلَتِ الزَّرَافَةُ كَثِيرًا مِنَ الجَزَرِ

5

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The cat entered the kitchen, ate food and then it escaped from the window

دَخَلَتِ القِطَّةُ المَطْبَخَ، وأكَلَتِ الطَّعَامَ ثُمَّ هَرَبَتْ مِنَ النَّافِذَةِ

6

  • Through these examples, it becomes apparent that a verb is obligatory feminine when:
    1. The verb doer is a real feminine that begets or lays eggs, whether women, animals or birds, including proper nouns (names) - examples include Suad, Zaynab, Fatima, giraffe and cat. All these nouns are real feminine nouns. However, there is a condition that should be met in order that the verb is an obligatory feminine – that is, the verb and its doer must be directly connected, i.e. the noun comes directly after the verb.
    2. The verb doer is a connected pronoun (ضَمِيرٌ مُتَّصِلٌ) referring to a feminine noun mentioned before the verb. Consider the following examples:

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English

Arabic

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The Mother is a gift from God; she becomes pregnant, gives birth and cares for her children

الْأُمُّ هَدِيَّةٌمِنَ اللَّهِ؛ حَمَلَتْ، وَوَضَعَتْ، وَسَهِرَتْ عَلَى رَاحَةِ أَوْلادِها

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My friend Mariam is diligent; she reads and studies much

صَدِيقَتِي مَرْيَمُ مُجْتَهِدَةٌ؛ فَهِيَ تَقْرَأُ كَثِيرًا، وتَدْرُسُ كَثِيرًا

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The police exert efforts to keep security of people and protect their property and souls (lives).

تَسْهَرُ الشُّرْطَةُ عَلَى أَمْنِ الْمُوَاطِنِينَ؛ فَتَحْمِي أَمْوَالَهُمْ، وَأَرْوَاحَهُمْ

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The sky is a source of life for the land; if it rains it fills the land with goodness and life, and if not land becomes waste

السَّمْاءُ مَصْدَرُ الحَيَاةِ لِلأَرْضِ فَإذَا أَمْطَرَتْ مَلأتِ الأَرْضَ خَيْرًا وَحَيَاةً وإنْ أَمْسَكَتْ أَصْبَحَتِ الأَرْضُ خَرَابًا وَمَوَاتًا

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Planes are a wonderful invention, because they carry heavy things and transport passengers to remote countries

الطَّائِرَاتُ اخْتِرَاعٌ رَائعٌ تَحْمِلُ الْأَشْيَاءَ الثَّقِيلَةَ وَتَنْقُلُ الأَشْخَاصَ إِلَى بِلادٍ بَعِيدَةٍ

  • We notice in the previous examples that all verbs are feminine. The verbs are:

Type

Verb

Sentence No.

ماضٍ

Past

حَمَلَتْ

1

مَاضٍ

Past

وَضَعَتْ

1

مَاضٍ

Past

سَهِرَتْ

1

مُضَارِعٌ

Present

تَقْرَأُ

2

مُضَارِعٌ

Present

تَدْرُسُ

2

مُضَارِعٌ

Present

تَسْهَرُ

3

مُضَارِعٌ

Present

تَحْمِي

3

مَاضٍ

Past

أَمْطَرَتْ

4

مَاضٍ

Past

مَلأتِ

4

مَاضٍ

Past

أَمْسَكَت

4

مُضَارِعٌ

Present

تَحْمِلُ

5

مُضَارِعٌ

Present

تَنْقُلُ

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  • The verb doer of these verbs is a latent pronoun i.e. it means "she" or “it” and refers to the following feminine nouns (look at the examples above after looking at the table below):

Verbs relating to feminine noun

Feminine noun

حَمَلَتْ        وَضَعَتْ         سَهِرَتْ

Mother  الأمُّ  

تَقْرَأُ          تَدْرُسُ

Mariam  مَرْيَم

تسْهَر         تَحْمِي

Police  الشُّرْطَةُ

أَمْطَرَتْ       مَلأتِ       أمْسَكَتْ

Sky  السماء

تَحْمِلُ        تَنْقُلُ

Planes  الطَّائرات

  • To summarize, there are two cases in which the verb should be obligatory feminine:
    1. If the verb doer is a feminine noun (that which begets or lays eggs, including women, animals and birds), provided that it comes directly following the verb (consider previous examples).
    2. The verb doer is a latent pronoun referring to a feminine noun mentioned before the verb (consider previous examples).