Attached Subject Pronouns with Irregular Imperfective Verbs

As explained earlier, the irregular verb الْفِعْلُ الْمُعْتَل in Arabic is the verb that includes a weak letter حَرْفُ عِلَّة (i.e. ا ، و ، ي). It is considered irregular because its root changes while appending attached subject pronouns to it. This change can be leaving a weak letter out or changing it to another weak letter.

In this lesson, we will focus on the imperfective form الفِعْلُ المُضارِع of the irregular verb, particularly how the root of the verb changes when we add pronoun suffixes and prefixes to it? The root of the irregular verbs can include more than one weak letter; however, our focus here is on the verbs that contain only one, such as وَجَدَ ، وصَلَ ، قَالَ ، صَامَ ، جَرَى ، مَشَى.

For further practice and better vocabulary retention, let’s add attached subject pronouns to the verbs you learned in the previous lesson by changing their forms into the imperfective مُضَارِع.

Personal Pronoun	Attached Pronoun	Perfective Root	Imperfective Form Examples
أنَا	أَ …	قَالَ نَامَ دَعا وَصَلَ	أَقُوْلُ إِنَّهُ ضَرُوْرِي – I’m saying that it is necessary أَنَامُ سَاعَةً – I’m sleeping for an hour أَدْعُو صَدِيْقِي – I’m calling my friend أَصِلُ مَسَاءً – I’m arriving in the evening
نَحْنُ	نَـ …	وَجَدَ بَاعَ وَضَعَ دَعَا	نَـجِدُ الكَنْز – we find the treasure نَـبِيْعُ بَيْتَنَا – we’re selling our house نَـضَعُ الأَسَدَ فِي القَفَص – we’re putting the lion in the cage نَـدْعُو سَلِيْم – we’re inviting Saleem
أَنْتَ	تَـ …	ضَاعَ جَرَى خَافَ دَعا	تَـضِيْعُ فِي الغَابَة – you’re lost in the jungle تَـجْرِي فِي الشَّارِع – you’re running in the street تَـخَافُ مِنَ الكَلْب – you’re afraid of the dog هَلْ تَـدْعُو أَحْمَد؟ – are you calling Ahmed?
أَنْتِ	تَـ … ـيْنَ	كَانَ مَشَى وَزَنَ صَامَ	تَـكُوْنِــيْن فِي البَيْت – you’re at home تَـمْشِــيْن إِلَى البَيْت – you’re walking home تَـزِنِــيْن التُّفَّاح – you’re weighing the apples تَـصُوْمِــيْن رَمَضَان – you’re fasting Ramadhan
أَنْتُم	تَـ … ـون	طَارَ رَمَى سَارَ غَزَا	تـَطِيْرُون إِلَى سِيَاتِل – you’re flying to Seattle تَـرْمُــون الأَسْد – you’re shooting the lion تَـسِيْرُون إِلَى مَكَّة – you’re walking to Mecca تَــغْزُون العِرَاق – you’re invading Iraq
أَنْتُنَّ	تَـ … ـْنَ	وَعَدَ خَافَ جَرَى فَازَ	تَــعِدْنَــنَا – you’re promising us تَـخَفْــنَ الظَّلام – you’re scared of the dark تَـجْرِيْــنَ فِي الحَوْش – you’re running in the yard هَلْ تَــفُزْنَ؟ – do you win?
هُوَ	يَـ …	قَالَ وَثَبَ صَارَ مَشَى	يَــقُول إِنَّهُ مَرِيض – he says that he is sick يَـثِبُ بِسُهُولَة – he jumps easily يَـصِيْر طَبِيْبًا – he becomes a doctor يَـمْشِي ثَلاثَة أَمْيَال – he is walking three miles
هِيَ	تَـ …	قَامَ دَعَا كَانَ بكَى	تَــقُوْم مِنْ النَّوم – she’s waking up تَـدْعُو صَدِيقَاتِها – she’s inviting her friends تَـكُونَ جَمِيْلَة – she is beautiful تَـبْكِي مِنَ الخَوْف – she’s crying of fear
هُم	يَـ … ـون	كَانَ غَزَا نَسَى لَامَ	يَـكُونُــون هُنَا – they are here يَــغْزُون العِرَاق – they’re invading Iraq يَـنْسُـون أُخْتَهُم – they forget their sister يَـلُومُـون سَلِيْم – they’re blaming Saleem
هُنَّ	يَـ … ـنَ	كَانَ دَارَ جَرَى دَعا	يَـكُـنَّ فِي المَدْرَسَة – they are in the school يَـدُرْنَ حَوْلَ المَدْرَسَة – they’re walking around the school يَـجْرِيْــنَ إِلَى النَادِي – they’re running to the club يَـدْعِيْــنَ سَمِيْرَة – they’re calling Samira

Looking at the verbs in the table above, you can see that most of the roots undergo some change. What triggers this change? Let’s find out.

Verbs that begin with a vowel: (e.g. وصَلَ)

Before adding the pronoun prefix (which indicates the present and the person) to the verb that starts with و, the و is always dropped.

Reason: The pronoun prefix always has fatHah while the second letter of the root verb has kasrah. The diacritical mark on the و is always sukuun. When the sukuun occurs between fatHah and kasrah, the letter that holds it is completely omitted. This rule applied to all three-letter root verbs.

أَصِلُ

أنَا

نـصِلُ

نَحْنُ

تَـصِلُ

أَنْتَ

تَـصِلِــيْن

أَنْتِ

تَـصِلُــون

أَنْتُم

تَـصِلْــنَ

أَنْتُنَّ

يَـصِل

هُوَ

تَـصِلُ

هِيَ

يَـصِلُــون

هُم

يَـصِلْــنَ

هُنَّ

Verbs that have a middle vowel: (e.g. قَالَ, صَارَ, بَاعَ)

With the verb قَالَ, the alif changes to و because of the DHammah over the ق. In other words, the DHammah does not suit the alif, so it changes to و (which the DHammah suits). The addition of pronoun suffixes and prefixes cause changes only with أَنْتُنَّ and هُنَّ because their corresponding attached pronouns trigger sukuun on the لْ which is preceded with وْ with sukuun. Therefore, the وْ is dropped for the sequence of two sukuuns.

With صَارَ and بَاعَ, the alif changes to ـيـْ because of the kasrah below the ـصِـ and ـبِـ, which it suits the ـيـ but not the alif With أَنْتُنَّ and هُنَّ, the alif is completely dropped for the sequence of two sukuuns.

There exists another explanation. But for this level, let’s suffice with this.

أَقُول ، أَصِيْر ، أَبِيْع

أنَا

نَــقُول ، نَـصِيْر ، نـبِيْع

نَحْنُ

تــقُول ، تَـصِيْر ، تَـبِيْع

أَنْتَ

تَــقُولِــيْنَ ، تَـصِيْرِيْنَ ، تَـبِيْعِــيْنَ

أَنْتِ

تــقُولُــون ، تَـصِيْرُون ، تَـبِيْعُـون

أَنْتُم

تَــقُلْــنَ ، تَـصِرْنَ ، تَـبْعْــنَ

أَنْتُنَّ

يَــقُوْل ، يَـصِيْر ، يَـبِيْع

هُوَ

تَــقُول ، تَـصِيْر ، تَـبِيْع

هِيَ

يَــقُولُــون ، يَـصِيْرُون ، يَـبِيْعُـون

هُم

يَــقُلْــنَ ، يَـصِرْنَ ، يَـبِعْــنَ

هُنَّ

Verbs that end with a vowel: (e.g. جَرَى and دَعَا)

Like with the perfective form, the alif layinah (i.e. ي-shaped without the two dots) in جَرَى changes to a regular ي. With أَنْتِ, أَنْتُم, and هُم, it is dropped for the sequence of two sukuuns.

With دَعَا, the alif madd changes to و. With أَنْتِ, أَنْتُم, and هُم, the alif madd is dropped for the sequence of two sukuuns.

أَجْرِي ، أَدْعُو

أنَا

نَـجْرِي ، نَـدْعُو

نَحْنُ

تَـجْرِي ، تَـدْعُو

أَنْتَ

تَـجْرِيْنَ ، تَـدْعِــيْنَ

أَنْتِ

تَـجْرُون ، تَـدْعُــون

أَنْتُم

تَـجْرَيْنَ ، تَـدْعُــوْنَ

أَنْتُنَّ

يَـجْرِي ، يَـدْعُو

هُوَ

تَـجْرِي ، تَـدْعُو

هِيَ

يَـجْرُون ، يَـدْعُــوْنَ

هُم

يَـجْرَيْن ، يَـدْعُــونَ

هُنَّ

Notes:

(1) The subject of the verbs, which do not have overt final attached pronouns in blue, is covert مُسْتَتِر inferred from the pronoun prefix. For example, in نَدعُو and نَجْرِي, the subject is covert understood as نَحْنُ.

(2) The equivalent of the Arabic imperfective form in English is either simple present or present progressive. For example, تَجْرِي فِي الشَّارِع can be translated as ‘you are running in the street’ or ‘you run in the street’.

(3) The pronoun prefixes (i.e. أ, نـ, يـ, تَـ) indicate the impefective tense الفِعْل المُضَارِع. Also, they refer to person, that is أ is for the 1st person singular, نَـ is for the 1st person plural, تَـ is for the 2nd person, and يـ is for the third person.