A regular perfective verb الفِعْل المَاضِي الصَّحِيْح, explained in a previous lesson, is the verb that does not include a long vowel حَرْفُ عِلَّة (i.e. و ، ا ، ي). The absence of the long vowel makes its conjugation with different persons / pronouns straightforward. That is, the root verb does not change when pronoun suffixes (or affixes) are added.
By contract, the irregular perfective verb الفِعْل المَاضِي المُعْتَل includes one or more long vowels as part of the root. For now, let’s look at the verbs that have one long vowel. This vowel can be at the beginning of the verb (i.e. وَعَدَ, وَصَلَ, وَجَدَ), in the middle (i.e. قَالَ, خَافَ, صَامَ), or at the end (i.e. جَرَى, دَعَا, مَشَى).
| Personal Pronoun | Attached Pronoun | Root Verb | Perfective form examples |
| أنَا | ـتُ | قَالَ نَامَ دَعا وَصَلَ | قُلْـتُ إِنَّهُ ضَرُوْرِي – I said that it was necessary نِمْـتُ سَاعَةً – I slept for an hour دَعَوْتُ صَدِيْقِي – I called my friend وَصْلْـتُ مَسَاءً – I arrived in the evening |
| نَحْنُ | ـنَا | وَجَدَ بَاعَ وَضَعَ دَعَا | وَجَدْنَا الكَنْز – we found the treasure بِعْـنَا بَيْتَنَا – we sold our house وَضَعْـنَا الأَسَدَ فِي القَفَص – we put the lion in the cage دَعَوْنَا سَلِيْم – we invited Saleem |
| أَنْتَ | ـتَ | ضَاعَ جَرَى خَافَ دَعا | ضَعْـتَ فِي الغَابَة – your were lost in the jungle جَرَيْـتَ فِي الشَّارِع – you ran in the street خُفْـتَ مِنَ الكَلْب – you were afraid of the dog هَلْ دَعَوْتَ أَحْمَد؟ – did you call Ahmed? |
| أَنْتِ | ـتِ | كَانَ مَشَى وَزَنَ صَامَ | كُنْـتِ فِي البَيْت – you were at home مَشَيْـتِ إِلَى البَيْت – you walked home وَزَنْـتِ التُّفَّاح – you weighed the apple صِمْـتِ رَمَضَان – you fasted Ramadhan |
| أَنْتُم | ـتُم | طَارَ رَمَى سَارَ غَزَا | طُرْتُم إِلَى سِيَاتِل – you flew to Seattle رَمِيْـتُم الأَسْد – you shot the lion سِرْتُم إِلَى مَكَّة – you walked to Mecca غَزَوْتُم العِرَاق – you invaded Iraq |
| أَنْتُنَّ | ـتُنَّ | وَعَدَ خَافَ جَرَى فَازَ | وَعَدْتُنَّـنَا – you promised us خُفْـتُنَّ الظَّلام – you were scared of the dark جَرَيْـتُنَّ فِي الحَوْش – you ran in the yard هَلْ فُزْتُنَّ؟ – did you win? |
| هُوَ | .. | قَالَ وَثَبَ صَارَ مَشَى | قَالَ إِنَّهُ مَرِيض – he said that he was sick وَثَبَ بِسُهُولَة – he jumped easily صَارَ طَبِيْبًا – he became a doctor مَشَى ثَلاثَة أَمْيَال – he walked three miles |
| هِيَ | … تْ | قَامَ دَعَا كَانَ بكَى | قَامَـتْ مِنْ النَّوم – she woke up دَعَـتْ صَدِيقَاتِها – she invited her friends كَانَـتْ جَمِيْلَة – she was beautiful بَكَـتْ مِنَ الخَوْف – she cried of fear |
| هُم | ـوَا | كَانَ غَزَا نَسَى لَامَ | كَانُـوا هُنَا – they were here غَزَوْا العِرَاق – they invaded Iraq نَسُـوا أُخْتَهُم – they forgot their sister لامُـوا سَلِيْم – they blame Saleem |
| هُنَّ | ـنَ | كَانَ دَارَ جَرَى دَعا | كُـنَّ فِي المَدْرَسَة – they were in the school دُرْنَ حَوْلَ المَدْرَسَة – they walked around the school جَرَيْـنَ إِلَى النَادِي – they ran to the club دَعَوْنَ سَمِيْرَة – they called Samira |
From the examples in the table above you can see that some verb roots change, while others don’t. The change can be dropping a letter or changing a long vowel to another.
| Verbs that begin with a vowel: (e.g. وصَلَ) | ||
| No change occurs with the verb that start with the vowel (which is always و). The attached pronoun is simply added to the end of the verb, like we do with regular verbs.
| وَصَلْـتُ | أنَا |
| وَصَلْـنَا | نَحْنُ | |
| وَصَلْـتَ | أَنْتَ | |
| وَصَلْـتِ | أَنْتِ | |
| وَصَلْـتُم | أَنْتُم | |
| وَصَلْـتُنَّ | أَنْتُنَّ | |
| وَصَلَ – root | هُوَ | |
| وَصَلَـتْ | هِيَ | |
| وَصَلُـوا | هُم | |
| وَصَلْـنَ | هُنَّ | |
| Verbs that have a middle vowel: (e.g. قَالَ) | ||
| The middle vowel is mostly an alif. When added, attached pronouns trigger a sukuun on the last letter of the verb (here the ل). The letter before ل is alif, and it has a sukuun over it. Generally, a sequence of two sukuuns in Arabic is prohibited; therefore, the first is always dropped. So, alif in قَالَ is dropped. With هُوَ, هِيَ, and هُم, the ل does not have a sukuun over it, so alif is retained. | قُلْـتُ | أنَا |
| قُلْـنَا | نَحْنُ | |
| قُلْـتَ | أَنْتَ | |
| قُلْـتِ | أَنْتِ | |
| قُلْـتُم | أَنْتُم | |
| قُلْـتُنَّ | أَنْتُنَّ | |
| قَالَ – root | هُوَ | |
| قَالَـتْ | هِيَ | |
| قَالُـوا | هُم | |
| قُلْـنَ | هُنَّ | |
| Verbs that end with a vowel: (e.g. جَرَى and دَعَا) | ||
| جَرَى ends with alif layinah (i.e. ي-shaped without the two dots). When attached pronouns are added, it changes to regular ي except with هِيَ and هُم. With هِيَ, verbs end with تْ with sukuun. With هُم, verbs end with ـوا with sukuun on the و. The يْ with sukuun before تْ and ـوا is dropped for the sequence of two sukuuns. دَعَا end with alif madd. When attached pronouns are added, it changes to و. With هِيَ and هُم, it is dropped for the sequence of two sukuuns. | جَرَيْـتُ ، دَعَوْتُ | أنَا |
| جَرِيْـنَا ، دَعَوْنَا | نَحْنُ | |
| جَرِيْـتَ ، دَعَوْتَ | أَنْتَ | |
| جَرِيْـتِ ، دَعَوْتِ | أَنْتِ | |
| جَرِيْـتُم ، دَعَوْتُم | أَنْتُم | |
| جَرَيْـتُنَّ ، دَعَوْتُنَّ | أَنْتُنَّ | |
| جَرَى ، دَعَا – root | هُوَ | |
| جَرَتْ ، دَعَـتْ | هِيَ | |
| جَرَوا ، دَعَـوا | هُم | |
| جَرَيْـنَ ، دَعَوْنَ | هُنَّ | |
| Note: The verb with هُوَ is the root as it does not have any suffixes. The subject with this verb is covert مُسْتَتِر understood as هُوَ. Also, the verb with هِيَ has تْ. This تْ is not the subject; it is the feminine marker, and the subject is covert مُسْتَتِر inferred from the تْ as هِيَ. Review the conjugation of verbs in the first two tables to fully understand and apply the rules. | ||
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