In the last grammar post, we talked about conjugating regular verbs in the present and future tense. But, as with every language, not every word is 'regular'. I always used sigh in despair when I heard this 'irregular' word in my studies of other languages in high school, but you need not! Luckily, Arabic is pretty simple regarding all verbs, even the irregular ones and what makes an irregular verb is very easy to remember.
Most irregular verbs occur when one of the root letters of the word is a waw (و) or a yeh (ي) or a hamza (ء). This is because these sounds can mutate into long vowels which makes the pattern of the word change (i.e. a و can sound like -ou- depending on where it is in the word, a ي can sound like -ee- etc.).
There are 3 main types of irregular verbs:
1. Defective verbs - the present stem of the word starts with a long vowel.
i.e. yaakol ياكل - to eat (aakol - present stem)
yaa5od ياخد- to take (aa5od - present stem)
The only thing this irregularity changes is that when you are conjugating the verb (adding the extra letters to make the verb refer to he, she, I, it) then you only add the first letter of the prefix, leaving out the vowel (t-, n- etc.).
So naakol ناخل- we eat. Simple as that!
2. Hollow verbs - there is a long vowel in the middle of the present stem.
yerou7 يروح- to go (present stem - rou7)
yezeed يزيد - to increase (present stem - zeed)
yenaam ينام - to sleep (present stem - naam)
The only difference this type of irregularity makes is that you stress the last syllable of the word after conjugating. Example yerou7. Compare this with, for example, the verb, yenzel ينزل (to alight, to go down).
3. Weak verbs - there is a long vowel at the end of the present stem (see the pattern here?)
yeS7a يصحا - to wake up (present stem - S7a)
yeb2a يبقا- to remain (present stem - b2a)
In a weak verb, we remove the final vowel before adding a prefix. For example:
yes7o يصحو- they wake up
tes7y تصحي - you wake up (to a female)
.. and that's it!
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Showing posts with label future tense. Show all posts
Showing posts with label future tense. Show all posts
Thursday, December 16
Tuesday, December 14
Regular Verbs in the Present and Future
In this post, we'll focus on the basics of the present and future tesess of Arabic verbs. It's really quite simple!
To refer to the verb in general, we use the masculine howwa form because it's the simplest. Let's look at two verbs:
yel3ab يلعب - to play
yu5rug يخرج - to go out
We add some letters at the start, and some letters at the end of this stem (prefixes and suffixes) to change the meaning.
To refer to the verb in general, we use the masculine howwa form because it's the simplest. Let's look at two verbs:
yel3ab يلعب - to play
yu5rug يخرج - to go out
We add some letters at the start, and some letters at the end of this stem (prefixes and suffixes) to change the meaning.
prefix/suffix | yel3ab (stem - l3ab) | |
ana (I) e7na (we) | a- ne- | al3ab nel3ab |
enta (you, m) | te- | tel3ab |
enty (you, f) | te-/-y | tel3aby |
ento (you, pl) | te-/-o | tel3abo |
howwa (he) | ye- | yel3ab |
heyya (she) | te- | tel3ab |
homma (they) ana (I) e7na (we) enta (you, m) enty (you, f) ento (you, pl) howwa (he) heyya (she) homma (they) | ye-/-o prefix/suffix a- nu- tu- tu-/-y tu-/-o yu- tu- yu-/-o | yel3abo yu5rug (stem - 5rug) a5rug nu5rug tu5rug tu5rugy tu5rugo yu5rug tu5rug yu5rugo |
Verbs fit into either of the above patterns, the only difference is the vowel used in the prefix (e, or u). The most common is the prefix vowelled with -e-, the first pattern used with yel3ab.
The final step is to decide whether you want the verb to be present or future. For the present, add a be- onto the forms above. For the future, add 7a- to the correct form (shortened to b- and 7- before a vowel).
benel3ab بنلعب - We play
7anel3ab حنلعب - We will play
bu5rug بخرج - I go out
7a5rug حخرج - I will go out
You don't need to use pronouns (ana, enta etc.) because the verb will make it clear what or who you are talking about.
bu5rug men el-beet es-saa3a setta we rob3
بخرج من البيت الساعه سته و ربع
I leave the house at 6:15
el-5amees we el-7ad benesaafer aswaan
الخميس و الحد بنسافر اسوان
On Thursday and Sunday we travel to Aswaan
eg-gom3a 7ayerooh en-naady ma3a as7aabo
الجمع حيروح النادي مع الصابو
On Friday he goes to the club with his friends
You'll have noticed that the enta and heyya forms are identical. So for clarification, sometimes we do use the pronoun in this case.
bokra heyya 7atel3ab basketball
بكره هي حتلعب بسكتبول
Tomorrow she'll play basketball
And the pronoun is sometimes used for emphasis, like in a comparison or contrast.
howwa beyel3ab basketball bass ana bal3ab tennis
هو بيلعب بسكتبول بس اتا بلعب تنس
He plays basketball but I play tennis.
The final step is to decide whether you want the verb to be present or future. For the present, add a be- onto the forms above. For the future, add 7a- to the correct form (shortened to b- and 7- before a vowel).
benel3ab بنلعب - We play
7anel3ab حنلعب - We will play
bu5rug بخرج - I go out
7a5rug حخرج - I will go out
You don't need to use pronouns (ana, enta etc.) because the verb will make it clear what or who you are talking about.
bu5rug men el-beet es-saa3a setta we rob3
بخرج من البيت الساعه سته و ربع
I leave the house at 6:15
el-5amees we el-7ad benesaafer aswaan
الخميس و الحد بنسافر اسوان
On Thursday and Sunday we travel to Aswaan
eg-gom3a 7ayerooh en-naady ma3a as7aabo
الجمع حيروح النادي مع الصابو
On Friday he goes to the club with his friends
You'll have noticed that the enta and heyya forms are identical. So for clarification, sometimes we do use the pronoun in this case.
bokra heyya 7atel3ab basketball
بكره هي حتلعب بسكتبول
Tomorrow she'll play basketball
And the pronoun is sometimes used for emphasis, like in a comparison or contrast.
howwa beyel3ab basketball bass ana bal3ab tennis
هو بيلعب بسكتبول بس اتا بلعب تنس
He plays basketball but I play tennis.