QURANIC GRAMMAR AS-SARF

“Morphology of the words”Lesson 17

Lessons from the bookMABADE” ALA’RABIYAH –basics of Arabic Grammar

RASHEED SHARTOONI Compiled by: Sheikh Safdar Razi Ali

Past , present/future, Imparative• The past tense is a form of the verb that

indicates a state or an action that happened in the past.For example: ان�� �د�م� , ک ن (he repented, he was)

• The present/ future tense is a form of the verb thatindicates a state or an action that is happening in thepresent or will happen in the future. For example:

• �ند�م ون ,(repenting) ي �ک �م , (he is) ي �ل �ک �ت .(he speaks to) ي• The imperative is a form of the verb that indicates a demand

of a state or an action in the future. For example: اند�م ن ک(repent, be)

Present tense (MO’RUB)If prefix letter of present tense letter is added to a past

tense triliteral verb:A. the first root letter is given a sakūn, for

example: ضر�ب� (he hits) يB. there is no rule for the second root letter, for example: �م �عل (he knows) ي �نصر (he hits يضر�ب (he helps) ي

The prefix of present tense(we are coming ) - - ي- ت أ ن

• The present tense is formed by adding one of its letters at the beginning of the past stem.

• These are four letters: alif, nūn, tā’ and yā’. - - ي- ت أ (we come) ن• These four letter indicate the pronoun reflecting the person who is doing

the action• He is drinking يشرب• You/she تشرب • I am أشرب• We are نشرب• �م �ل �ک �م (I am speaking to) أت �ل �ک �ت �م (we are speaking to) ن �ل �ک �ت he is speaking) ي

to) م� �ل �ک �ت .(you are/ she is speaking to)ت• This letter - - ي- ت أ is given a dummah if the verb had four letters ن

ج� د�حر�خ becomesد�حر� ي• ل� لز� ل becomes ز� لز� ز� or (its shaking) ي م� کر�م becomes أکر� .(he is honoring) ي• and it takes a fathah if it has anything other than four letters. Example:

�ص�ر� �نص�ر becomes ن (YANSORO) ي

The states of present tense• The only verb that is declinable (the end grammatical sign is

not fixed) is the present tense. For example: أ �قر� ب,ي �کت ي (he is writing, he is reading)

• There are three grammatical states for present tense, state of DHAMMA (MARFOO), , state of FATHA (MANSOOB) , and the state of SUKOON (MAJZOOM).

• The present tense is MO’RAB or changeable in regular cases it is MARFOO or ends with a DHAMMA in normal cases.And if it is preceded by a NASIB (أن)then it becomes MANSOOB (state of FATHA) with a FATHA in normal cases.And if it is preceded by a JAZIM (لم) then it becomes MAJZOOM with a SUKOON in normal cases.

1. The principle of the nominative (MARFOO) in normal case is to have a dummah.

• The nūn takes the place of the dummah in the present tense verbs, which is connected to:

A. the dual alif: فع�الن�� ت �فع�الن� يB. the plural wāw: ون�فع�ل� ت �فع�لون� يC. the 2nd person feminine pronoun (yā’): فع�لين�� ت

2. The principle of the subjunctive (MANSOOB) case is the verb having a fathah.

• The subtraction of the nūn takes the place of the fathah in the present tense verbs. For example: فع�ال� ي أن

3. The sign of the jussive (MAJZOOM) case in a verb is the sakūn. And the subtraction of the nūn takes the place of the sakūn in cases as : فع�ال� ي ل�م

And The subtraction of the weak letter in the end of the verb takes the place of a sakūn For example: � �رم ي �م (he did not throw) ل

More on the present tense• Present tense verb is specifically used for the future when a sīn or سوف

is added to the beginning of it, for example: ب (I will write ) سأکت• It indicates the past when it comes after cause of SUKOON state as LUM �م�ا or ل�م البيت� :LAMMA for example , ل في لم تکن و ک� رت ز (I visited you and you were not at home)

• If an present tense letter is added to a past tense with more than three letters:

A. The letter before the last is always given a kasrah, for example: د�ح جر�ي (he rolls)

B. The letters before the last letter are given a fathah if the beginning of the preterite tense verb was tā’, for example: ج� �د�حر� �د�ح becomes ت �ت جر�ي (he rolls down).

• The last letter of an present tense verb is declinable, which means it changes in to three grammatical states. For example: ضر�ب� and (he hits) ي

�ضر�ب� ل�ن ي (he will never hit) and نط�ل�ق� ي �م .(he has not been set free) لThere are few cases where the last letter of present is MABNI and fixed.

Types of MABNI (indeclinable) verbs

• We mentioned in regular cases the MABNI past tense ends with FATHA, in the absence of a suffix.

• But there are certain letters or suffix when attached to the past tense the FATHA may change because of the suffix and not because of the grammatical position, in present tense the end sign changes because of the grammatical position (MAORAB), and here because of the attachment of certain suffixes.

The types of MABNI in the Past

The past and imperative (command) tenses are static (MABNI).

• The past tense verbs are static on:A. Fatha (regular) ; for example: ر�ب� (he drank ) ش�B. Dhumma, if it is connected to a wāw; for example: وا ر�ب (they drank) ش�

C. Sakūn, if it is connected to a nūn, nā or tā’; for example: ر�بنا ش� ر�بن� ر�بت ش� ش� we drank, she drank, I drank)

THE PAST TENSE • The end letter of a past tense verb is indeclinable (MABNI

or fixed) with:A. A fathah, for example ب� (he hit) ض�ر�B. A Dummah, if it is connected to the wāw plural pronoun,

for example وا ب (they hit) ض�ر�C. A sukūn, if a nominative (SUBJECT) pronoun with a vowel

sign is connected to the verb, for example بت (I hit) ض�ر�