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17 The u-case caseful verb
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17.1 Introduction
So far, we have used the caseless verb. In this chapter we will study the u-case caseful verb. The caseful verb is called thus because it resembles the noun in that it has cases. The caseless verb, as we know, does not have any case.
17.2 Pattern for form 1
Using the root paradigm فعل, we have already seen that caseless verbs for form 1 occur in the patterns فَعَلَ faɛala, فَعِلَ faɛila, and فَعُلَ faɛula. The patterns for form 1 caseful verbs are يَفْعَلُ yafɛalu, يَفْعِلُ yafɛilu, and يَفْعُلُ yafɛulu.
Note that the caseful verb forms add an extraneous يَـ ya‑ to the beginning of the verb. This extra letter can change, as we will see soon, to the letters تَـ ta‑, نَـ na, or أَ ʾa‑ depending on the doer.
17.3 Vowel-mark on the middle root letter
We have seen that vowel on the middle root letter in a caseless verb can vary depending on the verb. So we can have,
- كَتَبَ kataba “he wrote”
- عَمِلَ ɛamila “he worked”
- كَبُرَ kabura “he became big”
Similarly, the vowel on the middle letter in an caseful verb can also vary depending on the verb. Generally, this will need to be looked up in a dictionary and memorized. But there are the following rules which limit the variation:
If the caseless verb has an fat·ḥah on the middle letter, the caseful verb’s middle letter can have either an fat·ḥah, kasrah, or an ḍammah, depending on the verb. For example,
- كَتَبَ يَكْتُبُ kataba yaktubu “he wrote, he writes”
- ذَهَبَ يَذْهَبُ d͡hahaba yad͡h·habu “he went, he goes”
- كَشَفَ يَكْشِفُ kas͡hafa yaks͡hifu “he uncovered, he uncovers”
If the caseless verb has an kasrah on the middle letter, the caseful verb’s middle letter will usually have an fat·ḥah. Rarely, for a few verbs, it may be an kasrah instead. For example,
- عَمِلَ يَعْمَلُ ɛamila yaɛmalu “he worked, he works”
- حَسِبَ يَحْسِبُ ḥasiba yaḥsibu “he deemed, he deems”
If the caseless verb has an ḍammah on the middle letter, the caseful verb’s middle letter shall have a ḍammah. For example,
- كَبُرَ يَكْبُرُ kabura yakburu “he grew big, he grows big”
It is possible for some caseful verbs to have more than option for the vowel mark on the middle letter. Both variants give the same meaning for the verb. For example, the caseless verb حَسِبَ ḥasiba “he deemed” has as its incomplete-verb both يَحْسِبُ yaḥsibu and يَحْسَبُ yaḥsabu.
17.4 Verb case
As you know, nouns in Arabic have a case that is determined by the function of the noun in the sentence. For example, consider the following sentence:
سَأَلَ ٱلْغُلَامُ ٱلرَّجُلَ عَنْ شَيْءٍ.
saʾala ‑lg͡hulāmu ‑rrajula ʾan s͡hayʾin.
“The boy asked the man about something.”
In the above sentence, ٱَلْغُلَامُ ʾalg͡hulāmu is the doer of the verb so it is in the u-case and this is indicated by the ḍammah on its final letter. ٱَلرَّجُلَ ʾarrujala is the direct doee of the verb so it is in the a-case and this is indicated by the fat·ḥah on its final letter. شَيْءٍ s͡hayʾin is directly preceded by a preposition so it is in the i-case and this is indicated by the tanwīned kasrah ◌ٍ on its final letter. The ending of the caseless verb سَأَلَ is not determined based on the function of the verb in the sentence, and therefore, it does not have any case. (Its ending can change depending on whether a pronoun is attached to it but this is not related to the function of the verb in the sentence and does not represent any case.)
As opposed to caseless verbs, which don’t have any case, caseful verbs do have a case which is determinined by the function of the verb in a sentence. Similar to nouns, the case of an caseful verb is indicated by the vowel mark or suffix at the end of the verb.
Caseful verbs have three cases, just like nouns. These cases are called:
- The u-case
- The a-case
- The ø-case
Two of the cases have their names in common with nouns: the u-case and the a-case. The the ø-case is named differently.
The ḍammah on the final letter of يَفُعَلُ yafɛalu indicates that it is in the u-case. We will study only the u-case of caseful verbs in this chapter. And we will study the a-case and ø-case in later chapters if Allāh wills.
17.5 With doer nouns
As with caseless verbs, doer nouns are placed after the verb in sentence word order. However, the gender of the doer noun affects the beginning of the caseful verb. If the doer noun is masculine, then the caseful verb shall begin with used is يَـ ya‑. And if the doer noun is feminine, then the caseful verb shall begin with تَـ ta‑. Examples:
يَكْتُبُ ٱلْغُلَامُ فِي كِتابِهِ.
yaktubu ‑lg͡hulāmu fī kitābihi
“The boy writes in his book.”
يَعْمَلُ ٱلرَّجُلَانِ فِي ٱلْمَدِينَةِ.
yaɛmalu ‑rrajulāni fi ‑lmadīnati.
“The mendual. work in the city.”
تَكْتُبُ ٱلْجَارِيَةُ فِي كِتابِهَا.
taktubu ‑ljāriyatu fī kitābihā.
“The girl writes in her book.”
تَعْمَلُ ٱلنِّسَاءُ فِي بُيُوتِهِنَّ.
taɛmalu ‑nnisāʾu fī buyūtihinna.
“The women work in their houses.”
17.6 With the direct doee
The direct doee (either as a noun or a pronoun) with caseful verbs work exactly as with caseless verbs.
يَسْأَلُ ٱلْغُلَامُ ٱلرَّجُلَ سُؤَالًا.
yasʾalu ‑lg͡hulāmu ‑rrajula suʾālan.
“The boy asks the man a question.”
يَسْأَلُهَا ٱلْغُلَامُ سُؤَالًا.
yasʾaluha ‑lg͡hulāmu suʾālan.
“The boy asks her a question.”
17.7 With doer pronouns
When we studied caseless verbs, we saw that doer pronouns are either visible or invisible. Visible doer pronouns are added to the end of the verb, modifying the end of the verb in the process.
The doer pronouns for caseful verbs are different from the doer pronouns for caseless verbs. Caseful verbs’ doer pronouns are also added to the end of the verb, but in addition to modifying the end of the verb, they modify the beginning of the verb as well. Futhermore, additional letters may be added after the doer pronoun to indicate the case of the verb.
We’ll show what all this means in the table below of verbs with doer pronouns. Caseless verbs are included as well so that you can contrast them with their caseful counterparts.
| Person | Caseless doer pronoun | Caseless verb with doer pronoun | Caseful verb doer pronoun | Caseful verb with doer pronoun in the u-case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| he | invisible | فَعَلَ faɛala | invisible | يَفْعَلُ yafɛalu |
| she | invisible | فَعَلَتْ faɛalat | invisible | تَفْعَلُ tafɛalu |
| you1,m | تَ ‑ta | فَعَلْتَ faɛalta | invisible | تَفْعَلُ tafɛalu |
| you1,f | تِ ‑ti | فَعَلْتِ faɛalti | ي ‑ī | تَفْعَلِينَ tafɛalīna |
| I | تُ tu | فَعَلْتُ faɛaltu | invisible | أَفْعَلُ ʾafɛalu |
| they2,m | ا ‑ā | فَعَلَا faɛalā | ا ‑ā | يَفْعَلَانِ yafɛalāni |
| they2,f | ا ‑ā | فَعَلَتَا faɛalatā | ا ‑ā | تَفْعَلَانِ tafɛalāni |
| you2 | تُمَا ‑tumā | فَعَلْتُمَا faɛaltumā | ا ‑ā | تَفْعَلَانِ tafɛalāni |
| they3+,m | و ‑ū | فَعَلُوا faɛalū | و ‑ū | يَفْعَلُونَ yafɛalūna |
| they3+,f | نَ ‑na | فَعَلْنَ faɛalna | نَ ‑na | يَفْعَلْنَ yafɛalna |
| you3+,m | تُمْ ‑tumā | فَعَلْتُمْ faɛaltum | و ‑ū | تَفْعَلُونَ tafɛalūna |
| you3+,f | تُنَّ ‑tunna | فَعَلْتُنَّ faɛaltunna | نَ na | تَفْعَلْنَ tafɛalna |
| we | نَا nā | فَعَلْنَا faɛalnā | invisible | نَفْعَلُ nafɛalu |
Note the following:
- The verb تَفْعَلُ is used both for “she” and “you2m” doers. Only context will be able to help us differentiate between the two.
- In caseful verbs which have invisible doer pronouns, the u-case of the verb is indicated by the ḍammah ◌ُ on the final letter of the verb.
- For caseful verbs that have ا, و, or ي as the doer pronoun, the u-case is indicated by an extraneous ن added to the end of the verb.
- And for the remaining caseful verbs whose doer pronoun is نَ, there is no indication of the case of the verb.
Here are some examples of the usage of the doer pronouns:
Remember that in Arabic, each verb must have it’s own doer, so when there are multiple verbs associated with the same doer, the first verb can be used with the doer noun and the rest with doer pronouns. This is the same behavior as with caseless verbs. For example:
يَجْلِسُ ٱلرِّجَالُ وَيَأْكُلُونَ وَيَشْرَبُونَ.
yajlisu ‑rrijālu wa yaʾkulūna wa yas͡hrabūna.
“The men sit and (they) eat and (they) drink.”
17.8 Future
The caseful verb is used to express both the present (habitual and progressive) and future tenses. Sometimes all meanings are meant in the same expression. And if only one of the meanings is intended, context can be sufficient to determine which is intended. So, for example,
يَذْهَبُ ٱلرَّجُلُ
yad͡h·habu ‑rrajulu.
can mean, either one, or even all, of:
“The man goes.” or
“The man is going.” or
“The man will go.”
Arabic does provide a mechanism for specifying that the use of an caseful verb is solely to intend a future action. This is by means of the particles سَـ sa‑ and سَوْفَ sawfa that can be placed before the verb. They provide a meaning of “will” or “will soon”. سَـ sa‑, being a single letter particle, is attached to the verb.
For example,
سَيَذْهَبُ ٱلرَّجُلُ
sayad͡h·habu ‑rrajulu.
and
سَوْفَ يَذْهَبُ ٱلرَّجُلُ
sawfa yad͡h·habu ‑rrajulu.
“The man will go.” or
“Soon the man will go.”
The difference in usage of سَـ sa‑ and سَوْفَ sawfa can be thought of as one of emphasis. سَوْفَ sawfa is more emphatic than سَـ sa‑. This emphasis can translate to more definiteness in the action or even that the action is farther in the future.
17.9 Negation
17.9.1 Negation using مَا mā
As with caseless verbs, caseful verbs too can be negated by placing the particle مَا before them. This negates the meaning of the verb usually for the present tense. For example,
مَا يَذْهَبُ ٱلرَّجُلُ
mā yad͡h·habu ‑rrajulu.
“The man does not go.” or,
“The man is not going.”
17.9.2 Negation using لَا lā {U-case-verb-negation-la}
In addition to مَا mā, caseful verbs can be negated using لَا lā in the same manner. In addition to negating the meaning of the verb for the present tense, it can also negate the meaning for the future tense.
لَا يَذْهَبُ ٱلرَّجُلُ
lā yad͡h·habu ‑rrajulu.
“The man does not go.” or,
“The man is not going.” or,
“The man will not go.”
The particles سَـ sa‑ and سَوْفَ sawfa may not be combined with مَا mā and لَا lā when negating verbs.
17.10 With قَدْ
TODO
When negating a caseful verb preceded by قَدْ there is some question about whether قَدْ is retained or dropped, but the stronger opinion seems to be that it may be kept, as proven by the following verse of poetry:
وَقَدْ لَا تَعْدَمُ الْحَسْنَاءُ ذَامًا
“And [it] may be [that] the beautiful female does not lack a defect.”
(ذَام means “defect”.)