#verb forms

poder

poner

saber

venir

hacer

querer

decir

traer

ser

ir

dar

ver

estar

tener

.

Okay! A longer post this time but learning about the verb forms and roots and their وزن (wazan) or “weighting” is important for future posts in terms of conjugation!

This system of verbs is something vital to Arabic and while it was hard to get my head around at first, it ended up being one of my favourite aspects of the language. Ask me or Message me any questions you have and I’ll do my best to answer!

First off, let’s talk ROOTS!

Arabic verbs generally follow a “CaCaCa” pattern, where “C” is a consonant and “a” is a vowel. e.g. kataba (to write) = KaTaBa. 

The root of a verb is taking the 3 consonants that form the verb, so in kataba, the root is k, t, b,  or in Arabic  - ك ت ب

These are called trilateral verbs. There are some quadrilateral verbs but I will focus on them in a seperate post! 

Try it out - tell me what the root is for the following verbs: 

1. سفر  - safara (to travel)

2 . نزل - nazala (to descend)

3. فعل - faa3la (to do) (btw a3 corresponds to the letter “ع”)

Wazan?? what’s that

The wazan is literally the “weighting” of the roots. The wazan determines the emphasis placed on the word and the addition of other elements - there are 15 different forms of wazan and each one corresponds to a different nuance or meaning ( though 11-15 are pretty rarely used)

What does this mean in practice?

Basically the same root letters can be fit into different forms and this can alter the meaning slightly. However , the root letters tend to carry some sort of relation (e.g. words that are formed from safara will have something to do with travel or movement, even in different forms). 

In tables, the forms are usually represented by the verb “faa3la” but if you want to know what it would be for another verb, you substitute the root letters into the form. 

The verbs above were all in form one and in past tense, which is a simple 3 syllable fa-a3-la. The form will also affect how the verb is pronounced and emphasised in the present tense. 

Okay , let’s get into the forms. 

VERB FORMS!!

Don’t get stressed when you see this verb form chart! It looks confusing but that is because it gives you not only the verb in its 10 forms in past (perfect tense,  as the verbs above) but also in present ( the imperfect tense) , passive participle , active participle, the imperative and the verbal noun! YES, ALL are affected by the form in which the root consonants are in!

I know that can sound overwhelming but once you get used to it, it makes it a dream to guess a word’s meaning and to instantly change a word into the active participle , for instance imagine you didn’t know the word for dancer, but you did know the verb “to dance” - using the verb forms, you can easily figure out how to say “dancer” - the active participle, without having learnt the word separately! It makes communication and vocabulary acquisition a lot easier imo!

For this week, let’s focus on the far right column - that is, the verb forms in perfect active - this is what you use for basic singular masculine past tense e.g. kataba = he wrote. 

Form I = فعل/ fa-a3-la

this form expresses the general meaning of the root consonants - e.g. 3a - ma- la = to work (عمل)

Form II = فعّل /fa-33a-la

This form builds on Form I by doubling the second consonant with a shadda

In terms of meaning, Form II usually adds a causative quality to the meaning, causing something to happen. 

e.g. darasa (درس) (F1) = to study

but darassa (درّس) (F2) = to teach

Sometimes it has the intensive function.

 jama3a ( جمع ) (F1) means "to collect, gather"; 

jamma3a(جمّع ) (F2) means "to amass, to accummulate"

Form III =  فاعل /faa-3a-la

Builds on Form I by adding an alif after the first consonant, thus elongating the vowel. 

In terms of meaning, Form III describes someone doing the act in question or doing it to someone else. 

e.g. 3amala (عمل ) (F1) = to work 

but 3aamala (عامل) (F3) = to treat or deal with sb. 

Form IV = أفعل / af-3a-la

Builds on Form I by adding an alif before the first consonant, connecting it with with a sukoon. 

Meanings-wise, it is similar to Form II, in that it is usually the causative of form one.  

e.g. kharaja (خرج) (F1) = to leave , exit

but akhraj (أخرج) (F4) = to expel, evict

Form V = تفعّل / ta-fa-33a-la

Builds on Form II by adding the prefix ta (ت) to the form 2 verb. 

 Often a reflexive form of the FII verb, and often intransitive. 

e.g. kharraja (خرّج) (F2) = to graduate (sb.) 

but takharraja (تخرّج) (F5) = to graduate 

Can sometimes be an intensive of F1 verbs - 

jama3a ( جمع ) (F1) means "to collect, gather";

but tajamma3a ( تجمّع) (F5) means “to congregate, gather together”.

Form VI = تفاعل / ta-faa-3a-la

Builds on Form III by adding the  prefix ta (ت) to the form 3 verb. 

Usually a reflexive of the form 3 verb. 

3aamala (عامل) (F3) = to treat or deal with sb.

but ta3aamala (تعامل) (F6) = to deal with each other

Form VII = انفعل / in-fa-3a-la

adds to the Form I form of the verb by adding the prefix ان (in) 

Usually a reflexive / passive of the form 2 verb 

e.g. qaTa3a (قطع ) (F1) = to cut

but inqaTa3a (انقطع)  (F7) = to cut off; abstain from

Form VIII = افتعل / if-ta-3a-la 

Builds on Form 4 by adding “ta” after the first root letter, and having the alif join with a kasra as opposed to a fatha ( ifta3la as opposed to afta3ala)

a reflexive version of the form 1 verb - 

jama3a ( جمع ) (F1) means "to collect, gather";

but ijtama3a (اجتمع) 9) (F8) means “to meet, agree upon”

sometimes it has a specially derived meaning from a form 1 verb- 

ba3ada (بعد) (F1) = to be far away

but ibta3ada ( ابتعد) = to avoid 

Form IX = افعلّ / if-3al-la

This is generally only used in relation to colours 

e.g the letters ح ، م . ر are the root letters associated with redness 

if you substitute the فعل in the wazn with these root letters, you get احمرّ (ahmarra) (F9) which means “to become Red”.

FINALLY, FORM X = استفعل = is-taf-3a-la

Built on Form1 by adding the prefix ‘ist’  and adding ta in between the first and second radicals ( the ‘t” in ist) which links to the fa with a sukoon (creating “taf”)

A “considerative” form of the Form I verb - it gives the meaning of “ to consider or to deem someone to have the quality” of the Form I verb. This can sound confusing so here’s an example - 

ba3ada (بعد) (F1) = to be far away or distant

but istab3ada (استبعد) (F10) = to consider sth/sb remote or unlikely. 

It could also give the meaning of “to request or seek x for yourself” , where x is the quality of the Form I verb. 

e.g.  3amala (عمل ) (F1) = to work

but ist3amala (استعمل) (F10) = to use , put into operation 

Phew! Good on you for making it this far. I know this sounds super long and convoluted, but forms are a really interesting and useful aspect of Arabic language and they are NECESSARY! In the future, when I post about conjugating , or passive, or verbal nouns, the rules will depend on their form! 

I highly recommend you practice figuring out what form a verb is, and what the root letters are. Then you could look for verbs in other forms , but with the same root letters and see how that affects the meaning! This will help you get a better grip on the concept of forms, as well as help you memorise their patterns quicker!

Credits to https://arabic.desert-sky.net/g_vforms.html for the detailed info on forms and the examples! I never got to learn them in this detailed way ( I learnt by speaking more than textbooks) so this was a good revision exercise for me as well! 

thaka = to be/to stay, kôra = to do, khava = to eat

Simple present: ase, kure, khay

Simple past: thakishe, kurishe, khaishe

Simple future: thakibo/thakivo, kuribo, khabo/khavo

Present continuous: NA, kuri ase, khai ase

Past continuous: NA, kuri thakishe, khai thakishe

Future continuous: NA, kuri thakibo, khai thakibo

Present perfect: NA, kuri loishe, khai loishe

Future perfect: NA, kuri lôbo, khai lôbo

Imperative mood: thakibi, kuribi, khabi

Honorific, person, number and gender of the pronoun do not affect the verb form in Nagamese.

From each root, a variety of verb forms can be formed. 

Form1  فعلَ

- most basic form of the verb 

- consists fo the 3-lettered root only 

- has the most basic meaning of the root 

Form 2  فعّل

- built on form 1 by adding a shadda to the middle radical of the form 1 verb

- makes the action seem more intense, for example  قطع  cut becomes  قطّع chopped.

- Also makes a verb transitive 

Form 3 - فاعل

- Built on form 1 by adding an alif between the first and second radicals of the form 1 verb. 

- It usually indicates participation, for example  عمل  meaning to work becomes عامل means ‘to treat or deal with’ 

Form 4 -  أفعل

- makes an intransitive verb transitive 

- causative version of form 1

- created by prefixing an alif to the form 1 verb and then a sukuun over the first radical. 

Form 5 -  تفعّل

- created by adding the prefix ta to the form 2 verb

- a reflexive version of the form 2 verb e.g.  تعلّم meaning ‘learned’ 

- can be an intensive version of a form 1 verb  e.g.  جمع meaning ‘to collect’ in form 1, becomes  تجمّع meaning ‘to congregate or to flock together’ 

Form 6 -  تفاعل

-created by adding the prefix ta to the form 3 verb 

- Usually a reflexive version or a passive version of form 3.  سرع meaning ‘to be fast’ becomes   تسارع meaning ‘to hurry’ in form 6. 

Form 7 -  اِنْفَعَلَ

- created by adding the prefix  انـ to the form 1 verb. 

- can be a reflexive version of form 1 

- indicates that the action happened willingly or spontaneously

- passive version of form 1 - to break  فجر becomes to explode/detonate  انفجر in form 7.  قطع meaning ‘to cut, to cut off’ in form 1 becomes  انقطع meaning ‘to be cut off (from)’ or ‘to abstain (from)’

Form 8 -  اِفْتَعَلَ

- Reflexive version of the form 1 verb 

- created by adding the prefix  ا to the form 1 verb and then placing a sukuun over its first radical. 

-  جمع means ‘to collect/gather’ in form 1  اجتمع means ‘to meet/to agree (on)’,  سمع   meaning ‘to hear’ in form 1 becomes  استمع in form 8 

- has the meaning of participation/implies the active involvement of the subject in doing the action.

Form 9 -  اِفْعَلَّ

- Built on adding the prefix  ا to the form 1 verb then placing a sukuun over its first radical and then a shadda to the last radical 

-  ح م ر which relates to redness, in form 9 becomes  احمرّ meaning ‘to become or turn red’ 

Form 10 -  اِسْتَفْعَلَ

- verbs in this form convey the meaning of seeking to do something for example,  زاد meaning ‘to increase’ in form 1 becomes  استزاد ‘to try and achieve more’ in form 10. 

- transitive 

Aloin is the first person singular imperfect of the verb alkaa, to begin, to start.

I accidentally got a latin book in my hands while I was at school und found this... I couldn't believe it, but even the Romans shipped it. XD