English keeps you write and they write unchanged across environments such as you write, you will not write, and do not write. English-speaking learners therefore preserve the complete Arabic imperfect after every particle. In formal contemporary Modern Standard Arabic (formal), five agreement shapes instead use final ن as a mood marker: it remains in the indicative and disappears in both the subjunctive and the jussive.
The five shapes are تفعلان، يفعلان، تفعلون، يفعلون، تفعلين. They express dual, masculine/mixed plural, and feminine-singular-addressee agreement. They are not five vocabulary items. The reusable repair is: identify the agreement cell, identify the governor, then decide whether the mood nūn survives.
The five-verbs reference gives the complete paradigm; here the emphasis is recognizing exactly which nūn an editor may delete.
What the nūn means—and what remains without it
Using كتب / يكتب “write” as a model:
| Subject value | Indicative | Subjunctive/jussive shape | What survives |
|---|---|---|---|
| you two; they two feminine | تكتبانِ | تكتبا | dual ا |
| they two masculine/mixed | يكتبانِ | يكتبا | dual ا |
| you masculine/mixed plural | تكتبونَ | تكتبوا | plural وا; separator alif is silent |
| they masculine/mixed plural | يكتبونَ | يكتبوا | plural وا |
| you feminine singular | تكتبينَ | تكتبي | feminine-singular ي |
Deletion removes only mood ن. It does not erase the agreement material before it. That is why تكتبي still addresses one woman, تكتبا still denotes a dual, and تكتبوا still addresses a masculine or mixed group.
Indicative: keep nūn when nothing governs mood
An ordinary main-clause imperfect is indicative and retains ن. So do questions, future سـ/سوف, and non-governing negative لا.
الباحثان يراجعان البيانات كل صباح.
al-bāḥithāni yurājiʿāni l-bayānāti kulla ṣabāḥ.
The two researchers review the data every morning.
❌ الباحثان يراجعا البيانات كل صباح.
Incorrect — no subjunctive or jussive governor licenses deletion of nūn.
✅ الباحثان يراجعان القياسات قبل كل تجربة.
al-bāḥithāni yurājiʿāni l-qiyāsāti qabla kulli tajriba(h).
The two researchers check the measurements before every experiment.
The first minimal contrast distinguishes two kinds of لا:
أنت لا تستخدمين الحساب الشخصي في العمل.
ʾanti lā tastakhdimīna l-ḥisāba sh-shakhṣiyya fī l-ʿamal.
You do not use the personal account at work. (One woman; statement.)
لا تستخدمي كلمة المرور القديمة.
lā tastakhdimī kalimata l-murūri l-qadīma(h).
Do not use the old password. (One woman; prohibition.)
Negative لا merely negates an indicative statement, so تستخدمين keeps nūn. Prohibitive لا governs the jussive, so تستخدمي loses it. English do not can represent both a statement and a command; Arabic clause type decides.
Subjunctive governors: delete nūn
After productive subjunctive governors such as أنْ، لن، كي, the five verbs are marked by حذف النون, deletion of nūn.
❌ يريد الطبيبان أن يراجعان نتائج الفحص.
Incorrect — أن governs subjunctive dual يراجعا, so mood nūn cannot remain.
✅ يريد الطبيبان أن يراجعا نتائج الفحص معا.
yurīdu ṭ-ṭabībāni ʾan yurājiʿā natāʾija l-faḥṣi maʿan.
The two doctors want to review the test results together.
Main يريد is singular because it precedes an overt dual subject. Embedded يراجعا carries the understood dual subject and loses nūn after أن. Mood and word-order agreement are separate decisions.
❌ الموظفون لن يرسلون البيانات قبل تشفيرها.
Incorrect — لن governs the subjunctive, so masculine-plural يرسلون loses mood nūn.
✅ الموظفون لن يرسلوا البيانات قبل تشفيرها بالكامل.
al-muwaẓẓafūna lan yursilū l-bayānāti qabla tashfīrihā bi-l-kāmil.
The employees will not send the data before encrypting it completely.
❌ حضرت المتدربتان مبكرا كي تجلسان في الصف الأول.
Incorrect — purpose كي governs subjunctive تجلسا, not indicative تجلسان.
✅ حضرت المتدربتان مبكرا كي تجلسا في الصف الأول.
ḥaḍarati l-mutadarribatāni mubakkiran kay tajlisā fī ṣ-ṣaffi l-ʾawwal.
The two trainees arrived early so that they could sit in the front row. (Both female.)
Jussive governors: delete the same nūn
After لم, prohibitive لا, command لـ, and directly governing conditional particles, the five verbs are jussive and again lose nūn. The nūn-less form itself does not tell you which mood it is: the governor does.
❌ المتقدمتان لم ترفعان الوثائق قبل إغلاق البوابة.
Incorrect — لم governs jussive ترفعا, with nūn deleted.
✅ المتقدمتان لم ترفعا الوثائق قبل إغلاق البوابة.
al-mutaqaddimatāni lam tarfaʿā l-wathāʾiqa qabla ʾighlāqi l-bawwāba(h).
The two applicants did not upload the documents before the portal closed. (Both female.)
❌ لا تضعون الصناديق أمام باب الطوارئ.
Incorrect as a prohibition — jussive تضعوا must lose nūn.
✅ لا تضعوا الصناديق أمام باب الطوارئ أبدا.
lā taḍaʿū ṣ-ṣanādīqa ʾamāma bābi ṭ-ṭawāriʾi ʾabadan.
Never put the boxes in front of the emergency exit. (Addressed to men or a mixed group.)
❌ إن تراجعون الأرقام تكتشفون الخطأ بسرعة.
Incorrect — directly conditional masculine-plural verbs delete mood nūn in both clauses.
✅ إن تراجعوا الأرقام تكتشفوا الخطأ قبل النشر.
ʾin turājiʿū l-ʾarqāma taktashifū l-khaṭaʾa qabla n-nashr.
If you review the figures, you will discover the error before publication. (Addressed to a group.)
The second minimal contrast holds agreement constant and changes only the governor:
المحررون يراجعون الأسماء الآن.
al-muḥarrirūna yurājiʿūna l-ʾasmāʾa l-ʾān.
The editors are checking the names now. (Indicative: nūn retained.)
المحررون لن يراجعوا الأسماء مرة أخرى.
al-muḥarrirūna lan yurājiʿū l-ʾasmāʾa marratan ʾukhrā.
The editors will not check the names again. (Subjunctive: nūn deleted.)
Object clitics attach after the mood decision
An attached object can hide the diagnostic boundary. Build the verb without the object first, apply mood, then attach the clitic:
| Meaning | Without object | With ـه “it/him” |
|---|---|---|
| you all send (indicative) | ترسلون | ترسلونه |
| you all will not send (subjunctive) | لن ترسلوا | لن ترسلوه |
| you two did not write (jussive) | لم تكتبا | لم تكتباه |
| you (f.sg.) do not ignore (jussive) | لا تهملي | لا تهمليه |
❌ أنتم لن ترسلونه قبل أن يراجعه المدير.
Incorrect — the object suffix does not protect mood nūn after لن; use ترسلوه.
✅ أنتم لن ترسلوه قبل أن يراجعه المدير بنفسه.
ʾantum lan tursilūhu qabla ʾan yurājiʿahu l-mudīru bi-nafsih.
You will not send it before the director reviews it himself. (Addressed to men or a mixed group.)
❌ الطالبتان لم تكتبانه في النسخة الأخيرة.
Incorrect — dual mood nūn disappears before object ـه after لم: تكتباه.
✅ الطالبتان لم تكتباه في النسخة الأخيرة من التقرير.
aṭ-ṭālibatāni lam taktubāhu fī n-nuskhati l-ʾakhīrati mina t-taqrīr.
The two students did not write it in the final version of the report. (Both female.)
The object suffix remains; only the mood nūn disappears. Conversely, an indicative such as هم يراجعونه “they review it” retains nūn before ـه.
The legitimate lookalike: nūn al-niswa stays
Feminine-plural imperfects such as يكتبنَ، يرسلنَ، يراجعنَ are not among the five verbs. Their nūn identifies the feminine-plural subject and remains in all moods.
❌ الموظفات حضرن كي يرتبوا الملفات.
Incorrect — the all-female subject requires يرتبن; replacing it with masculine-plural يرتبوا loses gender agreement.
✅ الموظفات حضرن كي يرتبن الملفات حسب التاريخ.
al-muwaẓẓafātu ḥaḍarna kay yurattibna l-milafāti ḥasaba t-tārīkh.
The employees came to arrange the files by date. (All female.)
الطالبات لم يرسلن النسخة النهائية بعد.
aṭ-ṭālibātu lam yursilna n-nuskhata n-nihāʾiyyata baʿd.
The students have not sent the final version yet. (All female.)
In لم يرسلنَ, لم still governs the jussive; this particular agreement form simply has no separate mood-nūn contrast. Do not “make the jussive visible” by deleting agreement.
Mixed diagnostic set
| Form | Decision | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| هل تراجعون؟ | keep nūn | question particle هل does not govern mood |
| لن تراجعوا | delete nūn | لن governs subjunctive |
| لم تراجعا | delete nūn | لم governs jussive dual |
| لا تراجعي | delete nūn | prohibitive لا governs jussive f.sg. |
| لا تراجعين | keep nūn | declarative negative لا leaves indicative |
| هن لن يراجعن | keep nūn al-niswa | agreement nūn, not five-verb mood nūn |
| لن تراجعوه | delete before object | build تراجعوا, then attach ـه |
Editing a paragraph
❌ المحرران يريدان أن يراجعان النص، لكنهما لم يصححان الأخطاء، ولن يرسلانه اليوم.
Incorrect — أن, لم, and لن each require deletion of the dual mood nūn.
✅ المحرران يريدان أن يراجعا النص، لكنهما لم يصححا الأخطاء، ولن يرسلاه اليوم.
al-muḥarrirāni yurīdāni ʾan yurājiʿā n-naṣṣa, lakinnahumā lam yuṣaḥḥiḥā l-ʾakhṭāʾa, wa-lan yursilāhu l-yawm.
The two editors want to review the text, but they did not correct the errors and will not send it today.
Main indicative يريدان keeps nūn. Subjunctive يراجعا, jussive يصححا, and subjunctive يرسلاه delete it; final ـه in يرسلاه is the object “it,” attached after the mood operation.
Common Mistakes
1. Treating nūn as part of the plural pronoun in every mood
❌ المشاركون لن يغادرون القاعة قبل التصويت.
Incorrect — لن deletes mood nūn from يغادرون.
✅ المشاركون لن يغادروا القاعة قبل انتهاء التصويت.
al-mushārikūna lan yughādirū l-qāʿata qabla ntihāʾi t-taṣwīt.
The participants will not leave the hall before voting ends.
2. Deleting nūn without a governor
❌ أنتم تكتبوا الملاحظات في نهاية الجلسة.
Incorrect ordinary statement — without a governor, تكتبون is indicative.
✅ أنتم تكتبون الملاحظات في نهاية كل جلسة.
ʾantum taktubūna l-mulāḥaẓāti fī nihāyati kulli jalsa(h).
You write the notes at the end of every session. (Addressed to a group.)
3. Deleting feminine-plural agreement nūn
❌ الطبيبات لن يغادروا المستشفى مبكرا.
Incorrect — the all-female subject requires invariant يغادرن, not masculine plural يغادروا.
✅ الطبيبات لن يغادرن المستشفى قبل وصول الفريق البديل.
aṭ-ṭabībātu lan yughādirna l-mustashfā qabla wuṣūli l-farīqi l-badīl.
The doctors will not leave the hospital before the replacement team arrives. (All female.)
4. Letting an object suffix preserve mood nūn
❌ لا تهملينه عند مراجعة الطلب.
Incorrect as a prohibition to one woman — object ـه attaches after jussive تهملي, giving تهمليه.
✅ لا تهمليه عند مراجعة الطلب مرة أخرى.
lā tuhmilīhi ʿinda murājaʿati ṭ-ṭalabi marratan ʾukhrā.
Do not overlook it when reviewing the application again. (Addressed to one woman.)
Repair procedure
- Identify the subject: dual, masculine/mixed plural, feminine singular addressee, or feminine plural.
- Build the ordinary imperfect agreement form.
- Look immediately left for a real subjunctive or jussive governor.
- If it is one of the five verbs, retain nūn in the indicative and delete it in subjunctive/jussive contexts.
- If it is feminine plural, preserve nūn al-niswa.
- Attach any object clitic only after the mood form is complete.
Key Takeaways
- The five verbs retain mood nūn in the indicative and delete it in the subjunctive and jussive.
- The remaining ي، ا، وا still encode feminine singular, dual, or masculine/mixed plural agreement.
- Feminine-plural nūn is an agreement marker and does not undergo this deletion.
- Object clitics attach to the already inflected nūn-less form.
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Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- The Five Verbs and Nūn Retention or DeletionB1 — Track the five imperfect forms in ـان، ـون، and ـين across indicative, subjunctive, and jussive moods.
- Indicative, Subjunctive, and JussiveB1 — Distinguish the three imperfect moods by their governors, visible endings, and nūn behavior in the five verbs.
- The Subjunctive ImperfectB1 — Form the imperfect subjunctive with final ـَ or nūn deletion after أنْ، لن، and كي in complements, future denials, and purpose clauses.
- The Jussive ImperfectB1 — Form the jussive with sukūn, weak-letter deletion, or nūn deletion after past negation, prohibitions, commands, and conditional governors.
- Using Accusative after a PrepositionB1 — Repair case after Arabic prepositions by identifying the governor first, then selecting the noun class's actual genitive form.