In this post, I explain the difference between 2 verb forms: form II (فعَّلَ) and form V (تفعَّلَ). Form II is always transitive, i.e. it must take an object at all times, so the sentence in which a form II verb is used must have a subject and an object, e.g.
كسّر الولد الزجاج.
“The boy broke the glass.”
علّمني أبي القرآن.
“My father taught me the Qur’an.”
Form V is always intransitive, i.e. it never takes an object, so the sentence in which a form V verb is used has only a subject, e.g.
تكسّر الزجاج.
“The glass broke.”
تعلّمت القرآن.
“I learned the Qur’an.”
Form V verbs have a range of meanings implied in them; some verbs imply that the action is done by the subject, e.g.
تعلّم (learned) =
تكلّم = (spoke)
Some verbs imply that the action is spontaneous, e.g.
تكسّر = (broke)
تطوّر = (developed/evolved)
Some verbs imply that the subject is irrelevant or unknown, and in this case we translate it into passive in English, e.g.
تشرّف = (was honored)
تعزّز = (was strengthened)
7 Comments
sister! how many forms of verb are there in arabic?
Ahlan Othmaan,
There are 10 verb forms altogether. There is brief explanation about them in previous posts.
Salam, Aziza
I am confused here:
For verbs type II you say that they take an object,
OK, you give the example:
“The boy broke the glass”
For verbs type V tou say they do not take object and you give the example:
“I learned the Qur’an”
Both sentences have the same structure!
I think that the Qur’an here is also the object of my learning.
In this example, the sentence do not have only subject as you say for type V verbs,
Any view here?
Juan
Ahlan Juan,
You have the right to be confused because I did not make my explanation explicit enough. In fact, I am talking about 2 verbs of the same root, e.g.
كسّر is smashes, as broke something, while تكسّر is broke on its own.
Likewise, علّم is taught someone, while تعلّم is learned.
I hope this explains the matter to you.
Salam,
Aziza
Thank you Aziza for your explanations.
I think I got it, you are right.
Probably the key word here to understand is “reflexive”. On type V the action of the verv seems to be acted on the same person/object:
The glass broke on its own or
I learned (I taught to myself)
Thanks again, I like your posts.
Juan
syukran . i am very happy to have your web in my favorites. tq,
Shukran Iami,
I am glad you like the Arabic blog. Welcome at any time!
Salam,
Aziza