Form VI Verbs (تَفَاعَلَ) | Arabic Morphology (Ṣarf) Lesson 14

Arabic Morphology (Ṣarf) Lesson 14: Form VI Verbs (تَفَاعَلَ)

Welcome to Lesson 14! In this lesson, we'll explore Form VI of Arabic verbs—an important pattern that allows you to express mutual actions, participation, or deliberate effort between multiple parties.

Form VI: The Pattern

Base Patterns:

• Past Tense: تَفَاعَلَ
• Present Tense: يَتَفَاعَلُ
• Masdar (Verbal Noun): تَفَاعُلٌ

Example Root: ع-و-ن (to help)

• Form I: عَانَ = he helped
• Form VI: تَعَاوَنَ = they helped each other (mutual help)

Common Meanings of Form VI

Form VI often indicates:

• ✅ Mutual action (two or more people doing something to each other)
• ✅ Participation in a shared activity
• ✅ Deliberate effort or interaction
• ✅ Pretending (in some contexts)

Meaning Types with Examples:

Root	Form VI	Meaning	Type
ع-و-ن	تَعَاوَنَ	they cooperated	Mutual
ق-ت-ل	تَقَاتَلَ	they fought each other	Reciprocal
ن-ف-س	تَنَافَسَ	they competed	Mutual effort
ف-ه-م	تَفَاهَمَ	they understood each other	Participation
ج-م-ل	تَجَامَلَ	they exchanged courtesies	Social/mutual

📘 Form VI Past Tense Conjugation (تَفَاعَلَ)

Using تَعَاوَنَ (he cooperated):

Subject	Arabic	Transliteration
He	تَعَاوَنَ	taʿāwana
They (dual)	تَعَاوَنَا	taʿāwanā
They (pl. m)	تَعَاوَنُوا	taʿāwanū
She	تَعَاوَنَتْ	taʿāwanat
They (pl. f)	تَعَاوَنْ	taʿāwanna
You (m)	تَعَاوَنْتَ	taʿāwanta
You (f)	تَعَاوَنْتِ	taʿāwanti
I	تَعَاوَنْتُ	taʿāwantu
We	تَعَاوَنْا	taʿāwanā

📗 Form VI Present Tense Conjugation (يَتَفَاعَلُ)

Using يَتَعَاوَنُ (he cooperates):

Subject	Arabic	Transliteration
He	يَتَعَاوَنُ	yataʿāwanu
She	تَتَعَاوَنُ	tataʿāwanu
I	أَتَعَاوَنُ	ataʿāwanu
You (m)	تَتَعَاوَنُ	tataʿāwanu
You (f)	تَتَعَاوَنِينَ	tataʿāwanīna
We	نَتَعَاوَنُ	nataʿāwanu
They (pl. m)	يَتَعَاوَنُونَ	yataʿāwanūna
You (pl. m)	تَتَعَاوَنُونَ	tataʿāwanūna
They (pl. f)	يَتَعَاوَنْ	yataʿāwanna

📚 Masdar (Verbal Noun) of Form VI

Pattern: تَفَاعُلٌ

Verb	Masdar	Meaning
تَعَاوَنَ	تَعَاوُنٌ	cooperation
تَقَاتَلَ	تَقَاتُلٌ	mutual fighting
تَنَافَسَ	تَنَافُسٌ	competition
تَفَاهَمَ	تَفَاهُمٌ	mutual understanding
تَجَادَلَ	تَجَادُلٌ	argumentation / debate

💡 Note: These masdars are very common in academic and political contexts.

📝 Practice Activity

Conjugate the Form VI verb تَنَافَسَ (he competed) in the past and present:

Tense	Arabic	Transliteration
He (Past)	?	?
I (Past)	?	?
He (Present)	?	?
We (Present)	?	?

📝 Show Answers

Tense	Arabic	Transliteration
He (Past)	تَنَافَسَ	tanāfasa
I (Past)	تَنَافَسْتُ	tanāfastu
He (Present)	يَتَنَافَسُ	yatanāfasu
We (Present)	نَتَنَافَسُ	natanāfasu

Summary Table

Form	Pattern	Example	Meaning
Past	تَفَاعَلَ	تَعَاوَنَ	He cooperated
Present	يَتَفَاعَلُ	يَتَعَاوَنُ	He cooperates
Masdar	تَفَاعُلٌ	تَعَاوُنٌ	Cooperation

Conclusion

Form VI is especially useful in describing social, mutual, and interactive actions. It is used in many Qur'anic, legal, and everyday Arabic expressions. Mastering this form helps you better understand Arabic's depth and nuance.

🔜 Coming Up Next (Lesson 15):
We'll study Form VII (اِنْفَعَلَ)—often used to express the passive form of Form I.