الْمَاضِيُّ مَبْنِيٌّ لِلْمَجْهُولِ
The اَلْفِعْلُ الْمَاضِيُّ is a past tense verb, which in Arabic is used to describe actions that are finished.This lesson will focus on the past-tense Passive verb i.e. the الْمَاضِيُّ الْمَبْنِيُّ لِلْمَجْهُولِ.
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 doer, 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 example has the نَائِبُالفَاعِلِ (done-to) inside the فِعْلٌ (verb), informing us who the action is done-to. The فَاعِلٌ (doer) is not mentioned.
Since we do not know the doer for نُصِرَ , we say it is a passive verb (الْمَاضِيُّ الْمَبْنِيُّ لِلْمَجْهُولِ) or we can say مَجْهُول for short.
How the Passive Past-Tense Verb 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.
A way to remember this rule is through the sound pattern:
‘oo-e-same’
This sound pattern indicates multiple ضَمَّةٌ with ‘oo’, followed by one كَسْرَةٌ with ‘e’, سُكُوْنٌ or last root letter and anything after it does not change with ‘same’. Making ‘oo-e-same’.
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 Rule 3.
Final Result
نُصِرَ → نَصَرَ
He helped → He was helped
Worked Example 2 : اُتُّخِذَ → اِتَّخَذَ
In Arabic, a فِعْلٌ (verb) is derived from root letters, most commonly three root letters, though some verbs contain more.
Consider the active past-tense verb اِتَّخَذَ (he took firmly).
- The root letters are أ خ ذ.
- This is a trilateral verb (i.e. having three root letters), but has the additional letter 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 3.
Final Result
اُتُّخِذَ → اِتَّخَذَ
He took firmly → He was taken firmly
Pattern (وَزْن)
The pattern (وَزْن) فُعِلَ is formed by taking an active verb فَعَلَ and applying the rules to form the past-tense passive verb:
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 done-to pronoun (ضَمَيْرٌ).
| Pronoun | Ending | Pattern (فُعِلَ) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| هُوَ | ـَ | فُعِلَ | he was done |
| هُمَا | ـا | فُعِلَا | they (two males) were done |
| هُمْ | ـوا | فُعِلُوا | they (males) were done |
| هِيَ | ـتْ | فُعِلَتْ | she was done |
| هُمَا | ـتَا | فُعِلَتَا | they (two females) were done |
| هُنَّ | ـنَ | فُعِلْنَ | they (females) were done |
| أَنْتَ | ـتَ | فُعِلْتَ | you (male) were done |
| أَنْتُمَا | ـتُمَا | فُعِلْتُمَا | you (two males) were done |
| أَنْتُمْ | ـتُمْ | فُعِلْتُمْ | you (males) were done |
| أَنْتِ | ـتِ | فُعِلْتِ | you (female) were done |
| أَنْتُمَا | ـتُمَا | فُعِلْتُمَا | you (two females) were done |
| أَنْتُنَّ | ـتُنَّ | فُعِلْتُنَّ | you (females) 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 males) were helped |
| هُمْ | ـوا | فُعِلُوا | نُصِرُوا | they (males) were helped |
| هِيَ | ـتْ | فُعِلَتْ | نُصِرَتْ | she was helped |
| هُمَا | ـتَا | فُعِلَتَا | نُصِرَتَا | they (two females) were helped |
| هُنَّ | ـنَ | فُعِلْنَ | نُصِرْنَ | they (females) were helped |
| أَنْتَ | ـتَ | فُعِلْتَ | نُصِرْتَ | you (male) were helped |
| أَنْتُمَا | ـتُمَا | فُعِلْتُمَا | نُصِرْتُمَا | you (two males) were helped |
| أَنْتُمْ | ـتُمْ | فُعِلْتُمْ | نُصِرْتُمْ | you (males) were helped |
| أَنْتِ | ـتِ | فُعِلْتِ | نُصِرْتِ | you (female) were helped |
| أَنْتُمَا | ـتُمَا | فُعِلْتُمَا | نُصِرْتُمَا | you (two females) were helped |
| أَنْتُنَّ | ـتُنَّ | فُعِلْتُنَّ | نُصِرْتُنَّ | you (females) 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 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 males) were taken firmly |
| هُمْ | ـوا | اُفْتُعِلُوا | اُتُّخِذُوا | they (males) were taken firmly |
| هِيَ | ـتْ | اُفْتُعِلَتْ | اُتُّخِذَتْ | she was taken firmly |
| هُمَا | ـتَا | اُفْتُعِلَتَا | اُتُّخِذَتَا | they (two females) were taken firmly |
| هُنَّ | ـنَ | اُفْتُعِلْنَ | اُتُّخِذْنَ | they (females) were taken firmly |
| أَنْتَ | ـتَ | اُفْتُعِلْتَ | اُتُّخِذْتَ | you (male) were taken firmly |
| أَنْتُمَا | ـتُمَا | اُفْتُعِلْتُمَا | اُتُّخِذْتُمَا | you (two males) were taken firmly |
| أَنْتُمْ | ـتُمْ | اُفْتُعِلْتُمْ | اُتُّخِذْتُمْ | you (males) were taken firmly |
| أَنْتِ | ـتِ | اُفْتُعِلْتِ | اُتُّخِذْتِ | you (female) were taken firmly |
| أَنْتُمَا | ـتُمَا | اُفْتُعِلْتُمَا | اُتُّخِذْتُمَا | you (two females) were taken firmly |
| أَنْتُنَّ | ـتُنَّ | اُفْتُعِلْتُنَّ | اُتُّخِذْتُنَّ | you (females) were taken firmly |
| أَنَا | ـتُ | اُفْتُعِلْتُ | اُتُّخِذْتُ | I was taken firmly |
| نَحْنُ | ـنَا | اُفْتُعِلْنَا | اُتُّخِذْنَا | we were taken firmly |
The conjugating hand for اُتُّخِذَ:
Generally a passive فِعْلٌ starts with ــُـ ضَمَّةٌ.
An active past-tense starts with a ــَـ فَتْحَةٌ.
Therefore a past-tense starting with a ــُـ ضَمَّةٌ must be passive, for example عَلَّمَ is active and عُلِّمَ must be passive because it is past-tense starting with a ــُـ ضَمَّةٌ.
A present-passive starts with a ــُـ ضَمَّةٌ and has multiple ــَـ فَتْحَةٌ. For example يُعْرِضُ is not passive, because it starts with a ــُـ ضَمَّةٌ, but the ــِـ كَسْرَةٌ on the ر means that it is active. The passive form is يُعْرَضُ.
A command اَلْأَمعرُ or اَلنَّهْيُ forbidding فِعْلٌ cannot be passive.