أَرَادَ / يُرِيدُ is the central formal-MSA verb for “want” and “intend.” It is Form IV from the hollow root ر-و-د: long ā appears in أراد, long ī in يريد, and both shorten when a consonant-ending or the jussive requires a closed syllable, as in أردتُ and لم يُرِدْ.
The verb takes a noun directly, but an action normally follows أن + imperfect subjunctive. English hides that distinction because want can be followed by either a noun or an infinitive; Arabic makes the action into a finite subordinate clause.
The class-wide shortening is explained on the Form-IV hollow-verb page, while the أن-clause page develops the complement’s mood in full.
Lookup card and principal parts
| Item | Verified form | Use |
|---|---|---|
| root and Form | ر-و-د، Form IV | hollow wāw-root verb |
| perfect | أَرَادَ | he wanted / intended |
| imperfect indicative | يُرِيدُ | he wants / intends |
| imperative, 2 m.sg. | أَرِدْ | want! / intend!; morphologically regular but pragmatically uncommon |
| verbal noun | إِرَادَةٌ | will, volition, intention |
| active participle | مُرِيدٌ | one who wants/seeks; specialized in some registers |
| passive | أُرِيدَ — يُرَادُ | was intended/wanted — is intended/meant |
| passive participle | مُرَادٌ | intended, desired; intended meaning |
The principal-parts chain is أَرَادَ — يُرِيدُ — أَرِدْ — إِرَادَةً. The initial hamza belongs to Form IV and is hamzat al-qaṭʿ: it remains written and pronounced. The active participle مريد is grammatical, but ordinary prose more often uses a finite يريد. In Sufi terminology, المريد has the specialized sense “disciple or spiritual aspirant” (religious/technical).
أراد الفريق حلا يمكن تنفيذه قبل نهاية الشهر.
ʾarāda l-farīqu ḥallan yumkinu tanfīdhuhu qabla nihāyati sh-shahr.
The team wanted a solution that could be implemented before the end of the month. (Formal.)
يريد العملاء معلومات واضحة عن رسوم الخدمة.
yurīdu l-ʿumalāʾu maʿlūmātin wāḍiḥatan ʿan rusūmi l-khidma.
Customers want clear information about the service fees. (Formal neutral.)
Hollow Form-IV stem changes
The long-vowel perfect appears in أَرَادَ، أَرَادَتْ، أَرَادَا، أَرَادُوا. Before consonant-initial suffixes, it shortens: أَرَدْتُ، أَرَدْتَ، أَرَدْنَا، أَرَدْنَ. The spelling أردت is therefore not missing an alif; it displays the short stem required before ـت.
The indicative and subjunctive retain long ī: يُرِيدُ، لَنْ يُرِيدَ، أَنْ تُرِيدِي، لَنْ يُرِيدُوا. The singular jussive deletes that long vowel: لَمْ يُرِدْ، لَا تُرِدْ. The masculine-singular imperative is built on the same short stem: أَرِدْ. Commands with “want” are unusual because desire is not normally ordered; when a writer needs an exhortation, أرد الخير لغيرك “want good for others” is possible (formal/elevated).
أردنا تأجيل الاجتماع حتى تصل البيانات النهائية.
ʾaradnā taʾjīla l-ijtimāʿi ḥattā taṣila l-bayānātu n-nihāʾiyya.
We wanted to postpone the meeting until the final data arrived. (Formal.)
لم يرد المتحدث أن يعلق قبل صدور البيان الرسمي.
lam yuridi l-mutaḥaddithu ʾan yuʿalliqa qabla ṣudūri l-bayāni r-rasmiyy.
The spokesperson did not want to comment before the official statement was issued. (Formal; shortened jussive with a linking i.)
لن يريد أحد العودة إلى النظام القديم بعد هذا التحديث.
lan yurīda ʾaḥadun l-ʿawdata ʾilā n-niẓāmi l-qadīmi baʿda hādhā t-taḥdīth.
No one will want to return to the old system after this update. (Formal; subjunctive retains ī.)
Ranked meanings and complement frames
1. Want a person or thing: direct object
A desired person, object, result, or arrangement follows directly: أريد قهوة، يريد جوابًا، أرادت التغيير. The direct object can be a pronoun: أريدها can mean “I want it/her,” with context resolving the reference.
أريد نسخة قابلة للتحرير، لا صورة من الملف.
ʾurīdu nuskhatan qābilatan lit-taḥrīri, lā ṣūratan mina l-malaf.
I want an editable copy, not an image of the file. (Formal neutral.)
أرادت المؤسسة شريكا محليا يعرف السوق جيدا.
ʾarādati l-muʾassasatu sharīkan maḥalliyyan yaʿrifu s-sūqa jayyidan.
The organization wanted a local partner who knew the market well. (Formal.)
2. Want or intend to act: أن + subjunctive
For an action, use أراد أن + imperfect subjunctive. The verb after أن carries its own subject agreement. With the same subject, English translates it naturally as an infinitive; Arabic still uses a finite verb.
نريد أن نختبر النظام على نطاق صغير أولا.
nurīdu ʾan nakhtabira n-niẓāma ʿalā niṭāqin ṣaghīrin ʾawwalan.
We want to test the system on a small scale first. (Formal.)
أرادت أن يكون التقرير مفهوما لغير المتخصصين.
ʾarādat ʾan yakūna t-taqrīru mafhūman lighayri l-mutakhaṣṣiṣīn.
She wanted the report to be understandable to non-specialists. (Formal.)
The difference between أحب أن and أريد أن is one of stance. أحب أن أقرأ usually describes an activity one likes or prefers; أريد أن أقرأ presents reading as a current desire or intention. Context sometimes brings them close, but they are not automatic synonyms.
3. Want someone else to act: من + person + أن
The clearest contemporary formal frame is أراد من شخص أن يفعل: literally, “wanted from a person that they act.” This keeps the requested person separate from the desired clause and avoids copying English want someone to do word for word.
يريد المدير من كل قسم أن يقدم تقديره للتكاليف غدا.
yurīdu l-mudīru min kulli qismin ʾan yuqaddima taqdīrahu lit-takālīfi ghadan.
The director wants every department to submit its cost estimate tomorrow. (Formal administrative register.)
أردت منك أن تخبرني بالمشكلة قبل نشر التقرير.
ʾaradtu minka ʾan tukhbiranī bil-mushkilati qabla nashri t-taqrīr.
I wanted you to tell me about the problem before the report was published. (Formal neutral.)
4. Mean or intend by: أراد بـ and passive يراد بـ
With بـ, أراد can mean “intend or mean by an expression/action.” Formal explanatory prose frequently prefers passive يُرَادُ بِـ “what is meant by.” The passive participle المراد likewise means “the intended thing/meaning.”
ماذا تريد بهذا التعبير في الفقرة الأخيرة؟
mādhā turīdu bihādhā t-taʿbīri fī l-fiqrati l-ʾakhīra?
What do you mean by this expression in the final paragraph? (Formal.)
يراد بهذا المصطلح كل إجراء يقلل استهلاك الطاقة.
yurādu bihādhā l-muṣṭalaḥi kullu ʾijrāʾin yuqallilu stihlāka ṭ-ṭāqa.
This term is intended to mean every measure that reduces energy consumption. (Academic definition.)
Passive, participles, and collocations
Passive يُراد is much more useful than English learners may expect. It allows formal prose to define a term without naming an intender: يراد بالمفهوم.... مراد appears in المعنى المراد “the intended meaning” and as the noun المراد “what is meant/desired.” By contrast, active مريد is less common outside specialized compounds.
| Collocation | Meaning and register |
|---|---|
| أَرَادَ شَيْئًا | want something (neutral) |
| أَرَادَ أَنْ يَفْعَلَ | want/intend to do (neutral formal) |
| أَرَادَ مِنْهُ أَنْ يَفْعَلَ | want him to do (formal) |
| أَرَادَ بِـ | mean/intend by (formal) |
| يُرَادُ بِـ | is meant by (academic/formal) |
| إِرَادَةٌ سِيَاسِيَّةٌ | political will (formal) |
| حُرِّيَّةُ الْإِرَادَةِ | free will (philosophical/academic) |
Common Mistakes
Keeping the long vowel before ـتُ
❌ أرادت أن أطرح سؤالا.
Incorrect for ‘I wanted’—أرادت means ‘she wanted’; first-person is أردت with the shortened hollow stem.
✅ أردت أن أطرح سؤالا.
ʾaradtu ʾan ʾaṭraḥa suʾālan.
I wanted to ask a question.
Keeping ي in the singular jussive
❌ لم يريد الفريق تأجيل الإطلاق.
Incorrect—the singular jussive after لم deletes the hollow stem's long vowel.
✅ لم يرد الفريق تأجيل الإطلاق.
lam yuridi l-farīqu taʾjīla l-ʾiṭlāq.
The team did not want to postpone the launch.
Omitting أن before a finite desired action
❌ أريد أراجع العقد اليوم.
Nonstandard in formal MSA for ‘I want to review’—use أن before the finite subjunctive. Some dialects permit a bare imperfect, but that is not the target register here.
✅ أريد أن أراجع بنود العقد مع المستشار اليوم.
ʾurīdu ʾan ʾurājiʿa bunūda l-ʿaqdi maʿa l-mustashāri l-yawm.
I want to review the contract clauses with the adviser today.
Copying English “want someone to” without the formal frame
❌ أريد إلى الموظف أن يرسل النسخة الآن.
Incorrect for the person expected to act—this frame uses من, not إلى.
✅ أريد من الموظف أن يرسل النسخة الآن.
ʾurīdu mina l-muwaẓẓafi ʾan yursila n-nuskhata l-ʾān.
I want the employee to send the copy now.
Key Takeaways
- أراد is hollow Form IV from ر-و-د: أَرَادَ، يُرِيدُ، أَرَدْتُ، لَمْ يُرِدْ.
- Take a desired thing directly, but introduce a desired action with أن + subjunctive.
- Use من + person + أن when someone else is expected to perform the action.
- أراد بـ / يراد بـ means “mean by / be meant by,” not simply “want.”
- The imperative exists but is pragmatically uncommon; finite clauses and nouns are the useful core.
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