الْمَاضِيُّ مَبْنِيٌّ لِلْمَجْهُولِ
In this section we will discuss the اَلْفِعْلُ الْمَاضِيُّ (the past-tense verb) which in Arabic is used to describe actions that are finished. In particular the الْمَاضِيُّ الْمَبْنِيُّ لِلْمَجْهُولِ i.e. the past-tense Passive verb.
We have stated that in Arabic, every active فِعْلٌ (verb) comes with an inside pronoun (ضَمَيْرٌ مُسْتَتِرٌ) which is the doer (فَاعِلٌ).
In a الفِعْلُ الْمَبْنِيُّ لِلْمَعْلُومِ (Active verb), the doer (فَاعِلٌ) of the action is known and stated or understood.
In a الفِعْلُ الْمَبْنِيُّ لِلْمَجْهُولِ (Passive verb), the doer (فَاعِلٌ) of the action is not mentioned, and the action itself is emphasised. A passive فِعْلٌ does not have a doer. But we do know who the action was done-to. Therefore instead of an inside pronoun (ضَمَيْرٌ مُسْتَتِرٌ), we have an inside pronoun done-to, which is called the نَائِبُالفَاعِلِ.
Examples of inside done-to pronoun (نَائِبُالفَاعِلِ) in اَلْفِعْلُ الْمَاضِيُّ:
نُصِرَ
he was helped
The above examples has the نَائِبُالفَاعِلِ (done-to) inside the فِعْلٌ (verb). The فَاعِلٌ (doer) is not mentioned.
How the Passive Past-Tense is Made
The following rules are to be applied when converting a past-tense active verb to a past-tense passive verb (الْمَاضِيُّ الْمَبْنِيُّ لِلْمَجْهُولِ → الْمَاضِيُّ الْمَبْنِيُّ لِلْمَعْلُومِ):
- Multiple ــُـ ضَمَّةٌ followed by one ــِـ كَسْرَةٌ
- ــْـ سُكُوْنٌ do not change
- The last root letter and anything after it does not change.
Worked Example 1: نُصِرَ → نَصَرَ
Consider the active past-tense verb نَصَرَ (he helped).
- The root letters are ن ص ر.
- This is a trilateral verb (i.e. having three root letters)
Step 1:
The first root letter نَ carries a ــَـ فَتْحَةٌ.
According to Rule 1, replace this with a نُ → ــُـ ضَمَّةٌ
Step 2:
The second root letter صَ also carries a fatḥah.
Following Rule 1, replace this with a صِ→ ــِـ كَسْرَةٌ
Step 3:
The final root letter رَ remains unchanged, in accordance with Rules 2 and 3.
Final Result
نُصِرَ → نَصَرَ
He helped → He was helped
Worked Example 2 : اُتُّخِذَ → اِتَّخَذَ
Arabic فِعْلٌ (verb) are built from root letters, usually three letters but can come with additional letters.
Consider the active past-tense verb اِتَّخَذَ (he took firmly). In this instance we have more than 3 letters.
- The root letters are أ خ ذ.
- This فِعْلٌ (verb) has four letters i.e. we have additional letters تَّ.
Step 1:
The first root letter اِ carries a ــِـ كَسْرَةٌ.
According to Rule 1, replace this with a اُ → ــُـ ضَمَّةٌ
The second letter تَّ carries a ــَـ فَتْحَةٌ.
According to Rule 1, this is also replaced with a تُّ → ــُـ ضَمَّةٌ, since the rule 1 states ‘Multiple ــُـ ضَمَّةٌ’ . The Multiple ــُـ ضَمَّةٌ rule is applicable for when we have additional letters to the root letters.
Step 2:
The second root letter خَ carries a ــَـ فَتْحَةٌ.
Following Rule 1, replace this with a خِ → ــِـ كَسْرَةٌ
Step 3:
The final root letter ذَ remains unchanged, in accordance with Rules 2 and 3.
Final Result
اُتُّخِذَ → اِتَّخَذَ
He took firmly → He was taken firmly
Pattern (وَزْن)
The pattern (وَزْن) that is formed for the past-tense passive verb is فُعِلَ :
فُعِلَ
ف : first root letter
ع : second root letter
ل : third root letter
Bearing in mind passive فِعْلٌ (verb) comes with an inside done-to pronoun (نَائِبُالفَاعِلِ). The نَائِبُالفَاعِلِ (inside done-to pronoun) is indicated by the ending. When we change the ending we change who the action was done-to. The following table shows the endings for each pronoun (ضَمَيْرٌ) .
| Pronoun | Ending | Pattern (فُعِلَ) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| هُوَ | ـَ | فُعِلَ | he was done |
| هُمَا | ـا | فُعِلَا | they two (m.) were done |
| هُمْ | ـوا | فُعِلُوا | they (m.) were done |
| هِيَ | ـتْ | فُعِلَتْ | she was done |
| هُمَا | ـتَا | فُعِلَتَا | they two (f.) were done |
| هُنَّ | ـنَ | فُعِلْنَ | they (f.) were done |
| أَنْتَ | ـتَ | فُعِلْتَ | you (m.) were done |
| أَنْتُمَا | ـتُمَا | فُعِلْتُمَا | you two were done |
| أَنْتِ | ـتِ | فُعِلْتِ | you (f.) were done |
| أَنْتُمْ | ـتُمْ | فُعِلْتُمْ | you (m. pl.) were done |
| أَنْتُمَا | ـتُمَا | فُعِلْتُمَا | you two were done |
| أَنْتُنَّ | ـتُنَّ | فُعِلْتُنَّ | you (f. pl.) were done |
| أَنَا | ـتُ | فُعِلْتُ | I was done |
| نَحْنُ | ـنَا | فُعِلْنَا | we were done |
Example 1 : نُصِرَ
Let’s now take the root letters ن ص ر and drop it into the pattern (وَزْن) فُعِلَ.
| Pronoun | Ending | Pattern (فُعِلَ) | With Root (ن ص ر) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| هُوَ | ـَ | فُعِلَ | نُصِرَ | he was helped |
| هُمَا | ـا | فُعِلَا | نُصِرَا | they two (m.) were helped |
| هُمْ | ـوا | فُعِلُوا | نُصِرُوا | they (m.) were helped |
| هِيَ | ـتْ | فُعِلَتْ | نُصِرَتْ | she was helped |
| هُمَا | ـتَا | فُعِلَتَا | نُصِرَتَا | they two (f.) were helped |
| هُنَّ | ـنَ | فُعِلْنَ | نُصِرْنَ | they (f.) were helped |
| أَنْتَ | ـتَ | فُعِلْتَ | نُصِرْتَ | you (m.) were helped |
| أَنْتُمَا | ـتُمَا | فُعِلْتُمَا | نُصِرْتُمَا | you two were helped |
| أَنْتُمْ | ـتُمْ | فُعِلْتُمْ | نُصِرْتُمْ | you (m. pl.) were helped |
| أَنْتِ | ـتِ | فُعِلْتِ | نُصِرْتِ | you (f.) were helped |
| أَنْتُمَا | ـتُمَا | فُعِلْتُمَا | نُصِرْتُمَا | you two were helped |
| أَنْتُنَّ | ـتُنَّ | فُعِلْتُنَّ | نُصِرْتُنَّ | you (f. pl.) were helped |
| أَنَا | ـتُ | فُعِلْتُ | نُصِرْتُ | I was helped |
| نَحْنُ | ـنَا | فُعِلْنَا | نُصِرْنَا | we were helped |
فِعْلٌ (verb) are said to be تَثْنِيَةٌ (dual) and جَمْعٌ (plural) with respect to their نَائِبُالفَاعِلِ (done-to). The action is one. Thus, تَثْنِيَةٌ (duality) and جَمْعٌ (plurality) are signs of an إِسْمٌ not a فِعْلٌ (verb) .
For each فِعْلٌ (verb) above observe the application of the rules discussed earlier.
An easy way to remember these, is to conjugate these. Use the same conjugation hand we used for the pronouns. Do you remember the pronoun (ضَمَيْرٌ) conjugation hand? See below for a recap:
let us now do this for the root letters ن ص ر , noting the position taken for each conjugation is in the place of its corresponding pronoun(ضَمَيْرٌ).
They say practice makes perfect.
So practice your فِعْلٌ (verb) conjugations regularly.
Example 2 : اُتُّخِذَ
Take the root letters أ خ ذ and drop it into the pattern (وَزْن) فُعِلَ :
اُتُّخِذَ
he was taken firmly
| Pronoun | Ending | Pattern (وَزْن) | With Root (أ خ ذ) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| هُوَ | ـَ | اُفْتُعِلَ | اُتُّخِذَ | he was taken firmly |
| هُمَا | ـا | اُفْتُعِلَا | اُتُّخِذَا | they two (m.) were taken firmly |
| هُمْ | ـوا | اُفْتُعِلُوا | اُتُّخِذُوا | they (m.) were taken firmly |
| هِيَ | ـتْ | اُفْتُعِلَتْ | اُتُّخِذَتْ | she was taken firmly |
| هُمَا | ـتَا | اُفْتُعِلَتَا | اُتُّخِذَتَا | they two (f.) were taken firmly |
| هُنَّ | ـنَ | اُفْتُعِلْنَ | اُتُّخِذْنَ | they (f.) were taken firmly |
| أَنْتَ | ـتَ | اُفْتُعِلْتَ | اُتُّخِذْتَ | you (m.) were taken firmly |
| أَنْتُمَا | ـتُمَا | اُفْتُعِلْتُمَا | اُتُّخِذْتُمَا | you two were taken firmly |
| أَنْتُمْ | ـتُمْ | اُفْتُعِلْتُمْ | اُتُّخِذْتُمْ | you (m. pl.) were taken firmly |
| أَنْتِ | ـتِ | اُفْتُعِلْتِ | اُتُّخِذْتِ | you (f.) were taken firmly |
| أَنْتُمَا | ـتُمَا | اُفْتُعِلْتُمَا | اُتُّخِذْتُمَا | you two were taken firmly |
| أَنْتُنَّ | ـتُنَّ | اُفْتُعِلْتُنَّ | اُتُّخِذْتُنَّ | you (f. pl.) were taken firmly |
| أَنَا | ـتُ | اُفْتُعِلْتُ | اُتُّخِذْتُ | I was taken firmly |
| نَحْنُ | ـنَا | اُفْتُعِلْنَا | اُتُّخِذْنَا | we were taken firmly |
The conjugating hand for اُتُّخِذَ:
