الْمُضَارِعُ مَبْنِيٌّ لِلْمَعْلُومِ

The اَلْفِعْلُ الْمُضَارِعُ is a present and future tense verb, which in Arabic is used to describe actions that are happening now or that will happen in the future. This lesson will focus on the present-tense Active verb i.e. the الْمُضَارِعُ الْمَبْنِيُّ لِلْمَعْلُومِ.

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 pronoun (ضَمَيْرٌ مُسْتَتِرٌ) in اَلْفِعْلُ الْمُضَارِعُ :

يَنْصُرُ

he helps/he is helping or he will help

يَكْتُبُ

he writes/he is writing or he will write

The above examples have the فَاعِلٌ (doer) already inside the فِعْلٌ (verb), informing us who did the action without the need of any extra words.

In English we need extra words to inform us who the فَاعِلٌ (doer) is, as in the above example يَنْصُرُ ‘He helps’ , the word ‘he’ being the extra word, added to the action ‘helps’.

Since, the doer is known for يَنْصُرُ and يَكْتُبُ, we say they are active verbs  (الفِعْلُ الْمَبْنِيُّ لِلْمَعْلُومِ) or we can say مَعْلُوم for short. Some books refer to this as فِعْل مَعْرُوْف.

Pattern (وَزْن)

In the examples يَنْصُرُ (he helps/he is helping or he will help) and يَكْتُبُ (he writes/he is writing or he will write), the verb is in the third person (غَائِبٌ), masculine (مُذَكَّرُ) and singular (وَاحِدٌ), i.e. the doer of the action is ‘he’.

If we want to say ‘she helps’, ‘she writes’, ‘they are helping’ or ‘they will write’ etc, we must modify the verb form to reflect the correct doer.

In Arabic, a فِعْلٌ (verb) is derived from root letters, most commonly three root letters (though some verbs contain more). These root letters are inserted into a specific pattern known as a وَزْن (pattern).

To indicate who performed the action, we adjust the verb’s prefix and ending according to established patterns. By changing these Prefix’s and endings, we identify whether the doer is:

• masculine or feminine
• singular, dual, or plural
• first, second, or third person

Thus, Arabic verbs follow a structured way in which root letters remain constant, while prefix and endings change to convey the doer.

Let’s take the first pattern (وَزْن) يَفْعُلُ for الْمُضَارِعُ الْمَبْنِيُّ لِلْمَعْلُومِ i.e. the present-tense Active verb:

يَفْعُلُ

ف : first root letter
ع : second root letter
ل : third root letter

Bearing in mind every active فِعْلٌ (verb) comes with an inside pronoun (ضَمَيْرٌ مُسْتَتِرٌ) which is the فَاعِلٌ (doer). The ضَمَيْرٌ مُسْتَتِرٌ (inside pronoun) is indicated by the combination of prefix and ending. When we change the prefix or ending we change who did the action. The following table shows the prefix and endings for each doer pronoun (ضَمَيْرٌ).

Pronoun	Prefix	Ending	Pattern (وَزْن)	Meaning of Pattern
هُوَ	يَـ	ـُ	يَفْعُلُ	He does
هُمَا	يَـ	ـَانِ	يَفْعُلَانِ	They (two males) do
هُمْ	يَـ	ـُونَ	يَفْعُلُونَ	They (males) do
هِيَ	تَـ	ـُ	تَفْعُلُ	She does
هُمَا	تَـ	ـَانِ	تَفْعُلَانِ	They (two females) do
هُنَّ	يَـ	ـْنَ	يَفْعُلْنَ	They (females) do
أَنْتَ	تَـ	ـُ	تَفْعُلُ	You (male) do
أَنْتُمَا	تَـ	ـَانِ	تَفْعُلَانِ	You (two males) do
أَنْتُمْ	تَـ	ـُونَ	تَفْعُلُونَ	You (males) do
أَنْتِ	تَـ	ـِينَ	تَفْعُلِينَ	You (female) do
أَنْتُمَا	تَـ	ـَانِ	تَفْعُلَانِ	You (two females) do
أَنْتُنَّ	تَـ	ـْنَ	تَفْعُلْنَ	You (females) do
أَنَا	أَ	ـُ	أَفْعُلُ	I do
نَحْنُ	نَـ	ـُ	نَفْعُلُ	We do

Example 1: يَنْصُرُ

Let’s now take the root letters ن ص ر and drop it into the pattern (وَزْن) يَفْعُلُ :

Pronoun	Prefix	Ending	Pattern (وَزْن)	With Root (ن ص ر)	Meaning
هُوَ	يَـ	ـُ	يَفْعُلُ	يَنْصُرُ	he helps
هُمَا	يَـ	ـَانِ	يَفْعُلَانِ	يَنْصُرَانِ	they (two male) help
هُمْ	يَـ	ـُونَ	يَفْعُلُونَ	يَنْصُرُونَ	they (males) help
هِيَ	تَـ	ـُ	تَفْعُلُ	تَنْصُرُ	she helps
هُمَا	تَـ	ـَانِ	تَفْعُلَانِ	تَنْصُرَانِ	they (two females) help
هُنَّ	يَـ	ـْنَ	يَفْعُلْنَ	يَنْصُرْنَ	they (female) help
أَنْتَ	تَـ	ـُ	تَفْعُلُ	تَنْصُرُ	you (male) help
أَنْتُمَا	تَـ	ـَانِ	تَفْعُلَانِ	تَنْصُرَانِ	you (two males) help
أَنْتُمْ	تَـ	ـُونَ	تَفْعُلُونَ	تَنْصُرُونَ	you (males) help
أَنْتِ	تَـ	ـِينَ	تَفْعُلِينَ	تَنْصُرِينَ	you (female) help
أَنْتُمَا	تَـ	ـَانِ	تَفْعُلَانِ	تَنْصُرَانِ	you (two females) help
أَنْتُنَّ	تَـ	ـْنَ	تَفْعُلْنَ	تَنْصُرْنَ	you (females) help
أَنَا	أَ	ـُ	أَفْعُلُ	أَنْصُرُ	I help
نَحْنُ	نَـ	ـُ	نَفْعُلُ	نَنْصُرُ	we help

• ن ص ر root letters dropped in the pattern (وَزْن) يَفْعُلُ yields يَنْصُرُ (he helps).
• The prefix يَ indicates that theضَمَيْرٌ مُسْتَتِرٌ (inside pronoun) is the third person (غَائِبٌ), masculine (مُذَكَّرُ). Therefore, based on the prefix, it can only be one of the following pronouns هُوَ, هُمَا, هُمْ
• The ending indicates its a singular (وَاحِدٌ) pronouns. Therefore, based on the ending, it can only be one of the following pronouns هُوَ, هِيَ, أَنْتَ, أَنَا, نَحْنُ
• The combination of prefix يَ and ending ـُ indicates that theضَمَيْرٌ مُسْتَتِرٌ (inside pronoun) is هُوَ (‘He’) as in يَنْصُرُ means (He helps)

So in summary:

1. The four prefix letters are called حُرُوفُ الْمُضَارَعَةِ:

Prefix	Pronoun
يَ or يُ	– ي can indicate a masculine, third person pronoun (i.e هُوَ, هُمَا, هُمْ) – ي can indicate هُنَّ
تَ or تُ	– ت can indicate a feminine, third person pronoun (i.e هِيَ, هُمَا), the exception is هُنَّ, which is indicated by a يَ – ت can indicate second person pronouns (i.e. أَنْتَ, أَنْتُمَا, نْتُمْ, أَنْتِ, أَنْتُمَا, أَنْتُنَّ)
أَ or أُ	أ indicates the pronoun أَنَا
نَ or نُ	ن indicates the pronoun نَحْنُ

2. The ending tells us number and gender:

Endings	Plural
ـُ	indicates the singular pronouns (i.e. هُوَ, هِيَ, أَنْتَ, أَنَا, نَحْنُ) the exception is أَنْتِ, which is indicated by a ـِينَ
ـَانِ	indicates the dual pronouns ( i.e. هُمَا, أَنْتُمَا)
ـُونَ	indicates the masculine plural pronouns ( i.e. هُمْ, أَنْتُمْ)
ـِينَ	indicates the pronoun أَنْتِ
ـْنَ	indicates the feminine plural pronouns (i.e. هُنَّ, أَنْتُنَّ)

The combination of prefix and ending show theضَمَيْرٌ مُسْتَتِرٌ (inside pronoun)

فِعْلٌ (verb) are said to be تَثْنِيَةٌ (dual) and جَمْعٌ (plural) with respect to their فَاعِلٌ (doer). The action is one. Thus, تَثْنِيَةٌ (duality) and جَمْعٌ (plurality) are signs of an إِسْمٌ not a فِعْلٌ (verb) .

An easy way to remember these, is to use the same conjugation hand we used for the pronouns(ضَمَيْرٌ). 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: يَكْتُبُ

Take the root letters ك ت ب and drop it into the pattern (وَزْن) يَفْعُلُ :

يَكْتُبُ

he writes

Pronoun	Prefix	Ending	Pattern (فَعَلَ)	With Root (كَتَبَ)	Meaning
هُوَ	يَـ	ـُ	يَفْعُلُ	يَكْتُبُ	he writes
هُمَا	يَـ	ـَانِ	يَفْعُلَانِ	يَكْتُبَانِ	they (two male) write
هُمْ	يَـ	ـُونَ	يَفْعُلُونَ	يَكْتُبُونَ	they (males) write
هِيَ	تَـ	ـُ	تَفْعُلُ	تَكْتُبُ	she writes
هُمَا	تَـ	ـَانِ	تَفْعُلَانِ	تَكْتُبَانِ	they (two females) write
هُنَّ	يَـ	ـْنَ	يَفْعُلْنَ	يَكْتُبْنَ	they (females) write
أَنْتَ	تَـ	ـُ	تَفْعُلُ	تَكْتُبُ	you (male) write
أَنْتُمَا	تَـ	ـَانِ	تَفْعُلَانِ	تَكْتُبَانِ	you (two males) write
أَنْتُمْ	تَـ	ـُونَ	تَفْعُلُونَ	تَكْتُبُونَ	you (males) write
أَنْتِ	تَـ	ـِينَ	تَفْعُلِينَ	تَكْتُبِينَ	you (female) write
أَنْتُنَّ	تَـ	ـْنَ	تَفْعُلْنَ	تَكْتُبْنَ	you (two females) write
أَنْتُمَا	تَـ	ـَانِ	تَفْعُلَانِ	تَكْتُبُونَ	you (females) write
أَنَا	أَ	ـُ	أَفْعُلُ	أَكْتُبُ	I write
نَحْنُ	نَـ	ـُ	نَفْعُلُ	نَكْتُبُ	we write

The conjugating hand for the root letters ك ت ب, in the present-tense Active verb i.e. the الْمُضَارِعُ الْمَبْنِيُّ لِلْمَعْلُومِ is: