اَلْفِعْلُ الْمُضَارِعُ الْمَنْفِيُّ

The اَلْفِعْلُ الْمُضَارِعُ الْمَنْفِيُّ is a present-tense negation verb. In Arabic negation is called الْمَنْفِيُّ (or نَفْيٌ). A حَرْفٌ that negates is called نَافِيَّةٌ.

An important distinction to know before beggining our lesson is the difference between Negation and Refutation:

Negation – Simply denying that something happened or is true.

    مُحَمَّدٌ ذَهَبَ
    “Muḥammad went.”

    مَا ذَهَبَ مُحَمَّدٌ.
    “Muḥammad did not go.”

    There is no previous claim being directly challenged. You are simply stating that Muḥammad did not go.

    Refutation – Rejecting a statement or claim that someone has made.

      مُحَمَّدٌ ذَهَبَ.
      “Muḥammad went.”

      مَا ذَهَبَ مُحَمَّدٌ.
      “Muḥammad did not go.”

      Here, the second sentence refutes the first person’s claim.

      The حُرُوفٌ that negates for the اَلْفِعْلُ الْمُضَارِعُ (past-tense verb) are:

      ما الْمَنْفِيُّ

      • Used with اَلْفِعْلُ الْمُضَارِعُ (present-tense) and اَلْفِعْلُ الْمَاضِيُّ (past-tense). We covered اَلْفِعْلُ الْمَاضِيُّ الْمَنْفِيُّ in a seperate lesson.
      • Does not affect the اَلْفِعْلُ الْمُضَارِعُ.
      • Includes both negation of refutation.
      • Strongest form of refutation.
      • Be careful ما has other uses besides negation.

      Example 1:

      ما يُدَرِّسُوْنَ

      They do not teach

      Example 2 from the Quran:

      وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ…

      …And they do not realise.

      [2:9]

      لا الْمَنْفِيُّ

      • Used with اَلْفِعْلُ الْمُضَارِعُ (present-tense) only.
      • Does not affect the اَلْفِعْلُ الْمُضَارِعُ.
      • Does not include meaning of Refutation.

      Example 1:

      لا يُدَرِّسُوْنَ

      They do not teach

      Example 2 from the Quran:

      وَٱللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ…

      …And Allah does not like the wrong-doers

      [3:140]

      لَنْ الْمَنْفِيُّ

      • Used with اَلْفِعْلُ الْمُضَارِعُ (present-tense) only.
      • Makes the اَلْفِعْلُ الْمُضَارِعُ light (مَنْصُوْبٌ). (This is covered in an earlier اَلْفِعْلُ الْمُضَارِعُ lesson)
      • Does not include meaning of Refutation.
      • Pushes the meaning of the present-tense into the future-tense.

      Example 1:

      لَنْ يُدَرِّسُوْا

      They will not teach

      Example 2 from the Quran:

      …قَالُوا۟ لَن تَمَسَّنَا ٱلنَّارُ…

      …They said, ”The fire will not touch us…”

      [3:24]

      لَمْ الْمَنْفِيُّ

      • Used with اَلْفِعْلُ الْمُضَارِعُ (present-tense) only.
      • Makes the اَلْفِعْلُ الْمُضَارِعُ lightest (مَجْزُوْمٌ). (This is covered in an earlier اَلْفِعْلُ الْمُضَارِعُ lesson)
      • Does not include meaning of Refutation.
      • Pushes the meaning of the present-tense into the past-tense.

      Example 1:

      لَمْ يُدَرِّسُوْا

      They did not teach

      Example 2 from the Quran:

      عَلَّمَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ

      He tauht mankind that which he did not know

      [96:5]

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