Morphology Lesson 7: Conjugating Form II Verbs (الفعل الثلاثي المزيد بحرف)

MyArabicClass May 19, 2025

Conjugating Form II Verbs (الفعل الثّلاثي المزيد بحرف)

Welcome back! In the last lesson, we introduced the 10 Derived Verb Forms in Arabic. Now, we’ll focus on one of the most useful and common forms: Form II (الفعل الثّلاثي المزيد بحرف).

Let’s get practical by learning how to conjugate Form II in both:

  • Past tense (الماضي)
  • Present tense (المضارع)

Form II Structure

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Form II is characterized by doubling the second root letter (shaddah):

فَعَّلَ

Past Tense

يُفَعِّلُ

Present Tense

Notice the shaddah (ـّ) on the second root letter in both tenses

Past Tense Conjugation (الماضي)

Subject Arabic Transliteration
He عَلَّمَ ʿallama
She عَلَّمَتْ ʿallamat
You (m) عَلَّمْتَ ʿallamta
You (f) عَلَّمْتِ ʿallamti
I عَلَّمْتُ ʿallamtu
We عَلَّمْنَا ʿallamnā

Pattern: The past tense follows فَعَّلَ with:

  • -a ending for "he" (عَلَّمَ)
  • -at for "she" (عَلَّمَتْ)
  • -tu for "I" (عَلَّمْتُ)
  • Similar to Form I but with doubled middle letter

Present Tense Conjugation (المضارع)

Subject Arabic Transliteration
He يُعَلِّمُ yuʿallimu
She تُعَلِّمُ tuʿallimu
You (m) تُعَلِّمُ tuʿallimu
You (f) تُعَلِّمِينَ tuʿallimīna
I أُعَلِّمُ uʿallimu
We نُعَلِّمُ nuʿallimu

Pattern: The present tense follows يُفَعِّلُ with:

  • يُ- prefix for "he" (يُعَلِّمُ)
  • تُ- prefix for "you" (تُعَلِّمُ)
  • أُ- prefix for "I" (أُعَلِّمُ)
  • Maintains the doubled middle letter throughout

Key Features of Form II

Causative Meaning

عَلِمَ (knew) → عَلَّمَ (caused to know = taught)

Intensive Action

كَسَرَ (broke) → كَسَّرَ (shattered)

Vowel Pattern:

  • Past: فَعَّلَ (a-a pattern)
  • Present: يُفَعِّلُ (u-a-i pattern)

Practice Conjugation

Conjugate these Form II verbs in both tenses:

دَرَّسَ
سَلَّمَ
فَتَّحَ

Mastered Form II Conjugation!

You can now use one of Arabic's most productive verb patterns.

Next lesson: Form II Verbal Noun & Passive Voice

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