Form IV Verbs (أَفْعَلَ) | Arabic Morphology (Ṣarf) Lesson 11

Arabic Morphology (Ṣarf) Lesson 11: Form IV Verbs (أَفْعَلَ)

Welcome to Lesson 11! Today we move on to Form IV (باب أَفْعَلَ), which is a quadriliteral (four-letter) verb form derived by adding a hamzah (أ) at the beginning of the Form I verb.

 

Form IV: The Pattern

Base Patterns:

• Past Tense: أَفْعَلَ
• Present Tense: يُفْعِلُ
• Masdar (Verbal Noun): إِفْعَالٌ

Example Root: د-خ-ل (to enter)

• Form I: دَخَلَ = he entered
• Form IV: أَدْخَلَ = he caused to enter (he made someone enter)

Common Meanings of Form IV

Form IV is often:

• ✅ Causative (causing someone to do the action)
• ✅ Transitive (making something happen to an object)
• ✅ Declarative (making a quality known or revealed)

Examples of Form IV Verbs

Root	Form I	Form IV	Meaning
د-خ-ل	دَخَلَ	أَدْخَلَ	to cause to enter
خ-ر-ج	خَرَجَ	أَخْرَجَ	to bring out
س-م-ع	سَمِعَ	أَسْمَعَ	to cause to hear
ك-ر-م	كَرُمَ	أَكْرَمَ	to honor
ب-د-أ	بَدَأَ	أَبْدَأَ	to begin / initiate
ع-ل-م	عَلِمَ	أَعْلَمَ	to inform / notify

Form IV Past Tense Conjugation (أَفْعَلَ)

Using أَدْخَلَ (he caused to enter):

Subject	Arabic	Transliteration
He	أَدْخَلَ	adkhala
They (dual)	أَدْخَلَا	adkhalā
They (pl. m)	أَدْخَلُوا	adkhalū
She	أَدْخَلَتْ	adkhalat
They (pl. f)	أَدْخَلْنَ	adkhalna
You (m)	أَدْخَلْتَ	adkhalta
You (f)	أَدْخَلْتِ	adkhalti
I	أَدْخَلْتُ	adkhaltu
We	أَدْخَلْنَا	adkhalnā

Form IV Present Tense Conjugation (يُفْعِلُ)

Using يُدْخِلُ (he causes to enter):

Subject	Arabic	Transliteration
He	يُدْخِلُ	yudkhilu
She	تُدْخِلُ	tudkhilu
I	أُدْخِلُ	udkhilu
You (m)	تُدْخِلُ	tudkhilu
You (f)	تُدْخِلِينَ	tudkhilīna
We	نُدْخِلُ	nudkhilu
They (dual)	يُدْخِلَانِ	yudkhilāni
You (pl. m)	تُدْخِلُونَ	tudkhilūna
They (pl. m)	يُدْخِلُونَ	yudkhilūna
They (pl. f)	يُدْخِلْنَ	yudkhilna

Masdar (Verbal Noun) of Form IV

Pattern: إِفْعَالٌ
Used to name the action or process.

Verb	Masdar	Meaning
أَدْخَلَ	إِدْخَالٌ	causing entry
أَخْرَجَ	إِخْرَاجٌ	expelling, taking out
أَكْرَمَ	إِكْرَامٌ	honoring
أَعْلَمَ	إِعْلَامٌ	informing
أَسْلَمَ	إِسْلَامٌ	submission, Islam

📌 Summary Table

Tense	Pattern	Example (Enter)
Past	أَفْعَلَ	أَدْخَلَ
Present	يُفْعِلُ	يُدْخِلُ
Masdar	إِفْعَالٌ	إِدْخَالٌ

✍️ Practice Activity

Fill in the table using the root س-م-ع (to hear):

Form	Arabic	Transliteration	Meaning
Form I Past	?	?	He heard
Form IV Past	?	?	He made (someone) hear
Form IV Present	?	?	He causes to hear
Masdar	?	?	Causing to hear

📝 Show Answers

Form	Arabic	Transliteration	Meaning
Form I Past	سَمِعَ	samiʿa	He heard
Form IV Past	أَسْمَعَ	asmaʿa	He made hear
Form IV Present	يُسْمِعُ	yusmiʿu	He causes to hear
Masdar	إِسْمَاعٌ	ismāʿ	Causing to hear

Conclusion

Form IV verbs allow you to express causative actions, often translating to "to make/do X." This is especially useful when you want to express formal or action-triggering verbs, commonly found in Quranic Arabic and classical texts.

🔜 Coming Up Next (Lesson 12):
We'll cover the passive voice and masdar variations of Form IV — essential for deep reading and understanding classical and modern Arabic.