Lesson 35– الدَّرْسُ الْخَامِسُ وَالثَّلاثُونَ

The Five Verbs – الأَفْعَالُ الخَمْسَةُ

Five variations of present verb

  • We are still in lesson thirty five of our free Arabic language course. This Arabic course with images and audios will help you learn Arabic.
  • When we discuss the Arabic five verbs, we should note that the five verbs are present tense verbs. We already studied the Arabic present tense verb in Lessons 28 and Lessons 29.
  • Look at the following table to remember the past tense and present tense verbs:

جَاءَ

Ĵā’a

دَخَلَ

Kakhala

ذَهَبَ

Dhahaba

خَرَجَ

kharaĵa

مَاضٍ

Past

يَجِيءُ

Yaĵī’u

يَدْخُلُ

Yadkhulu

يَذْهَبُ

yadhhabu

يَخْرُجُ

Yakhruĵu

مُضَارِعٌ

Present

·         The new thing here about the present verb tense is that there are three different suffixes added to the present verb in accordance with the doer pronoun of the verb. These three suffixes are the plural waw (و), dual alif (ا) and 2nd person feminine ya’ (ي). The first suffix has two cases, the second two and the third one case, thus making five forms. This is why they are called the five verbs; i.e. the five verb forms with various pronouns we have mentioned earlier.

  1. First form: [الْفِعْلُ الْمُضَارِعُ + ون] [present verb + ūn]: The first suffix, the plural war (ون), is added here to the present tense verb for the third person plural masculine subject, whose pronoun is (hum هُمْ) (they). For example:

(They) go out

يَخْرُجُـونَ

yakhruĵu-una

يَخْرُجُ + ونَ

Yakhruĵu + una

  1. Second form: [الْفِعْلُ الْمُضَارِعُ + ون] [present verb + ūn]: The  plural waw (ون) suffix is also added here to the present tense verb for the second person plural masculine subject, whose pronoun is (antum أنتم) (you). For example:

(you) go out

تَخْرُجُـونَ

takhruĵu + un

تَخْرُجُ + ونَ

takhruĵu-una

  1. Third form: [الْفِعْلُ الْمُضَارِعُ + ان] [present verb + -an]: The second suffix, the dual alif (انِ), is added here to the present tense verb for the third person dual masculine subject, whose pronoun is (humā هُمَا) (they both). For example:

(they both) go

يَذْهَبانِ

Yadhhaba-ani

يَذْهَب + انِ

Yadhhab +-ani

 

  1. Forth form: [الْفِعْلُ الْمُضَارِعُ + ان] [present verb + -an]: The dual alif (انِ) suffix is also added to the present tense verb for the second person dual masculine subject, whose pronoun is (antumā أَنْتُمَا) (you both). For example:

(you both) go

تَذْهَبانِ

tadhhab-aani

تَذْهَب + انِ

Tadhhab + aani

  1. Fifth form: [الْفِعْلُ الْمُضَارِعُ + ين] [present verb + -in]: The third suffix (ين) is added here to the present tense verb for the second person singular feminine subjects, whose pronoun is (anti أَنْتِ  ) (you). For example:

(you feminine) go

تَذْهَبِينَ

tadhhab-iina

تَذْهَب + ينَ

Tadhhab + iina

  • To summarize the five forms we discuses above, look at the following table and you will note that the verbs are written in five different forms as follows:

Picture

Person/gender/plurality

Translation

Example

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جَمْعُ الْغَائِبِينَ (هُمْ)

3rd person masculine plural

Students study much

الطُّلابُ يَدْرُسُونَ كَثِيرًا.

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جَمْعُ الْمُخَاطَبِينَ (أَنْتُمْ)

2nd person masculine plural (‘antum)

O students, you study much

يَا طُلابُ أَنْتُمْ تَدْرُسُونَ كَثِيرًا.

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الْمُثَنَّى الْغَائِبُ (هُمَا)

3rd person masculine dual (huma)

My father and mother read Quran everyday

أَبِي وَأُمِّي يَقْرآنِ الْقُرْآنَ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ.

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الْمُثَنَّى الْمُخَاطَبُ (أَنْتُمَا)

2nd person masculine dual (‘antuma)

O Ahmad and Muhammad, you love playing much

يَا أَحْمَدُ وَيَا مُحَمَّدُ أَنْتُمَا تُحِبَّانِ اللَّعِبَ كَثِيرًا.

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الْمُفْرَدَةُ الْمُخَاطَبَةُ (أَنْتِ)

2nd person masculine singular (‘anti)

O Fatima, you sleep much

يَا فَاطِمَةُ أِنْتِ تَنَامِينَ كَثِيرًا.

·         If we study the sentences above, we will find that the verb suffixed with the plural wāw has two forms for the pronouns (هُمْ، أَنْتُمْ). In a similar way, the verbs suffixed with the dual alif has two forms for the pronouns (هُمَا، أَنْتُمَا). The verb suffixed with the 2nd person feminine (ي), has one form for the pronoun (أَنْتِ).