In Arabic, connected pronouns can be attached to verbs, nouns, or prepositions. If attached to verbs, they can be a subject (the doer of the action) فَاعِل or an object (the receiver of the action) مَفْعُول. In this lesson, we look at the connected subject pronouns with regular perfective verbs الْفِعْلُ الْمَاضِي. In a previous lesson, we briefly looked at the common personal pronouns (also know as separate pronouns). The personal pronoun الضَّمِيْر المُنْفَصِل refers to the person who’s speaking (1st person), the person we speak to (2nd person), or the person we speak about (3rd person). For each of these pronouns, there is a corresponding connected pronoun.
For the separate pronoun أَنَا, the connected pronoun is ـتُ; for نَحْنُ 'we', it is ـنَا; for أَنْتَ 'you (masculine)', it is ـتَ, and so on, as shown in the table below. This connected pronoun is attached to the perfective verb الْفِعْلُ الْمَاضِي. Hence, it is the subject of the verb, that is الْفَاعِل.
| The Separate Pronoun | The Connected Pronoun | Connected Pronoun with Verbs |
|
أنَا I |
ـتُ |
كَتَبْـتُ رِسَالَةً – I wrote a letter شَرِبْـتُ كُوبًا مِنَ الشَّاي – I drank a cup of tea رَقَدْتُ عَلَى الْكَنَبَةِ – I slept on the sofa |
|
نَحْنُ we |
ـنَا |
ذَهَبْـنَا إِلَى السُّوقِ – we went to the market شَاهَدْنَا التِّلْفَازَ – we watched the TV نَظَّفْـنَا الْبَيْتَ – we cleaned the house |
|
أَنْتَ you - masculine |
ـتَ |
قَرَأْتَ رُوَايَةً جَدِيْدَةً – you read a new novel ضَحِكْـتَ مَعَهُم – you laughed with them فَتَحْـتَ الْبَابَ – you opened the door |
|
أَنْتِ you - feminine |
ـتِ |
خَرَجْـتِ مِنَ الْبَيْتِ – you went out طَبَخْـتِ بَامِيَةً – you cooked okra غَسَلْـتِ مَلابِسَكِ – you washed your clothes |
|
أَنْتُم you - masculine, plural |
ـتُم |
لَعِبْـتُم فِي الْحَدِيْقةِ – you played in the garden قَفَزْتُم إِلَى النَّهرِ – you jumped to the river سَبَحْـتُم فِي النَّهْرِ – you swam in the river |
|
أَنْتُنَّ you - feminine plural |
ـتُنَّ |
نَزَلْـتُنَّ مِنَ السَّيَّارَةِ – you got off the car فَتَحْـتُنَّ بَابَ السَّيَّارَةِ – you opened the car door عَرَفْـتُنَّ الْإِجَابَةَ – you knew the answer |
|
هُوَ he |
.. |
دَرَسَ التَّارِيْخَ – he studied history أَخَذَ الكِـتَابَ – he took book حَمَلَ الشَّنْطَةَ – he carried the bag |
|
هِيَ she |
... تْ |
جَلَسَتْ عَلَى الْمَقْعَدِ – she sat on the bench ذَهَبَتْ إِلَى الْجَامِعَةِ – she went to the university دَخَلَتْ إِلَى الْغُرْفَةِ – she came in to the room |
|
هُم they - masculine |
ـوَا |
رَفَضُـوا الْفِكْرَةَ – they rejected the idea عَطَسُـوا – they sneezed رَجَعُـوا إِلَى الْبَيْتِ – they returned home |
|
هُنَّ they - feminine |
ـنَ |
لَبِسْـنَ مَلابِسَ جِدِيْدةً – they wore new clothes سَافَرْنَ إِلَى الْقَرِيَةِ – they traveled to the village طبَخْـنَ العَشَاءِ – they cooked dinner |
The connected pronouns in the above example function as a subject فَاعِل (i.e. the person who did the action). With هُوَ and هِيَ, there is no attached pronoun because it is covert مُسْتَتِر; that is, it does not overtly surface as a suffix at end of the verb.
Here are more examples of perfective forms with هُوَ and هِيَ:
| هُوَ |
سَافَرَ إِلَى أُسْتَرَالِيَا – he travelled to Australia كَتَبَ رُوَايَةً جَدِيْدَةً – he wrote a new novel رَكِبَ سَيَّارَتَه إِلَى الْعَمَلِ – he rode / took his car work شَرِبَ كَأسًا مِنَ الْحَلِيْبِ – he drank a glass of milk |
There is no connected pronoun at the end of the verb. The doer of the action is understood from the context. |
| هِيَ |
سَافَرَتْ إِلَى أُسْتَرَالِيا. كَتَبَتْ رُوَايَةً جَدِيْدةً. رَكِبَتْ سَيَّارَتَها إِلَى العَمَلِ. شَرِبَتْ كَأسًا مِنَ الحَلِيْبِ. |
The تْ at the end of the verb is not for the subject. It marks the feminine. The subject pronoun is covert understood as هِيَ. |
| The forms of the verb with هُوَ and هِيَ are the same. That is, no attached pronoun surfaces at the verb end—it is covert. The only difference between the two forms is that the feminine marker تْ is added when the covert pronoun is هِيَ. | ||
