Verbs

Arabic verbs work on a fundamentally different system from European languages. Instead of having fixed verbs that conjugate, Arabic uses three-letter roots (consonant patterns) that carry core meanings, combined with vowel patterns that add grammatical information. Once you understand this root system, vocabulary acquisition accelerates dramatically — seeing a root, you can often deduce related words.

The root system

This is the key insight for learning Arabic vocabulary: almost every word derives from a three-consonant root that carries a core meaning. Different vowel patterns (templates) create verbs, nouns, adjectives, and other forms from the same root. Here's how one root generates an entire family of related words:

Root: ك-ت-ب (k-t-b) = concept of "writing"

• كَتَبَ (kataba) — he wrote
• يَكتُب (yaktub) — he writes
• كتاب (kitāb) — book
• كاتب (kātib) — writer
• مكتوب (maktūb) — written
• مكتبة (maktaba) — library

Past tense (الماضي)

The past tense is considered the base form in Arabic — dictionaries list verbs in their past tense "he" form. Unlike European languages that add endings, Arabic adds suffixes (and sometimes changes vowels) to indicate person, gender, and number. The "he" form is the simplest, and other forms add to it:

Person	Arabic	Transliteration
he	كَتَبَ	kataba
she	كَتَبَتْ	katabat
you (m)	كَتَبْتَ	katabta
you (f)	كَتَبْتِ	katabti
I	كَتَبْتُ	katabtu
they (m)	كَتَبوا	katabū
we	كَتَبْنا	katabnā

Present tense (المضارع)

The present/imperfect tense uses prefixes (and sometimes suffixes) rather than just suffixes. The prefix indicates the person (I, you, he, she, etc.), while the suffix can indicate gender and number. This tense covers both present ("he writes") and habitual/future actions ("he will write") depending on context:

Person	Arabic	Transliteration
he	يَكتُب	yaktub
she	تَكتُب	taktub
you (m)	تَكتُب	taktub
you (f)	تَكتُبين	taktubīn
I	أَكتُب	aktub
they (m)	يَكتُبون	yaktubūn
we	نَكتُب	naktub

Common verbs

These are the verbs you'll use most often. Notice how the three-letter root is visible in both the past and present forms. The pattern of vowels changes, but the consonants remain constant:

Root	Past (he)	Present (he)	Meaning
ذ-ه-ب	ذَهَبَ	يَذهَب	go
أ-ك-ل	أَكَلَ	يَأكُل	eat
ش-ر-ب	شَرِبَ	يَشرَب	drink
ن-ظ-ر	نَظَرَ	يَنظُر	look
ف-ه-م	فَهِمَ	يَفهَم	understand
ع-ر-ف	عَرَفَ	يَعرِف	know
ق-ر-أ	قَرَأَ	يَقرَأ	read
ك-ل-م	تَكَلَّمَ	يَتَكَلَّم	speak

Negation

Arabic uses different negation particles depending on the tense. This is more complex than English's simple "not", but each particle has a specific function. Learning which particle goes with which tense is essential:

Tense	Negation	Example
Past	ما + past	ما كَتَبَ (he didn't write)
Present	لا + present	لا يَكتُب (he doesn't write)
Future	لن + present	لن يَكتُب (he won't write)

Future

There's no separate future tense conjugation in Arabic. Instead, you add the particle سَـ (sa-) or سوف (sawfa) before the present tense verb. سَـ attaches as a prefix and indicates near future; سوف is a separate word and can indicate more distant future, though in practice they're often interchangeable:

• سَيَكتُب (sayaktub) — he will write
• سوف يذهب (sawfa yadhhab) — he will go

Verb patterns (الأوزان)

Beyond the basic Form I verbs shown above, Arabic has 10+ derived verb patterns (called "forms" or "awzān"). Each pattern modifies the meaning in predictable ways: Form II often intensifies or makes causative, Form V is the reflexive of Form II, Form VI indicates mutual action, and so on. This is an advanced topic, but recognising that patterns exist helps you understand how Arabic generates vocabulary:

Pattern	Meaning change	Example
Form II	Intensive/causative	عَلَّمَ (teach, from "know")
Form V	Reflexive of II	تَعَلَّمَ (learn)
Form VI	Mutual action	تَكَاتَبَ (correspond)

---

Next: Numbers →