Lesson 8

In the name of Allah, Most Beneficent, Most Merciful.

Assalamu'alaikum and greetings to all.


LESSON 9 VERBS : FI’IL MADHI

1. The Arabic verb is mostly triliteral i.e. it is based on roots of three consonants, called radicals e.g. فَعَلَ ( fa’ala ) which means to do.
2. There are some quadriliteral verbs too which consist of four radical letters e.g تَرْجَمَ ( tarjama ) which means to translate.
3. In books of Arabic grammar, the three consonants of the verb فَعَلَ ( fa’ala ) are used to indicate the patterns of all verbs whether triliteral or quadriliteral verbs and their derivatives.
1. ف represents the first radical
2. ع represents the second radical
3. ل represents the third radical
4. In Arabic dictionaries, a verb in the form of the third person, singular, masculine, perfect tense and in the active voice is given first followed by its derivatives. The meaning given would be in the infinite e.g. to do for فَعَلَ ( fa’ala ) and to help for نَصَرَ ( nasara ) whereas the actual meaning of فَعَلَ is he did and that of نَصَرَ is he helped.
5. As mentioned in the previous lessons, the verbs should agree with the nouns and pronouns in respect of number, gender, definiteness and case ending.
6. In Arabic, the verbs, like the nouns, pronouns and adjectives have three numbers : singular, dual and plural.
7. As mentioned earlier, verbs have three aspects:
1. the perfect, فعل مَاضِىٌ ( fi’il madhi ), denoting a completed action ( roughly corresponds to the past tense in English ). Kindly see Table 18 and Table 19 below for the conjugation of the perfect tense ( fi’il madhi ).
2. the imperfect, مُضَارِعٌ فعل ( fi’il mudhori’ ), denoting an incomplete action ( roughly corresponds to the present or present continuous or future tenses in English ). Kindly see Table 20 and Table 21 in the next lesson.
3. the imperative, أَمْرٌ فعل ( fi’il amar ), signifying a command or request or a prohibition. Kindly see Table 22, table 23 and table 24 in the following lesson.

TABLE 18 PERFECT TENSE فعل مَاضِىٌ : FI’IL MADHI

PERSON	GENDER	PLURALITY	PERFECT TENSE		ENGLISH
غائب ( Ghaib ) THIRD PERSON i.e the person you are speaking about	مذكر Masculine	مفرد Singular	فَعَلَ	fa’ala	He did
		مثنى Dual	فَعَلَا	fa’alaa	They (two) did
		جمع Plural	فَعَلُوا	fa’alu	They (all) did
	مؤنث Feminine	مفرد Singular	فَعَلَتْ	fa’alat	She did
		مثنى Dual	فَعَلَتا	fa’alata	They (two) did
		جمع Plural	فَعَلْنَ	fa’alna	They (all) did
مخاطب ( Mukhatob ) SECOND PERSON i.e the person you are speaking to	مذكر Masculine	مفرد Singular	فَعَلَتَ	fa’alta	You did
		مثنى Dual	فَعَلَتما	fa’altuma	You (two) did
		جمع Plural	فَعَلْتم	fa’altum	You (all) did
	مؤنث Feminine	مفرد Singular	فَعَلْتِ	fa’alti	You did
		مثنى Dual	فَعَلْتما	fa’altuma	You (two) did
		جمع Plural	فَعَلتنَّ	fa’altunna	You (all) did
متكلم ( Mutakalim ) FIRST PERSON i.e the person who is speaking	مذكر / مؤنث Masculine / Feminine	مفرد Singular	فَعَلْتُ	fa’altu	I did
		جمع Plural	فَعَلْنا	fa’alnaa	We did

TABLE 19 EXAMPLES OF PERFECT TENSEفعل مَاضِىٌ : FI’IL MADHI

PERSON	GENDER	PLURALITY	PERFECT TENSE		ENGLISH
غائب ( Ghaib ) THIRD PERSON i.e the person you are speaking about	مذكر Masculine	مفرد Singular	نَصَرَ	nasara	He helped
		مثنى Dual	نَصَرَا	nasaraa	They (two) helped
		جمع Plural	نَصَرُوا	nasaru	They (all) helped
	مؤنث Feminine	مفرد Singular	نَصَرَتْ	nasarat	She helped
		مثنى Dual	نَصَرَتَا	nasarata	They (two) helped
		جمع Plural	نَصَرْنَ	nasarna	They (all) helped
مخاطب ( Mukhatob ) SECOND PERSON i.e the person you are speaking to	مذكر Masculine	مفرد Singular	نَصَرْتَ	nasarta	You
		مثنى Dual	نَصَرْتُمَا	nasartuma	You (two) helped
		جمع Plural	نَصَرْتُمْ	nasartum	You (all) helped
	مؤنث Feminine	مفرد Singular	نَصَرْتِ	nasarti	You helped
		مثنى Dual	نَصَرْتُمَا	nasartuma	You (two) helped
		جمع Plural	نَصَرْتُنَّ	nasartunna	You (all) helped
متكلم ( Mutakalim ) FIRST PERSON i.e the person who is speaking	مذكر / مؤنث Masculine / Feminine	مفرد Singular	نَصَرْتُ	nasartu	I helped
		جمع Plural	نَصَرْنَا	nasarnaa	We helped

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