Form VII adds n before a Form-I-shaped stem: اِنْفَعَلَ in the perfect, يَنْفَعِلُ in the imperfect, and اِنْفِعَال as its regular verbal noun. Its verbs are characteristically intransitive and often present an affected entity entering a state or showing the result of an action. That can resemble an English passive, but Form VII is a lexical verb pattern, not Arabic's grammatical passive voice. The Arabic verb-system overview keeps that distinction between derivation and voice explicit.
The central example is اِنْكَسَرَ — يَنْكَسِرُ — اِنْكِسَارًا “break, become broken,” root ك-س-ر. The n belongs to Form VII; the initial alif carries hamzat al-waṣl, whose supporting vowel is heard only where pronunciation needs it even though the alif remains in writing.
The principal-part pattern
| Environment | Pattern | ك-س-ر |
|---|---|---|
| perfect, 3 m.sg. | اِنْفَعَلَ | اِنْكَسَرَ |
| imperfect indicative, 3 m.sg. | يَنْفَعِلُ | يَنْكَسِرُ |
| imperative, 2 m.sg. | اِنْفَعِلْ | اِنْكَسِرْ |
| verbal noun | اِنْفِعَال | اِنْكِسَار |
At the start of an utterance, انكسر begins inkasara. After a vowel, its hamzat al-waṣl is not pronounced: فانكسر is fa-nkasara, not fa-ʾinkasara. The alif remains in writing. In the imperfect, the person prefix replaces the need for initial alif: ينكسر, never يانكسر.
انكسر المفتاح داخل القفل.
inkasara l-miftāḥu dākhila l-qufl.
The key broke inside the lock.
ضغط الفني على اللوح فانكسر عند الحافة.
ḍaghaṭa l-fanniyyu ʿalā l-lawḥi fa-nkasara ʿinda l-ḥāffa.
The technician pressed on the panel, and it broke at the edge.
The second clause presents the panel's resulting change of state. The technician is not an unexpressed grammatical agent inside انكسر; the cause is supplied by the preceding clause.
Middle and result readings
Many Form VII verbs correspond semantically to a transitive Form I verb. فَتَحَ “open something” contrasts with اِنْفَتَحَ — يَنْفَتِحُ — اِنْفِتَاحًا “open/become open” (root ف-ت-ح). قَطَعَ “cut off something” contrasts with اِنْقَطَعَ — يَنْقَطِعُ — اِنْقِطَاعًا “be cut off; cease” (root ق-ط-ع). The Form VII subject undergoes the event without a direct object.
انفتح الباب تلقائيا عند اقتراب الحافلة.
infataḥa l-bābu tilqāʾiyyan ʿinda qtirābi l-ḥāfila.
The door opened automatically when the bus approached.
انقطع التيار عن الحي مدة ساعتين.
inqaṭaʿa t-tayyāru ʿani l-ḥayyi muddata sāʿatayn.
The power was cut off from the neighborhood for two hours.
English permits both “the power went off” and a passive “the power was cut off.” Arabic انقطع is morphologically active Form VII and intransitive, even when the natural English translation is passive. A true Arabic internal passive such as قُطِعَ التيارُ belongs to the voice system of Form I and can foreground an event with an implicit agent.
خفض البنك الرسوم فانخفضت تكاليف التحويل.
khaffaḍa l-banku r-rusūma fa-nkhafaḍat takālīfu t-taḥwīl.
The bank reduced the fees, so transfer costs fell.
The nonhuman plural تكاليف takes feminine-singular انخفضت. Form VII's intransitivity does not change the normal nonhuman-plural agreement rule.
Form VII is not available to every root
Form VII has real phonological restrictions. In standard descriptions, roots beginning with ء، و، ي، ر، ل، or ن do not form regular Form VII verbs; roots beginning with م are also relatively rare in this Form. Arabic normally uses an attested verb in another Form instead of mechanically forcing انـ onto such a root.
This restriction also prevents a common parsing error. A word beginning انتـ may be Form VIII from an n-initial root rather than Form VII. اِنْتَشَرَ — يَنْتَشِرُ — اِنْتِشَارًا “spread” is Form VIII from ن-ش-ر: the first ن is the root's first radical, and ت is the Form VIII marker. You need the root and principal parts, not merely the first two written letters.
انتشر الخبر عبر وسائل الإعلام خلال دقائق.
intashara l-khabaru ʿabra wasāʾili l-ʾiʿlāmi khilāla daqāʾiq.
The news spread through the media within minutes. (انتشر is Form VIII, not Form VII.)
Form VII is therefore not a productive equivalent of English become or get. انكسر، انفتح، انقطع، and انخفض are attested lexemes. When no established Form VII exists, choose the actual Arabic verb or a grammatical passive.
Agreement and mood
For a sound root, the imperfect stem ينكسرـ takes the ordinary moods: indicative ينكسرُ, subjunctive ينكسرَ after لن, and jussive ينكسرْ after لم. Perfect agreement uses the normal suffixes.
| Subject/environment | Form |
|---|---|
| هو, perfect | اِنْكَسَرَ |
| هي, perfect | اِنْكَسَرَتْ |
| هما (f.), perfect | اِنْكَسَرَتَا |
| هم, imperfect indicative | يَنْكَسِرُونَ |
| after لن, 3 m.sg. | لَنْ يَنْكَسِرَ |
| after لم, 3 m.sg. | لَمْ يَنْكَسِرْ |
لن ينكسر الزجاج تحت هذا الضغط العادي.
lan yankasira z-zujāju taḥta hādhā ḍ-ḍaghṭi l-ʿādiyy.
The glass will not break under this normal pressure. (Subjunctive after lan.)
لم تنضم الباحثتان إلى الفريق الجديد.
lam tanḍamma l-bāḥithatāni ʾilā l-farīqi l-jadīd.
The two female researchers did not join the new team. (Singular verb in VSO.)
اِنْضَمَّ — يَنْضَمُّ — اِنْضِمَامًا “join” (root ض-م-م) is geminate. Its jussive may retain the contracted form with final fatḥa for pronounceability, as in لم تنضمَّ. With the subject first, dual agreement appears: الباحثتان لم تنضمّا.
الباحثتان لم تنضما إلى الفريق الجديد.
al-bāḥithatāni lam tanḍammā ʾilā l-farīqi l-jadīd.
The two female researchers did not join the new team. (Subject-first dual agreement.)
Hollow, final-weak, and hamzated roots
Hollow Form VII does not follow the sound template letter for letter. اِنْقَادَ — يَنْقَادُ — اِنْقِيَادًا “submit; comply” (root ق-و-د) has long ā in both perfect and imperfect. In the singular jussive it shortens: لم يَنْقَدْ. Its complement is normally لـ “submit/comply with.”
لم ينقد المدير للضغوط السياسية.
lam yanqadi l-mudīru liḍ-ḍughūṭi s-siyāsiyya.
The director did not yield to political pressure.
Final-weak اِنْطَوَى — يَنْطَوِي — اِنْطِوَاءً “be folded; involve/contain” (root ط-و-ي) loses its final yāʾ in the singular jussive: لم ينطوِ. Final-hamzated اِنْطَفَأَ — يَنْطَفِئُ — اِنْطِفَاءً “go out, be extinguished” (root ط-ف-ء) changes the hamza seat with its surrounding vowel.
ينطوي الاقتراح على مخاطر قانونية كبيرة.
yanṭawī l-iqtirāḥu ʿalā makhāṭira qānūniyyatin kabīra.
The proposal involves major legal risks. (Formal analytical register.)
انطفأت المصابيح عند انقطاع التيار.
inṭafaʾati l-maṣābīḥu ʿinda nqiṭāʿi t-tayyār.
The lights went out when the power was cut.
Common Mistakes
Writing hamzat al-qaṭʿ on Form VII
❌ إنكسر المفتاح داخل القفل.
Incorrect spelling—Form VII begins with hamzat al-waṣl, written as plain ا: انكسر.
✅ انكسر المفتاح داخل القفل القديم.
inkasara l-miftāḥu dākhila l-qufli l-qadīm.
The key broke inside the old lock.
Using Form VII transitively
❌ انكسر العامل الزجاج.
Incorrect for ‘the worker broke the glass’—انكسر is intransitive; use Form I كسر with a direct object.
✅ كسر العامل الزجاج فانكسر إلى قطع صغيرة.
kasara l-ʿāmilu z-zujāja fa-nkasara ʾilā qiṭaʿin ṣaghīra.
The worker broke the glass, and it broke into small pieces.
Calling every انـ verb Form VII
❌ انتشر فعل من الصيغة السابعة وجذره ش-ر-ر.
Incorrect analysis—انتشر is Form VIII from root ن-ش-ر, not Form VII.
✅ انتشر الخبر في المدينة خلال ساعة.
intashara l-khabaru fī l-madīnati khilāla sāʿa.
The news spread through the city within an hour. (Form VIII.)
Giving a verb-first clause full dual agreement
❌ انضمتا الباحثتان إلى الفريق.
Incorrect in neutral formal VSO—use singular feminine انضمت before the overt dual subject.
✅ انضمت الباحثتان إلى الفريق في بداية الشهر.
inḍammati l-bāḥithatāni ʾilā l-farīqi fī bidāyati sh-shahr.
The two female researchers joined the team at the beginning of the month.
Regularizing a hollow jussive
❌ لم ينقاد المدير للضغوط.
Incorrect in careful MSA—the hollow jussive shortens ينقاد to ينقد.
✅ لم ينقد المدير للضغوط الخارجية.
lam yanqadi l-mudīru liḍ-ḍughūṭi l-khārijiyya.
The director did not yield to external pressure.
Key Takeaways
- Form VII follows اِنْفَعَلَ — يَنْفَعِلُ — اِنْفِعَالًا and contains an n-prefix.
- Its initial alif carries hamzat al-waṣl: pronounce it initially, but elide it after a vowel.
- Form VII verbs are intransitive and commonly express middle, result, or passive-like meanings.
- Roots beginning ء، و، ي، ر، ل، or ن do not regularly enter Form VII; initial م is rare.
- Sound, geminate, hollow, final-weak, and hamzated roots require their verified principal parts.
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