1. Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2
الفعل الماضي
The Past-Tense Verb
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

2. The past-tense pattern
The selected pattern for the active voice past-tense in three-lettered verbs is: فَعَلَ
Each of the three base letters is vowelled with a َ e.g. نَصَرَ (he helped), جَلَسَ (he sat).
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

3. Suffixes for the past-tense verb
Recall that verb conjugation in Arabic is done with designated letters coming at the end of the verbs to reflect the three aspects; gender, plurality and person of the subject. This arrangement results in a table of 14 “seeghas”: six for the third person, three masculine and three feminine, six for the second person, and just two for the first person
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

4. Pronoun Suffixes for the Past Tense Conjugation #1
The first conjugation, singular masculine third person does not have a suffix. The pronoun for it i.e. ‘he’ is always implied - فَعَلَ
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

5. Conjugation Table (الفعل الماضي)
Person
Gender
Plurality
English Equivalent
Arabic
صيغه
3rd
Masculine
Singular He
فَعَلَ 1
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

6. Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2
Conjugation #2
For the dual, the suffix is an ا after the last base letter - فعلا
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

7. Conjugation Table (الفعل الماضي)
Person
Gender
Plurality
English Equivalent
Arabic
صيغه
3rd
Masculine
Singular He
فَعَلَ 1
Dual (2)
They (M2)
فعلا 2
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

8. Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2
Conjugation #3
For the plural masculine, it is a وْ with a ُ on the third base letter – فعلُوا
Note the ا after the وْ is silent and not pronounced.
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

9. Conjugation Table (الفعل الماضي)
Person
Gender
Plurality
English Equivalent
Arabic
صيغه
3rd
Masculine
Singular He
فَعَلَ 1
Dual (2)
They (M2)
فعلا 2
Plural (>2)
They (M>2)
فعلُوا 3
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

10. Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2
Conjugation #4
For the singular feminine third person, the ending is a تْ - فعلَتْ
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

11. Conjugation Table (الفعل الماضي)
Person
Gender
Plurality
English Equivalent
Arabic
صيغه
3rd
Masculine
Singular He
فَعَلَ 1
Dual (2)
They (M2)
فعلا 2
Plural (>2)
They (M>2)
فعلُوا 3
Feminine
She
فعلَتْ 4
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

12. Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2
Conjugation #5
For the dual feminine 3rd person, the suffix is a تا - فعلْتا
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

13. Conjugation Table (الفعل الماضي)
Person
Gender
Plurality
English Equivalent
Arabic
صيغه
3rd
Masculine
Singular He
فَعَلَ 1
Dual (2)
They (M2)
فعلا 2
Plural (>2)
They (M>2)
فعلُوا 3
Feminine
She
فعلَتْ 4
They (F2)
فعلَتا 5
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

14. Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2
Conjugation #6
From number six (3rd person feminine plural) onwards, something unique happens. The third base letter i.e. the ‘ ل position’ becomes sakin and remains this way until the end of the table. The suffix is added after the sukoon. For the third person feminine plural, the suffix is نَ - فعلْنَ
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

15. Conjugation Table (الفعل الماضي)
Person
Gender
Plurality
English Equivalent
Arabic
صيغه
3rd
Masculine
Singular He
فَعَلَ 1
Dual (2)
They (M2)
فعلا 2
Plural (>2)
They (M>2)
فعلُوا 3
Feminine
She
فعلَتْ 4
They (F2)
فعلَتا 5
They (F>2)
فعلْنَ 6
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

16. Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2
Conjugation #7
For singular masculine second person the suffix is a تَ - فعلَتَ
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

17. Conjugation Table (الفعل الماضي)
Person
Gender
Plurality
English Equivalent
Arabic
صيغه
3rd
Masculine
Singular He
فَعَلَ 1
Dual (2)
They (M2)
فعلا 2
Plural (>2)
They (M>2)
فعلُوا 3
Feminine
She
فعلَتْ 4
They (F2)
فعلَتا 5
They (F>2)
فعلْنَ 6
2nd
You (M)
فعلْتَ 7
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

18. Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2
Conjugation #8
For dual masculine second person the suffix is تُما - فعلْتُما
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

19. Conjugation Table (الفعل الماضي)
Person
Gender
Plurality
English Equivalent
Arabic
صيغه
3rd
Masculine
Singular He
فَعَلَ 1
Dual (2)
They (M2)
فعلا 2
Plural (>2)
They (M>2)
فعلُوا 3
Feminine
She
فعلَتْ 4
They (F2)
فعلَتا 5
They (F>2)
فعلْنَ 6
2nd
You (M)
فعلْتَ 7
You (M2)
فعلْتُما 8
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

20. Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2
Conjugation #9
For plural masculine second person the suffix is تُم - فعلْتُمْ
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

21. Conjugation Table (الفعل الماضي)
Person
Gender
Plurality
English Equivalent
Arabic
صيغه
3rd
Masculine
Singular He
فَعَلَ 1
Dual (2)
They (M2)
فعلا 2
Plural (>2)
They (M>2)
فعلُوا 3
Feminine
She
فعلَتْ 4
They (F2)
فعلَتا 5
They (F>2)
فعلْنَ 6
2nd
You (M)
فعلْتَ 7
You (M2)
فعلْتُما 8
You (M>2)
فعلْتُمْ 9
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

22. Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2
Conjugation #10
For singular feminine second person the suffix is تِ - فعلْتِ
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

23. Conjugation Table (الفعل الماضي)
Person
Gender
Plurality
English Equivalent
Arabic
صيغه
3rd
Masculine
Singular He
فَعَلَ 1
Dual (2)
They (M2)
فعلا 2
Plural (>2)
They (M>2)
فعلُوا 3
Feminine
She
فعلَتْ 4
They (F2)
فعلَتا 5
They (F>2)
فعلْنَ 6
2nd
You (M)
فعلْتَ 7
You (M2)
فعلْتُما 8
You (M>2)
فعلْتُمْ 9
You (F)
فعلْتِ 10
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

24. Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2
Conjugation #11 & #12
For dual feminine second person the suffix is تُما - فعلْتُما
For plural, تُنَّ - فعلْتُنَّ
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

25. Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2
Person
Gender
Plurality
English Equivalent
Arabic
صيغه
3rd
Masculine
Singular He
فَعَلَ 1
Dual (2)
They (M2)
فعلا 2
Plural (>2)
They (M>2)
فعلُوا 3
Feminine
She
فعلَتْ 4
They (F2)
فعلَتا 5
They (F>2)
فعلْنَ 6
2nd
You (M)
فعلْتَ 7
You (M2)
فعلْتُما 8
You (M>2)
فعلْتُمْ 9
You (F)
فعلْتِ 10
You (F2) 11
You (F>2)
فعلْتُنَّ 12
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

26. Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2
First Person: #13 & #14
For the singular first person, تُ - فعلْتُ
For the plural, نا - فعلْنا
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

27. فَعَلَ فعلا فعلَتْ فعلَتا فعلْنَ فعلْتَ فعلْتُما فعلْتُمْ فعلْتِ
Person
Gender
Plurality
English Equivalent
Arabic
صيغه
3rd
Masculine
Singular He
فَعَلَ 1
Dual (2)
They (M2)
فعلا 2
Plural (>2)
They (M>2)
فعلُوا 3
Feminine
She
فعلَتْ 4
They (F2)
فعلَتا 5
They (F>2)
فعلْنَ 6
2nd
You (M)
فعلْتَ 7
You (M2)
فعلْتُما 8
You (M>2)
فعلْتُمْ 9
You (F)
فعلْتِ 10
You (F2) 11
You (F>2)
فعلْتُنَّ 12
1st
Masculine and Feminine
I (M/F)
فعلْتُ 13
Plural (≥2)
We (M/F≥2)
فعلْنا 14
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

28. Passive Voice (مَجْهُول)
The pattern for the passive voice conjugation table is constructed from the active by:
a) Changing the vowelling of the second to last letter to ِ if it is not already ِ and
b) Changing the vowel of the ف position to ُ .
Recall in the passive voice the verb is directed towards the object and the subject is missing e.g. he was helped.
In the passive gardaan it’s the object whose three aspects are being reflected by the suffixes.
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

29. Negative Verbs (مَنفي)
By placing the particle ‘ ما ’ in front of both the active and passive voice patterns, the verbs become negative e.g. ما نَصَرَ (he did not help), ما نُصِرَ (he was not helped).
The suffixes for all of these past-tense tables are the same. By memorizing the first, then merely understanding the slight differences in the others, one will have covered four distinct conjugation tables:
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2

30. Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2
فَعَلَ: simple past-tense active positive ( ماضي مَعوُرف مُثْبَت )
ما فَعَلَ: simple past-tense passive positive (ماضي مَجْهُول مُثْبَت )
فُعِلَ: simple past-tense active negative ( ماضي مَعوُرف مَنفي )
ما فُعِلَ:simple past-tense passive negative (مَنفي مَجْهُول ماضي)
Shariah Program Online - Lesson 2