Form IV hollow verbs combine the prefixal Form-IV system with a weak middle radical. The central model is أَقَامَ / يُقِيمُ / إِقَامَة, root ق-و-م, meaning “establish; hold” with a direct object and “stay; reside” with في. Its active participle is مُقِيم and its passive participle is مُقَام. The familiar long vowels do not remain everywhere: أقام has short perfect stem أَقَمْـ before consonantal endings, and يقيم has short يُقِمْ in the suffixless jussive, feminine plural, and masculine-singular imperative أَقِمْ.
English gives no warning about these stem alternations. “Held,” “holds,” “will not hold,” and “hold!” may all reuse one English base, while Arabic selects أقام، يقيم، لن يقيمَ، لم يقمْ، أقمْ according to aspect, mood, and addressee. Review the sound Form-IV pattern for the prefixal baseline and the hollow-verb overview for the long-versus-short stem logic.
The verified principal-part family
Do not derive أقام directly from the spelling of Form I قام / يقوم. Record the Form-IV family as a unit:
| Category | ق-و-م | Function |
|---|---|---|
| perfect active | أَقَامَ | established; held; stayed |
| imperfect active | يُقِيمُ | establishes; holds; stays |
| maṣdar | إِقَامَة | establishing; holding; stay/residence |
| active participle | مُقِيم | resident; staying; establishing |
| passive participle | مُقَام | held; established |
| perfect passive | أُقِيمَ | was held/established |
| imperfect passive | يُقَامُ | is held/established |
Form IV begins with hamzat al-qaṭʿ in the perfect, command, and maṣdar: أقام، أقم، إقامة. It remains pronounced after another word, unlike the hamzat al-waṣl of Forms VII, VIII, and X.
أقامت الجامعة مؤتمرين عن الطاقة المتجددة هذا العام.
ʾaqāmati l-jāmiʿatu muʾtamarayni ʿani ṭ-ṭāqati l-mutajaddidati hādhā l-ʿām.
The university held two conferences on renewable energy this year. (Formal.)
يقيم الباحثان في عمان خلال الفصل الدراسي.
yuqīmu l-bāḥithāni fī ʿammāna khilāla l-faṣli d-dirāsiyy.
The two researchers are staying in Amman during the academic term. (Neutral VSO; singular verb.)
The transitive and intransitive frames are lexical senses of the same verb: أقام مؤتمرًا “hold a conference,” but أقام في المدينة “reside in the city.” Do not insert في before the event, and do not omit it before the place of residence.
Perfect: أقام beside short أقمـ
The long stem أَقَامَ appears when no consonant-initial personal suffix forces shortening. Before ـتُ، ـتَ، ـتِ، ـنَا، ـنَ, use short أَقَمْـ. The feminine singular أَقَامَتْ and dual/plural forms with vowel-led endings retain the long stem.
| Person | Form | Stem choice |
|---|---|---|
| he | أَقَامَ | long |
| she | أَقَامَتْ | long |
| I | أَقَمْتُ | short before -تُ |
| we | أَقَمْنَا | short before -نَا |
| they, masculine | أَقَامُوا | long before -وا |
| they, feminine | أَقَمْنَ | short before -نَ |
أقمنا في القرية أسبوعين لإجراء المقابلات الميدانية.
ʾaqamnā fī l-qaryati ʾusbūʿayni liʾijrāʾi l-muqābalāti l-maydāniyya.
We stayed in the village for two weeks to conduct field interviews. (Formal.)
أقمن المعرض في القاعة الكبرى بعد اكتمال أعمال الصيانة.
ʾaqamna l-maʿriḍa fī l-qāʿati l-kubrā baʿda ktimāli ʾaʿmāli ṣ-ṣiyāna.
They, a group of women, held the exhibition in the main hall after maintenance was completed.
The short vowel is a in perfect أَقَمْتُ, not the i of imperfect يُقِمْ. Treat them as aspect-specific stems.
Imperfect moods and the short jussive
Indicative يُقِيمُ has final -u when fully inflected. After لن, the subjunctive is يُقِيمَ: the long ī remains because an overt ending follows. After لم, suffixless singular يُقِمْ loses the long vowel. Feminine plural يُقِمْنَ likewise uses the short stem before consonantal نَ. Dual and masculine-plural forms keep the long vowel but respond to mood through their nūn endings.
لن يقيم المدير الحفل قبل صدور تصريح السلامة.
lan yuqīma l-mudīru l-ḥafla qabla ṣudūri taṣrīḥi s-salāma.
The director will not hold the celebration before the safety permit is issued. (Subjunctive after لن.)
لم يقم المدير الحفل بسبب التحذير الجوي.
lam yuqimi l-mudīru l-ḥafla bisababi t-taḥdhīri l-jawwiyy.
The director did not hold the celebration because of the weather warning. (Jussive short stem.)
الباحثتان لم تقيما في الفندق القريب من الجامعة.
al-bāḥithatāni lam tuqīmā fī l-funduqi l-qarībi mina l-jāmiʿa.
The two women researchers did not stay in the hotel near the university. (Subject-first dual; nūn deletion after لم.)
The kasra in connected لم يُقِمِ المدير is a temporary linking vowel before the definite article; the morphological jussive remains يُقِمْ.
Commands: أقم, not اقم or أقام
The masculine-singular command is built on the short imperfect stem: أَقِمْ “establish; hold; stay!” Form IV keeps hamzat al-qaṭʿ, so the alif must carry أ even in unvocalized spelling. Other addressee forms include أَقِيمِي (one woman), أَقِيمَا (two), أَقِيمُوا (male/mixed group), and أَقِمْنَ (women).
أقم في هذا الفندق حتى تنتهي أعمال الترميم.
ʾaqim fī hādhā l-funduqi ḥattā tantahiya ʾaʿmālu t-tarmīm.
Stay in this hotel until the renovation work is finished. (Addressing one man; formal.)
أقيما الورشتين في يومين مختلفين لتجنب الازدحام.
ʾaqīmā l-warshatayni fī yawmayni mukhtalifayni litajannubi l-izdiḥām.
Hold the two workshops on different days to avoid crowding. (Addressing two people.)
أقمن في الجناح الشرقي يا زميلات، فهو أقرب إلى المختبر.
ʾaqimna fī l-janāḥi sh-sharqiyyi yā zamīlātu, fa-huwa ʾaqrabu ʾilā l-mukhtabar.
Stay in the east wing, colleagues; it is closer to the laboratory. (Addressing a group of women.)
Passive and nominal forms
The active perfect أَقَامَ contrasts with passive أُقِيمَ; active imperfect يُقِيمُ contrasts with passive يُقَامُ. The passive jussive is لَمْ يُقَمْ. Unvocalized يقيم and يقام remain visually distinct, but لم يقم can represent active lam yuqim or passive lam yuqam; syntax and context decide.
أقيم معرضان تقنيان في مدينتين ساحليتين.
ʾuqīma maʿriḍāni tiqniyyāni fī madīnatayni sāḥiliyyatayn.
Two technology exhibitions were held in two coastal cities. (Formal; singular passive before a dual subject.)
لم يقم الحفل في الساحة لأن الرياح كانت شديدة.
lam yuqami l-ḥaflu fī s-sāḥati liʾanna r-riyāḥa kānat shadīda.
The celebration was not held in the square because the wind was strong. (Passive jussive.)
Nominal إقامة can mean “holding/establishment” or “stay/residence” according to its complement. مقيم commonly means “resident” or “staying”; مقام can describe something held or established, though many lexicalized meanings of مقام belong to separate noun histories and must not be reverse-engineered from this verb.
المعرض مقام في مبنى البلدية، والمنظمتان مقيمتان قرب الموقع.
al-maʿriḍu muqāmun fī mabnā l-baladiyyati, wa-l-munaẓẓimatāni muqīmatāni qurba l-mawqiʿ.
The exhibition is being held in the municipal building, and the two women organizers are staying near the site.
Other verified Form-IV hollow sets
The same structural family appears in أَدَارَ / يُدِيرُ / إِدَارَة / مُدِير / مُدَار “manage; turn,” root د-و-ر, and أَجَابَ / يُجِيبُ / إِجَابَة / مُجِيب / مُجَاب “answer,” root ج-و-ب. Their meanings and complements remain lexical: أجاب عن سؤال “answer a question” normally uses عن, while أدار مشروعًا takes a direct object.
أجابت الخبيرتان عن السؤال، ثم أدارتا النقاش بهدوء.
ʾajābati l-khabīratāni ʿani s-suʾāli, thumma ʾadāratā n-niqāsha bihudūʾ.
The two women experts answered the question and then managed the discussion calmly. (Neutral VSO, then dual agreement.)
Common Mistakes
Keeping the long vowel before a consonantal perfect suffix
❌ أقامت في المدينة ثلاثة أشهر.
Incorrect if the intended subject is ‘I’—the first-person perfect uses short أقمت, not third-person feminine أقامت.
✅ أقمت في المدينة ثلاثة أشهر.
ʾaqamtu fī l-madīnati thalāthata ʾashhur.
I stayed in the city for three months.
Keeping the long vowel in the singular jussive
❌ لم يقيم المدير الحفل.
Incorrect in careful MSA—after لم, singular يقيم shortens to يقم.
✅ لم يقم المدير الحفل.
lam yuqimi l-mudīru l-ḥafl.
The director did not hold the celebration.
Writing the command with hamzat al-waṣl
❌ اقم في الفندق القريب.
Incorrect spelling—Form IV uses hamzat al-qaṭʿ: أقم.
✅ أقم في الفندق القريب.
ʾaqim fī l-funduqi l-qarīb.
Stay in the nearby hotel. (Addressing one man.)
Using the active vowel in a passive jussive
❌ لم يقم الحفل.
Ambiguous without vocalization; if passive is intended, read يُقَمْ, not active يُقِمْ.
✅ لم يقم الحفل بسبب الطقس.
lam yuqami l-ḥaflu bisababi ṭ-ṭaqs.
The celebration was not held because of the weather. (Passive.)
Losing the residence preposition
❌ يقيم الباحثان الفندق الجامعي.
Incorrect for ‘stay/reside’—this sense requires في before the place.
✅ يقيم الباحثان في الفندق الجامعي.
yuqīmu l-bāḥithāni fī l-funduqi l-jāmiʿiyy.
The two researchers are staying in the university hotel.
Key Takeaways
- Memorize أقام / يقيم / إقامة / مقيم / مقام as one verified Form-IV hollow family.
- Perfect أقمت and jussive لم يقم use short stems; subjunctive لن يقيمَ keeps the long vowel.
- The command is أقم with hamzat al-qaṭʿ; addressee endings produce أقيمي، أقيما، أقيموا، أقمن.
- Passive أقيم / يقام / لم يقم has its own vowels, while valency distinguishes أقام حدثًا from أقام في مكان.
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