Arabic Verb Forms

The Arabic verb forms are by far my favorite part of the language by a wide stretch.

Each form has its own separate meaning which modifies the root letters inside of it.

If you understand them they grant you this sort of logical ability to modify familiar verbs, change their meaning and even gain a rough understanding of words you have never even heard before.

You can then use these verbs to derive related nouns and adjectives and extend your vocabulary into this kind of interconnected web of relations.

If you get really good then it is even possible to create humorous corruptions of the language which logically make sense but don’t actually exist as words.

In this article I’ll go through the first ten forms (it is rare to encounter the forms above ten), and explain how they affect the meaning of the words they are applied to.

Form I

فَعلَ - يَفعل - الفَعل

This one is straightforward.

A verb for doing stuff.

The second root letter can have any haraka on it in the past and present tense, hence why it is left unvowelled in the example.

Form II

فَعَّلَ - يُفَعِّل - التفعيل

The second form brings in more emphasis on verb, specifically on the middle consonant.

It typically has a meaning that involves making someone or something do something.

For example:

He studies - Form I

يَدْرُس

He Teaches (makes someone learn) - Form II

يُدَرِّس

Form III

فَاعَلَ - يُفَاعِل - المُفَاعَلَة

I don’t know how to explain this one, but it’s very commonly used.

Form IV

أَفْعَلَ - يُفْعِل - الإِفعَال

I always imagine this verb to mean that an action is carried out by the gloved hands of a machine in one of those old Mickey Mouse cartoons. You know like the ones where they have a kind of Rube Goldberg machine that contains a set of robotic hands covered by gloves which always do something (***) to one of the characters.

For example

To Enter/Go inside - Form I

دَخَلَ - يَدْخُل - الدُخُول

To put inside/insert (by big gloved Mickey Mouse hands) - Form IV

أَدْخَلَ - يُدْخِل - الأِدخَال

Form V

تَفَعَّل - يَتَفَعَّل - التَفَعُّل

The fifth form always has a more intransitive or reflexive meaning and is always preceeds its root with the letter ت

i.e. it involves the speaker doing this thing to themselves

For example

To teach (Make someone else learn) - Form II

يُعَلِّم

He study/learn (To make oneself learn) - Form V

يَتَعَلَّم

Form VI

تَفَاعَل - يَتَفَاعَل - التَفَاعُل

This form tends to imply that two people or things are doing a form III verb together or against each other.

For example

We compete (in something e.g. a competition) - Form III

نَافَسنا - نُنَافِس - المُنَافَسَة

We compete (against each other) - Form VI

تَنَافَسنَا - نَتَنَافَس - التَنَافُس

Form VII

اِنْفَعَلَ - يَنْفَعَل - الاِنْفِعَال

Form VII can be very useful, especially in colloquial Arabic.

It always refers to an action that is done reflexively or intransitively, without any outside interference.

I’ll demonstrate this one in a sentence to make it even more clear.

He broke the glass - Form I

هو كَسَرَالزُجَاج

The glass broke (and he definitely didn’t touch it) - Form VII

اِنْكَسَرَ الزُجَاج

In english notice we’re using the same word (broke) to describe these two different scenarios.

Form IX

اِفعَلَّ - يَفعَلّ - الاِفعِلال

This one is really really really uncommon, so much so that I actually had to look up how to conjugate it.

It is only used to describe actions that relate to different colours. i.e. someone or something turning a particular colour.

For example

اِخضَرَّ العُشب

Form X

اِسْتَفعَلَ - يَسْتَفعِل - الاِستِفعَال

So apparently this form has a “transitive synthetic” meaning.

My understanding of this form is that it is to seek to do another type of verb.

For example

To hear - Form I

يَسمَع

To listen (to seek to hear) - Form I

يَستَمِع

Also for example

To forgive - Form I

يَغْفِر

To seek forgiveness - Form I

يَسْتَغفِر

Form > X

I believe there are verb forms that exceed ten, but I don’t believe they are ever used, certainly not in colloquial Arabic.

I don’t know any of them.

They are unlikely to be of much use unless you intend on delving very deep into classical Arabic literature.