Weakness is an inherent property of a given verb determined by the particular consonants of the verb root (corresponding to a verb conjugation in Classical Latin and other European languages), with five main types of weakness and two or three subtypes of each type.Īrabic grammarians typically use the root ف-ع-ل f-ʿ-l to indicate the particular shape of any given element of a verbal paradigm. For each form, there is also an active and a passive participle (both adjectives, declined through the full paradigm of gender, number, case and state) and a verbal noun (declined for case also, when lexicalized, may be declined for number). Nineteen forms, the derivational systems indicating derivative concepts such as intensive, causative, reciprocal, reflexive, frequentative etc.Six moods in the non-past only ( indicative, subjunctive, jussive, imperative, and short and long energetics).Three tenses (present, past future tense is indicated by the prefix sa- or the particle sawfa and the present tense).Changes to the vowels in between the consonants, along with prefixes or suffixes, specify grammatical functions such as person, gender, number, tense, mood, and voice. The root communicates the basic meaning of the verb, e.g. أَفْعَال afʿāl), like the verbs in other Semitic languages, and the entire vocabulary in those languages, are based on a set of two to five (but usually three) consonants called a root ( triliteral or quadriliteral according to the number of consonants). JSTOR ( June 2012) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Īrabic verbs ( فِعْل fiʿl pl.Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This article needs additional citations for verification.

List of verbs and tenses