What Are the Components of the Verbal Sentence?
The verbal sentence in Arabic consists of two fundamental components: the verb and the subject (فاعل). When a verb appears in the sentence, it is accompanied by a subject. Additionally, there is a third element, which is the object (مفعول به), present in the verbal sentence if the verb is transitive; conversely, if the verb is intransitive, the object is absent. Examples include:
- Khalil went to work.
In this example, “went” is an intransitive verb, which does not have a direct object. We can further confirm this by placing a preposition, such as (إلى), after the subject.
- Majdi ate the food.
Here, the verb “ate” is transitive, taking “food” as its object.
Types of Verbs and Their Declensions
Verbs are categorized into three types based on the time frame to which they belong:
Past Tense (الفعل الماضي)
The past tense indicates that an action occurred in the past and has concluded, with no continuation into the present. The past tense verb is always fixed and is constructed as follows:
- A verb is built in the past tense on the open vowel if it is unconnected to a pronoun, as in the phrase: “He studied for the exam,” or if connected to the dual form (‘ألف الاثنين’), as in “They studied for the exam,” or connected to the feminine ending (‘تاء التأنيث الساكنة’), as in “Fatima studied.”
- A verb is built in the past tense on the closed vowel when connected to the collective pronoun ‘واو الجماعة’, for example, “They made themselves successful.”
- A past tense verb is built on a state of rest when connected to a pronoun, as in “We ate the food,” or connected to the ‘نون النسوة’ for female plural, “The women drank the coffee,” or connected to ‘نا المفعولية’, “My uncle visited us,” or connected to a moving ‘تاء’, “I said.”
Present Tense (الفعل المضارع)
The present tense shows an action happening currently or about to happen in the near future. This form of verb can undergo inflection in three situations:
- When not preceded by a negation or causation marker, it will be in its raised form, as in “He writes a literary novel.”
- When preceded by a negation marker, such as (أن، لن، إذن، حتى), it becomes in its accusative form, stating “We will not stop trying.”
- When preceded by a causation marker, such as (لم، لا الناهية، لام الأمر، لمّا), it becomes jussive, as in “I had never visited Aqaba.”
- A present tense verb remains fixed in a resting state when associated with the female plural pronoun, as in “They write,” and in an open form when associated with the emphasis pronoun, as in “They certainly write.”
Imperative Verb (فعل الأمر)
This type of verb indicates a command or request and is fixed in its resting form. The subject of this verb is an unstated pronoun understood in context. For instance, we say, “Do that,” where “Do” is an imperative verb built on a resting form, with the implied subject being ‘you’.
The Subject: Its Forms and Declension
The subject is the doer of the action. For example, in “The boy played,” the boy is the doer of the action. The subject is always in the raised form and can appear in three different forms:
Apparent Noun (اسم ظاهر)
In this case, the subject appears clearly and is raised with a vowel, as in “Fouad sold his car,” where Fouad is the seller and is in the nominative case.
Fouad: Subject raised with a mark of raising being the visible vowel on its last letter.
Connected Pronoun (ضمير متصل)
The subject can also be a pronoun that connects directly to the verb. These pronouns include:
- The moving ‘تاء’: “I won the competition.”
I won: A past verb fixed in resting form, connected to the moving ‘تاء.’, which is a connected pronoun fixed in its place as the subject.
- The ‘نون النسوة’: “They won the competition.”
They won: A past verb fixed in resting form, connected to the female plural pronoun, which is a connected pronoun fixed in its place as the subject.
- The ‘نا الفاعلية’: “We won the competition.”
We won: A past verb fixed in resting form, connected to ‘نا الفاعلية,’ which is a connected pronoun fixed in its place as the subject.
- The ‘ياء المخاطبة’: “Write your assignments.”
Write: An imperative verb built on the omission of the final vowel, connected to the ‘ياء المخاطبة,’ which is a connected pronoun fixed in its place as the subject.
Implicit Pronoun (ضمير مستتر)
The subject can also be an unstated pronoun, which is neither visible nor connected, and we will infer the subject based on the context of the sentence. For example:
- “I study diligently.”
I study: Present verb raised with the vowel, the subject being an implicit pronoun interpreted as ‘I.’
- “Strive in your work.”
Strive: An imperative verb fixed in resting form, the subject being an implicit pronoun interpreted as ‘you.’
- “He took his work seriously.”
He took: A past verb built on the open vowel, the subject being an implicit pronoun interpreted as ‘he.’
Object: Its Forms and Declension
The object is a noun in the accusative case upon which the verb acts. For instance, in “The girl ate her food,” the girl is the one performing the action, and the action of eating is directed toward the food. The object can take on several forms, including:
Apparent Noun (اسم ظاهر)
Here, the object is clearly visible in the sentence and is not directly connected to the verb, as in “The man drank coffee.” In this case, coffee is the apparent object and is diagnosed through various declensions:
- Open vowel, which is the primary case for the object, as in “My father helped the poor.”
The poor: Object in the accusative case marked by the open vowel on its last letter.
- Closed vowel, when the object is a feminine plural noun that ends with ‘أ’ and ‘ت’, as in “I saw the students.”
The students: Object in the accusative case diagnosed by the closed vowel replacing the open vowel for feminine plural nouns.
Connected Pronoun (ضمير متصل)
The object can also appear as a connected pronoun, just like the subject. When it does, it is fixed in its form. Examples of these connected pronouns include:
- The ‘h’: as in “I made him enter the contest.”
I made him: A past verb built on a resting form connected to the moving ‘تاء,’ with ‘h’ as a connected pronoun in the accusative case.
- The ‘k’: as in “The manager rewarded you for your effort.”
The manager rewarded you: A past verb built on the open vowel, with ‘k’ as a connected pronoun in the accusative case.
- The ‘نا المفعوليّة’: as in “My father took us to visit my grandfather.”
My father took us: A past verb built on the open vowel, with ‘us’ as a connected pronoun in the accusative case.
- The ‘ي’: as in “My father taught me how to swim.”
My father taught me: A past verb built on the open vowel, with ‘me’ being a connected pronoun fixed in the accusative case.
Exercises on the Components of the Verbal Sentence
Refer to the following table that outlines the components of the verbal sentence, their forms, and their declensions:
| Sentence | Verb | Time and Declension of the Verb | Subject | Form and Declension of the Subject | Object (if present) | Form and Declension of the Object |
| Mohamed divided the cake | divided | Past tense, built on the open vowel | Mohamed | Apparent noun raised with the vowel | the cake | Apparent noun in the accusative case marked by the open vowel |
| I wrote the lesson | wrote | Past tense, built on resting form | the ‘تاء’ in wrote | Connected pronoun raised with the vowel | the lesson | Apparent noun in the accusative case marked by the open vowel |
| I will visit you today | I will visit | Present tense raised with the vowel | Implicit pronoun | Implicit pronoun interpreted as ‘I’ | the ‘ك’ in I will visit you | Connected pronoun built upon the open vowel |
| Climb the ladder | Climb | Imperative form built on resting | Implicit pronoun | Implicit pronoun interpreted as ‘you’ | Not applicable, as the verb is intransitive | — |
| Take your brother to school | Take | Imperative form built on resting | Connected pronoun | ‘و’ in take | brother | Apparent noun in the accusative case marked by the open vowel |
| The manager honors me for my excellence | honors | Present tense raised with the vowel | the manager | Apparent noun raised with the vowel | the ‘ي’ in the honors me | Connected pronoun built upon resting vowel |