Past Tense

...
   

A verb in past tense refers to an action

   

that already happened and finished

   

As in (أَنا كَتَبِــتْ رِسالِة)

   

/ʼanaa katabit risaalih/

   

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 عمِلِــتْ

 

/ʼanaa ʻmilit/

 

Means

 

I did

   
 

 

Conjugating in first person (Plural)

 

نِحْنا

 

should be followed by the verb and then the suffix

 

نا

should be added at the end of the verb

   

As in (نِحْنا عمِلْـنا)

   

/niHnaa ʻmilnaa/

 

Means

 

We did

     
   
   

Examples:

 

أَنا رِحِــتْ عَ

 

/ʼanaa riHit ʻa/

 

I went

 

 نِحْنا رِحْــنا عَ

/niHnaa riHnaa ʻa/

 

We went

     
   

 

Examples:

 

أَنا قَريـتْ

 

/ʼanaa ʼarait/

 

I read

 

نِحْنا قَرينا

 

/niHnaa ʼarainaa/

 

We read

     
   

 

Examples:

 

أَنا كَتَبِــتْ

 

/ʼanaa katabit/

 

I wrote

 

اِحْنا كَتَبْــنا

 

/iHnaa katabnaa/

 

We wrote

       
 
   

كتاب

 

/ktaab/

 

Means

 

Book

     
   
     

رِسالِة

 

/risaalih/

 

Means

 

Letter/ Text

   
   

 

اِمْبارِح

 

/imbaariH/

 

Means

 

Yesterday

 

Adverbs can be placed at the beginning,

 

in the middle or at the end of the sentence

   
   

 

الماضي

 

/ilmaadhee/

 

Means

 

Last/ Previous

 

Adding  ـة

to any of the adjectives will make it feminine

 

الماضيــة

 

/ilmaadhyih/

     
   
   

Conjugating in second person (Masculine/Singular):

 

إِنْتِه

 

should be followed by the verb and then the suffix

 

تِه

 

should be added at the end of the verb

 

As in (إِنْتِه رِحِــتْ)

 

/ʼintih riHit/

 

Means

 

You did

     
   
   

Conjugating in second person (Feminine/Singular)

 

إِنْتِ

 

should be followed by the verb and then the suffix

 

تي

 

should be added at the end of the verb

 

As in

 

إِنْتِ رِحْــتِ

 

/ʼinti riHtee/

 

Means

 

You did

     
   
   

Examples:

 

إِنْتِه رِحِــتْ عَ

 

/ʼintih riHit ʻa/

 

You went to (Masculine)

 

إِنْتِ رِحْـتي عَ

 

/ʼinti riHtee ʻa/

 

You went to (Feminine)

         
   
   

Examples:

 

إِنْتِه كَتَبِــتْ

 

/ʼintih katabit/

 

You wrote (Masculine)

 

إِنْتِ كَتَبْـتي

 

/ʼinti katabtee/

 

You wrote (Feminine)

     
   
   

Examples:

 

إِنْتِه قَريـتَ

 

/ʼintih ʼarait/

 

You read (Masculine)

 

إِنْتِ قَريـتي

 

/ʼinti ʼaraitee/

 

You read (Feminine)

     
   
   

Conjugating in third person (Masculine/ Singular):

 

هُوِّ

 

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

 

As in

 

هُوِّ دَرَسْ

 

/huwwih daras/

 

Means

 

He studied

     
   
   

Conjugating in third person (Feminine/Singular):

 

هِيِّ

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

 

As in

 

هِيِّ راحِــت

 

/hiyyih raaHit/

 

Means

 

She went

     
   
 

Examples:

 

هُوِّ كَتَبْ

 

/huwwih katab/

 

He wrote

 

هِيِّ كَتْبِـتْ

 

/hiyyih katbit/

 

She wrote

     
   
   

Examples:

 

هُوِّ راحْ عَ

 

/huwwih raaH ʻa/

 

He went to

 

هِيِّ راحِـتْ عَ

 

/hiyyih raaHit ʻa/

 

She went to

       
   
   

Examples:

 

هُوِّ قَرَا

 

/huwwih ʼaraa/

 

He read 

 

  هِيِّ قَرِتْ

 

/hiyyih ʼarit/

 

She read

       
   
   

In Arabic, the subject pronoun is frequently dropped.

 

The conjugated verb shows who the subject is

 

كَتَبـِتْ الرِّسالِة

 

Or

 

 

أَنا كَتَبـِـتْ الرِّسالِة

   
   
     

For more info regarding past tense in Arabic and how to learn Arabic online, you can download the Arabic learning app Kaleela to learn Arabic the right way.

   
Most Readed