Lesson 31 – الدَّرْسُ الحادِي والثَّلاثُونَ

Verb in the Affirmative and the Negative Formالفِعْلُ المُثْبَتُ وَالْفِعْلُ المَنْفِيُّ

Continued…

  • We are still in lesson thirty one of our free Arabic language course. This Arabic course with images and audios will help you learn Arabic.
  • In lesson 14 on the verb tenses, we discussed the Arabic present verb and learnt that it mainly expresses the present tense – i.e. an action being performed at the time of speaking. We noted that it can also express other tenses such as the future (action to be performed at a later time), using the particles (sa- and sawfa حرف السين وسوف) before the present verb.  Please see the examples below.

 

Future:

Present:

Arabic:

سَيَكْتُبُ غَدًا

يَكْتُبُ الآنَ

Translation:

He will write tomorrow

He is writing now.

Arabic:

سَوْفَ يُسَافِرُ غَدًا

يُسافِرُ اليَوْمَ

Translation:

He is going to travel tomorrow.

He is traveling today.

  • It is important to emphasize two different points before we go into detail.  The particles we are discussing below have the following purposes:

o   1) To change the time period (tense) of the present tense verb – e.g. from present tense to future tense.

o   2) To change the action to the negative

  • The exception to that rule is the particle لا which keeps the meaning as the present tense time period.
  • The question now is: How do we make the present verb negative while referring to different time periods, i.e. the present, the future and the past?
  • To answer this question will divide the discussion to the following points:
  • Making the present verb (indicating the present tense) negative.
  • Making the present verb (indicating a future action) negative.
  • Making the present verb (indicating a past action) negative.

Making the present verb (indicating the present tense) negative:

The present verb can be negated and keeping its present tense by the use of two particles as follows:

a-   “lā لا

Tense

Sentence

Verb

Particle

Present

أنا لا أُحِبُّ عَصِيرَ الجَوَافَةِ

I do not like the guava juice

أُحِبُّ

Uħibbu

Like

لا

Present

نَحْنُ لا نَكْتُبُ عِنْدَما يَتَكَلَّمُ الأُسْتَاذُ

We do not write when the teacher is speaking

نَكْتُبُ

Naktubu

Write

لا

Present

مُنَى لا تُفَضِّلُ القَهْوَةَ هي تُحِبُّ الشِّايَ أَكْثْر

Muna does not prefer coffee. She loves tea more.

تُفَضِّلُ

Tufađđilu

Prefer

لا

  • From the examples above, we note the following:
  • The particle (lā " لا " ) is used to make the present verb (indicating the present tense) negative.
  • The vowel-ending of the present verb after the particle (la " لا " ) does not change from that in the affirmative.

Sentence in the negative:

Sentence in the affirmative:

لا أُحِبُّ

I do not like

أُحِبُّ

I like

لا نَكْتُبُ

We do not write

نَكْتُبُ

We write

لا تُفّضِّلُ

She dose not prefer

تُفَضِّلُ

She prefer

b-   “Mā ما

Tense

Verb

Particle

Sentence

Present

أُحِبُّ

Uħibbu

Like

ما

أنا ما أُحِبُّ عَصِيرَ الجَوَافَةِ

I do not like the guava juice

Present

نَكْتُبُ

Naktubu

Write

ما

نَحْنُ ما نَكْتُبُ عِنْدَما يَتَكَلَّمُ الأُسْتَاذُ

We do not write when the teacher is speaking

Present

تُفَضِّلُ

Tufađđilu

Prefer

ما

مُنَى ما تُفَضِّلُ القَهْوَةَ هي تُحِبُّ الشِّايَ أَكْثْر

Muna does not prefer coffee. She loves tea more.

  • From the above mentioned examples we note that “mā ما” has the same function and meaning of the particle “lā لا”. Therefore the present verb after “mā ما” keeps indicating the present tense, and its ending is not affected by “mā ما”, so it remains in the nominative case.

Making the present verb (indicating a future action) negative:

The particle

Sentence in the negative:

Sentence in the affirmative:

لَنْ

بَعْدَ أَنِ تَنْتَهِي الدِّراسَة ُ لَنْ أَرْجِعَ إلى بَلَدِي

I will not return to my country after I finish my studies.

بَعْدَ أَنْ تَنْتَهِي الدِّراسة ُ سَأَرْجِعُ إلى بَلَدِي

I will return to my country after I finish my studies.

لَنْ

لَنْ أَسْكُنَ مَعَ أُسْرَتِي بَعْدَ الزَّوَاجِ

I will not live with my family after marriage

سَأَسْكُنُ معَ أُسْرَتِي بَعْدَ الزَّوَاجِ

I will live with my family after marriage

  • From the examples above, we note the following:

a-   The particle (lan " لن ") is used to make the present verb (indicating a future action) negative.

Sentence in the negative:

Sentence in the affirmative:

لَنْ   يَدْرُسَ

He will not study

سَيَدْرُسُ

He will study

لَن   يَرْجِعَ

He will not return

سَيَرْجِعُ

He will return

b-   The verb after the particle (lan) becomes in the accusative case with a fatħah vowel-ending instead of the đammah vowel-ending.

Sentence in the negative:

Sentence in the affirmative:

لَنْ أَرْجِعَ

I will  not return

سَأَرْجِعُ

I will return

لَنْ أَسْكُنَ

I will  not dwell

سَأَسْكُنُ

I will dwell

Making the present verb (indicating a past action) negative:

  • The particle (lam لمْ " ) is used in making the present verb (indicating a past action) negative. “Lam” has three functions, as it makes the present verb negative and changes the tense of the verb from present to past, and finally it changes the verb form the nominative to the jussive case. The meaning of the verb after “lam” had to do with the past and has nothing to do with the present, although it is in the present form.

Past affirmative

Present negative using “lam”

Present affirmative

دَرَسَ عَلِيٌّ اللُّغَةَ العَرَبِيَّةَ فِي مِصْرَ

Ali studied Arabic in Egypt

لَمْ يَدْرُسْ عَلِيٌّ اللُّغَةَ العَرَبِيَّةَ فِي مِصْرَ

Ali did not study Arabic in Egypt

يَدْرُسُ عَلِيٌّ اللُّغَةَ العَرَبِيَّةَ فِي مِصْر

Ali studies Arabic in Egypt

كَتَبَ الطَّالِبُ وَاجِبَهُ في المَدْرَسَةِ

The student did his homework at school

لَمْ يَكْتُبْ الطَّالِبُ وَاجِبَهُ في المَدْرَسَةِ

The student did not write his homework at school

يَكْتُبُ الطَّالِبُ وَاجِبَه فِي المَدْرَسَةِ

The student does his homework at school

شَاهَدَ أَحْمَدُ التِّلْفازَ أمْسِ

Ahmad watched TV yesterday

لَمْ يُشاهِدْ أَحْمَدُ التِّلْفازَ اليَوْمَ

Ahmad did not watch TV every day

يُشَاهِدُ أَحْمَدُ التِّلْفازَ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ

Ahmad watches TV every day

  • If we look at the examples above, we find that the sentences were written in three different ways.

a-   The first with an affirmative present verb indicating the present tense, using the verbs " يَدْرُسُ ، يَكْتُبُ ، يُشَاهِدُ ".

b-   The second with a negative present verb using the particle “lam” which indicates that the action did not happen (in the past tense): " لَمْ يَدْرُسْ ، لَمْ يَكْتُبْ ، لَمْ يُشاهِدْ "

c-   The third with the affirmative present verb that indicates the past verb: "دَرَسَ ، كَتَبَ ، شَاهَدَ"

  • You shall note that the meaning in the second one is the same as the third, but in the negative.
  • You may also notice that the affirmative present verb is signed with đammah on its last letter (for being in the nominative case), while the negative present verb after “lam” is signed with sukūn on its last letter (for being in the jussive case): " لَمْ يَدْرُسْ ، لَمْ يَكْتُبْ ، لَمْ يُشاهِدْ ".
  •  This way, “lam” does the three functions we have already mentioned, that is:

a-   Make the negative.

b-   Change the verb tense from present to past.

c-   Change the case of the verb from the nominative to the jussive case.

After adding “lam”

Before adding “lam”

لَمْ  يَدْرُسْ

He did not study

يَدْرُسُ

He studies

لَمْ  يَكْتُبْ

He did not write

يَكْتُبُ

He writes

لَمْ    يُشاهِدْ

He did not watch

يُشَاهِدُ

He watches