EnglishGrammar: Verbs
Verb forms🠉
In Arabic verbs are usually build of a three letter root. The basic form is called form I.
All the other forms (II to X) are derived from form I by adding letters to the root.
The derived forms have slightly different meanings based on the meaning of the basic form.
Verbs with a four letter root can only have two forms (Iq and IIq), which are similar to form II and V.
Past tense🠉
| –––na | we | |
| –––t | I you (masc.) | |
| –––ti | you (fem.) | |
| –––tu | you (plur.) | |
| ––– | he | |
| –––at | she | |
| –––u | they | |
In the past tense, suffixes are added to the verb stem expressing person and number.
1st person singular (I) and 2nd person masculine singular (you ♂) have the same form, 3rd person singular (he) equals the verb stem.
Subjunctive🠉
| Stressed prefix | Unstressed prefix | |||
| a––– | a––– | I | ||
| ni––– | n––– | we | ||
| ti––– | t––– | you (masc.) she | ||
| ti–––i | t–––i | you (fem.) | ||
| ti–––u | t–––u | you (plur.) | ||
| yi––– | i––– | he | ||
| yi–––u | i–––u | they | ||
The subjunctive is used after other verbs (eg. auxiliary verbs) and is the base to form other tenses.
Unlike past tense, prefixes are added in subjunctive, the vowels of the verb stem might change.
The prefixes can be stressed or unstressed, depending on the the syllable structure of the verb stem.
2nd person masculine singular (you ♂) and 3rd person feminine singular (she) have the same form.
Imperative🠉
| Stressed prefix | Unstressed prefix | |||
| i––– | ––– | you (masc.) | ||
| i–––i | –––i | you (fem.) | ||
| i–––u | –––u | you (plur.) | ||
The imperative is formed by removing the t- prefix from the subjunctive.
Present tense🠉
| Stressed prefix | Unstressed prefix | |||
| ba––– | ba––– | I | ||
| mni––– | min––– | we | ||
| bti––– | bit––– | you (masc.) she | ||
| bti–––i | bit–––i | you (fem.) | ||
| bti–––u | bit–––u | you (plur.) | ||
| bi––– | bi––– | he | ||
| bi–––u | bi–––u | they | ||
The present tense is formed by adding the prefix b- or bi- (before consonant cluster) to the subjunctive.
The prefixes m- and mi- might be used instead in 1st person plural (we).
Compound tenses🠉
Present progressive
عم (ˁam) + subjunctive (present tense for 1st person singular)
Future tense
- use present tense to express the future
رح (rαḥ) + subjunctive
Differences in North Levantine🠉
The main differences in North Levantine dialects are:
| Tense | Person | Example 1 | Example 2 | Description | ||||||
| South Lev. | North Lev. | South Lev. | North Lev. | |||||||
| Past tense | she | فهمت | fihmat | فهمت | fihmet | فهمت | rāḥat | فهمت | rāḥet | The suffix -at is changed to -et. |
| Subjunctive | I | أفهم | 'afham | إفهم | 'ifham | أروح | 'arūḥ | روح | rūḥ | The vowel a is changed to i in stressed prefixes. The vowel a is omitted in unstressed prefixes. |
| Present tense | I | بفهم | bafham | بفهم | bifham | بروح | barūḥ | بروح | brūḥ | |
| he, they | بفهم | bifham | بيفهم | byifham | بروح | birūḥ | The prefix bi- is changed to byi- if stressed. | |||
| Imperative | you (m) | إفهم | 'ifham | فحهام | fhām | روح | rūḥ | The stressed prefix is removed. The vowel is lengthened in masculine form. |
||
| you (f/pl) | إفهمي | 'ifhami | فحهمي | fhami | روحي | rūḥi | ||||