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Arabic Weak Verbs
Arabic Weak Verbs
arabic.desert-sky.net/g_conj.html
This page contains information about the different kinds of verbs in Arabic and conjugation
tables for each kind in both standard and Egyptian Arabic.
Note: There are no infinitive forms of verbs in Arabic. Instead, typically the masculine third-
person perfect form is used (ex. درس, to study, actually means "he studied").
There are two main classes of verbs in Arabic: sound ( ﺻﺤﯿﺢSaHiiH) and weak ( ﻣﻌﺘﻞmu3tall).
Here's an outline of the types of verbs:
( اﻟﻔﻌﻞ اﻟﺼﺤﯿﺢal-fi3l aS-SaHiiH) Sound verbs - don't have a وor يas one of the three root
letters
( اﻟﻔﻌﻞ اﻟﺼﺤﯿﺢ اﻟﺴﺎﻟﻢal-fi3l aS-SaHiiH as-saalim) Regular sound verbs
Irregular sound verbs:
( اﻟﻔﻌﻞ اﻟﻤﻀﻌﻒal-fi3l al-muDa33af) Geminate/doubled verbs - where the
second and third radicals of the root are the same
دّقdaqqa - ﺪّقyadiqqu (to knock)
رّدradda - ﺮّدyaruddu (to reply)
( اﻟﻔﻌﻞ اﻟﻤﻬﻤﻮزal-fi3l al-mahmuuz) Hamzated verbs - where ءis one of the
consonants
أﻛﻞakala - ﯾﺄﻛﻞya'kulu (to eat)
ﺳﺄلsa'ala - ﯾﺴﺄلyas'alu (to ask)
ﺑﺪأbada'a - ﯾﺒﺪأyabda'u (to begin)
( اﻟﻔﻌﻞ اﻟﻤﻌﺘﻞal-fi3l al-mu3tall) Weak verbs - have a وor يas one or more of the root
radicals
( اﻟﻔﻌﻞ اﻟﻤﺜﺎلal-fi3l al-mitaal) Assimilated verbs - begin with وor ( يusually ;)وin the
imperfect and in other situations the وoften disappears
وﺿﻊwaDa3a - ﯾﻀﻊyaDa3u (to put)
وﺻﻞwaSala - ﯾﺼﻞyaSilu (to arrive)
( اﻟﻔﻌﻞ اﻷﺟﻮفal-fi3l al-ajwaf) Hollow verbs - the second radical is either a وor ;يin
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the perfect, the وor يis replaced by an alif
ﺑﺎعbaa3a - ﯾﺒﯿﻊyabii3u (to sell)
ﻋﺎد3aada - ﯾﻌﻮدya3uudu (to return)
( اﻟﻔﻌﻞ اﻟﻨﺎﻗﺺal-fi3l al-naaqiS) Defective verbs - where the final root radical is either و
or يa
ﻧﺴﻰnasiya - ﯾﻨﺴﻰyansa (to forget)
ﺑﺪاbada - ﯾﺒﺪوyabdu (to appear, seem)
Sound verbs
( اﻟﻔﻌﻞ اﻟﺼﺤﯿﺢal-fi3l aS-SaHiiH)
Sound verbs don't have a وor يas one of the three root letters.
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they (fem.) wrote (katabna) ﻛﺒﺘﻦ
Sound verbs
( اﻟﻔﻌﻞ اﻟﺼﺤﯿﺢal-fi3l aS-SaHiiH)
There are two types of irregular sound verbs. The first is:
Geminate/doubled verbs
( اﻟﻔﻌﻞ اﻟﻤﻀﻌﻒal-fi3l al-muDa33af)
Verbs where the second and third radicals of the root are the same.
Note that in fuSHa, the doubled consonant is separated into two consonants for all the
conjugations except the highlighted ones. In 3ammiyya, though, the doubled consonant stays
doubled.
Geminate verbs - imperfect mood
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you (masc.) reply (tarudduuna) ﺗﺮّدون (tirodduu) ﺗﺮّدوا
In fuSHa, the doubled consonant remains doubled for the imperfect conjugations, with the
exception of the second- and third-person feminine plural conjugations. In 3ammiyya, the
doubled consonant again remains doubled for everything.
Sound verbs
( اﻟﻔﻌﻞ اﻟﺼﺤﯿﺢal-fi3l aS-SaHiiH)
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they (masc.) ate (akaluu) أﻛﻠﻮا (akaluu) اﻛﻠﻮا
Note that in 3ammiyya, people usually say ( ﻛﻞkal) rather than ( اﻛﻞakal). However, for the sake
of direct comparison with fuSHa, I went with the latter variation for this table.
Hamzated verbs - imperfect mood
Note that while in fuSHa the hamza is kept in the imperfect conjugations, in 3ammiyya it is
elided into a long alif.
Hamzated verbs 2 - perfect mood
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she asked (sa'alat) ﺳﺄﻟﺖ (sa'alit) ﺳﺄﻟﺖ
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English Standard Arabic Egyptian Arabic
Again, note that while the hamza is kept in the fuSHa conjugations, it is elided in 3ammiyya.
Hamzated verbs 3 - imperfect mood
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you (fem.) read (taqra'na ) ﺗﻘﺮأن
Weak verbs
( اﻟﻔﻌﻞ اﻟﻤﻌﺘّﻞal-fi3l al-mu3tall)
A verb is "weak" if one of the letters from the verb's three root letters is و,ا, or ي. There are
three different classes of weak verbs; let's begin with:
Assimilated verbs
( اﻟﻔﻌﻞ اﻟﻤﺜﺎلal-fi3l al-mitaal)
Verbs where the first radical is a long vowel (usually )و.
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Note that weak verbs beginning with a وare just like regular verbs regarding perfect
conjugations.
Assimilated verbs - imperfect mood
Note that in the imperfect mood, an assimilated verb drops its first letter in fuSHa. In
3ammiyya, however, the initial letter remains.
Weak verbs
( اﻟﻔﻌﻞ اﻟﻤﻌﺘّﻞal-fi3l al-mu3tall)
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Hollow verbs - perfect mood
Note that the long vowel is dropped in all conjugations but those for the third-person singular,
dual, and plural masculine. When the long vowel is dropped, it is replaced by a short version of
the long consonant used in the imperfect conjugation. For example, the imperfect conjugation
of زارzaara is ﯾﺰورyazuuru, so a short "u" is used. Other examples: the imperfect conjugation
of ﻛﺎنkaana is ﯾﻜﻮنyakuunu, so a short "u" is used for the perfect conjugations where the long
vowel is dropped. But the imperfect conjugation of ﺳﺎرsaara is ﯾﺴﯿﺮyasiiru, so a short "i" would
be used in those instances.
Hollow verbs - imperfect mood
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Dual we visit (nazuuru) ﻧﺰور
Note that here the long vowel is dropped only for the feminine second and third-person plurals.
Weak verbs
( اﻟﻔﻌﻞ اﻟﻤﻌﺘّﻞal-fi3l al-mu3tall)
Verbs with a وas the last root letter (ex. ﯾﺒﺪو- ﺑﺪاbada - yabdu, "to seem, appear")
Verbs with a يas the last root letter and a kasra (short "i") as the middle vowel in the
past/perfect tense, of the form "fa3iya - yaf3a" (ex. ﯾﻨﺴﻰ- ﻧﺴﻰnasiya - yansa, "to forget")
Verbs with a يas the last root letter and a fatHa (short "a") as the middle vowel in the
past/perfect tense, of the form "fa3a - yaf3i" (ex. ﯾﺠﺮي- ﺟﺮىjara - yajri, "to run")
Note that in Cairene Arabic, verbs of the type "fa3al" are often pronounced differently
from standard Arabic in the past tense. While standard pronunciation would be "fa3al,"
Cairene pronunciation would be "fi3il." So "jara" becomes "giri."
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you (masc.) implored (rajawta) رﺟﻮَت (rageit) رﺟﯿﺖ
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Note that the verb ﯾﺮﺟﻮ- رﺟﺎis not used in colloquial Egyptian Arabic, except for ( أرﺟﻮكarguuk),
"Please; I beg you." However, I went ahead and used this verb for comparison's sake, since
defective verbs with a وas their third letter in standard Arabic tend to change to a يin dialect.
For instance:
"to complain," ﯾﺸﻜﻮ- ( ﺷﻜﺎšaka - yašku) in standard Arabic, becomes ﯾﺸﻜﻲ- ( ﺷﻜﻰšaka -
yiški) in dialect.
"to invade," ﯾﻐﺰو- ( ﻏﺰاġaza - yaġzu) in standard Arabic, becomes ﯾﻐﺰي- ( ﻏﺰىġaza - yiġzi)
in dialect.
"to invite/pray," ﯾﺪﻋﻮ- ( دﻋﺎda3a - yad3u) in standard Arabic, becomes ﯾﺪﻋﻲ- ( دﻋﻰda3a -
yid3i) in dialect.
"to survive, escape safely," ﯾﻨﺠﻮ- ( ﻧﺠﺎnaja - yanju) in standard Arabic, becomes ﯾﻨﺠﻲ- ﻧﺠﻲ
(nigi - yingi) in dialect.
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English Standard Arabic Egyptian Arabic
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they (fem.) ran (jarayna ) ﺟﺮﯾﻦ
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