Arabic Past Tense CONJUGATION, 14 Forms With Examples
Learning Arabic past tense can be challenging, but with an open mind and patience, you’ll find it easier to grasp.
What is the Past Tense in Arabic?
The past tense in Arabic is used to talk about actions that were completed in the past. It describes something that happened and was fully finished, or something that was true in the past.
Arabic Term for Past Tense
The Arabic term for past tense is الْفِعْلِ الْمَاضِي (al-fi‘l al-māḍī). In this form, the verb often appears without any additional letters, like كَتَبَ (kataba, meaning “he wrote”). This form is the basic or root form of the verb.
How to Identify Arabic Past Tense Verbs
In Arabic, past tense verbs are marked by suffixes rather than prefixes. These suffixes indicate who performed the action. For example:
- Singular Suffixes:
- تُ (-tu) as in كَتَبْتُ (katabtu, “I wrote”)
- تَ (-ta) as in كَتَبْتَ (katabta, “you [male] wrote”)
- تِ (-ti) as in كَتَبْتِ (katabti, “you [female] wrote”)
- Plural Suffixes:
- نَا (-nā) as in كَتَبْنَا (katabnā, “we wrote”)
- تُمْ (-tum) as in كَتَبْتُمْ (katabtum, “you [all males] wrote”)
- تُنَّ (-tunna) as in كَتَبْتُنَّ (katabtunna, “you [all females] wrote”)
Types of Past Tense Verbs in Arabic
Arabic verbs are categorized based on the number of root letters:
- Three-Letter Verbs (الفعل الثلاثى, al-fi‘l al-thulāthī)
Example: كَتَبَ (kataba, “he wrote”) - Four-Letter Verbs (الفعل الرباعى, al-fi‘l al-rubā‘ī)
Example: أَطْلَقَ (aṭlaqa, “he launched”) - Five-Letter Verbs (الفعل الخماسى, al-fi‘l al-khumāsī)
Example: تَعَلَّمَ (ta‘allama, “he learned”) - Six-Letter Verbs (الفعل السداسى, al-fi‘l al-suddāsī)
Example: اسْتَخْرَجَ (istaẖraja, “he extracted”)
Mabneyy vs. Mu’rab
In Arabic, verbs and nouns are categorized as مَبْنِيّ (mabnīyy) or مُعْرَب (mu‘rāb):
- Mabneyy (مَبْنِيّ): This means the verb has a fixed ending that doesn’t change, regardless of its position in the sentence. The last letter of the verb is always pronounced the same.
- Mu’rab (مُعْرَب): This means the ending of the verb changes based on its position and grammatical case in the sentence.
In Arabic, past tense verbs are always Mabneyy (mabnīyy), meaning their endings remain fixed.
READ ALSO: Plural In Arabic: A MASTER Guide On Arabic Plurals
Arabic Past Tense Verbs Examples
Here are some examples of past tense in Arabic with their meanings.
- He read ….. قَرَأَ
- He went ….. ذَهَبَ
- He helped ….. نَصَرَ
- He said ….. قال
- He opened ….. فتح
- He ate ….. اكل
- He drank ….. شرب
- He slept …. نام
- She wrote …. كتبت
- She hit …. ضربت
- She went …. ذهبت
- She sent …. بعثت
- He left ….. ترك
- He entered ….. دخل
- He succeed ….. نجح
Arabic Past Tense Conjugation
In Arabic, to form the past tense of a verb, you start with the root of the verb, like دَرَسَ (darasa, meaning “to study”) or سَكَنَ (sakan, meaning “to live”). The root is the base form of the verb and usually represents the masculine singular form.
To conjugate a verb in the past tense, you add specific suffixes to the root depending on who is performing the action.
Conjugation Patterns
- Basic Conjugation Patterns:
- فَعَلَ (fa‘ala) – This is the basic pattern used for most past tense verbs.
- فَعِلَ (fa‘ila) – Another pattern used for certain verbs.
- فَعُلَ (fa‘ula) – Used for some verbs as well.
Example of Conjugation
Let’s use the root letters دَ رَ سَ (d-r-s), which relate to the concept of “studying.”
- دَرَسَ (darasa) means “he studied.”
How It Works:
- Choose the Root Letters: Start with the root letters of the verb.
- Apply the Pattern: Add the appropriate suffixes to the root based on who performed the action and follow one of the conjugation patterns.
By understanding and applying these patterns, you can conjugate many Arabic verbs in the past tense.
Arabic Past Tense Conjugation Chart
Below is the conjugation chart of past tense of Arabic word دَرَسَ.
| English Pronoun | Arabic Pronouns | Arabic Past Verbs |
| Singular | ||
| I | أنا | دَرَسْتُ |
| You (masc.) | أنتَ | دَرَسْتَ |
| You (fem.) | أنتِ | دَرَسْتِ |
| He or it | هُوَ | دَرَسَ |
| She or It | هي | دَرَسَتْ |
| Dual | ||
| We (No dual) | نحن | دَرَسْنا |
| You two (masc. And fem.) | انتما | درستا And درسا |
| They (masc.) Two | هما | درستما |
| They (fem.) two | هما | درستما |
| Plural | ||
| We | نحن | دَرَسْنا |
| you (group masc.) | أنتم | دَرَسْتُم |
| you (group fem.) | أنتن | دَرَستُنَّ |
| they (group masc.) | هم | دَرَسوا |
| they (group fem.) | هن | دَرَسنَ |
14 Forms Of Past Tense in Arabic
Below is the full forms of past tense in Arabic. Since a verb must agree with its subject in gender and number, the shape of the verbs changes in the past tense as in the table below.
| English Pronoun | Arabic Pronouns | Arabic Past Verbs |
| Singular | ||
| I | أنا | كَتبْتُ |
| You (masc.) | أنتَ | كتبْتَ |
| You (fem.) | أنتِ | كتبْتِ |
| He or it | هُوَ | كتبَ |
| She or It | هي | كتبَتْ |
| Dual | ||
| We (No dual) | نحن | كتَبْنَا |
| You two (masc. And fem.) | انتما | كتَبَتَا and كتَبَا |
| They (masc.) Two | هما | كتَبتُمَا |
| They (fem.) two | هما | كتَبتُمَا |
| Plural | ||
| We | نحن | كتَبْنَا |
| you (group masc.) | أنتم | كتبتُم |
| you (group fem.) | أنتن | كتَبْنَّ |
| they (group masc.) | هم | كتبُوا |
| they (group fem.) | هن | كتبْتُنَ |
Affirmative And Negative Past Tense In Arabic
An affirmative past tense verb is negated simply by prefixing it with the particle ما. For example;
- He didn’t study … ما دَرَسَ
- He didn’t help …. ما نَصَرَ
- He didn’t drink …. ما شرب
