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17 u-state incomplete-action verbs
17.1 Introduction
We had mentioned that there are approximately 10 commonly used verb forms. And we have already studied the completed-action verb for form 1. In this chapter we will study incomplete-action form 1 verbs. Incomplete-action verbs are used when the action of a verb is on-going at present or will occur in the future.
17.2 Pattern for form 1
Using the root paradigm «فعل», we have already seen that completed-action verbs for form 1 occur in the patterns فَعَلَ faɛala, فَعِلَ faɛila, and فَعُلَ faɛula. The patterns for form 1 incomplete-action verbs are يَفْعَلُ yafɛalu, يَفْعِلُ yafɛilu, and يَفْعُلُ yafɛulu.
Note that the incomplete-action 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 completed-action verb can vary depending on the verb. So we can have,
- کَتَبَ kataba “he wrote”
- عَمِلَ ɛamila “he worked”
- کَبُرَ kabura “he became big”
Similarly, the vowel on the middle letter in an incomplete-action 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 completed-action verb has an a-mark on the middle letter, the incomplete-action verb’s middle letter can have either an a-mark, i-mark, or an u-mark, depending on the verb. For example,
- کَتَبَ يَکْتُبُ kataba yaktubu “he wrote, he writes”
- ذَهَبَ يَذْهَبُ d͡hahaba yad͡h·habu “he went, he goes”
- کَشَفَ يَکْشِفُ kas͡hafa yaks͡hifu “he uncovered, he uncovers”
If the completed-action verb has an i-mark on the middle letter, the incomplete-action verb’s middle letter will usually have an a-mark. Rarely, for a few verbs, it may be an i-mark instead. For example,
- عَمِلَ يَعْمَلُ ɛamila yaɛmalu “he worked, he works”
- حَسِبَ يَحْسِبُ ḥasiba yaḥsibu “he deemed, he deems”
If the completed-action verb has an u-mark on the middle letter, the incomplete-action verb’s middle letter shall have a u-mark. For example,
- کَبُرَ يَکْبُرُ kabura yakburu “he grew big, he grows big”
It is possible for some incomplete-action 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 completed-action verb حَسِبَ ḥasiba “he deemed” has as its incomplete-verb both يَحْسِبُ yaḥsibu and يَحْسَبُ yaḥsabu.
17.4 Verb state
As you know, nouns in Arabic have a state 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-state and this is indicated by the u-mark on its final letter. ٱَلرَّجُلَ ʾarrujala is the direct doee of the verb so it is in the a-state and this is indicated by the a-mark on its final letter. شَيْءٍ s͡hayʾin is directly preceded by a preposition so it is in the i-state and this is indicated by the nūnated i-mark ◌ٍ on its final letter. The ending of the completed-action verb سَأَلَ is not determined based on the function of the verb in the sentence, and therefore, it does not have any state. (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 state.)
As opposed to completed-action verbs, which don’t have any state, incomplete-action verbs do have a state which is determinined by the function of the verb in a sentence. Similar to nouns, the state of an incomplete-action verb is indicated by the vowel mark or suffix at the end of the verb.
Incomplete action verbs have three states, just like nouns. These states are called:
- The u-state
- The a-state
- The ø-state
Two of the states have their names in common with nouns: the u-state and the a-state. The the ø-state (null-state) is named differently.
The u-mark on the final letter of يَفُعَلُ yafɛalu indicates that it is in the u-state. We will study only the u-state of incomplete-action verbs in this chapter. And we will study the a-state and ø-state in later chapters if Allāh wills.
17.5 With doer nouns
As with completed-action verbs, doer nouns are placed after the verb in sentence word order. However, the gender of the doer noun affects the beginning of the incomplete-action verb. If the doer noun is masculine, then the incomplete-action verb shall begin with used is يَـ ya-. And if the doer noun is feminine, then the incomplete-action verb shall begin with تَـ ta-. Examples:
يَکْتُبُ ٱلْغُلَامُ فِي کِتابِهِ.
yaktubu -lg͡hulāmu fī kitābihi
“The boy writes in his book.”
يَعْمَلُ ٱلرَّجُلَانِ فِي ٱلْمَدِينَةِ.
yaɛmalu -rrajulāni fi -lmadīnati.
“The mendual. work in the city.”
يَکْتُبُ ٱلْجَارِيَةُ فِي کِتابِهَا.
yaktubu -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 doee nouns and pronouns
Doee nouns and pronouns with incomplete-action verbs work exactly as with completed-action 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 completed-action 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 incomplete-action verbs are different from the doer pronouns for completed-action verbs. Incomplete-action 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 state of the verb.
We’ll show what all this means in the table below of verbs with doer pronouns. Completed-action verbs are included as well so that you can contrast them with their incomplete-action counterparts.
| Person | Completed-action doer pronoun | Completed-action verb with doer pronoun | Incomplete-action verb doer pronoun | Incomplete-action verb with doer pronoun in the u-state |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 incomplete action verbs which have invisible doer pronouns, the u-state of the verb is indicated by the u-mark ◌ُ on the final letter of the verb.
- For incomplete-action verbs that have ا, و, or ي as the doer pronoun, the u-state is indicated by an extraneous ن added to the end of the verb.
- And for the remaining incomplete action verbs whose doer pronoun is نَ, there is no indication of the state 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 completed-action verbs. For example:
يَجْلِسُ ٱلرِّجَالُ وَيَأْکُلُونَ وَيَشْرَبُونَ.
yajlisu -rrijālu wa yaʾkulūna wa yas͡hrabūna.
“The men sit and (they) eat and (they) drink.”
17.8 Future
The incomplete-action 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 incomplete-action 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 completed-action verbs, incomplete-action 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
In addition to مَا mā, incomplete-action 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.