Lesson 19

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

Assalamu'alaikum and greetings to all.


LESSON 19 VERB FORMS

1. In the Quran, verbs and other words that denote related semantic concepts, are formed through a system known as derivation.
2. The basic rule of derivation is that nearly all words are derived from a three root ( trilateral ) or a four root ( quadrilateral ) pattern system.
3. The Arabic letters ف, ع, ل are typically used as placeholders in verb patterns to denote three different radical letters, since فَعَلَ is a prototypical verb that means "to do" or "to act".
4. Using derivation system of roots and patterns, nouns and verbs are derived in an almost mathematical way, leaving little room for confusion as to the desired meaning of the word.
5. These derived forms allow for the language to reflect the state of how a particular action ( i.e. a verb ) was performed.
6. Kindly see Table 53 and Table 54 below for the derived forms of the trilateral verbs and quadrilateral verbs respectively.

TABLE 53 TRILITERAL VERB FORMS

FORM	DERIVED VERB	MEANING	VERBAL ROOT	ENGLISH	DERIVED VERB	ENGLISH
I	أَفْعَلَ af’ala	Causing an act	جَلَسَ jalasa	to sit	أَجْلَسَ ajlasa	to make one sit
II	فَعَّلَ fa’a’ala	An act is done with intensity or to make one do.	عَلِمَ ‘alima	to know	عَلَّمَ ‘allama	to teach
III	فَاعَلَ faa’ala	The effort to perform the act upon the object.	قَتَلَ qatala	to kill	قَاتَلَ qaatala	to try to kill
IV	تَفَعَّلَ tafa’a’ala	Adds reflexive force to the original verb	كَسَرَ kasara	to break	تَكَسَّرَ takassara	to be broken into pieces
V	تَفَاعَلَ tafaa’ala	Reflexive action	قَتَلَ qatala	to kill	تَقَاتَلَ taqaatala	to fight one another
VI	إِفْتَعَلَ ifta’ala	To make oneself do	جَنَبَ janaba	to set apart	إِجْتَنَبَ ijtanaba	to avoid
VII	إِنْفَعَلَ infa’ala	Reflexive signification, generally used as a passive	فَطَرَ fatara	to create	إِنْفَطَرَ infatara	to be split
VIII	إِفْعَلَّ if’alla	Used to express colours and defects	حَمَّرَ hammara	to redden	إِحْمَرَّ ihmarra	to become red
IX	إِفْعَالَّ if’aalla	Used to express colours	دَهَّمَ dahhama	to blacken	إِدْهَامَّ idhaamma	to be black
X	إِسْتَفْعَلَ istaf’ala	Reflexive signification and is used when an object is sought.	نَصَرَ nasara	to help	إِسْتَنْصَرَ istansara	to call for help

TABLE 54 QUADRILITERAL VERB FORMS s

FORM	DERIVED VERB	MEANING	VERBAL ROOT	ENGLISH	DERIVED VERB	ENGLISH
I	فَعْلَلَ fa’lala	The basic quadriliteral verb form with four radical root letters.	دَحْرَجَ dahraja	to roll	-	-
II	تَفَعْلَلَ tafa’lala	Adds reflexive force to the original verb	دَحْرَجَ dahraja	to roll	تَدَحْرَجَ tadahraja	to roll down
III	إِفْعَنْلَلَ if’anlala	Reflexive signification, is usually intransitive	حَرْجَمَ harjama	to translate	إِحْرَنْجَمَ ihranjama	to translate
IV	إِفْعَلَلَّ if’alalla	This form has a stative meaning	قَشْعَرَ qash’ara	shiver	إِقْشَعَرَّ iqsha’arra	to be in a state of shivering

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