Two core shapes — perfect and imperfect
The perfect (الماضي) describes completed, usually past, actions: كتب kataba 'he wrote'. The imperfect (المضارع) describes ongoing, habitual, or not-yet-completed actions: يكتب yaktubu 'he writes / is writing'. The imperfect is the perfect stem plus a prefix (and often a suffix).
| Form | Arabic | Transliteration | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| perfect — he | كَتَبَ | kataba | he wrote |
| imperfect — he | يَكْتُبُ | yaktubu | he writes / is writing |
| perfect — she | كَتَبَتْ | katabat | she wrote |
| imperfect — she | تَكْتُبُ | taktubu | she writes |
| perfect — I | كَتَبْتُ | katabtu | I wrote |
| imperfect — I | أَكْتُبُ | aktubu | I write |
Perfect changes its ending; imperfect changes its prefix. Unvowelled, the I- and she-forms of the past look identical (كتبت) — context decides. This conjugation table shows fully vowelled forms as the course's one labelled exception; everywhere else transliteration follows natural pause form.
The imperfect prefixes — four letters to learn
Only four prefix letters cover every imperfect conjugation: أ a- 'I', ت ta- 'you/she', ي ya- 'he/they', ن na- 'we'. Memorize them as أَتَيَنَ — they never change.
| Person | Prefix + stem | Example | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | a- + ktub | أكتب | aktubu — I write |
| you (m.) | ta- + ktub | تكتب | taktubu — you write |
| he | ya- + ktub | يكتب | yaktubu — he writes |
| we | na- + ktub | نكتب | naktubu — we write |
| they | ya- + ktub + ūn | يكتبون | yaktubūn — they write |
This grammar table shows full citation forms intentionally (labelled exception); elsewhere transliteration follows pause form.
Future — just add سوف or سـ
Future = سوف sawfa or the shorter prefix سـ sa- + imperfect: سوف أكتب / سأكتب 'I will write'. No new conjugations at all.
| Time | Arabic | Transliteration | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| past | كتبت | katabtu | I wrote |
| present | أكتب | aktubu | I write / am writing |
| future (سوف) | سوف أكتب | sawfa aktubu | I will write |
| future (سـ) | سأكتب | sa-aktubu | I'll write |
Full citation forms shown intentionally in this grammar table (labelled exception); phrase tables use pause form.
The high-frequency dozen
| Verb (past 3rd m.) | Transliteration | English |
|---|---|---|
| ذهب | dhahaba | to go |
| جاء | jāʾa | to come |
| أكل | akala | to eat |
| شرب | shariba | to drink |
| عمل | ʿamila | to work / do |
| قرأ | qaraʾa | to read |
| كتب | kataba | to write |
| قال | qāla | to say |
| أخذ | akhadha | to take |
| أراد | arāda | to want |
| عرف | ʿarafa | to know |
| رأى | raʾā | to see |
Learn each as past (3rd masc.) + its imperfect: ذهب → يذهب, أراد → يريد, رأى → يرى. Citation forms are shown in full in this grammar table (labelled exception); phrase tables use pause form.
Mini practice
Q1. يكتب is:
- he wrote
- he writes / is writing
- he will write only
- write! (command)
Answer: he writes / is writing
Q2. The imperfect prefixes are:
- أ ت ي ن
- ب ج د هـ
- س ش ص ض
- ك ل م ن
Answer: أ ت ي ن
Q3. سوف أكتب means:
- I wrote
- I am writing
- I will write
- I want to write
Answer: I will write
Q4. كتبت can mean:
- only 'I wrote'
- only 'she wrote'
- 'I wrote' or 'she wrote' — context decides
- 'they wrote'
Answer: 'I wrote' or 'she wrote' — context decides
Q5. أراد means:
- to eat
- to want
- to know
- to go
Answer: to want
