Verb Tenses
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Lesson 16
Verb Tenses
Past Tense Verb
فِعلٌ مَاضِي
Past tense verbs usually closely resemble the root of the word. Sometimes they are derived from the root, with minor additions to create related meanings. The past tense verbs are divided into different forms based on person, gender and number.
| - | Plural | Dual | Singular | - |
| Third Person | (They wrote) كَتَبُوا | (They wrote) كَتَبَا | (He wrote) كَتَبَ | M |
| - | (They wrote) كَتَبْنَ | (They wrote) كَتَبَتَا | (She wrote) كَتَبَتْ | F |
| Second Person | (You wrote) كَتَبْتُم | (You wrote) كَتَبْتُما | (You wrote) كَتَبْتَ | M |
| - | (You wrote) كَتَبْتُنَّ | (You wrote)كَتَبْتُمَا | (You wrote) كَتَبْتِ | F |
| First Person | (We wrote) كَتَبْنَا | - | (I wrote) كَتَبْتُ | M&F |
M: Male F: Female
Present Tense Verb
فِعلٌ مُضَارِعٌ
The imperfect verb is used to describe the present and is also derived from the root in predictable patterns.
The present tense verbs have 14 forms according to person, gender and number:
| - | Plural | Dual | Singular | - |
| Third Person | (They write) يَكْتُبُونَ | (They write) يَكْتُبَانِ | (He writes) يَكْتُبُ | M |
| - | (They write) يَكْتُبْنَ | (They write) تَكْتُبَانِ | She writes) تَكْتُبُ | F |
| Second Person | (You write) تَكْتُبَونَ | (You write) تَكْتُبَانِ | (You write) تَكْتُبُ | M |
| - | (You write) تَكْتُبْنَ | (You write) تَكْتُبَانِ | (You write) تَكْتُبِينَ | F |
| First Person | (We write) نَكْتُبُ | Same as Plural | (I write) أَكْتُبُ | M&F |
Future tense
مُستَقبَلٌ
To indicate the future tense, سَ ‘sa’ or سَوفَ ‘sawfa’ is simply added to the beginning of the imperfect verb.
Command Tense / Imperative
فٍعلُ أَمرٍ
The imperative or command tense verb is always used in the second person. Therefore each verb can occur in all these forms:
| Pronoun | Imperative | Gender |
| You = أنتَ | اُكّتُبْ | M |
| You = أنتِ | اُكْتُبِي | F |
| You = أنتما | اُكْتُبَا | M&F |
| You = أنتم | اُكْتُبُوا | M |
| You = أنتنَّ | اُكْتُبْـنَ | F |
Quiz Time!
Let's test your knowledge.
What does (اِذْهَبْ) mean?
Go! (addressed to a male)
Go! (addressed to a female)
Go! (addressed to a group of males)
Go! (addressed to a 2 males)
You have completed Lesson 16
You have now understood how the Arabic verb system works