Elementary Arabic Morphology 3
Active and Passive Verbs
What is the difference between active and passive verbs?
What is a passive verb formed from?
An active verb mentions its agent, as in بَرَیَ التِّلمیذُ قَلَماً. A passive verb erases its agent and places its objective compliment as its subject of the predication, as in بُرِيَ القَلَمُ.
A passive verb is formed from an active transitive verb. If it is in the preterite tense, the letter before the last letter is given a kasrah and the letters with vowel signs before it are given dummahs. For example: أُکِلَ. If the verb is in the aorist tense, the letter before the last letter is given a fathah and the aorist letter is given a dummah. For example: یُؤکَلُ.
If the letter before the last letter in the preterite tense is an alif, it will be changed to a yā' and the letter before it will be given a kasrah. For example: صِیمَ.
If the verb is a hollow verb in the aorist tense, the letter before the last is changed into an alif. For example: یُعادُ.