Past tense

...
   

A verb in past tense refers to an action

   

that already happened and finished

   

As in (أَنا كَتَبْــتُ رِسالَة)

   

/ʼanaa katabtu risaalah/

   

Means

   

I wrote a letter

       
 
   

Conjugating the verbs

   

tells who did the action

   

and

   

when the action is/ was/ will be done

     

 

The suffixes we add to the root of the

 

verb should agree with the gender

   

and the number of the people who did the action

     

   

Conjugating in first person (Singular)

 

أَنا

 

should be followed by the verb and then the suffix  ت

 

should be added at the end of the verb

 

As in

 

أَنا فَعَلْــتُ

 

/ʼanaa faʻaltu/

 

Means

 

I did

   
 

 

Conjugating in first person (Plural)

 

نَحْنُ

 

should be followed by the verb and then the suffix

 

نا

should be added at the end of the verb

   

As in (نَحْنُ فَعَلْــنا)

   

/naHnu faʻalnaa/

 

Means

 

We did

     
   
   

Examples:

 

أَنا ذَهَبْــتُ

 

/ʼanaa THahabtu/

 

I went

 

 نَحْنُ ذَهَبْــنا

 

/naHnu THahabnaa/

 

We went

     
   

 

Examples:

 

أَنا قَرَأْتُ

 

/ʼanaa qaraʼtu/

 

I read

 

نَحْنُ قَرَأْنا

 

/naHnu qaraʼnaa/

 

We read

     
   

 

Examples:

 

أَنا كَتَبْــتُ

 

/ʼanaa katabtu/

 

I wrote

 

نَحْنُ كَتَبْــنا

 

/naHnu katabnaa/

 

We wrote

       
 
   

كِتاب

 

/kitaab/

 

Means

 

Book

     
   
     

رِسالَة

 

/risaalah/

 

Means

 

Letter/ Text

   
   

 

أَمْس

 

/ʼams/

 

Means

 

Yesterday

 

Adverbs can be placed at the beginning,

 

in the middle or at the end of the sentence

   
   

 

الماضي

 

/almaadhee/

 

Means

 

Last/ Previous

 

Adding  ـة

to any of the adjectives will make it feminine

 

الماضِيَــة

 

/almaadhiyah/

     
   
   

Conjugating in second person (Masculine/Singular):

 

أَنْتَ

 

should be followed by the verb and then the suffix

 

تَ

 

should be added at the end of the verb

 

As in (أَنْتَ فَعَلْــتَ)

 

/ʼanta faʻalta/

 

Means

 

You did

     
   
   

Conjugating in second person (Feminine/Singular)

 

أَنْتِ

 

should be followed by the verb and then the suffix

 

تِ

 

should be added at the end of the verb

 

As in

 

أَنْتِ فَعَلْــتِ

 

/ʼanti faʻalti/

 

Means

 

You did

     
   
   

Examples:

 

أَنْتِ ذَهَبْــتِ

 

/ʼanti THahabti/

 

You went (Feminine)

 

أَنْتَ ذَهَبْــتَ

 

/ʼanta THahabta/

 

You went (Masculine)

         
   
   

Examples:

 

أَنْتَ كَتَبْــتَ

 

/ʼanta katabta/

 

You wrote (Masculine)

 

أَنْتِ كَتَبْــتِ

 

/ʼanti katabti/

 

You wrote (Feminine)

     
   
   

Examples:

 

أَنْتَ قَرَأْتَ

 

/ʼanta qaraʼta/

 

You read (Masculine)

 

أَنْتِ قَرَأْتِ

 

/ʼanti qaraʼti/

 

You read (Feminine)

     
   
   

Conjugating in third person (Masculine/ Singular):

 

هُوَ

 

should be followed by the verb. No suffix to be added because it is the root of the verb

 

As in

 

هُوَ فَعَلَ 

 

/huwa faʻala/

 

Means

 

He did

     
   
   

Conjugating in third person (Feminine/Singular):

 

هِيَ

should be followed by the verb and then the suffix تْ should be added at the end of the verb

 

As in

 

هِيَ فَعَلَــت

 

/hiya faʻalat/

 

Means

 

She did

     
   
 

Examples:

 

هُوَ كَتَـبَ

 

/huwa kataba/

 

He wrote

 

هِيَ كَتَبَـتْ

 

/hiya katabat/

 

She wrote

     
   
   

Examples:

 

هُوَ ذَهَــبَ

 

/huwa THahaba/

 

He went

 

هِيَ ذَهَبَــتْ

 

/hiya THahabat/

 

She went

       
   
   

Examples:

 

هُوَ قَرَأَ

 

/huwa qaraʼa/

 

He read 

 

  هِيَ قَرَأَتْ

 

/hiya qaraʼat/

 

She read

       
   
   

In Arabic, the subject pronoun is frequently dropped.

 

The conjugated verb shows who the subject is

 

كَتَبْــتُ الرِّسالَة

 

Or

 

 

أَنا كَتَبْــتُ الرِّسالَة

   
   
       

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