Elementary Arabic Morphology 2

The Aorist Tense

  1. What is an aorist tense verb?

  2. How is an aorist tense verb formed?

  3. How many aorist tense letters are there?

  4. When does the aorist tense letter have dummah?

  5. When does the aorist tense letter have a fathah?

  6. Is the form of a triliteral preterite tense verb changed if an aorist letter is added to it?

  7. What happens if an aorist letter is added to a preterite tense verb with more than three letters?

  8. Is an aorist tense verb indeclinable?

  9. The aorist tense is a verb that indicates a state or action that is happening in the present or will happen in the future. For example یَکُونُ (he is) and یَتَکَلَّمُ (he speaks to).

  10. The aorist tense verb is formed from the preterite tense verb. An aorist letter is added to the beginning of the preterite tense verb.

  11. There are four aorist tense letters: ا ن ﻱ ت For example أتَکَلَّمُ(I am speaking to) نَتَکَلَّمُ (we are speaking to) یَتَکَلَّمُ (he is speaking to) تَتَکَلَّمُ (she is speaking to).

  12. The aorist tense letter has a dummah if it is added to a preterite tense verb with four letters. For example زَلزَلَ becomes یُزَلزَلُ (its shaking) or أکرَمَ becomes یُکرِمُ (he is honoring).

  13. The aorist tense letter has a fathah if it is added to a preterite tense verb with three, five or six letters. For example ضَرَبَ becomes یَضرِبُ (he is hitting) or اِنطَلَقَ becomes یَنطَلِقُ (he is setting free).

  14. If an aorist tense letter is added to a preterite tense triliteral verb:

• the first root letter is given a sakūn, for example: یَضرِبُ (he hits)

• there is no rule for the second root letter, for example: یَعلَمُ (he knows) یَنصُرُ (he helps) یَضرِبُ (he hits)

  1. If an aorist letter is added to a preterite tense with more than three letters:

• The letter before the last is always given a kasrah, for example: یُدَحرِجُ (he rolls)

• The letters before the last letter are given a fathah if the beginning of the preterite tense verb was tā', for example: تَدَحرَجَ becomes یَتَدَحرَجُ (he rolls down).

  1. The last letter of an aorist tense verb is declinable, which means it changes. It is nominative, subjunctive or jussive due to different situations. For example: یَضرِبُ (he hits) and لَن یَضرِبَ (he will never hit) and لَم یَنطَلَق (he has not been set free). The last letter of an aorist tense verb is indeclinable in some cases. [^1]

[^1]: Refer to question number 237