Form II faʿʿal | Arabic (Levantine) Grammar

Form II is recognized by a doubled middle radical: علّم ʿallam “teach,” رتّب rattab “arrange,” سكّر sakkar “close.” Causation and repeated or intensive action are important historical tendencies, but the pattern does not contribute one fixed translation. Many of the most frequent Form II verbs are simply the ordinary Lebanese word for an action.

For English speakers, the productive insight is often about participants: درس “study” makes the learner the subject, while درّس “teach” makes the teacher the subject. Even there, learn the actual verb frame; never manufacture a doubled stem because English happens to use make.

A focused principal-part paradigm

The verb علّم / بيعلّم “teach” displays the stable doubled consonant and the main stems learners need.

Part	Form	Romanization	Use
3ms perfect	علّم	ʿallam	he taught
1sg perfect	علّمت	ʿallamet	I taught
3ms b-imperfect	بيعلّم	byʿallem	he teaches / will teach in context
3ms bare imperfect	يعلّم	yʿallem	after رح, modals, and other licensors
2ms imperative	علّم	ʿallem	teach!
active noun/participle	معلّم	mʿallem	teacher, master; lexical social uses
common frame	علّم حدا يعمل شي	ʿallam ḥada yaʿmel shī	teach someone to do something

علمتني أمي اعمل قهوة عالنار.

ʿallamitne imme aʿmel ʾahwe ʿan-nār.

My mother taught me to make coffee on the stove. (informal; teacher subject, learner object)

بعلم ولاد زغار، وهالأسبوع عم بعلمهن يقروا.

bʿallem wlēd zghār, w-hal-osbūʿ ʿam bʿallemhon yiʾro.

I teach young children, and this week I'm teaching them to read. (habitual versus ongoing عم + b-imperfect)

The perfect has -a- around the doubled consonant, while the imperfect has a front vowel in the second syllable. Weak Form II verbs can depart from this strong-root outline, so principal parts still matter.

Causative pairs change who does what

Some Form I–II families transparently add a causer, teacher, or controller. The relation is useful only when both verbs are attested.

Form I	Form II	Valency change
درس / بيدرس daras / byidros, study	درّس / بيدرّس darras / bydarres, teach	learner subject → teacher subject
فهم / بيفهم fihim / byifham, understand	فهّم / بيفهّم fahham / byfahhem, make understand	adds informed person as object
وصل / بيوصل wiṣel / byūṣal, arrive	وصّل / بيوصّل waṣṣal / bywaṣṣel, deliver/drive	arriver subject → transported object

وصل رامي عالبيت عالعشرة.

wiṣel Rāme ʿal-bēt ʿal-ʿashra.

Rami arrived home at ten. (informal; intransitive Form I)

السواق وصل رامي عالبيت عالعشرة.

es-sawwāʾ waṣṣal Rāme ʿal-bēt ʿal-ʿashra.

The driver took Rami home at ten. (informal; transitive Form II)

فهمني شو قصدك، بلا ما تعصب.

fahhemne shū ʾaṣdak, bla ma taʿṣab.

Make me understand what you mean, without getting upset. (informal; Form II command with informed person)

The English translations “arrive/take” and “understand/explain” may look unrelated. The Arabic family makes the valency relation visible. The detailed principles are developed under derived valency.

💡

When Form II is causative, record roles rather than a vague label: وصّل حدا عمحل “take someone to a place,” فهّم حدا شغلة “make someone understand something.”

Repetition and affectedness are tendencies

Form II can present an action as distributed, repeated, or strongly affecting its object. Compare قطع “cut/cross” with قطّع “cut up,” or كسر “break” with كسّر “smash/break into pieces.” Context still decides the actual event.

قطع الخبزة بالنص، وبعدين قطع كل نص قطع زغيرة.

ʾaṭaʿ el-khobze bin-noṣṣ, w-baʿdēn ʾaṭṭaʿ kill noṣṣ ʾiṭaʿ zghīre.

He cut the loaf in half, then cut each half into small pieces. (informal; Form I bounded cut versus Form II distributed cutting)

كسرت لوح الشوكولا بالنص، وبعدين كسرت كل نص لقطع زغيرة.

kasart lawḥ esh-shōkōla bin-noṣṣ, w-baʿdēn kassaret kill noṣṣ la-ʾiṭaʿ zghīre.

I broke the chocolate bar in half, then broke each half into small pieces. (informal; Form I break versus distributed Form II breaking)

Do not translate every doubled verb with English really or repeatedly. سكّر is the ordinary spoken verb “close,” not automatically “slam tightly shut.” رتّب normally means “arrange/tidy,” without requiring repeated arranging.

💡

The doubled consonant identifies a stem; it is not spoken emphasis. سكّر remains Form II in a calm request, and raising your voice does not turn Form I كسر into كسّر.

Denominal and adjectival networks

Some Form II verbs relate transparently to a noun or adjective rather than to an everyday Form I verb. This is often called denominal or factitive derivation (academic).

صورت الورقة وبعتتلك الصورة.

ṣawwaret el-waraʾa w-baʿatetlak eṣ-ṣūra.

I photographed the paper and sent you the picture. (informal; صوّر in a صورة word family)

ملح الأكل شوي، بس ما تكتر.

malliḥ el-akel shwayy, bass ma tkatter.

Salt the food a little, but don't use too much. (informal; denominal command)

The relationship aids memory, but it does not prove unlimited productivity. A noun does not automatically license a new Form II verb. Verify that speakers actually use the verb, its vowels, and its normal object.

Fully lexical Form II verbs

Many high-frequency verbs must be learned directly: سكّر / بسكّر “close,” بلّش / ببلّش “start,” حضّر / بحضّر “prepare,” رتّب / برتّب “arrange.” Their shared doubled consonant identifies the form but does not predict the gloss.

حضرت القهوة وسكرت الغاز قبل ما اطلع.

ḥaḍḍaret el-ʾahwe w-sakkaret el-ghēz ʾabl ma iṭlaʿ.

I made the coffee and turned off the gas before leaving. (informal; two lexical Form II verbs)

رتبنا الموعد، بس بعدنا ما بلشنا الاجتماع.

rattabna l-mawʿed, bass baʿdna ma ballashna l-izhtimēʿ.

We arranged the appointment, but we still haven't started the meeting. (neutral spoken Lebanese)

Final-weak roots reshape the ending

Verbs such as سمّى / بيسمّي “name/call” are Form II because the middle radical remains doubled, but the final weak radical changes the surface ending.

سموا بنتن مايا عاسم ستها.

sammo binton Māya ʿa-sem sitta.

They named their daughter Maya after her grandmother. (informal; final-weak Form II perfect)

بيسمي كل ملف حسب تاريخه.

byisamme kill malaf ḥasab tērīkho.

He names each file according to its date. (neutral; final-weak b-imperfect)

Do not force سمّى into the sound-root ending of علّم. Form membership identifies a structural relationship, not identical surface conjugation across weak subclasses.

Affirmative and negative minimal pairs

فهمته الفكرة بمثال.

fahhamto l-fikra b-mithēl.

I made him understand the idea with an example. (affirmative perfect)

ما فهمته الفكرة من أول مرة.

ma fahhamto l-fikra min awwal marra.

I didn't make him understand the idea the first time. (negative perfect)

بدرس عربي بالجامعة.

bdarres ʿarabe bil-zhēmʿa.

I teach Arabic at the university. (affirmative habitual Form II)

ما بدرس بالصيف.

ma bdarres biṣ-ṣēf.

I don't teach in the summer. (negative habitual Form II)

Negation does not remove the doubled consonant or change the verb's frame. Current ongoing teaching uses course-baseline عم بدرّس; future or modal environments use bare درّس / يدرّس as licensed.

A dialogue about teaching and learning

مين علمك تعمل هالقهوة الطيبة؟

mīn ʿallamak taʿmel hal-ʾahwe ṭ-ṭayybe?

Rana: Who taught you to make this good coffee? (informal; Form II with learner object)

تعلمت لحالي، بس خيي فهمني كيف زبط النار.

tʿallamet la-ḥāle, bass khayye fahhamne kīf zabbeṭ en-nār.

Sami: I learned by myself, but my brother explained how to adjust the heat. (Form V acquisition versus Form II causative)

وهلق بتعلم حدا تاني؟

w-hallaʾ btʿallem ḥada tēne?

Rana: And now do you teach someone else? (habitual Form II question)

إيه، عم بعلم رفيقي كل جمعة.

ē, ʿam bʿallem rfīʾe kill zhomʿa.

Sami: Yes, I'm teaching my friend every Friday. (ongoing course-baseline عم + b-imperfect)

Common Mistakes

Treating the doubled consonant as mere emphasis

❌ علمته يعني بس شرحتله الفكرة بقوة.

Incorrect — Form II is not created by saying a related action more forcefully; علّم changes the participant frame to ‘teach.’

✅ درست عربي وبعدين درست طلاب مبتدئين.

daraset ʿarabe w-baʿdēn darraset ṭollēb mobtadʾīn.

I studied Arabic and then taught beginning students. (Form I versus Form II)

Dropping the learner object

❌ علمت يكتب اسمه.

Incomplete for the intended ‘I taught him’ — the learner must be expressed or clearly recoverable.

✅ علمته يكتب اسمه.

ʿallamto yiktob ismo.

I taught him to write his name. (learner object ـه)

Assuming every Form II is causative

❌ سكر يعني عمل حدا يسكر.

Incorrect — سكّر is the ordinary Lebanese lexical verb ‘close.’

✅ سكر الباب قبل ما فل.

sakkar el-bēb ʾabl ma fill.

He closed the door before leaving. (lexical Form II)

Inventing a doubled verb from any noun

❌ كل اسم بقدر حوله لفعل عالوزن التاني.

Incorrect — denominal patterns license attested words, not unlimited inventions.

✅ بتأكد من الفعل وإطاره قبل ما استعمله.

btaʾakkad min el-fiʿel w-iṭāro ʾabl ma staʿmelo.

I check the verb and its frame before I use it. (neutral learning strategy)

Regularizing a final-weak Form II verb

❌ هو سممها مايا.

Incorrect for ‘he named her Maya’ — سمّى is final-weak and does not use the sound ending of علّم.

✅ هو سماها مايا.

huwwe sammēha Māya.

He named her Maya. (informal; final-weak Form II with object suffix)

Key Takeaways

Form II doubles the middle radical. It often adds a causer, teacher, or controller; it can also distribute an action, build an attested verb from a nominal family, or carry a fully lexical meaning such as سكّر and بلّش. Store a verified perfect–b-imperfect pair, the participant frame, and any weak-stem behavior. Pattern tendencies explain relationships after the verb is known; they do not generate a trustworthy Lebanese verb by themselves.

Now practice Arabic

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Arabic →