تَكَلَّمَ is a Form-V verb meaning “speak, talk, or converse,” from root ك-ل-م. It is particularly useful when describing the act of speaking, conversational participation, or ability in a language. Its pattern contains a doubled لّ, which remains visible in all principal parts.
The English phrase speak Arabic has two useful Arabic construals. تكلم العربية treats Arabic as the language someone knows or speaks; تكلم بالعربية presents Arabic as the medium used on a particular occasion. With people and topics, the verb is normally prepositional: تكلم مع شخص “spoke with someone” and تكلم عن موضوع “talked about a topic.” These frames overlap with تحدث, but they are not mechanically interchangeable in every phrase.
Review the shared morphology in the Form-V overview, and use the تحدث reference for the neighboring verb's formal reporting frames. Language-name syntax is developed on the languages page.
Lookup card and principal parts
| Item | Verified form | Use |
|---|---|---|
| root and Form | ك-ل-م، Form V | sound derived verb with pattern-internal gemination |
| perfect | تَكَلَّمَ | he spoke / talked |
| imperfect indicative | يَتَكَلَّمُ | he speaks / is speaking |
| imperative, 2 m.sg. | تَكَلَّمْ | speak! |
| verbal noun | تَكَلُّمٌ | speaking; speech production |
| active participle | مُتَكَلِّمٌ | speaker; in grammar, first person |
| passive | تُكُلِّمَ — يُتَكَلَّمُ | was spoken — is spoken; uncommon except in impersonal/formal frames |
| passive participle | مُتَكَلَّمٌ بِهِ | spoken / used in speech, usually with بـ |
The principal-parts chain تَكَلَّمَ — يَتَكَلَّمُ — تَكَلَّمْ — تَكَلُّمًا is morphologically regular. There is no imperative alif and no weak radical. The shadda belongs to the Form-V stem: تكلم without written vowels still represents a doubled l, not takalama with three separate short syllables.
تكلمت المديرة بالعربية طوال المقابلة.
takallamati l-mudīratu bil-ʿarabiyyati ṭawāla l-muqābala.
The director spoke in Arabic throughout the interview. (Formal neutral.)
يتكلم ابنه ثلاث لغات بطلاقة.
yatakallamu bnuhu thalātha lughātin biṭalāqa.
His son speaks three languages fluently. (Formal neutral.)
Compact conjugation and mood
The perfect stem remains stable before suffixes: تَكَلَّمْتُ، تَكَلَّمْتَ، تَكَلَّمَتْ، تَكَلَّمْنَا، تَكَلَّمُوا. The imperfect is أَتَكَلَّمُ، تَتَكَلَّمُ، يَتَكَلَّمُ، نَتَكَلَّمُ. The regular mood contrast is يَتَكَلَّمُ indicative, لَنْ يَتَكَلَّمَ subjunctive, and لَمْ يَتَكَلَّمْ jussive.
The command has no initial supporting vowel: تَكَلَّمْ، تَكَلَّمِي، تَكَلَّمَا، تَكَلَّمُوا، تَكَلَّمْنَ. The negative command uses لا plus the jussive: لا تَتَكَلَّمْ “do not speak.”
سنتكلم مع الموردين بعد مراجعة العروض.
sanatakallamu maʿa l-muwarridīna baʿda murājaʿati l-ʿurūḍ.
We will speak with the suppliers after reviewing the bids. (Formal neutral.)
لن أتكلم عن القضية خارج قاعة المحكمة.
lan ʾatakallama ʿani l-qaḍiyyati khārija qāʿati l-maḥkama.
I will not talk about the case outside the courtroom. (Formal; subjunctive after لن.)
لم تتكلم الموظفة إلا بعد حضور ممثل النقابة.
lam tatakallami l-muwaẓẓafatu ʾillā baʿda ḥuḍūri mumaththili n-niqāba.
The employee did not speak until the union representative arrived. (Formal; a linking i follows the jussive.)
تكلموا واحدا واحدا كي نسجل الملاحظات بدقة.
takallamū wāḥidan wāḥidan kay nusajjila l-mulāḥaẓāti bidiqqa.
Speak one at a time so that we can record the comments accurately. (Formal instruction to a male or mixed group.)
Speaking a language: direct object or بـ
Language as an ability or repertoire
A language name can be a direct object: يتكلم العربية، يتكلم لغتين. This frame naturally answers questions about linguistic ability or habitual language use. The language name is definite when it names the language as a recognized system: العربية، الفرنسية، الصينية.
تتكلم الطبيبة الإسبانية وتفهم البرتغالية أيضا.
tatakallamu ṭ-ṭabībatu l-ʾisbāniyyata wa-tafhamu l-burtughāliyyata ʾayḍā.
The doctor speaks Spanish and understands Portuguese as well. (Formal neutral.)
كم لغة تتكلم المترجمة بطلاقة؟
kam lughatan tatakallamu l-mutarjimatu biṭalāqa?
How many languages does the translator speak fluently? (Formal neutral.)
Language as the medium used now
With بـ, the language is the medium of a particular exchange: تكلم بالعربية “spoke in Arabic.” This is especially useful when the speaker knows several languages but chooses one for the situation.
تكلم الوفد بالفرنسية لأن المترجم تأخر.
takallama l-wafdu bil-faransiyyati liʾanna l-mutarjima taʾakhkhar.
The delegation spoke in French because the interpreter was late. (Formal.)
أعرف أنك تتكلم الألمانية، لكن هل يمكن أن نتكلم بالإنجليزية اليوم؟
ʾaʿrifu ʾannaka tatakallamu l-ʾalmāniyyata, lākin hal yumkinu ʾan natakallama bil-ʾingilīziyyati l-yawma?
I know you speak German, but can we speak in English today? (Formal neutral; ability contrasted with chosen medium.)
Conversation partners and topics
Converse with someone: مع
The conversational partner follows مع. A direct noun after تكلم is readily interpreted as the subject or, with a language name, as the language—not as the person addressed. For “spoke to the manager,” use تكلم مع المدير, or use transitive Form II كَلَّمَ المديرَ when the focus is contacting/addressing him.
تكلمت مع جارتي بشأن الضوضاء في الممر.
takallamtu maʿa jāratī bishaʾni ḍ-ḍawḍāʾi fī l-mamarr.
I spoke with my neighbor about the noise in the corridor. (Formal neutral.)
يريد المدير أن يتكلم معك على انفراد.
yurīdu l-mudīru ʾan yatakallama maʿaka ʿalā nfirād.
The manager wants to speak with you privately. (Formal neutral, addressing one man.)
Talk about a topic: عن
The topic follows عن. In more formal analytical prose, تكلم في المسألة can mean “addressed/discussed the issue,” while عن remains the broadly useful choice. For direct-object “discuss,” ناقش الموضوع is often more concise.
تكلم المشاركون عن صعوبة الوصول إلى القرى النائية.
takallama l-mushārikūna ʿan ṣuʿūbati l-wuṣūli ʾilā l-qurā n-nāʾiya.
The participants talked about the difficulty of reaching remote villages. (Formal.)
تكلم الأستاذ في المسألة من منظور تاريخي.
takallama l-ʾustādhu fī l-masʾalati min manẓūrin tārīkhiyy.
The professor addressed the issue from a historical perspective. (Academic.)
The cognate noun may describe manner or content: تكلم كلاما واضحا and تكلم بكلام واضح are both licensed. In contemporary prose, an adverbial phrase such as تكلم بوضوح is often lighter and more idiomatic than repeating كلام.
تكلم, تحدث, and قال
تكلم and تحدث overlap heavily. تكلم often foregrounds speaking as an activity, the ability to speak a language, or participation in conversation. تحدث is particularly frequent in formal reporting about who spoke with whom or about what. Both are standard MSA, and both can be natural in the same sentence; the difference is tendency, not a categorical tense or register distinction.
قال is different: it introduces the content actually said—قال إن الاجتماع تأجل “he said that the meeting was postponed.” تكلم عن الاجتماع tells us the topic but not necessarily the words or proposition asserted.
تكلمت الخبيرة عن النتائج، ثم قالت إن العينة صغيرة.
takallamati l-khabīratu ʿani n-natāʾiji, thumma qālat ʾinna l-ʿayyinata ṣaghīra.
The expert talked about the results, then said that the sample was small. (Academic/formal.)
Passive and the grammatical term المتكلم
The passive يُتَكَلَّمُ exists, but because the active verb is usually intransitive, it appears mainly in impersonal formal statements: لا يُتَكَلَّمُ عن هذا علنا “this is not spoken about publicly.” Contemporary prose often prefers an active indefinite subject or يُناقش when a straightforward passive is wanted.
لا يتكلم بهذه اللهجة خارج المنطقة إلا نادرا.
lā yutakallamu bihādhihi l-lahjati khārija l-minṭaqati ʾillā nādirā.
This dialect is rarely spoken outside the region. (Formal impersonal passive.)
In grammar, الْمُتَكَلِّم means “the speaker” and conventionally labels the first person: ضمير المتكلم is a first-person pronoun. This is a lexicalized technical use (academic), not a different conjugation.
High-frequency collocations
| Collocation | Meaning and register |
|---|---|
| تَكَلَّمَ لُغَةً | speak a language (neutral/formal) |
| تَكَلَّمَ بِلُغَةٍ | speak in a language (neutral/formal) |
| تَكَلَّمَ مَعَ | speak/converse with (neutral) |
| تَكَلَّمَ عَنْ | talk about (neutral) |
| تَكَلَّمَ بِصَوْتٍ مُنْخَفِضٍ | speak in a low voice (neutral) |
| حَقُّ التَّكَلُّمِ | the right to speak / floor (formal institutional) |
Common Mistakes
Using عن for the language being spoken
❌ تكلمت عن العربية مع الزائر.
Incorrect for ‘I spoke Arabic with the visitor’—عن makes Arabic the topic being discussed.
✅ تكلمت بالعربية مع الزائر.
takallamtu bil-ʿarabiyyati maʿa z-zāʾir.
I spoke in Arabic with the visitor.
Treating the conversational partner as a direct object
❌ تكلمت المدير بعد الاجتماع.
Incorrect with Form V تكلم—the conversational partner normally follows مع; transitive كلم is a different form.
✅ تكلمت مع المدير بعد الاجتماع.
takallamtu maʿa l-mudīri baʿda l-ijtimāʿ.
I spoke with the manager after the meeting.
Copying direct-object English “discuss”
❌ تكلم الفريق المشكلة طويلا.
Incorrect with تكلم—the topic needs عن, or use transitive ناقش.
✅ تكلم الفريق عن المشكلة طويلا.
takallama l-farīqu ʿani l-mushkilati ṭawīlā.
The team talked about the problem at length.
Adding an alif to the imperative
❌ اتكلم بصوت أعلى.
Incorrect spelling in standard Arabic—the Form-V imperative is تكلم without an initial alif.
✅ تكلم بصوت أعلى.
takallam biṣawtin ʾaʿlā.
Speak louder.
Key Takeaways
- The regular Form-V chain is تَكَلَّمَ، يَتَكَلَّمُ، تَكَلَّمْ، تَكَلُّمًا.
- Use a direct object for a language repertoire, بـ for the language used as a medium, مع for a partner, and عن for a topic.
- تكلم and تحدث overlap, but تكلم is especially useful for language ability and the act of speaking.
- Do not confuse Form-V تكلم مع المدير with transitive Form-II كلم المدير.
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