ALI 139 Arabic Grammar I Week 4 Outline

ALI 139 – Arabic Grammar I Week 4

Outline n n The Simple Arabic Verb - 3 root-lettered, consonant-only, non-doubled, active verbs The Past Tense Verb ( )ﺍﻟﻔﻌﻞ ﺍﻟﻤﺎﺿﻰ The Present Tense Verb ( )ﺍﻟﻔﻌﻞ ﺍﻟﻤﻀﺎﺭﻉ Arabic Roots ( )ﺍﻟﺠﺬﺭ and Forms ( )ﺍﻟﻮﺯﻥ

The Arabic Verb ( )ﺍﻟﻔﻌﻞ

Arabic Root ( )ﺍﻟﺠﺬﺭ and Form ( )ﺍﻟﻮﺯﻥ n n In Semitic languages, verbs are based on roots. This means many words can be derived from one root. In fact most nouns and adjectives, that are originally Arabic, are also derived from a root and follow a form/pattern. The root for Arabic verbs is usually 3 -lettered. Although some are 4 and 5 lettered. Arabic has 3 vowels – ﻭ ﺍ and ﻱ. When the root of a verb has a vowel, it’s more complicated to conjugate. There are 10 common verb Forms ( ﺍﻷﻮﺯﺍﻥ ) that can be derived from a single root ( )ﺍﻟﺠﺬﺭ. And each Form can be conjugated: n n in past tense, present tense, future tense, imperative, etc. singular, dual or plural masculine or feminine 1 st person, 2 nd person or 3 rd person

The Arabic Verb ( )ﺍﻟﻔﻌﻞ n n Arabic verbs do not have a special form for the infinitive. Instead verbs of Form I are conjugated as 3 rd person masculine singular is used. Form I is the most basic of the 10 forms of a verb. It is closest to the root. Verb To write To make s. o. write To write to someone ﺍ Form ( )ﺍﻟﻮﺯﻥ 1 Root ( )ﺍﻟﺠﺬﺭ 2 ﺕ–ﺏ - ﻙ 3 ﺕ–ﺏ - ﻙ

The Arabic Verb ( )ﺍﻟﻔﻌﻞ n n The i’raab on the basic patterns is not standard, even though it is predictable. It is therefore a good idea to learn the infinitive of the past and present tense together. (Infinitive being 3 rd person, masculine, singular – the simplest form of the verb). For example: n – n – n Note that it is usually the medial sign that changes

The Arabic Verb ( )ﺍﻟﻔﻌﻞ n This Level I course covers: Form I only (of the 10 forms of verbs) n Verbs that don’t have a vowel in their root n Only verbs with 3 lettered roots n Singular and plural only (no dual) n Masculine and feminine but not feminine plural n All three persons n n See Appendix B of the text book for root verbs for most verbs used in the Qur’an