الأفعالA1

أوزان الفعل

Introduction to verb forms (أوزان): Form I فَعَلَ (basic), Form II فَعَّلَ (intensify), Form III فاعَلَ (reciprocal)

Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?

كَتَبَ الطالبُ رسالةً.

The student wrote a letter.

دَرَّسَ المعلمُ الرياضيات.

The teacher taught mathematics.

سافَرَ إلى تونس.

He traveled to Tunisia.

عَلَّمَ الأبُ ابنَهُ السباحة.

The father taught his son swimming.

Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?

أوزان الفعل — Verb Forms (Patterns)

Arabic verbs follow 10 standard patterns (أوزان) built from a 3-letter root. Each form adds a predictable meaning shift:

FormPatternMeaning ShiftExample
Iفَعَلَbasicكَتَبَ (he wrote)
IIفَعَّلَintensify / causativeدَرَّسَ (he taught)
IIIفاعَلَreciprocal / attemptسافَرَ (he traveled)

The root ك-ت-ب (writing): Form I كَتَبَ (wrote), Form II كَتَّبَ (made someone write), Form III كاتَبَ (corresponded with). Recognizing the form helps you guess meanings of new verbs!

Learners memorize verbs individually instead of recognizing the form pattern. Once you know Form II doubles the middle letter, you can predict: عَلِمَ (knew) → عَلَّمَ (taught), فَهِمَ (understood) → فَهَّمَ (explained). English speakers: English has no systematic verb derivation. Arabic's form system is like learning 10 'templates' that work on any root — incredibly productive. Russian speakers: Russian uses prefixes for aspect (писать→написать, переписать). Arabic uses internal vowel changes and letter doubling — a different system but similar in productivity. Czech speakers: Czech derives verbs with prefixes (psát→napsat, přepsat). Arabic modifies the internal structure instead — think of it as 'infixes' rather than prefixes.

كَتَبَ الطالبُ رسالةً.

The student wrote a letter.

كَتَبَ is Form I (فَعَلَ) — the basic meaning of the root ك-ت-ب (writing). Simple, no modification.

دَرَّسَ المعلمُ الرياضيات.

The teacher taught mathematics.

دَرَّسَ is Form II (فَعَّلَ) — doubled middle letter. Root: د-ر-س. Form I دَرَسَ = studied → Form II دَرَّسَ = taught (causative).

سافَرَ إلى تونس.

He traveled to Tunisia.

سافَرَ is Form III (فاعَلَ) — added alif after first root letter. Root: س-ف-ر. Form III often implies reciprocal or sustained action.

عَلَّمَ الأبُ ابنَهُ السباحة.

The father taught his son swimming.

عَلَّمَ (Form II) from عَلِمَ (Form I = knew). Doubled middle letter ل → causative: 'made someone know' = taught.

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