An Arabic active participle (اسم الفاعل) profiles the participant associated with doing an action or holding a state. A passive participle (اسم المفعول) profiles what the action affects. From كَتَبَ “write,” Form I gives كَاتِب “writing; writer” and مَكْتُوب “written.” These forms can behave as adjectives, nouns, or predicates.
English -ing and -ed offer a rough first comparison, but Arabic participles have their own agreement and lexical lives. كاتب is a regular noun meaning “writer/author,” مستخدم can mean “user” or “used” depending on its hidden vowels, and a participle does not carry one fixed tense. Start with Form I فاعل / مفعول; for derived Forms, use the imperfect stem and a مُـ prefix, then distinguish active kasra from passive fatḥa before the last radical.
The maṣdar patterns name events; this page instead names or describes participants in those events.
Form I: فَاعِل and مَفْعُول
For a regular strong root, map the radicals directly:
| Root | Verb | Active فَاعِل | Passive مَفْعُول |
|---|---|---|---|
| ك ت ب | كَتَبَ, write | كَاتِب, writer/writing | مَكْتُوب, written |
| ف ت ح | فَتَحَ, open | فَاتِح, opener/opening | مَفْتُوح, open/opened |
| د ر س | دَرَسَ, study | دَارِس, learner/researcher | مَدْرُوس, studied/considered |
قابل الكاتب المحرر لمناقشة الفصل الأخير.
qābala l-kātibu l-muḥarrira li-munāqashati l-faṣli l-ʾakhīr.
The writer met the editor to discuss the final chapter.
كاتب has lexicalized as a profession noun. Its active relationship to writing remains recognizable, but the sentence does not mean “the person currently writing.”
وجدت ملاحظة مكتوبة على باب المكتب.
wajadtu mulāḥaẓatan maktūbatan ʿalā bābi l-maktab.
I found a written note on the office door.
Passive مكتوبةً agrees with feminine accusative ملاحظةً. The masculine citation pattern مفعول behaves like an adjective and changes for gender, number, definiteness, and case.
ترك الحارس الباب مفتوحا حتى وصول الفريق.
taraka l-ḥārisu l-bāba maftūḥan ḥattā wuṣūli l-farīq.
The guard left the door open until the team arrived.
The passive participle describes a resulting state. English chooses simple adjective “open,” not necessarily “opened.”
Participles follow ordinary noun and adjective grammar
A participle can take الـ, tanwīn, case endings, feminine ة, a dual, or a plural. When it modifies a noun, it follows that noun and agrees with it.
استقبلت الموظفة الزوار القادمين من الخارج.
ʾistaqbalati l-muwaẓẓafatu z-zuwwāra l-qādimīna mina l-khārij.
The employee welcomed the visitors arriving from abroad.
Active participle القادمين agrees with masculine human plural object الزوارَ in definiteness and accusative case.
النتائج المنشورة متاحة على موقع الجامعة.
ʾan-natāʾiju l-manshūratu mutāḥatun ʿalā mawqiʿi l-jāmiʿa(h).
The published results are available on the university website.
Nonhuman plural النتائجُ takes feminine-singular passive participle المنشورةُ and predicate متاحةٌ. Participial origin does not override nonhuman-plural agreement.
Derived Forms: start from the imperfect
For Forms II–X, the active and passive participles are highly regular. Take the third-person masculine singular imperfect, replace its person prefix يـ with مُـ, and look at the vowel immediately before the last radical:
- active: kasra, as in يُنَظِّمُ → مُنَظِّم “organizing; organizer”;
- passive: fatḥa, as in يُنَظَّمُ → مُنَظَّم “organized.”
| Form | Active template | Passive template | Attested contrast |
|---|---|---|---|
| II | مُفَعِّل | مُفَعَّل | مُنَظِّم / مُنَظَّم |
| III | مُفَاعِل | مُفَاعَل | مُشَارِك / مُشَارَك فِيه |
| IV | مُفْعِل | مُفْعَل | مُرْسِل / مُرْسَل |
| V | مُتَفَعِّل | مُتَفَعَّل | مُتَعَلِّم / passive often lexically restricted |
| VI | مُتَفَاعِل | مُتَفَاعَل | مُتَدَاوِل / مُتَدَاوَل |
| VII | مُنْفَعِل | usually no passive | مُنْكَسِر |
| VIII | مُفْتَعِل | مُفْتَعَل | مُعْتَمِد / مُعْتَمَد |
| IX | مُفْعَلّ | normally no passive | مُحْمَرّ |
| X | مُسْتَفْعِل | مُسْتَفْعَل | مُسْتَخْدِم / مُسْتَخْدَم |
The table gives templates, not a promise that every verb has a commonly used passive participle. Intransitive and lexical verbs may leave that cell empty or restrict it to specialist usage.
Form IX is also a surface exception to the easy “kasra before the last radical” cue. Its doubled final radical produces active مُفْعَلّ, as in مُحْمَرّ “reddened,” and its color/state verbs are normally intransitive. Confirm such forms lexically instead of forcing the regular contrast.
قدمت المنظمة برنامجا منظما جيدا للمتطوعين.
qaddamati l-munaẓẓamatu barnāmajan munaẓẓaman jayyidan li-l-mutaṭawwiʿīn.
The organization offered the volunteers a well-organized program.
Passive منظمًا has fatḥa before the last radical. The subject المنظمةُ “organization” is likewise the lexicalized feminine passive form مُنَظَّمَة—an “organized entity”; active مُنَظِّمَة would instead mean a female organizer or an organizing feminine referent. Unvocalized writing hides this contrast.
راجع المرسل محتوى البريد المرسل قبل الضغط على زر الإرسال.
rājaʿa l-mursilu muḥtawā l-barīdi l-mursali qabla ḍ-ḍaghṭi ʿalā zirri l-ʾirsāl.
The sender reviewed the sent email's contents before pressing the send button.
Active Form-IV المرسلُ “sender” contrasts with passive المرسلِ “sent.” In ordinary text both are المرسل; syntax and context guide the reading.
Derived weak roots preserve their own sound changes
The مُـ rule applies to weak roots, but it applies to the verb's actual imperfect stem, not to an imagined all-strong template. Form VIII اِتَّصَلَ / يَتَّصِلُ “contact; be connected” comes from root و ص ل. Its first weak radical has assimilated to the pattern's ت, so the active participle is مُتَّصِل, not an invented مُوْتَصِل.
بقي الطبيب متصلا بالمستشفى طوال الليل.
baqiya ṭ-ṭabību muttaṣilan bi-l-mustashfā ṭawāla l-layl.
The doctor remained in contact with the hospital throughout the night.
Final-weak Form X اِسْتَدْعَى / يَسْتَدْعِي “summon” gives active مُسْتَدْعٍ when indefinite nominative or genitive and definite الْمُسْتَدْعِي. The passive is مُسْتَدْعًى / الْمُسْتَدْعَى “summoned.” The final active yāʾ and passive alif maqṣūra are different surface outcomes.
انتظر المستدعي خارج قاعة المحكمة.
ʾintaẓara l-mustadʿī khārija qāʿati l-maḥkama(h).
The petitioner waited outside the courtroom. (formal/legal)
وصل الموظف المستدعى إلى الجلسة في الموعد.
waṣala l-muwaẓẓafu l-mustadʿā ʾilā l-jalsati fī l-mawʿid.
The summoned employee arrived at the hearing on time. (formal/legal)
These are attested allomorphs. Their weak letters cannot be recovered reliably by counting visible consonants in one participle.
مستخدم: one spelling, two participles
Form X اِسْتَخْدَمَ “use” has active مُسْتَخْدِم mustakhdim “user; using” and passive مُسْتَخْدَم mustakhdam “used.” Only the short vowel before final م distinguishes the citation forms.
أبلغ المستخدم فريق الدعم عن المشكلة.
ʾablagha l-mustakhdimu farīqa d-daʿmi ʿani l-mushkila(h).
The user reported the problem to the support team.
البرنامج المستخدم في المختبر يحتاج إلى تحديث.
ʾal-barnāmaju l-mustakhdamu fī l-mukhtabari yaḥtāju ʾilā taḥdīth.
The program used in the laboratory needs an update.
The first is an active noun; the second is a passive adjective. Root خ د م is the same, while مستـ belongs to the derived pattern.
Hollow roots reshape Form-I participles
Weak radicals interact with the Form-I templates. Root ق و ل has active participle قَائِل qāʾil “speaker; one saying,” where middle و is not visible and hamza appears in the surface pattern. Its passive participle is مَقُول maqūl “said; uttered,” where long ū reflects the weak radical and pattern together.
ذكر القائل سبب اعتراضه بوضوح.
dhakara l-qāʾilu sababa ʿtirāḍihi bi-wuḍūḥ.
The speaker clearly stated the reason for his objection.
يفرق التحليل بين المعنى المقصود واللفظ المقول.
yufarriqu t-taḥlīlu bayna l-maʿnā l-maqṣūdi wa-l-lafẓi l-maqūl.
The analysis distinguishes the intended meaning from the uttered wording. (academic)
هذا تعبير شائع في اللغة المنطوقة لكنه غير مقبول هنا.
hādhā taʿbīrun shāʾiʿun fī l-lughati l-manṭūqati lakinnahu ghayru maqbūlin hunā.
This is a common expression in the spoken language, but it is not acceptable here.
By contrast, مقبول comes from قَبِلَ “accept.” Its root ق ب ل is strong, so مفعول maps transparently. Comparing it with مقول shows why weak-root forms require family evidence rather than spelling guesses.
Final-weak active participles lose yāʾ in some forms
From رَمَى “throw,” active participle citation form is رَامٍ rāmin when indefinite nominative or genitive: underlying final yāʾ is deleted and tanwīn kasr remains. The yāʾ returns in definite الرَّامِي, construct رَامِي السَّهْمِ, and indefinite accusative رَامِيًا.
وقف رام ماهر خلف الخط الأصفر.
waqafa rāmin māhirun khalfa l-khaṭṭi l-ʾaṣfar.
A skilled thrower stood behind the yellow line.
شاهدت الرامي وهو يستعد للمسابقة.
shāhadtu r-rāmiya wa-huwa yastaʿiddu li-l-musābaqa(h).
I watched the thrower as he prepared for the competition.
The visible alternation is morphological; it does not change root ر م ي.
Final-weak passive participles can double a weak letter
Root د ع و has Form-I passive participle مَدْعُوّ madʿuww “invited; invitee.” The final وّ reflects the weak radical interacting with مفعول.
كل مدعو مطالب بإظهار بطاقة الهوية عند الدخول.
kullu madʿuwwin muṭālabun bi-ʾiẓhāri biṭāqati l-huwiyyati ʿinda d-dukhūl.
Every invitee is required to show identification upon entry.
Do not remove final wāw from the root or spell the participle by blindly inserting د ع و into a rigid visual string. The attested allomorph must be learned.
Participle meaning is not a built-in tense
Context can make an active participle a profession, a current state, a habitual property, or a planned event. A passive participle often describes a result but does not independently say when the action occurred.
القطار القادم من الإسكندرية يصل بعد عشر دقائق.
ʾal-qiṭāru l-qādimu mina l-ʾiskandariyyati yaṣilu baʿda ʿashri daqāʾiq.
The train coming from Alexandria arrives in ten minutes.
The timetable and finite يصل supply future reference. القادم itself identifies the arriving train; it is not a future tense.
Common Mistakes
Using Form-I فاعل for every derived verb
❌ اسم فاعل استخدم هو ساخدم.
Incorrect — derived Forms build the participle from their imperfect stem with مُـ.
✅ المستخدم مسؤول عن حماية كلمة المرور.
ʾal-mustakhdimu masʾūlun ʿan ḥimāyati kalimati l-murūr.
The user is responsible for protecting the password.
Reading every مستخدم as active
❌ البرنامج مستخدم تعني أن البرنامج يستعمل شيئا.
Incorrect — passive mustakhdam describes a program that is used.
✅ البرنامج المستخدم آمن وسهل التحديث.
ʾal-barnāmaju l-mustakhdamu ʾāminun wa-sahlu t-taḥdīth.
The program being used is secure and easy to update.
Keeping yāʾ in indefinite nominative رام
❌ وصل رامي ماهر إلى المسابقة.
Incorrect in fully inflected MSA — indefinite nominative rāmin is written رام, without yāʾ.
✅ وصل رام ماهر إلى موقع المسابقة مبكرا.
waṣala rāmin māhirun ʾilā mawqiʿi l-musābaqati mubakkirā.
A skilled thrower arrived at the competition venue early.
Inventing a passive participle for every intransitive verb
❌ لكل فعل لازم اسم مفعول مستعمل بالضرورة.
Incorrect — a direct passive participle normally presupposes an affected object, and lexical gaps remain.
✅ أتحقق من تعدي الفعل واستعمال الصيغة في المعجم.
ʾataḥaqqaqu min taʿaddī l-fiʿli wa-stiʿmāli ṣ-ṣīghati fī l-muʿjam.
I check the verb's transitivity and the form's dictionary usage.
Treating the participle as a fixed tense
❌ القادم يدل دائما على الماضي.
Incorrect — context can make qādim present, future, habitual, or lexical.
✅ الضيف القادم غدا يقيم في الفندق القريب.
ʾaḍ-ḍayfu l-qādimu ghadan yuqīmu fī l-funduqi l-qarīb.
The guest arriving tomorrow is staying at the nearby hotel.
Key Takeaways
- Form I uses active فاعل and passive مفعول; both decline and agree like other nouns and adjectives.
- Derived participles use مُـ plus the imperfect stem: kasra before the last radical for active, fatḥa for passive.
- Unvocalized forms such as مستخدم require syntax and context to distinguish active from passive.
- Hollow and final-weak roots reshape participles, delete yāʾ in specified indefinite forms, or double a weak letter.
- Participles express participant/state relationships, not a fixed tense, and lexical gaps remain.
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