Light Present Tense (مَنْصُوْبٌ)
When certain حَرفُ precede the اَلْفِعْلُ الْمُضَارِعُ then the اَلْفِعْلُ الْمُضَارِعُ takes the light (مَنْصُوْبٌ) form. These حُرُوفُ are called the حُرُوفُ نَاصِبَةُ الْمُضَارِعِ.
حُرُوفُ نَاصِبَةُ الْمُضَارِعِ
The following حُرُوفُ make the present tense light (مَنْصُوْبٌ):
| حَرفُ | Translation |
|---|---|
| أَنْ | to used as a connector e.g.i want to read |
| لَنْ | will not |
| لِ/كَيْ/لِكَيْ | so that this حَرفُ has three forms لِ/كَيْ/لِكَيْ |
| إِذاً / إِذَنْ | in that case |
| حتّىٰ | until |
How to make present tense verb light (مَنْصُوْبٌ)
To make the present tense light:
- The هُنَّ and أَنْتُنَّ versions do not change.
- If the present tense ends in a ــُـ ضَمَّةٌ then change it to ــَـ فَتْحَةٌ .
- If the present tense ends in ن then remove the ن.
Worked Example 1: يَنْصُرَ → يَنْصُرُ
Consider the active present-tense verb يَنْصُرُ (he helps).
Step 1:
The last letter رُ carries a ــَـ فَتْحَةٌ.
According to Rule 1, replace this with a رَ→ ــَـ فَتْحَةٌ
Final Result
يَنْصُرَ → يَنْصُرُ
Lets do this for the whole chart:
| Pronoun | مَرفُوعٌ Form | مَنْصُوْبٌ Form |
|---|---|---|
| هُوَ | يَنْصُرُ | يَنْصُرَ |
| هُمَا | يَنْصُرَانِ | يَنْصُرَا |
| هُمْ | يَنْصُرُونَ | يَنْصُرُوْا |
| هِيَ | تَنْصُرُ | تَنْصُرَ |
| هُمَا | تَنْصُرَانِ | تَنْصُرَا |
| هُنَّ | يَنْصُرْنَ | يَنْصُرْنَ (same) |
| أَنْتَ | تَنْصُرُ | تَنْصُرَ |
| أَنْتُمَا | تَنْصُرَانِ | تَنْصُرَا |
| أَنْتُمْ | تَنْصُرُونَ | تَنْصُرُوا |
| أَنْتِ | تَنْصُرِينَ | تَنْصُرِي |
| أَنْتُمَا | تَنْصُرَانِ | تَنْصُرَا |
| أَنْتُنَّ | تَنْصُرْنَ | تَنْصُرْنَ (same) |
| أَنَا | أَنْصُرُ | أَنْصُرَ |
| نَحْنُ | نَنْصُرُ | نَنْصُرَ |
n.b the هُمْ and أَنْتُمْ take an ا when the ن is removed.
Example from the Quran:
| Quran Example | Translation | مَنْصُوْبٌ Form |
|---|---|---|
| إِنَّ اللهَ لَا يَسْتَحْيِي أَنْ يَضْرِبَ مَثَلاَمَّا [2:26] | Indeed, Allah is not ashamed to put forth an example like(even) | أَنْ يَضْرِبَ |
| يَنْصُرَانِ | يَنْصُرَا | |
| هُمْ | يَنْصُرُونَ | يَنْصُرُوْا |
| هِيَ | تَنْصُرُ | تَنْصُرَ |
| هُمَا | تَنْصُرَانِ | تَنْصُرَا |
| هُنَّ | يَنْصُرْنَ | يَنْصُرْنَ (same) |
| أَنْتَ | تَنْصُرُ | تَنْصُرَ |
| أَنْتُمَا | تَنْصُرَانِ | تَنْصُرَا |
| أَنْتُمْ | تَنْصُرُونَ | تَنْصُرُوا |
| أَنْتِ | تَنْصُرِينَ | تَنْصُرِي |
| أَنْتُمَا | تَنْصُرَانِ | تَنْصُرَا |
| أَنْتُنَّ | تَنْصُرْنَ | تَنْصُرْنَ (same) |
| أَنَا | أَنْصُرُ | أَنْصُرَ |
| نَحْنُ | نَنْصُرُ | نَنْصُرَ |
Consider the active past-tense verb يَخْلُقُوْنَ (they create).
- The root letters are خ ل ق.
- This is a trilateral verb (i.e. having three root letters), but has additional letters.
Step 1:
The first letter يَ carries a ــَـ فَتْحَةٌ.
According to Rule 1, replace this with a يُ → ــُـ ضَمَّةٌ
Step 2:
The first root letter خْ carries a ــْـ سُكُوْنٌ .
According to Rule 2, do not change, therefore → خْ
Step 3:
The second root letter لُُ carries a ــُـ ضَمَّةٌ.
Following Rule 1, replace this with a لَ→ ــَـ فَتْحَةٌ
Step 3:
The final root letter قُ and everything after it remains unchanged, in accordance with Rule 3.
Final Result
يُخْلَقُوْنَ → يَخْلُقُوْنَ
they create → they are created
Pattern (وَزْن)
The pattern (وَزْن) يُفْعَلُ is formed by taking an active verb يَفْعُلُ and applying the rules to form the present-tense passive verb:
يُفْعَلُ
ف : first root letter
ع : second root letter
ل : third root letter
Bearing in mind every passive فِعْلٌ (verb) comes with an inside done-to pronoun (نَائِبُالفَاعِلِ). The نَائِبُالفَاعِلِ (inside done-to pronoun) is indicated by the combination of prefix and ending. When we change the prefix and ending we change who the action was done-to. The following table shows the endings for each done-to pronoun (ضَمَيْرٌ).
Example 1 : يُنْصَرُ
Let’s now take the root letters ن ص ر and drop it into the pattern (وَزْن) يُفْعَلُ :
| Pronoun | Prefix | Ending | Pattern | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| هُوَ | يُـ | ـُ | يُنْصَرُ | He is helped |
| هُمَا (m) | يُـ | ـَانِ | يُنْصَرَانِ | They (two males) are helped |
| هُمْ | يُـ | ـُونَ | يُنْصَرُونَ | They (males) are helped |
| هِيَ | تُـ | ـُ | تُنْصَرُ | She is helped |
| هُمَا (f) | تُـ | ـَانِ | تُنْصَرَانِ | They (two females) are helped |
| هُنَّ | يُـ | ـْنَ | يُنْصَرْنَ | They (females) are helped |
| أَنْتَ | تُـ | ـُ | تُنْصَرُ | You (male) are helped |
| أَنْتُمَا | تُـ | ـَانِ | تُنْصَرَانِ | You (two males) are helped |
| أَنْتُمْ | تُـ | ـُونَ | تُنْصَرُونَ | You (males) are helped |
| أَنْتِ | تُـ | ـِينَ | تُنْصَرِينَ | You (female) are helped |
| أَنْتُمَا | تُـ | ـَانِ | تُنْصَرَانِ | You (two females) are helped |
| أَنْتُنَّ | تُـ | ـْنَ | تُنْصَرْنَ | You (females) are helped |
| أَنَا | أُ | ـُ | أُنْصَرُ | I am helped |
| نَحْنُ | نُـ | ـُ | نُنْصَرُ | We are helped |
- ن ص ر root letters dropped in the pattern (وَزْن) يُفْعَلُ yields يُنْصَرُ (he is helped).
- The prefix يُ indicates that the done-to pronoun (نَائِبُالفَاعِلِ) 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 ـُ indicates its a singular (وَاحِدٌ) pronoun. Therefore, based on the ending, it can only be one of the following pronouns هُوَ, هِيَ, أَنْتَ, أَنَا, نَحْنُ
- The combination of prefix يُ and ending ـُ indicates that theضَمَيْرٌ مُسْتَتِرٌ (inside pronoun) is هُوَ (‘He’) as in يُنْصَرُ means (He is helped).
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 the pronoun هُنَّ |
| تَ or نُ | – ت can indicate a feminine, third person pronoun (i.e هِيَ, هُمَا), the exception is أَنْتِ, which is indicated by a يَ – ت can 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 the done-to pronoun (نَائِبُالفَاعِلِ).
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 conjugate these. Use the same conjugation hand we used for the pronouns. Do you remember the pronoun conjugation hand? See below for a recap:
let us now do this for the root letters ن ص ر for the present-tense Passive verb i.e the الْمُضَارِعُ الْمَبْنِيُّ لِلْمَجْهُولِ, noting the position taken for each conjugation is in the place of its corresponding pronoun.
They say practice makes perfect.
So practice your فِعْلٌ (verb) conjugations regularly.
Example 2 : يُخْلَقُوْنَ
Take the root letters خ ل ق and drop it into the pattern (وَزْن) يُفْعَلُ :
يُخْلَقُوْنَ
they are created
| Pronoun | Prefix | Ending | Pattern | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| هُوَ | يُـ | ـُ | يُخْلَقُ | He is created |
| هُمَا | يُـ | ـَانِ | يُخْلَقَانِ | They (two males) are created |
| هُمْ | يُـ | ـُونَ | يُخْلَقُونَ | They (males) are created |
| هِيَ | تُـ | ـُ | تُخْلَقُ | She is created |
| هُمَا | تُـ | ـَانِ | تُخْلَقَانِ | They (two females) are created |
| هُنَّ | يُـ | ـْنَ | يُخْلَقْنَ | They (females) are created |
| أَنْتَ | تُـ | ـُ | تُخْلَقُ | You (male) are created |
| أَنْتُمَا | تُـ | ـَانِ | تُخْلَقَانِ | You (two males) are created |
| أَنْتُمْ | تُـ | ـُونَ | تُخْلَقُونَ | You (males) are created |
| أَنْتِ | تُـ | ـِينَ | تُخْلَقِينَ | You (female) are created |
| أَنْتُمَا | تُـ | ـَانِ | تُخْلَقَانِ | You (two females) are created |
| أَنْتُنَّ | تُـ | ـْنَ | تُخْلَقْنَ | You (females) are created |
| أَنَا | أُ | ـُ | أُخْلَقُ | I am created |
| نَحْنُ | نُـ | ـُ | نُخْلَقُ | We are created |
The conjugating hand for the root letters خ ل ق in the present-tense Passive verb i.e the الْمُضَارِعُ الْمَبْنِيُّ لِلْمَجْهُولِ is:
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.