A rabic V erb Forms and T heir Patterns

Form V erb Pattern Pattern Summa ry

FaMaLa
I FaMiLa Memorize
FaMuLa

II FaMMaLa Double middle radical

III FaaMaLa Long vowel after the first radical

IV ’aFMaLa Prefix ’a- in perfect tense

V taFaMMaLa Prefix ta- and double middle radical

VI taFaaMaL Prefix ta- and long vowel after first

radical

VII ’inFaMaLa Prefix -n-

VIII ’iFtaMaLa Infix -t- after first radical

IX ’iFMaLL Doubled last radical

X ’istaFMaLa Prefix -st-

Most words in Arabic are often derived from a three letter root consonant. Here we
examine all the possible forms a verb can take in the Arabic language. The chart above
lists the 10 most common forms you will encounter. It is important to note that not all
verbs will have all the 10 forms listed above.

The “F” indicated the first radical of the root verb. The “M” indicates the middle radical
of the root and the “L” indicated the last radical of the tri-literal root verb.

Each form represents a different meaning of a verb. The chart listed below gives some
trends in the meanings of each form of a verb. Examples have been provided for
illustration purposes.
 A rabic V erb Forms and T heir M eanings

Form E xample M eaning of V erb

I ‫( ﻗﺘﻞ‬qatala): to kill Memorize
‫( ﻛﺘﺐ‬kataba): to write
‫( ﺳﻠﻢ‬salima): to be safe

II ‫( ﻗﺖّﻝ‬qattala): to massacre intensive, causative, declarative,

‫( ﻛﺖّﺏ‬kattaba): to cause to write or denominative of Form I
‫( ﺱﻝّﻡ‬sallama): to make safe

III ‫( ﻗﺎﺗﻞ‬qātala): to try to kill indirect object of Form I is the

‫( ﻛﺎﺗﺐ‬kātaba): to correspond with direct object of Form III;
‫( ﺳﺎﻟﻢ‬sālama): to make peace with conative and always transitive

IV ‫( ﺍﻛﺘﺐ‬aktaba): to dictate Causative

‫( ﺍﺧﻠﻒ‬axlafa): to leave / compensate
‫( ﺍﺳﻠﻢ‬aslama): to submit

V ‫( ﺗﻔﺮّﻕ‬tafarraqa): to scatter reflexive or passive of Form II

‫( ﺗﺨﻞّﻑ‬taxallafa): to hold back from
‫( ﺗﺴﻞّﻡ‬tasallama): to receive the surrender

VI ‫( ﺗﻘﺎﺗﻞ‬taqaatala): to fight with one another reciprocal or one of pretence

‫( ﺗﻚﺍﺗﺐ‬takaataba): to write to each other
‫( ﺗﺴﺎﻟﻢ‬tasaalama): to make peace together
‫( ﺗﻨﺎﻋﺲ‬tanaa‘asa): to pretend to sleep

VII ‫( ﺍﻧﻜﺘﺐ‬inkataba): to subscribe reflexive or passive

‫( ﺍﻧﻜﺴﺮ‬inkasara): to be broken

VIII ‫( ﺍﻗﺘﺘﻞ‬iqtatala): to fight with one another reflexive or sometimes passive

‫( ﺍﻛﺘﺘﺐ‬iktataba): to write to each other
‫( ﺍﺳﺘﻠﻢ‬istalama): to kiss the Black Stone

IX ّ‫( ﺍﺣﻤﺮ‬iHmarra): to turn red, to blush denote color or bodily defect

ّ‫( ﺍﺻﻔﺮ‬iSfarra): to turn yellow, to pale
ّ‫( ﺍﺑﻴﺾ‬ibyaDDa): to turn white
ّ‫( ﺍﺯﺭﻕ‬izraqqa): to turn blue

X ‫( ﺍﺳﺘﻘﺘﻞ‬istaqtala): to risk one’s life ask or think that the sense of

‫( ﺍﺳﺘﻜﺘﺐ‬istaktaba): to ask someone to write Form I should be done
‫( ﺍﺳﺘﺴﻠﻢ‬istaslama): to submit, to keep to
the middle of the road