أَجَابَ is the central formal verb for answering a person, a question, or a request. It comes from root ج-و-ب and belongs to Form IV. Because its middle radical is و, it is a hollow derived verb: the long vowel appears in أَجَابَ، يُجِيبُ, but shortens when an ending or mood leaves no room for it, as in أَجَبْتُ، أَجِبْ، لَمْ يُجِبْ.
English answer can take “someone,” “a question,” or “with yes” without much visible change. Formal Arabic distinguishes these frames: a person can be a direct object, a question commonly follows عن or occurs as a direct object, and the wording of the answer follows بـ. The stem alternation and the complement pattern must be learned together.
The Form-IV hollow-verb lesson explains the shared morphology; this page concentrates on the lexical behavior of أجاب. Compare it with the question frames on the سأل reference.
Lookup card and principal parts
| Item | Verified form | Use |
|---|---|---|
| root and Form | ج-و-ب، Form IV | hollow wāw-root derived verb |
| perfect | أَجَابَ | he answered / granted |
| imperfect indicative | يُجِيبُ | he answers / is answering |
| imperative, 2 m.sg. | أَجِبْ | answer! |
| verbal noun | إِجَابَةٌ | answering; an answer |
| active participle | مُجِيبٌ | one who answers; responsive |
| passive | أُجِيبَ — يُجَابُ | was answered/granted — is answered/granted |
| passive participle | مُجَابٌ | answered; granted, often with a complement |
The principal-parts chain أَجَابَ — يُجِيبُ — أَجِبْ — إِجَابَةً reveals both sides of the hollow alternation. Form IV supplies the initial hamza in the perfect and imperative; unlike the initial alif of many Form-I imperatives, this is hamzat al-qaṭʿ and remains pronounced in connected speech.
أجاب الطبيب عن أسئلة الأسرة بهدوء.
ʾajāba ṭ-ṭabību ʿan ʾasʾilati l-ʾusrati bihudūʾ.
The doctor answered the family's questions calmly. (Formal neutral.)
تجيب الخدمة الآلية عن الاستفسارات البسيطة فقط.
tujību l-khidmatu l-ʾāliyyatu ʿani l-istifsārāti l-basīṭati faqaṭ.
The automated service answers only simple inquiries. (Formal technical register.)
The hollow Form-IV alternation
The unsuffixed perfect has long ā: أَجَابَ، أَجَابَتْ، أَجَابُوا. Before consonant-initial suffixes, that long vowel shortens to a: أَجَبْتُ، أَجَبْتِ، أَجَبْنَا، أَجَبْنَ. This is the same structural pressure seen in other hollow verbs, but the Form-IV prefix remains part of the word.
The active imperfect uses ī: أُجِيبُ، تُجِيبُ، يُجِيبُ، نُجِيبُ. The indicative يُجِيبُ and subjunctive لَنْ يُجِيبَ keep it. The jussive deletes the long vowel: لَمْ يُجِبْ. The imperative is built from that shortened stem: أَجِبْ، أَجِيبِي، أَجِيبَا، أَجِيبُوا، أَجِبْنَ. Long ī returns before vowel-initial imperative endings.
أجبت المراجع بعد أن تحققت من رقم الطلب.
ʾajabtu l-murājiʿa baʿda ʾan taḥaqqaqtu min raqmi ṭ-ṭalab.
I answered the client after checking the application number. (Formal administrative register.)
لن تجيب المتحدثة عن سؤال يتعلق بتحقيق جار.
lan tujība l-mutaḥaddithatu ʿan suʾālin yataʿallaqu bitaḥqīqin jār.
The spokesperson will not answer a question concerning an ongoing investigation. (Formal journalistic register.)
لم يجب المورد عن رسالتنا حتى الآن.
lam yujibi l-muwarridu ʿan risālatinā ḥattā l-ʾān.
The supplier has not answered our message yet. (Formal; shortened jussive with a linking i.)
أجب عن السؤال الأول في فقرة واحدة.
ʾajib ʿani s-suʾāli l-ʾawwali fī fiqratin wāḥida.
Answer the first question in one paragraph. (Formal instruction to one man.)
Ranked meanings and complement frames
1. Answer a person: direct object
The person receiving the answer can be a direct object: أجاب الصحفيَّ، أجابها، أجابني. This frame foregrounds the interaction rather than the content. A following عن phrase can then identify the topic or question.
أجابني الفني عن كل نقطة وردت في التقرير.
ʾajābanī l-fanniyyu ʿan kulli nuqṭatin waradat fī t-taqrīr.
The technician answered me on every point mentioned in the report. (Formal neutral.)
أجابت الباحثة الصحفيين من دون أن تكشف بيانات المشاركين.
ʾajābati l-bāḥithatu ṣ-ṣaḥafiyyīna min dūni ʾan takshifa bayānāti l-mushārikīn.
The researcher answered the journalists without revealing the participants' data. (Formal.)
2. Answer a question: عن or a direct object
أجاب عن السؤال is the safest neutral-formal frame and the one to use as a learner default. Contemporary formal Arabic also permits a question, examination item, or inquiry as a direct object: أجاب السؤال، أجاب الأسئلة. The direct-object pattern is especially visible in educational and administrative language. Neither construction makes the other ungrammatical.
أجاب المرشح عن السؤال المتعلق بخبرته الإدارية.
ʾajāba l-murashshaḥu ʿani s-suʾāli l-mutaʿalliqi bikhibratihi l-ʾidāriyya.
The candidate answered the question about his administrative experience. (Formal.)
أجاب الطالب جميع الأسئلة في الوقت المحدد.
ʾajāba ṭ-ṭālibu jamīʿa l-ʾasʾilati fī l-waqti l-muḥaddad.
The student answered all the questions within the allotted time. (Formal educational register; direct-object pattern.)
أجاب على السؤال is also widespread in contemporary Arabic, particularly in speech, teaching, and regional usage. Edited formal prose often prefers عن, but a reference should not label على meaningless or impossible. For dependable formal production, choose عن; when reading, recognize all three patterns.
3. Give the wording of an answer: بـ
The preposition بـ introduces the form, word, or proposition used as the answer: أجاب بنعم، أجاب بكلمة، أجاب بأن.... A colon and direct quotation is another valid option: أجاب: «نعم». The two constructions package the quotation differently rather than expressing different truth conditions.
أجابت المسؤولة بنعم، لكنها طلبت مهلة للتنفيذ.
ʾajābati l-masʾūlatu binaʿam, lakinnahā ṭalabat muhlatan lit-tanfīdh.
The official answered yes, but she requested time to implement the decision. (Formal.)
أجاب الخبير بأن الخلل ناتج عن تحديث قديم.
ʾajāba l-khabīru biʾanna l-khalala nātijun ʿan taḥdīthin qadīm.
The expert answered that the fault resulted from an old update. (Formal technical register.)
4. Grant or respond to a request
With nouns such as طلب، دعوة، نداء, direct-object أجاب can mean “grant, accept, heed, respond to.” This use is formal and often elevated. Everyday administrative prose frequently uses وافق على الطلب “approved the request,” while استجاب لـ emphasizes responding to a demand, appeal, or circumstance.
أجابت الإدارة طلب الموظفة بالعمل عن بعد يومين.
ʾajābati l-ʾidāratu ṭalaba l-muwaẓẓafati bil-ʿamali ʿan buʿdin yawmayn.
The administration granted the employee's request to work remotely for two days. (Formal; elevated compared with وافقت على.)
Passive, participles, and impersonal style
The passive alternates أُجِيبَ in the perfect with يُجَابُ in the imperfect. A question introduced by عن remains prepositional, so formal prose often uses an impersonal singular passive: أُجِيبَ عن السؤال “the question was answered.” A direct-object request can become the passive subject: أُجِيبَ الطلبُ “the request was granted.”
أجيب عن معظم الاستفسارات خلال الجلسة.
ʾujība ʿan muʿẓami l-istifsārāti khilāla l-jalsa.
Most inquiries were answered during the session. (Formal impersonal passive.)
لم يجب طلب التعويض لعدم اكتمال الوثائق.
lam yujab ṭalabu t-taʿwīḍi liʿadami ktimāli l-wathāʾiq.
The compensation request was not granted because the documents were incomplete. (Formal administrative passive.)
Active مُجِيب is productive but more formal than English answerer: طرف مجيب “responding party” (formal/legal), نظام مجيب “responsive system” (technical). Passive مُجَاب commonly occurs in collocations such as دعاء مجاب “a prayer that is answered” (religious/formal); ordinary answered questions are more naturally described with a finite passive.
High-frequency collocations
| Collocation | Meaning and register |
|---|---|
| أَجَابَ عَنِ السُّؤَالِ | answer the question (neutral formal default) |
| أَجَابَ السَّائِلَ | answer the questioner (formal) |
| أَجَابَ بِنَعَمْ / بِلَا | answer yes / no (neutral) |
| أَجَابَ بِإِيجَازٍ | answer briefly (formal) |
| أَجَابَ الطَّلَبَ | grant the request (formal/elevated) |
| إِجَابَةٌ شَافِيَةٌ | a full, satisfactory answer (formal) |
Common Mistakes
Extending the long vowel into the jussive
❌ لم يجيب المتحدث عن الاعتراض.
Incorrect—the hollow stem shortens in the jussive after لم.
✅ لم يجب المتحدث عن الاعتراض.
lam yujibi l-mutaḥaddithu ʿani l-iʿtirāḍ.
The speaker did not answer the objection.
Using إلى for the question answered
❌ أجابت إلى السؤال الأخير.
Incorrect for answering a question—use عن or a licensed direct object, not إلى.
✅ أجابت عن السؤال الأخير.
ʾajābat ʿani s-suʾāli l-ʾakhīr.
She answered the final question.
Treating the person answered as an object of لـ
❌ أجاب للصحفية بعد المؤتمر.
Incorrect for the intended ‘answered the journalist’—the person can be a direct object.
✅ أجاب الصحفية بعد المؤتمر.
ʾajāba ṣ-ṣaḥafiyyata baʿda l-muʾtamar.
He answered the journalist after the conference.
Confusing the question with the wording of the answer
❌ أجاب بالسؤال بكلمة واحدة.
Incorrect for ‘answered the question in one word’—بـ before السؤال presents the question itself as the form of the answer.
✅ أجاب عن السؤال بكلمة واحدة.
ʾajāba ʿani s-suʾāli bikalimatin wāḥida.
He answered the question in one word.
Key Takeaways
- أجاب is Form IV of ج-و-ب: أَجَابَ، يُجِيبُ، أَجِبْ، إِجَابَةً.
- Use a direct object for the person; use عن or a direct object for the question; use بـ for the answer's wording.
- Shorten the hollow stem in أجبت، لم يجب، أجب.
- Recognize formal passive أجيب عن and the different passive of a direct object, أجيب الطلب.
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