Present tense — one verb, six persons (سَكَنَ → يَسْكُن)
| أنا | أنتَ | أنتِ | هُوَ | هِيَ | نَحْنُ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | you (m) | you (f) | he | she | we |
| أَسْكُنُ | تَسْكُنُ | تَسْكُنينَ | يَسْكُنُ | تَسْكُنُ | نَسْكُنُ |
The prefix tells you the person: أ=I, تـ=you/she, يـ=he, نـ=we.
Talking to a female adds the ending ـينَ (تَسْكُنينَ).
Relative pronouns الذي / التي (who / which)
| الذي | التي |
|---|---|
| for a masculine word | for a feminine word |
| الرَّجُلُ الذي يَعْمَلُ | البِنْتُ التي تَسْكُنُ |
Opposites الأَضْداد
| كَبير | ↔ | صَغير | big ↔ small |
| واسِع | ↔ | ضَيِّق | wide ↔ narrow |
| جَديد | ↔ | قَديم | new ↔ old |
| قَريب | ↔ | بَعيد | near ↔ far |
| طَويل | ↔ | قَصير | long ↔ short |
| ثَقيل | ↔ | خَفيف | heavy ↔ light |
| سَريع | ↔ | بَطيء | fast ↔ slow |
| نَظيف | ↔ | مُتَّسِخ | clean ↔ dirty |
| مُرْتَفِع | ↔ | مُنْخَفِض | high ↔ low |
| قَوِيّ | ↔ | ضَعيف | strong ↔ weak |
Extra exam facts
| Point | Recall |
|---|---|
| 4 present prefixes | أ=I, تـ=you/she, يـ=he, نـ=we. «You-m.» أنتَ and «she» هي share the same form تَفْعَلُ |
| Feminine «you» endings | Fem. addressee present = ـينَ (تَفْعَلِينَ); the dual = ـانِ; fem. plural = ـنَ (تَفْعَلْنَ) |
| 3 case-endings = role | ḍammah = fāʿil (subject), fatḥah = mafʿūl bihi (object), kasrah after a preposition; a noun never takes sukūn |
| Word order = meaning | Order is verb → fāʿil → mafʿūl; swap subject/object and the meaning flips: قَتَلَ داوُدُ جالوتَ ≠ قَتَلَ جالوتُ داوُدَ |
| jumla types | jumla ismiyya = mubtadaʾ + khabar (two nouns, no verb); jumla fiʿliyya starts with a verb. mubtadaʾ is definite, takes الـ, a single noun |
| Future سـ / سوف | سـ / سوف + present verb = future (سَأقرأُ القرآن); both work, سـ for the near-at-hand |
| كان and its sisters | كان/أصبح/أمسى/بات/صار/ظلّ/ليس — all ≈ «became», ليس = «is not». Entering a noun-sentence → predicate becomes manṣūb: كان زيدٌ طبيبًا |
| Negative command (nahy) | لا + present verb + sukūn (masc. لا تأكلْ) / drop the nūn (fem. لا تأكلي) — sukūn is the sign of jazm |
| Attached possessives | On a noun: ـي (my) / ـكَ (your-m) / ـكِ (your-f) / ـهُ (his) / ـها (her) — اسمي/اسمُكَ/اسمُكِ/اسمُهُ/اسمُها |
| Adjective gender + عَن | Adjective agrees in gender: البيتُ بعيدٌ / المدرسةُ بعيدةٌ; بعيد is followed by عَن («far from») |
The full grammar machinery behind the lesson: conjugation, sentence types, case-endings, the future,
كان & its sisters and the negative command. The lesson's 6-person table
and «verb/subject first» drill are subsets of what is below. Dialogue vocabulary is in
From the lectures.
Present-verb conjugation — all 14 persons
- The 6-person table is a subset. The full frame is 14 persons: هو/هما/هم · هي/هما/هنّ · أنتَ/أنتما/أنتم · أنتِ/أنتما/أنتنّ · أنا/نحن. Arabic singles out the dual (two): 1 = singular, 2 = dual, 3+ = plural.
- Masc. present set: يَفْعَلُ / يَفْعَلانِ / يَفْعَلُونَ (he / they-two / they). Fem.: تَفْعَلُ / تَفْعَلانِ / يَفْعَلْنَ (she / they-two-f. / they-f.).
- «You-m.» (أنتَ) and «she» (هي) share the same present form تَفْعَلُ — context tells them apart.
- Feminine «you» (أنتِ) = تَفْعَلِينَ — the distinctive ـينَ ending (the lesson's تَسْكُنينَ).
- The verb's citation form is the past tense (ذَهَبَ = «he went»); add يـ(m.)/تـ(f.) to make the present. A verb = 3 root letters (model فعل); set aside weak verbs.
- Feminine plural past adds نون النسوة (nūn an-niswah): فَعَلْنَ.
Jumla ismiyya vs fiʿliyya · fāʿil / mafʿūl
- Two sentence types. jumla ismiyya = begins with a noun, no verb (هذا يومُ العطلةِ is a complete noun sentence); jumla fiʿliyya = begins with a verb. This is the lesson's unnamed «verb or subject first».
- jumla ismiyya = mubtadaʾ + khabar (both nouns): بَشيرٌ [mubtadaʾ] طالبٌ [khabar].
- 3 rules for the mubtadaʾ: usually definite (maʿrifah), usually carries الـ, and is a single noun (not a clause).
- fiʿl / fāʿil / mafʿūl bihi = verb / subject / object. «What does he read? — al-Qurʾān» → القرآن is the object (mafʿūl bihi).
- Word order changes the meaning: قَتَلَ داوُدُ جالوتَ (David killed Goliath) vs قَتَلَ جالوتُ داوُدَ (Goliath killed David) — whoever holds the fāʿil (nominative) slot is the doer.
- tarkīb (التركيب) = a sentence pattern — a finite set of structures, unlike the unlimited sentences (jumal).
Case-endings — ḍammah / fatḥah / kasrah
- The 3 case-endings tie to syntactic role: ḍammah = subject (fāʿil), fatḥah = object (mafʿūl bihi), kasrah = after a preposition.
- The object takes fatḥah even when definite: أقرأُ الكتابَ / أُصلّي الجمعةَ; subject (fāʿil) takes ḍammah.
- A preposition (في، إلى، على) comes before a noun and forces kasrah: في الصباحِ، في المسجدِ.
- A noun never takes sukūn — only ḍammah, fatḥah or kasrah.
- Definite vs indefinite: ism nakirah = no الـ, ends in tanwīn (قلمٌ); ism maʿrifah = takes الـ, tanwīn → single ḍammah (القلمُ). The 14 sun letters assimilate the lām (الشَّجَرة = ash-shajarah).
Future سـ / سوف
- سَـ (sa-) makes the future: سَأقرأُ القرآنَ = «I will recite the Qurʾān» — particle placed before a present-tense verb.
- سـ and سوف both make the future; سـ is for the near-at-hand. Qurʾānic proof of سوف: كَلَّا سَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ (al-Takāthur).
- Future = present verb + the particle: ماذا سَتَفْعَلُ / سَتَصْنَعُ؟.
كان and its sisters
- كان وأخواتها (kāna and its sisters): كان، أصبح، أمسى، بات، صار، ظلّ، ليس (+ أضحى). كان = «was/used to be»; أصبح/أمسى/صار/بات ≈ «became»; ظلّ = «kept on / remained».
- How they work: they enter a jumla ismiyya (زيدٌ طبيبٌ); the subject stays rafʿ (ism of kāna), the predicate becomes manṣūb: كان زيدٌ طبيبًا.
- ليس = «is not», the one negative sister, and it conjugates by person: لستُ / لستَ / ليس / ليست (لستُ طبيبًا، ليست طبيبةً).
- kāna → yakūnu → sa-yakūnu (past → present → future): سأكونُ مدرسًا إن شاء الله; fem. سأكونُ مدرسةً.
Relative pronouns, the nahy & pronouns
- Negative command (nahy): تأكلُ → لا تأكلْ («do not eat») — put لا in front + a sukūn on the last letter (the sign of jazm/jussive).
- Statement vs prohibition: لا تأكلُ (with ḍammah) = «you will not eat»; لا تأكلْ (with sukūn) = prohibition. Feminine drops the nūn: تأكلينَ → لا تأكلي.
- Pronouns (ḍamāʾir): detached أنا/أنتَ/أنتِ/هو/هي; attached suffixes ـي / ـكَ / ـكِ / ـهُ / ـها on a noun (اسمي/اسمُكَ/اسمُكِ/اسمُهُ/اسمُها).
- Match the pronoun by the verb/adjective form: هي تكتبُ vs أنتِ تكتبينَ; أنا أحبُّ / هو يحبُّ / هي تحبُّ.
- Relative pronouns الذي/التي tie a describing clause to a noun by gender (the lesson's الرَّجُلُ الذي / البِنْتُ التي); a preposition forces kasrah on the following noun.
Tap the words in order (right to left) to build a correct sentence — the verb or subject comes first.
This is practice; the gated quiz is the next tab.
Dialogue completion (from your worksheet) + relative pronouns + opposites + agreement + grammar.
Score ≥12/14 on first try to finish the lesson.