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Verbs

Perfective Structures (continued)

Triliteral Roots with Additional Letters

The three structures we have talked about so far did not have any additional letters. They were composed solely of the root letters plus short vowels, which do not count as letters. Those are called in Arabic the "bare" structures or measures الأَوْزَاْنُ الْمُجَرَّدَةُ .

With the employment of additional letters, there will be as many as 14 other structures of perfective verbs based on triliteral roots, making a total of fifteen forms.

Structures with additional letters are called in Arabic the "added to" or "augmented" structures الأَوْزَاْنُ الْمَزِيْدَةُ .

Here is a list of all the triliteral-rooted perfective verb structures:

Structures of Perfective Verbs with Triliteral Roots (Active Voice)
No additional letters	Form I	fa"al(a)	فَعَلَ
		fa"il(a)	فَعِلَ
		fa"ul(a)	فَعُلَ
1 additional letter	Form II	fa""al(a)	فَعَّلَ
	Form III	faa"al(a)	فَاْعَلَ
	Form IV	'af"al(a)	أَفْعَلَ
2 additional letters	Form V	tafa''"al(a)	تَفَعَّلَ
	Form VI	tafaa"al(a)	تَفَاْعَلَ
	Form VII	'infa"al(a)	اِنْفَعَلَ
	Form VIII	'ifta"al(a)	اِفْتَعَلَ
	Form IX	'if"all(a)	اِفْعَلََّ
3 additional letters	Form X	'istaf"al(a)	اِسْتَفْعَلَ
	Form XI	'if"aall(a)	اِفْعَاْلَّ
	Form XII	'if"aw"al(a)	اِفْعَوْعَلَ
	Form XIII	'if"awwal(a)	اِفْعَوَّلَ
	Form XIV	'if"anlal(a)	اِفْعَنْلَلَ
	Form XV	'if"anlaa	اِفْعَنْلَىْ

The last five structures (highlighted in red) are rare.

Note that the short vowel between the final two letters (the green short vowel) is fixed as a in all the forms other than form I. The only form that has a changeable green vowel is form I, as we have already seen. When those perfective verb forms are turned into imperfective, the green vowel will be fixed as i in all forms except forms V & VI which will still have a fixed a. Form I will still have a changeable green vowel in the imperfective like in the perfective. We are going to cover the imperfective verbs later.

Forms IX and XI are irregular doubled verbs. The green vowel is omitted in the 3rd person masculine singular conjugation of these verbs as well as in some other conjugations.

Form XV is an irregular defective verb. This form ends with a weak 'alif that becomes a letter y in other conjugations.

All the forms conjugate in the regular way mentioned earlier except for the irregular ones (i.e. forms IX and XI, the doubled verbs, and form XV, the defective verb). The conjugation of irregular verbs will be covered later.

Examples on the conjugation of the different forms:

	Re-conjugated	Example ([he] did)	Form
(We) sat	جَلَسْنَاْ	جَلَسَ	فَعَلَ
	jalasnaa	jalas(a)
(I) thought	حَسِبْتُ	حَسِبَ	فَعِلَ
	hasibt(u)	hasib(a)
(She/it) was/became small(er)	صَغُرَتْ	صَغُرَ	فَعُلَ
	sarurat	sarur(a)
(You, dual) taught	عَلَّمْتُمَاْ	عَلَّمَ	فَعَّلَ
	"allamtumaa	"allam(a)
(They, masc. dual) fought	قَاْتَلا	قَاْتَلَ	فَاْعَلَ
	qaatalaa	qaatal(a)
(They, masc. plu.) dignified	أَكْرَمُوْا	أَكْرَمَ	أَفْعَلَ
	'akramoo	'akram(a)
(They, fem. dual) were late	تَأَخَّرَتَاْ	تَأَخَّرَ	تَفَعَّلَ
	ta'akhkharataa	ta'akhkhar(a)
(You, masc. plu.) wondered	تَسَاْءَلْتُمْ	تَسَاْءَلَ	تَفَاْعَلَ
	tasaa'altum	tasaa'al(a)
(She/it) exploded	اِنْفَجَرَتْ	اِنْفَجَرَ	اِنْفَعَلَ
	'infajarat	'infajar(a)
(They, fem. plu.) became disconcerted	اِرْتَبَكْنَ	اِرْتَبَكَ	اِفْتَعَلَ
	'irtabakn(a)	'irtabak(a)
(You, masc. sing.) reddened up	اِحْمَرَرْتَ^*	اِحْمَرَّ	اِفْعَلََّ
	'ihmarart(a)	'ihmarr(a)
(We) used	اِسْتَعْمَلْنَاْ	اِسْتَعْمَلَ	اِسْتَفْعَلَ
	'ista"malnaa	'ista"mal(a)

*A doubled verb.

Just like how the first three structures showed differences in meaning, each one of the other structures also has its distinct meaning, or meanings. However, having deep knowledge of the different meanings of each structure is not that important. The important thing is to know what a verb means and to be able to conjugate it correctly.

A comprehensive review of the meanings of each structure with large numbers of examples are available here.

Here is a simplified list of the meanings of verb structures:

Meanings of Verb Forms

Form I

فَعَلَ

fa"al(a)

tr./intr.

Basic

(he) did

فَعِلَ

fa"il(a)

tr./intr.

Stative

(he) was/became something

فَعُلَ

fa"ul(a)

intr.

Stative

(he) was/became something

Form II

فَعَّلَ

fa""al(a)

tr./intr.

Causative

(he) made do

Intensive

(he) did much

Form III

فَاْعَلَ

faa"al(a)

tr./intr.

Conative

(he) sought to do

Mutual

(he) initiated mutual doing with

Intensive

(he) did much

Form IV

أَفْعَلَ

'af"al(a)

tr./intr.

Causative

(He) made do

Reflexive Causative

(He) made himself do

Form V

تَفَعَّلَ

tafa''"al(a)

tr./intr.

Reflexive Causative

(He) made himself do

Reflexive Intensive

(he) did himself much

Form VI

تَفَاْعَلَ

tafaa"al(a)

tr./intr.

Conative

(he) sought to do

Mutual

(he) initiated mutual doing with

Pretension

(he) pretended to do

Reflexive Intensive

(he) did himself much

Form VII

اِنْفَعَلَ

'infa"al(a)

intr.

Reflexive

(he) was/became done

Agentless Passive

(he) was/became done

Form VIII

اِفْتَعَلَ

'ifta"al(a)

tr./intr.

Reflexive

(he) did himself

Reflexive Causative

(he) made himself do

Form IX

اِفْعَلََّ

'if"all(a)

intr.

Stative

(he) was/became color/bodily characteristic

Form X

اِسْتَفْعَلَ

'istaf"al(a)

tr./intr.

Causative

(He) made do

Reflexive Causative

(he) made himself do

Arrangement/Request

(he) had/asked to do

(He) sought to be done by

Details about these meanings are available here. It should be noted that all of these structures are considered active verbs, although the reflexive structures can overlap in meaning with the passive (especially form VII which can be used as a real passive). Each one of these structures has a passive voice version which we will go through later.

It can often be not easy in real life to identify the meaning of a certain verb with the general meaning of its structure.

Exercise 1

Can you fill in the missing English pronouns inside the brackets?

(?) hurried (up)	أَسْرَعْتُمْ
(?) waited	اِنْتَظَرُوْا
(?) came close(er)	اِقْتَرَبْتُنَّ
(?) received	اِسْتَلَمْنَاْ
(?) tried	جَرَّبْنَ
(?) blued (became blue)	اِزْرَقَّتْ
(?) tried	حَاْوَلا
(?) became surprised	تَفَاْجَأْتِ
(?) won	اِنْتَصَرُوْا
(?) learned	تَعَلَّمْتُمَاْ
(?) roughened	اِخْشَوْشَنْتَ

Answers

(You plu. masc.) hurried (up)	أَسْرَعْتُمْ
(They plu. masc.) waited	اِنْتَظَرُوْا
(You plu. fem.) came close(er)	اِقْتَرَبْتُنَّ
(We) received	اِسْتَلَمْنَاْ
(They plu. fem.) tried	جَرَّبْنَ
(She) blued (became blue)	اِزْرَقَّتْ
(They dual masc.) tried	حَاْوَلا
(You sing. fem.) became surprised	تَفَاْجَأْتِ
(They plu. masc.) won	اِنْتَصَرُوْا
(You dual) learned	تَعَلَّمْتُمَاْ
(You sing. masc.) roughened	اِخْشَوْشَنْتَ

Exercise 2

Can you tell the forms of the verbs in the previous exercise?

Answers

Form IV	أَسْرَعْتُمْ
Form VIII	اِنْتَظَرُوْا
Form VIII	اِقْتَرَبْتُنَّ
Form II	جَرَّبْنَ
Form IX	اِزْرَقَّتْ
Form III	حَاْوَلا
Form VI	تَفَاْجَأْتِ
Form VIII	اِسْتَلَمْنَاْ
Form VIII	اِنْتَصَرُوْا
Form V	تَعَلَّمْتُمَاْ
Form XII	اِخْشَوْشَنْتَ

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