قَرَّرَ is the main formal-MSA verb for “decide,” and it also means “determine,” “establish,” “approve,” or “prescribe” according to its object. A chosen action can follow as أن + subjunctive or as a verbal noun: قرر أن يسافر and قرر السفر both mean “he decided to travel.” A matter or outcome can be a direct object: قرر الموعد “he set the date.”
The verb is Form II from the geminate root ق-ر-ر. Its shape deserves attention: Form II doubles the second radical, while this root already ends in another ر. Fully vocalized قَرَّرَ therefore represents three successive r articulations across the syllables, not the simple Form-I geminate قَرَّ “settled/remained.” The two verbs belong to one root family but have different paradigms and meanings; the Form-II overview places this lexical pattern in the larger system.
Lookup card and principal parts
| Item | Verified form | Use |
|---|---|---|
| root and Form | ق-ر-ر، Form II | geminate root in a derived stem |
| perfect | قَرَّرَ | he decided / determined |
| imperfect indicative | يُقَرِّرُ | he decides / is deciding |
| imperative, 2 m.sg. | قَرِّرْ | decide! |
| verbal noun | تَقْرِيرٌ | determining, establishing; lexically, report |
| active participle | مُقَرِّرٌ | one who decides; rapporteur; course instructor (regional/institutional) |
| passive | قُرِّرَ — يُقَرَّرُ | was/is decided, established, or prescribed |
| passive participle | مُقَرَّرٌ | decided, prescribed; a curriculum/course text |
The principal-parts chain is قَرَّرَ — يُقَرِّرُ — قَرِّرْ — تَقْرِيرًا. The active imperfect and participle have i before the last radical: يقرر، مقرر read yuqarriru, muqarrir. The passive counterparts have a there: يقرر، مقرر read yuqarraru, muqarrar. Unvocalized spelling hides the contrast, so syntax is essential.
قررنا أن نؤجل الرحلة بسبب الطقس.
qarrarnā ʾan nuʾajjila r-riḥlata bi-sababi ṭ-ṭaqs.
We decided to postpone the trip because of the weather. (Formal neutral.)
يقرر مجلس الإدارة الميزانية في اجتماعه المقبل.
yuqarriru majlisu l-ʾidārati l-mīzāniyyata fī jtimāʿihi l-muqbil.
The board will decide the budget at its next meeting. (Formal institutional.)
The Form-II geminate paradigm
Unlike Form-I قَرَّ, Form-II قَرَّرَ does not collapse its final two radicals into a single shadda. Its stem already contains a shadda on the first written ر, followed by the third radical ر. Suffixes attach regularly: قررت، قررنا، قررتن، قرروا. The unvocalized first-person قررت is contextually ambiguous between “I decided” and “you decided,” as with many perfect verbs; vowel endings distinguish them in speech.
The imperfect uses يُقَرِّرُ، تُقَرِّرُ، أُقَرِّرُ، نُقَرِّرُ. After أن or لن, singular يُقَرِّرَ is subjunctive and plural يُقَرِّرُوا loses ن. After لم, singular is يُقَرِّرْ. The commands are قَرِّرْ، قَرِّرِي، قَرِّرَا، قَرِّرُوا.
لن أقرر قبل أن أقرأ الشروط كاملة.
lan ʾuqarrira qabla ʾan ʾaqraʾa sh-shurūṭa kāmila.
I will not decide before I read all the terms. (Formal neutral.)
لم تقرر اللجنة موعد الجلسة بعد.
lam tuqarriri l-lajnatu mawʿida l-jalsati baʿd.
The committee has not yet set the session date. (Formal.)
قرروا ما إذا كنتم ستقبلون العرض.
qarrirū mā ʾidhā kuntum sa-taqbalūna l-ʿarḍ.
Decide whether you will accept the offer. (Formal instruction to a group.)
Ranked meanings and valency
1. Decide to act: أن + subjunctive
For a finite planned action, use قرر أن + subjunctive. The person who decides is normally also the understood actor of the following verb. Because أن governs the subjunctive, say قرروا أن يغادروا, with no final ن on يغادروا.
قررت الشركة أن تفتح فرعا في الدار البيضاء.
qarrarati sh-sharikatu ʾan taftaḥa farʿan fī d-dāri l-bayḍāʾ.
The company decided to open a branch in Casablanca. (Formal.)
قرر الطبيب ألا يغير الجرعة هذا الأسبوع.
qarrara ṭ-ṭabību ʾallā yughayyira l-jurʿata hādhā l-ʾusbūʿ.
The doctor decided not to change the dose this week. (Formal.)
2. Decide on an action: direct verbal noun
A verbal noun gives the same decision in a denser nominal style: قرر السفر، قرر الانسحاب، قرر زيادة الأسعار. This frame is especially common in news and administrative writing. The verbal noun is a direct object; do not add على simply because English says decide on doing.
قرر المفاوضون استئناف المحادثات صباح الاثنين.
qarrara l-mufāwiḍūna stiʾnāfa l-muḥādathāti ṣabāḥa l-ithnayn.
The negotiators decided to resume the talks on Monday morning. (Formal news style.)
قررت الجامعة إلغاء الامتحان الشفهي.
qarrarati l-jāmiʿatu ʾilghāʾa l-imtiḥāni sh-shafahiyy.
The university decided to cancel the oral examination. (Formal institutional.)
3. Set, determine, approve, or prescribe a thing
With a noun object, the exact English verb depends on the object: قرر الموعد “set the date,” قرر المبلغ “determined the amount,” قرر السياسة “approved/adopted the policy,” and قرر العلاج “prescribed the treatment.” These are not separate conjugations; they are established lexical extensions of “make a matter settled.”
قرر القاضي قيمة التعويض بعد مراجعة الأدلة.
qarrara l-qāḍī qīmata t-taʿwīḍi baʿda murājaʿati l-ʾadilla.
The judge determined the amount of compensation after reviewing the evidence. (Formal/legal.)
قرر الطبيب علاجا قصير المدى لتخفيف الالتهاب.
qarrara ṭ-ṭabību ʿilājan qaṣīra l-madā li-takhfīfi l-iltihāb.
The doctor prescribed a short-term treatment to reduce the inflammation. (Formal medical.)
4. Formally resolve or rule
Institutions frequently use قرر أن... to introduce an operative decision: a court ruled, a council resolved, or an authority decided. Here أن may introduce a clause whose subject differs from the institution, because it reports the content of the ruling rather than the institution's own next action.
قررت المحكمة أن العقد غير ملزم للطرفين.
qarrarati l-maḥkamatu ʾanna l-ʿaqda ghayru mulzimin liṭ-ṭarafayn.
The court ruled that the contract was not binding on either party. (Formal legal; أنَّ introduces a fact-content clause.)
This example uses أنَّ + noun clause, not أنْ + subjunctive. Compare قررت المحكمة أن تؤجلَ الجلسة “the court decided to postpone the hearing” with قررت المحكمة أنَّ العقد باطل “the court determined that the contract is void.” The unvocalized word أن hides this major grammatical difference.
Passive, participles, قرار, and تقرير
The passive is common in official prose: قُرِّرَ تأجيل الاجتماع “it was decided to postpone the meeting” and يقرر لاحقا read يُقَرَّرُ لَاحِقًا “will be decided later.” The passive participle مقرر (muqarrar) means “decided,” “prescribed,” or “scheduled”; as a noun it can mean a school or university course/text.
Do not assume that the verbal noun تقرير always means “decision.” It has lexicalized strongly as “report,” while قرار is the ordinary noun “decision.” Thus كتب تقريرا is “wrote a report,” and اتخذ قرارا is “made a decision.”
قرر تأجيل الاجتماع إلى الخميس.
qurrira taʾjīlu l-ijtimāʿi ʾilā l-khamīs.
It was decided to postpone the meeting until Thursday. (Formal passive.)
هذا الكتاب مقرر على طلاب السنة الأولى.
hādhā l-kitābu muqarrarun ʿalā ṭullābi s-sanati l-ʾūlā.
This book is prescribed for first-year students. (Academic/institutional.)
High-frequency collocations
| Collocation | Meaning and register |
|---|---|
| قَرَّرَ أَنْ يَفْعَلَ | decided to do (neutral/formal) |
| قَرَّرَ السَّفَرَ / الِانْسِحَابَ | decided to travel / withdraw (formal, compact) |
| قَرَّرَ مَا يَلِي | decided/resolved as follows (official) |
| قُرِّرَ تَأْجِيلُ | it was decided to postpone (official passive) |
| اتَّخَذَ قَرَارًا | made a decision (neutral/formal) |
| قَرَارٌ نِهَائِيٌّ | final decision (formal-neutral) |
Common Mistakes
Adding على before a verbal noun
❌ قرر على السفر غدا.
Incorrect transfer from English ‘decide on’; the chosen action is a direct verbal-noun object.
✅ قرر السفر غدا.
qarrara s-safara ghadan.
He decided to travel tomorrow.
Keeping the indicative after أنْ
❌ قرروا أن يغادرون مبكرا.
Incorrect—the five-verb ending ن drops in the subjunctive after أنْ.
✅ قرروا أن يغادروا مبكرا.
qarrarū ʾan yughādirū mubakkiran.
They decided to leave early.
Confusing أنْ with أنَّ
❌ قررت المحكمة أن العقد باطل.
qarrarati l-maḥkamatu ʾan al-ʿaqdu bāṭil
Incorrect reading—a factual content clause requires أَنَّ and makes العقد accusative in careful pronunciation.
✅ قررت المحكمة أن العقد باطل في حكمها.
qarrarati l-maḥkamatu ʾanna l-ʿaqda bāṭilun fī ḥukmihā.
The court ruled in its judgment that the contract was void.
Reading active مقرر as passive مقرر
❌ هذا الموظف مقرر الاجتماع.
hādhā l-muwaẓẓafu muqarraru l-ijtimāʿ
Incorrect reading for the intended meaning ‘rapporteur’—the active noun is مُقَرِّر, muqarrir.
✅ هذا الموظف مقرر الاجتماع.
hādhā l-muwaẓẓafu muqarriru l-ijtimāʿ.
This employee is the meeting rapporteur.
Calquing “make a decision” with فعل
❌ فعل المجلس قرارا نهائيا.
Incorrect calque of English ‘made a decision’; formal MSA uses اتخذ with قرار.
✅ اتخذ المجلس قرارا نهائيا.
ittakhadha l-majlisu qarāran nihāʾiyyan.
The council made a final decision.
Key Takeaways
- Keep Form-II قرر — يقرر — قرر — تقرير distinct from Form-I قرّ.
- Use أنْ + subjunctive or a direct verbal noun for a chosen action.
- Use a direct noun object when قرر means set, determine, approve, or prescribe.
- Distinguish active مُقَرِّر from passive مُقَرَّر, and ordinary قرار “decision” from تقرير “report.”
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