Two nouns made from every verb
From any verb Arabic builds a word for the one doing the action, اِسْم الْفَاعِل, and a word for the one the action is done to, اِسْم الْمَفْعُول. English usually needs two unrelated words (write, writer, written); Arabic reshapes the same root.
كَتَبَ he wrote → كَاتِب writing, a writer → مَكْتُوب written.
Form I: فَاعِل and مَفْعُول
| Verb | Active فَاعِل | Passive مَفْعُول |
|---|---|---|
| كَتَبَ to write | كَاتِب | مَكْتُوب |
| فَهِمَ to understand | فَاهِم | مَفْهُوم |
| عَرَفَ to know | عَارِف | مَعْرُوف |
| فَتَحَ to open | فَاتِح | مَفْتُوح |
| أَكَلَ to eat | آكِل | مَأْكُول |
| ذَهَبَ to go | ذَاهِب | — |
Intransitive verbs like ذَهَبَ have no passive participle, because there is nothing to be gone.
Derived forms: مُ plus the present stem
For forms II to X the recipe is mechanical. Take the present tense, drop the prefix, put مُ in its place. The active keeps a kasra before the last root letter; the passive has a fatha. One vowel is the whole difference.
| Form | Verb | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|---|
| II | دَرَّسَ | مُدَرِّس teacher | مُدَرَّس taught |
| III | شَارَكَ | مُشَارِك participant | مُشَارَك shared |
| IV | أَرْسَلَ | مُرْسِل sender | مُرْسَل sent |
| V | تَعَلَّمَ | مُتَعَلِّم learner | — |
| VIII | اِجْتَمَعَ | مُجْتَمِع meeting | — |
| X | اِسْتَخْدَمَ | مُسْتَخْدِم user | مُسْتَخْدَم used |
Many of these are simply everyday nouns: مُدَرِّس a teacher, مُهَنْدِس an engineer, مُوَظَّف an employee, مُمْكِن possible.
They behave like adjectives
A participle agrees with its noun in gender, number, definiteness and case, exactly as any adjective does.
- الرِّسَالَةُ مَكْتُوبَةٌ بِالْعَرَبِيَّةِ. — The letter is written in Arabic.
- الْبَابُ مَفْتُوحٌ وَالنَّوَافِذُ مَفْتُوحَةٌ. — The door is open and the windows are open.
- الطُّلَّابُ الْمُجْتَهِدُونَ نَجَحُوا. — The hard-working students passed.
أَنَا ذَاهِبٌ: the participle as a present
With verbs of motion and a few verbs of state, the active participle describes what is happening right now or about to happen. It is a noun, so it takes a case ending, not a verb ending.
- أَنَا ذَاهِبٌ إِلَى السُّوقِ. — I am going to the market (right now).
- هِيَ خَارِجَةٌ مِنَ الْبَيْتِ. — She is leaving the house.
- هَلْ أَنْتَ فَاهِمٌ؟ — Do you understand?
- نَحْنُ مُسَافِرُونَ غَدًا. — We are travelling tomorrow.
For a habit or a repeated action, use the ordinary present verb instead: أَذْهَبُ إِلَى الْعَمَلِ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ.
Watch out as an English speaker
- English "-ing" is not always a participle. A habit needs the present verb. ✗ أَنَا ذَاهِبٌ إِلَى الْعَمَلِ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ. / ✓ أَذْهَبُ إِلَى الْعَمَلِ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ.
- Active and passive differ by one vowel, not by a whole word. مُدَرِّس is the teacher, مُدَرَّس is the subject being taught; writing مُدَرَّس for "teacher" reverses your meaning.
- The participle agrees like an adjective. ✗ الطَّالِبَاتُ ذَاهِبٌ. / ✓ الطَّالِبَاتُ ذَاهِبَاتٌ.
- It is a noun, so it takes ـٌ and never a verb prefix. ✗ أَنَا أَذَاهِبٌ. / ✓ أَنَا ذَاهِبٌ.
Example dialogue
أَنَا ذَاهِبٌ إِلَى الْمَكْتَبَةِ، هَلْ أَنْتَ قَادِمٌ؟ — I am going to the library, are you coming?
لَا، أَنَا مَشْغُولٌ. الْوَاجِبُ غَيْرُ مَكْتُوبٍ بَعْدُ. — No, I am busy. The homework is not written yet.
مَنِ الْمُدَرِّسُ الْجَدِيدُ؟ — Who is the new teacher?
رَجُلٌ مَعْرُوفٌ، وَهُوَ مُسْتَخْدِمٌ لِطَرِيقَةٍ جَدِيدَةٍ. — A well-known man, and he uses a new method.
هَلْ أَنْتَ فَاهِمٌ دُرُوسَهُ؟ — Do you understand his lessons?