Lesson Three: The Past Tense Verb

[ ]

The past tense verb ( ) describes actions or events that have

already occurred.

PRINCIPLE ONE
The pattern (he did) is used as a model for the past tense verb. In this
pattern each of the base letters is voweled with a fathah.7

PRINCIPLE TWO
Verbs in the English language are conjugated to reflect the subject8 of
the verb. For example, “he did” and “we did.” Here, the pronouns “he”
and “we” indicate the subject. Arabic verbs are conjugated in a similar
manner. In particular, the Arabic verb is conjugated to reflect three
aspects of its subject:

1) person9 (first, second, third)

2) gender10 (masculine, feminine)
3) plurality11 (singular, dual, plural)

7 The pattern is one of several patterns used for the past tense verb. Others are presented in
Lesson Sixteen.
8 The subject denotes the doer of the action described by a verb.
9 The first person is used to refer to the speaker. For example, “I did” or “we did.” The second
person is used to refer to the individual spoken to. For example, “you did.” The third person is
used to refer to the individual spoken of. For example, “he did” or “they did.”
10 The masculine is used to refer to male beings or masculine objects. For example, “he did” or “it
did.” The feminine is used to refer to female beings or feminine objects. For example, “she did” or
“it did.”
11 The singular is used to refer to an individual. For example, “he did.” The dual is used to refer
to two individuals. For example, “both of them did.” The plural is used to refer to a group. For
example, “they did.”
18 FUNDAMENTALS OF CLASSICAL ARABIC

PRINCIPLE THREE
While English verbs are conjugated by placing a noun or pronoun
before the verb, Arabic verbs are conjugated by adding designated letters
to the end of the verb. Carefully study the past tense verb conjugations
(table 3.1), noting the changes in person, gender, and plurality.

PRINCIPLE FOUR
English verbs may express either the active or the passive voice. The
active voice is used when the subject of the sentence performs the action
expressed by the verb. For example, “Zaid wrote a book.” Here, the
verb “wrote” is in the active voice because Zaid is indicated as the
writer. The passive voice, on the other hand, is used when the subject of
the verb is not indicated. For example, “A book was written.” Here, the
verb “was written” is in the passive voice because, although a book was
written, the writer is not indicated.

Arabic verbs also express either the active or the passive voice. Earlier,
principle one illustrated as a model for the active voice of the past tense
verb. The pattern for the passive voice of the past tense verb is formed from
the active voice by (1) changing the voweling of the first letter to a
dammah and (2) changing the voweling of the second to last letter to a
kasrah. Thus (he did) becomes (it was done).

PRINCIPLE FIVE
Principle two established that verbs in the active voice are conjugated to
reflect the subject of the verb. When conjugating verbs in the passive
voice, each conjugation reflects the person, gender, and plurality of the
object, 12 and not the subject, of the verb. For example, consider the
statement (he was hit). Here, the object of the verb is stated (i.e.,
he), but the subject is not indicated. Therefore, the verb is conjugated to

12 The object denotes the noun that receives the action of a verb.
 The Past Tense Verb 19

reflect the object of the verb. As illustrated in table 3.2, active and passive
voice conjugations use the same endings.

PRINCIPLE SIX
Placing the word “ ” before both the active and passive voice negates
the past tense verb (table 3.2). For example, (he did) becomes (he
did not do), and (it was done) becomes (it was not done).

ESSENTIAL NOTE
The conjugations of the past tense verb must be memorized (table 3.2)
before moving to the next lesson.
20 FUNDAMENTALS OF CLASSICAL ARABIC

TABLE 3.1
CONJUGATING THE PAST TENSE VERB

ACTIVE
PERSON GENDER PLURALITY BASE SUFFIX
VOICE

3rd Masculine Singular ö

He/It (S/M) did

3rd Masculine Dual + ö

They (D/M) did

3rd Masculine Plural + ö

13

They (P/M) did

3rd Feminine Singular + ö

She/It (S/F) did

3rd Feminine Dual + ö َ

They (D/F) did

3rd Feminine Plural + ö

They (P/F) did

2nd Masculine Singular + ö

You (S/M) did

2nd Masculine Dual + ö

You (D/M) did

2nd Masculine Plural + ö

You (P/M) did

2nd Feminine Singular + ö

You (S/F) did

2nd Feminine Dual + ö

You (D/F) did

2nd Feminine Plural + ö

You (P/F) did

1st
Masculine and
Feminine
Singular + ö
I did

1st
Masculine and
Feminine
Plural + ö
We did

M=Masculine F=Feminine S=Singular D=Dual P=Plural

13 The ‘alif ( ) at the end of this conjugation is not pronounced.

 The Past Tense Verb 21

TABLE 3.2
THE PAST TENSE VERB

PASSIVE VOICE ACTIVE VOICE

PASSIVE VOICE ACTIVE VOICE
NEGATION NEGATION

He/It (S/M) was not done He/It (S/M) did not do He/It (S/M) was done He/It (S/M) did

They (D/M) were not done They (D/M) did not do They (D/M) were done They (D/M) did

They (P/M) were not done They (P/M) did not do They (P/M) were done14 They (P/M) did

She/It (S/F) was not done She/It (S/F) did not do She/It (S/F) was done She/It (S/F) did

They (D/F) were not done They (D/F) did not do They (D/F) were done They (D/F) did

They (P/F) were not done They (P/F) did not do They (P/F) were done They (P/F) did

You (S/M) were not done You (S/M) did not do You (S/M) were done You (S/M) did

You (D/M) were not done You (D/M) did not do You (D/M) were done You (D/M) did

You (P/M) were not done You (P/M) did not do You (P/M) were done You (P/M) did

You (S/F) were not done You (S/F) did not do You (S/F) were done You (S/F) did

You (D/F) were not done You (D/F) did not do You (D/F) were done You (D/F) did

You (P/F) were not done You (P/F) did not do You (P/F) were done You (P/F) did

I was not done I did not do I was done I did

We were not done We did not do We were done We did

M=Masculine F=Feminine S=Singular D=Dual P=Plural

14 “They were done,” implies several acts were performed. Recall that the passive verb is
conjugated to reflect its object.