Chapter 5.2: Grammar in Context—Active and Passive Participles

Grammar 1: Active Participle
اسم الفاعل

اسم الفاعل (active participle) is a noun derived from verbs. It describes the doer of the action, i.e., the person or thing performing the verb’s action. For example, in English, it corresponds to “the one who does” something, like “writer” (the one who writes) or “teacher” (the one who teaches). The English equivalent can sometimes be ending on “ing” or “er” such as laughing ضاحك or worker عامل.

Study the following examples and discover the patterns:

Rules

So far, you might have noticed two different patterns. Here are some rules to follow:

1. For Triliteral (Three-letter Root) Verbs

Examples: Verbs like كَتب , جلس or طبخ

• They follow the pattern فاعِل
• This means add “alif” after the first letter and “Kasra” under the second letter as in:
  • كاتِب → كَتب (writer)
  • طابِخ → طبخ (cook)
  • جالِس → جَلس (sitting)

2. For Verbs with More Than Three Letters

Examples: Verbs like تعلّم , شاهد or استخدم

• Begin by adding مُـ as a prefix then add “kasra” under the second to the last letter as in:
  • مُشاهِد → شاهد (viewer)
  • مُتعلِّم → تعلّم (leaner)
  • مُستخدِم → استخدم (user)

3. If The Verb Has a Middle Alif

Examples: Verbs like باع , نام or صام

• The middle alif is converted to hamza as in:
  •  نائم → نام (asleep)
  • بائع → باع (seller)
  • صائم → صام (fasting)

4. If The Verb Starts with Hamza

Examples: Verbs like أرسل , أسلم or أشرف

• The hamza is replaced by the usual prefixمُـ as in:
  •  مُسلِم → أسلم (muslim)
  • مُرسِل → أرسل (sender)
  • مُشرف → أشرف (supervisor)

Important: Please note that the active participle is treated as a noun or adjective, which means you will encounter it in masculine, feminine, singular, dual and plural forms. Examples: مهاجرون immigrant, لاعبون players, باحثة female researcher.

The active participle is very common in spoken Arabic:

1.  إنت رايح فين و راجِع إمتى؟
2.  هي لابسة فستان أحمر
3.  الطلاب ساكنين في الداون تاون
4.  أنا مش عارف المكتبة فين
5.  احنا مش فاهمين الدرس الجديد

For more insight on active participles, watch the following video.

Grammar 2: Passive Participle
اسم المفعول

اسم المفعول is a noun derived from verbs. It describes the receiver of the action, i.e., the person or thing upon which the action of the verb is performed. For example, in English, it is equivalent words ending in suffixes like “ee”, “en” or “ed” such as employee مُوظَّف , written مكتوب or used مُستخدَم .

Study the following examples and discover the patterns:

Rules

So far, you might have noticed two different patterns. Here are some rules to follow:

1. For Triliteral (Three-letter Root) Verbs

Examples: Verbs like كَتب , نشر or طبخ

• They follow the pattern مفعول
• This means add “م” as a prefix and “و” before the last letter:
  • مكتوب → كَتب (written)
  • مطبوخ → طبخ (cooked)
  • منشور → نشر (published)

2. For Verbs with More Than Three Letters

Examples: Verbs like رتّب , ترجم or استخدم

• Begin by adding مُـ as a prefix then add “Fat-Ha” over the second to the last letter as in:
  • مُترجَم → ترجم (translated)
  • مُرتَّب → رتّب (arranged)
  • مُستخدَم → استخدم (used)

3. If The Verb Starts with Hamza or Alif

Examples: Verbs like أرسل or اكتشف

• The hamza is replaced by the usual prefix مُـ as in:
  • مُرسَل → أرسل (sent)
  • مُكتشَف → اكتشف (discovered)

Important: Please note that the passive participle is treated as an adjective, which means you will encounter it in masculine, feminine, singular, dual and plural forms. Examples: معروفون known people, مُغلَقة closed.

For more insight into passive participles, watch the following video.