Arabic verbs

Common card · No. 375062

Arabic verbs (فِعْل fiʿl; pl. أَفْعَال afʿāl), like the verbs in other Semitic languages, and the entire vocabulary in those languages, are based on a set of two to five (but usually three) consonants called a root (triliteral or quadriliteral according to the number of consonants). The root communicates the basic meaning of the verb, e.g. ك-ت-ب k-t-b 'write', ق-ر-ء q-r-ʾ 'read', ء-ك-ل ʾ-k-l 'eat'. Changes to the vowels in between the consonants, along with prefixes or suffixes, specify grammatical functions such as person, gender, number, tense, mood, and voice. Various categories are marked on verbs: Three tenses (present, past; future tense is indicated by the prefix sa- or the particle sawfa and the present tense). Two voices (active, passive) Two genders (masculine, feminine) Three persons (first, second, third) Three numbers (singular, dual, plural) Six moods in the non-past only (indicative, subjunctive, jussive, imperative, and short and long energetics) Nineteen forms, the derivational...

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