Past Tense

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A verb in past tense in Arabic refers to an action that already happened and finished

 

أَنا كَتَبْــتْ رِسالَة

 

/ʼanaa katabt risaalah/

 

Means

 

I wrote a letter

 
 

 

Conjugating 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

 

تْ

 

should be added at the end of the verb

 

As in

 

أَنا عَمَلــتْ

 

/ʼanaa ʻamalt/

 

Means

 

I did

 
 
   

Conjugating in first person (Plural)

 

اِحْنا

 

should be followed by the verb and then the suffix

 

نا

 

should be added at the end of the verb

 

As in

 

اِحْنا عَمَلـْـنا

 

/iHnaa ʻamlnaa/

 

Means

 

We did

 
 
   

Examples:

 

أَنا رُحْــتْ

 

/ʼanaa ruHt/

 

I went

 

اِحْنا  رُحْــنا

 

/iHnaa ruHnaa/

 

We went

 
 
 

Examples:

 

أَنا قَريــتْ

 

/ʼanaa ʼareet/

 

I read

 

اِحْنا  قَريــنا

 

/iHnaa ʼareenaa/

 

We read

 
 
 

Examples:

 

أَنا كَتَبْــتْ

 

/ʼanaa katabt/

 

I wrote

 

اِحْنا كَتَبْــنا

 

/iHnaa katabnaa/

 

We wrote

 
 
 

كِتابْ

 

/kitaab/

 

Means

 

Book

     
 

 

رِسالَة

 

/risaalah/

 

Means

 

Letter/ Text

   
 

 

اِمْبارِح

 

/imbaariH/

 

Means

 

Yesterday

 

Adverbs can be placed at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of the sentence

 
 
   

اللي فات

 

/illee faat/

 

Means

 

Last/ Previous

 

اللي فاتِتْ

 

/illee faatit/

 

For feminine nouns

 
 

 

Conjugating in second person (Masculine/ Singular):

 

إِنْتَ

 

should be followed by the verb and then the suffix

 

تْ

 

should be added at the end of the verb

 

As in

 

إِنْتَ رُحْــتْ

 

/ʼinta ruHt/

 

Means

 

You went (Masculine)

 
 
   

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  رُحْتــي

 

/ʼinti ruHtee/

 

Means

 

You went (Feminine)

 
 
   

Examples:

 

إِنْتَ رُحْــتْ

 

/ʼinta ruHit/

 

You went (Masculine)

 

إِنْتِ رُحْتــي

 

/ʼinti ruHtee/

 

You went (Feminine)

 
 
   

Examples:

 

إِنْتَ كَتَبْــتْ

 

/ʼinta katabt/

 

You wrote (Masculine)

 

إِنْتِ كَتَبْــتي

 

/ʼinti katabtee/

 

You wrote (Feminine)

 
 
   

Examples:

 

إِنْتَ قَريــتْ

 

/ʼinta ʼareet/

 

You read (Masculine)

 

إِنْتِ قَريتــي

 

/ʼinti ʼareetee/

 

You read (Feminine)

 
 
   

Conjugating in third person (Masculine/ Singular):

 

هُوَّ

 

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

 

As in

 

هُوَّ زاكِر

 

/huwwah zaakir/

 

Means

 

He studied

 
 

 

Conjugating in third person (Feminine/ Singular):

 

هِيَّ 

 

should be followed by the verb and then the suffix

 

تْ

 

should be added at the end of the verb

 

As in

هِيَّ راحِــتْ

 

/hiyyah raaHit/

 

Means

 

She went

 
 

 

Examples:

 

هُوَّ كَتَبْ

 

‎

/huwwah katab/

 

He wrote

 

هِيَّ كَتَبِــتْ

 

/hiyyah katabit/

 

She wrote

 
 
   

Examples:

 

هُوَّ راحْ

 

/huwwah raaH/

 

He went 

 

هِيَّ راحِــتْ

 

/hiyyah raaHit/

 

She went

 
 

 

Examples:

 

هُوَّ قَرَا

 

/huwwah ʼaraa/

 

He read 

 

هِيَّ قَرِتْ

 

/hiyyah ʼarit/

 

She read

 
 

 

In Arabic, the subject pronoun is frequently dropped. The conjugated verb shows who the subject is

 

كَتَبْــتْ الرِّسالَة

 

Or

 

أَنا كَتَبْــتْ الرِّسالَة

 
    For more info regarding the verbs check Arabic verbs and you can also download the Arabic learning app Kaleela to learn Arabic the right way.    
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