Form IV – Passive Voice & Masdar Variations | Arabic Morphology (Ṣarf) Lesson 12

Arabic Morphology (Ṣarf) Lesson 12: Form IV – Passive Voice & Masdar Variations

Welcome to Lesson 12! Now that you've learned how to conjugate Form IV verbs in the active voice, it's time to understand how they behave in the passive voice and explore variations of the verbal noun (masdar).

 

Part 1: Passive Voice in Form IV (المبني للمجهول)

✅ When to Use Passive Voice:

The passive voice is used when:

• The doer (فاعل) is unknown or unimportant.
• The focus is on the action itself or the object receiving it.

🔹 Past Passive Tense Pattern:

فُعِلَ → أُفْعِلَ

Verb (Active)	Verb (Passive)	Meaning
أَدْخَلَ (He caused to enter)	أُدْخِلَ	He was caused to enter
أَخْرَجَ (He brought out)	أُخْرِجَ	He was brought out
أَعْلَمَ (He informed)	أُعْلِمَ	He was informed
أَكْرَمَ (He honored)	أُكْرِمَ	He was honored

📝 Note the change:

• The first vowel becomes ḍammah (ُ) on the hamzah.
• The second radical gets a kasrah (ِ).

🔹 Present Passive Tense Pattern:

يُفْعِلُ → يُفْعَلُ

Verb (Active)	Verb (Passive)	Meaning
يُدْخِلُ (He causes to enter)	يُدْخَلُ	He is being caused to enter
يُكْرِمُ (He honors)	يُكْرَمُ	He is being honored
يُعْلِمُ (He informs)	يُعْلَمُ	He is being informed
يُخْرِجُ (He brings out)	يُخْرَجُ	He is being brought out

📝 Notice the pattern:

• The kasrah (ِ) under the second root letter in the active becomes a fatḥah (َ) in the passive.

Part 2: Masdar (Verbal Noun) Variations of Form IV

The standard masdar pattern is:

إِفْعَالٌ

However, there are alternative patterns or semantic shifts based on usage and root meaning.

🔹 Standard Examples

Verb	Masdar	Meaning
أَسْلَمَ	إِسْلَامٌ	submission (Islam)
أَكْرَمَ	إِكْرَامٌ	honoring
أَدْخَلَ	إِدْخَالٌ	bringing in
أَخْرَجَ	إِخْرَاجٌ	taking out

🔹 Special Cases with Slight Variants

Some Form IV masdars may shift vowels or appear with إِفْعَلَةٌ , depending on the root and context.

Verb	Masdar (Alt.)	Note
أَعَانَ (to assist)	إِعَانَةٌ	Commonly used with tāʾ marbūṭa
أَجَابَ (to answer)	إِجَابَةٌ	Also has tāʾ marbūṭa
أَقَامَ (to establish)	إِقَامَةٌ	As in "Iqāmah" (residence/establishing)

These variants usually relate to specific idiomatic or formal usage.

📚 Practice: Identify Active & Passive

Try converting the Form IV verbs below into their passive past and passive present forms.

Verb (Active)	Past Passive	Present Passive
أَعْلَمَ	?	?
أَكْرَمَ	?	?
أَخْرَجَ	?	?
أَسْلَمَ	?	?

📝 Show Answers

Verb (Active)	Past Passive	Present Passive
أَعْلَمَ	أُعْلِمَ	يُعْلَمُ
أَكْرَمَ	أُكْرِمَ	يُكْرَمُ
أَخْرَجَ	أُخْرِجَ	يُخْرَجُ
أَسْلَمَ	أُسْلِمَ	يُسْلَمُ

Summary Table

Form	Pattern	Example	Translation
Past Active	أَفْعَلَ	أَدْخَلَ	He caused to enter
Past Passive	أُفْعِلَ	أُدْخِلَ	He was caused to enter
Present Active	يُفْعِلُ	يُدْخِلُ	He causes to enter
Present Passive	يُفْعَلُ	يُدْخَلُ	He is being caused to enter
Masdar	إِفْعَالٌ	إِدْخَالٌ	Causing entry

Conclusion

With this lesson, you now:

• Understand the passive forms of Form IV in both tenses
• Recognize common and alternative masdar patterns
• Can apply this form to read and understand Quranic and Modern Standard Arabic more confidently

🔜 Coming Up Next (Lesson 13):
We'll move to Form V (تَفَعَّلَ) — the reflexive and intensive form of Form II!