Lesson 39 – الدَّرْسُ التَّاسِعُ وَالثَّلاثُونَ
Indeclension of the Past Verb – بِنَاءُ الْفِعْلِ الْمَاضِي
Indeclension of the past verb by a fixed sukūn –بِنَاءُ الْفِعْلِ الْمَاضِي عَلَى السُّكُونِ
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- This is the second case of the indeclension of the Arabic past verb by a fixed sukūn. This takes place when:
- The past verb is suffixed by the first person singular pronoun ـتُ /-tu/, such as ذَهَبْتُ /dhahab-tu/, تَرَكْتُ /tarak-tu/ and سَافَرْتُ /sāfar-tu/, [examples 1 and 2 below]
- The past verb is suffixed by the second person plural نَا /-na/, such as سَافَرْنَا /sāfar-na/, [example 3 below]
- The past verb is suffixed by the second person singular ـتَ /-ta/, such as كَتَبْتَ /katab-ta/, and the second person plural ـتُمْ/-tum/, such as كَتَبْـتُمْ (katab-tum), [examples 4, 5 and 6 below]
- The past verb is suffixed by the second person singular feminine pronoun ـتِ /-ti/, such as قَرَأْتِ /qara'-ti/, and the second person plural feminine pronoun ـتُنَّ /-tunna/, such as قَرَأْتُنَّ /qara'-tunna/ and مَلأْتُنَّ /mala'-tunna/, [examples 7, 8, 9 and 10 below]
- The past verb is suffixed by the regular third person plural feminine pronoun ـنَ /-na/, such as سَاعَدْنَ /sāξad-na/ and اِعْـتَنَـيْنَ /ξitanay-na/, [examples 11 and 12 below].
- Consider the following examples in which past verbs are indeclinable by a fixed sukūn:
Picture | Meaning | Example | No. |
| I traveled to Mecca last year. | سَافَرْتُ إِلَى مَكَّةَ الْعَامَ الْمَاضِي. /sāfar-tu ila Makka al-ξāma al-māđī/ | 1 |
| I left my work and moved to another. | تَرَكْتُ عَمَلِي، وَذَهَبْتُ إِلَى عَمَلٍ آخَرَ. /tarak-tu ξamalī wa dhahab-tu ila ξamalin ākhar/ | 2 |
| We traveled to Pakistan a month ago. | سَافَرْنَا إِلَى بَاكِسْتَانَ قَبْلَ شَهْرٍ. /sāfar-na ila Pakistan qabla shahrin/ | 3 |
| Have you written the lesson, Hazem? | هَلْ كَتَبْتَ الدَّرْسَ يَا حَازِمُ؟ /hal katab-ta ad-darsa ya Hazim?/ | 4 |
| Have you written the homework, students? | هَلْ كَتَبْتُمُ الْوَاجِبَ يَا طُلابُ؟ /hal katab-tum al-waĵiba ya ŧullabu?/ | 5 |
| You (plural) spoke eloquently in the meeting. | أَنْتُمْ تَكَلَّمْتُمْ كَلامًا جَمِيلًا فِي الاجْتِمَاعِ. /antum takallam-tum kalāman ĵamīlan fi al-iĵtimāξ/ | 6 |
| Have you read the news today, Layla? | هَلْ قَرَأْتِ الأَخْبَارَ الْيَوْمَ يَا لَيْلَى؟ /hal qara'-ti al-akhbāra al-yawma ya Layla?/ | 7 |
| You worked much today, Khadiĵa. | أَنْتِ عَمِلْتِ الْيَوْمَ كَثِيرًا يَا خَدِيجَةُ. /anti ξamil-ti al-yawma khathīran ya Khadiĵa/ | 8 |
| Have you read the news today, sisters? | هَلْ قَرَأْتُنَّ الأَخْبَارَ الْيَوْمَ يَا أَخَوَاتِي؟ /hal qara'-tunna al-akhbāra al-yawma ya akhawātī?/ | 9 |
| You have filled your husbands' lives with happiness. | أَنْتُنَّ مَلأْتُنَّ حَيَاةَ أَزْوَاجِكُنَّ سَعَادَةً. /antunna mala'-tunna ħayata azwaĵikunna saξādatan/ | 10 |
| Nurses helped patients much. | الْمُمَرِّضَاتُ سَاعَدْنَ الْمَرْضَى كَثِيرًا. /al-mumarriđatu sāξad-na al-marđā kāthīran/ | 11 |
| They (fem. plural) took care of the patients' health. | وَهُنَّ اِعْتَنَيْنَ بِصِحَّةِ الْمَرْضَى. /wa hunna iξtanay-na bisiħħati al-marđā/ | 12 |
- We notice that all the above verbs in the previous table are indeclinable by a fixed sukūn.
- Consider the following table in which the verb كَتَبَ (kataba; to write) is suffixed by the first, second and third person pronouns:
Example | Suffixed pronoun | separate pronoun |
/Katab-tu/ | -tu | ana (i) |
/Katab-ta/ | -ta | anta (you; second person singular masculine) |
/Katab-ti/ | -ti | anti (you; second person singular feminine) |
/Katab-tumā/ | -tumā | antuma (you; second person dual neutral) |
/Katab-tunn/ | -tunna | antunna (you; second person plural feminine) |
/Katab-tum/ | -tum | antum (you; second person plural masculine) |
/Kataba/ | huwa (he; third person singular masculine) | |
/Katabat/ | hiya (she; third person singular feminine) | |
/Kataba-ā/ | -ā | huma (they; third person dual neutral) |
/Katab-na/ | -na | hunna (they; third person plural feminine) |
/Katabu-ū/ | -ū | hum (they; third person plural masculine) |
/Katab-nā/ | -nā | naħnu (we; first person plural neutral) |
- From the table above, we notice the following:
- The vowel of all the above past verbs changed from fatħah to sukūn, such as كَتَبَ /kataba/ to كَتَبْ /katab-/ except for four words.
- The first two verbs of them are كَتَبَ /kataba/ and كَتَبَتْ /kataba-t/ because the two verbs are not suffixed by pronouns and the /-t/ in the second is the feminine suffix ta'.
- The second two verbs of which are كَتَبَا /kataba-ā/ and كَتَبُوا /katabu-ū/ because the pronouns in them end with long sukūn and that is why they are not indeclinable by a fixed sukūn.