You’ll be very Glad to know that here we will learn about verb tenses in Arabic, when compared to other languages i.e. Urdu, Hindi, Persian, English, Russian, are fairly straightforward. Basically, There are two proper form of Verb in Arabic: the past and the present.
Verb Definition:
Verb is a important part of speech that refers to something happening. There are many forms of Root Verbs that can be studied in light of the following:
(1) Verb Type نوع الفعل: A verb falls into two categories;
- متصرف : Declinable Verbs have many
- Indeclinable جامد: Indeclinable Verbs have ONE form.
(2) Verb Tense الزمن: The Verb Tense depends on which tense it is. There are Two main tenses in Arabic Past Tense and Present Tense :
- Past Tense الماضي: A verb which refers to a finished action in the past tense.
- Present Tense المضارع: A verb which refers to an unfinished action at present tense
- Imperative الأمر: Imperative verb that refers to a request or a command.
(3) Verb Health صحة الفعل: Verb Health- Root verbs can be:
- Healthy صحيح: Healthy Verbs don’t have any sick letters in their root.
Healthy Verbs have three Forms:
- Mahmooz مهموز: Mahmooz Verbs that have a Hamza (أ ) in their stem.
- Doubled مضعّف: Doubled Verbs that have a doubled
iii. Sound سالم: Sound Verbs that don’t have a Hamza
- Unhealthy (Sick) معتل : Unhealthy Verbs that have one or two sick letters in their stem.
The sick Three Sick letters are (و), (ا) , (ى ): Unhealthy verbs have 3 types;
- Mithaal مثال: Mithaal is the first unhealthy letter of the verb; e.g. وعد = promised
- Agwaf أجوف: Agwaf is the second unhealthy letter of the Verb; e.g. قال = said
- Naaqis ناقص : Naaqis ناقص the last unhealthy letter of the Verb; e.g. بنىَ = built
(4) Verb effect أثر الفعل: Verb effect have two categories according to their effect.
- Transitive متعدى : Transitive is the verb that takes object and affects its object(s).
- Intransitive لازم : Intransitive verb that do not take an object and affects only its subject.
(5) Verb Voice: Verbs can be:
- Active مبنى للمعلوم: Active verb have a clear subject.
- Passive مبنى للمجهول: Passive verb have a vague or unmentioned subject.