The past tense verb describes actions or events that have already occurred. This lesson covers the fundamental principles of forming and conjugating these verbs.
The pattern فَعَلَ (he did) is used as a model for the past tense verb. In this pattern, each of the base letters is voweled with a fathah.7
Like in English, Arabic verbs are conjugated to reflect the subject8 of the verb. The conjugation reflects three specific aspects of the subject:
While English places a pronoun before the verb, Arabic verbs are conjugated by adding designated suffixes to the end of the verb. We will study these in the next slide.
Carefully study the past tense verb conjugations below, noting the changes in person, gender, and plurality.
| Person | Gender | Plurality | Base + Suffix | Active Voice Verb | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3rd | Masculine | Singular | فعل | فَعَلَ | He/It did |
| Dual | فعل + ا | فَعَلَا | They (2) did | ||
| Plural | فعل + وا | فَعَلُوا13 | They (3+) did | ||
| Feminine | Singular | فعل + ت | فَعَلَتْ | She/It did | |
| Dual | فعل + تا | فَعَلَتَا | They (2) did | ||
| Plural | فعل + نَ | فَعَلْنَ | They (3+) did | ||
| 2nd | Masculine | Singular | فعل + تَ | فَعَلْتَ | You did |
| Dual | فعل + تُما | فَعَلْتُمَا | You (2) did | ||
| Plural | فعل + تُمْ | فَعَلْتُمْ | You (3+) did | ||
| Feminine | Singular | فعل + تِ | فَعَلْتِ | You did | |
| Dual | فعل + تُما | فَعَلْتُمَا | You (2) did | ||
| Plural | فعل + تُنَّ | فَعَلْتُنَّ | You (3+) did | ||
| 1st | Masc. & Fem. | Singular | فعل + تُ | فَعَلْتُ | I did |
| Plural | فعل + نا | فَعَلْنَا | We did |
Verbs can be in the active voice (the subject performs the action, e.g., "Zaid wrote a book") or the passive voice (the subject is not indicated, e.g., "A book was written").
To form the passive voice of a past tense verb, change the voweling of the active form:
This is done by (1) changing the first letter's vowel to a dammah and (2) changing the second-to-last letter's vowel to a kasrah.
When conjugating a passive verb, the suffix reflects the person, gender, and plurality of the object12 of the verb, not the subject. The same endings from Table 3.1 are used.
To negate the past tense (both active and passive), place the word مَا before the verb.
(he did → he did not do)
(it was done → it was not done)
The following table combines everything we have learned: the active and passive voices, along with their negations. Memorizing these forms is essential before proceeding.
| Pronoun (M/F, S/D/P) | Active Voice | Passive Voice | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positive | Negative | Positive | Negative | |
| He (M,S) | فَعَلَ | مَا فَعَلَ | فُعِلَ | مَا فُعِلَ |
| They (M,D) | فَعَلَا | مَا فَعَلَا | فُعِلَا | مَا فُعِلَا |
| They (M,P) | فَعَلُوا | مَا فَعَلُوا | فُعِلُوا14 | مَا فُعِلُوا |
| She (F,S) | فَعَلَتْ | مَا فَعَلَتْ | فُعِلَتْ | مَا فُعِلَتْ |
| They (F,D) | فَعَلَتَا | مَا فَعَلَتَا | فُعِلَتَا | مَا فُعِلَتَا |
| They (F,P) | فَعَلْنَ | مَا فَعَلْنَ | فُعِلْنَ | مَا فُعِلْنَ |
| You (M,S) | فَعَلْتَ | مَا فَعَلْتَ | فُعِلْتَ | مَا فُعِلْتَ |
| You (M,D) | فَعَلْتُمَا | مَا فَعَلْتُمَا | فُعِلْتُمَا | مَا فُعِلْتُمَا |
| You (M,P) | فَعَلْتُمْ | مَا فَعَلْتُمْ | فُعِلْتُمْ | مَا فُعِلْتُمْ |
| You (F,S) | فَعَلْتِ | مَا فَعَلْتِ | فُعِلْتِ | مَا فُعِلْتِ |
| You (F,D) | فَعَلْتُمَا | مَا فَعَلْتُمَا | فُعِلْتُمَا | مَا فُعِلْتُمَا |
| You (F,P) | فَعَلْتُنَّ | مَا فَعَلْتُنَّ | فُعِلْتُنَّ | مَا فُعِلْتُنَّ |
| I (M/F,S) | فَعَلْتُ | مَا فَعَلْتُ | فُعِلْتُ | مَا فُعِلْتُ |
| We (M/F,P) | فَعَلْنَا | مَا فَعَلْنَا | فُعِلْنَا | مَا فُعِلْنَا |
Using the principles from this lesson, how would you say "We wrote"?