Grammar

What does the vowel on the second root letter of an Arabic verb tell us?

The vowel on the second root letter of an Arabic verb reveals many things about the character and personality of the verb.

byGerald Drißner

November 10, 2021

1 minute read

3 comments

Last updated: 7 months ago

Share via

The second radical is the most important component of the past tense. Only the second root letter can have any of the three vowels (a, i, u) in the past tense whereas the first and third must have فَتْحةٌ.

The second vowel can help us understand verbs better and may tell us more about the character and meaning of the verb. Let's see why.

“a”	فَعَلَ	an act; someone initiates something
“i”	فَعِلَ	a transitory state;
“u“	فَعُلَ	a permanent state;

The underlying idea of the vowel associated with the second root letter

Some examples:

“a”	قَتَلَ	to kill
“a”	فَعَلَ	to do; to act
“i”	لَبِسَ	to dress
“i”	عَلِمَ	to know
“u“	حَسُنَ	to be beautiful
“u“	كَبُرَ	to be big

Note the vowel associated with the second root letter

This is generally but not universally true. There are exceptions because neighboring consonants have influenced the vowels (or the other way round). There is a rule of thumb for verbs of category 3 (فَعُلَ):

They usually don't form an active participle – but a pseudo, quasi participle that describes the state of things (صِفةٌ مُشَبَّهةٌ). For example: big (ٌكَبِير), nice (لَطِيفٌ).

Arabic for Nerds 2: A Grammar Compendium - 450 Questions about Arabic Grammar

Arabic for Nerds 1: Fill the Gaps - 270 Questions about Arabic Grammar

Please note that we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

➤ DIDN'T FIND WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR?

Author

Gerald Drißner

Gerald Drißner (Drissner) has lived in Arab and Islamic countries for more than a decade. He is the founder of Arabic for Nerds.

3 Comments

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

thearabicpages

1 year ago

Amazing! I had no idea about this 😅

Teresa

1 year ago

قَتَلَ (u)?

Author

Gerald Drißner

1 year ago

Reply to Teresa

Hi Teresa, do you mean the present tense (يَقْتُلُ)? This article only talks about the stem vowel of the past tense, which is “a” in قَتَلَ. Regarding the present tense, there are other rules.