Imperfect-Tense Prefixes and Suffixes | Arabic (Modern Standard) Grammar

The Arabic imperfect (المضارع) builds agreement around a stem with one of four prefixes: أ، ت، ي، ن. Some persons also add a suffix for feminine, dual, or plural reference. From Form-I كَتَبَ / يَكْتُبُ “write” (root ك ت ب), Arabic forms أكتب “I write,” تكتبين “you write” to one woman, and يكتبون “they write” for a masculine or mixed group.

“Imperfect” is the name of the verb stem, not a complete English tense translation. In its basic indicative mood it commonly expresses present habits, ongoing actions, and contextually future events. This page concentrates on its person-gender-number form; the present-time guide explains those time readings.

Learn the two principal parts together

For an Arabic verb, the perfect and imperfect are principal parts. With Form I, the internal imperfect vowel is not safely predictable from the English meaning, so learn كَتَبَ / يَكْتُبُ together, not merely كَتَبَ.

كتب سامر الملاحظات أمس، ويكتب الملخص هذا الصباح.

kataba sāmirun l-mulāḥaẓāti ʾams, wa-yaktubu l-mulakhkhaṣa hādhā ṣ-ṣabāḥ.

Samer wrote the notes yesterday, and he is writing the summary this morning.

كتبَ is perfect and presents the earlier event as complete. يكتبُ is imperfect indicative. Its يـ marks third-person masculine singular, while final ـُ is the basic indicative ending in careful fully inflected MSA.

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Record a new verb as a pair such as كَتَبَ / يَكْتُبُ, with its root, Form, and common complements. The perfect alone does not tell you every imperfect stem vowel.

The full indicative map of يَكْتُبُ

The table shows the complete agreement system using the regular strong Form-I verb “write.” The endings are fully pronounced here because the paradigm is teaching them explicitly.

Subject	Indicative form	Structure	Meaning
أنا	أَكْتُبُ	أَـ + كتب + ـُ	I write
نحن	نَكْتُبُ	نَـ + كتب + ـُ	we write
أنتَ	تَكْتُبُ	تَـ + كتب + ـُ	you write, one man
أنتِ	تَكْتُبِينَ	تَـ + كتب + ـينَ	you write, one woman
أنتما	تَكْتُبَانِ	تَـ + كتب + ـانِ	you two write
أنتم	تَكْتُبُونَ	تَـ + كتب + ـونَ	you write, masculine/mixed plural
أنتن	تَكْتُبْنَ	تَـ + كتب + ـنَ	you write, feminine plural
هو	يَكْتُبُ	يَـ + كتب + ـُ	he writes
هي	تَكْتُبُ	تَـ + كتب + ـُ	she writes
هما، masculine	يَكْتُبَانِ	يَـ + كتب + ـانِ	they two write
هما، feminine	تَكْتُبَانِ	تَـ + كتب + ـانِ	they two write
هم	يَكْتُبُونَ	يَـ + كتب + ـونَ	they write, masculine/mixed
هن	يَكْتُبْنَ	يَـ + كتب + ـنَ	they write, feminine

The four prefixes do not each equal one English pronoun. تكتبُ can mean “you write” to one man or “she writes”; تكتبانِ can address any two people or refer to two women. An explicit subject or the surrounding conversation resolves the overlap.

أكتب إلى والدي كل يوم جمعة.

ʾaktubu ʾilā wālidī kulla yawmi jumuʿa(h).

I write to my father every Friday.

هل تكتبين التقرير الآن يا ليلى؟

hal taktubīna t-taqrīra l-ʾāna yā laylā?

Are you writing the report now, Layla?

هما تكتبان الرد معا قبل الاجتماع.

humā taktubāni r-radda maʿan qabla l-ijtimāʿ.

The two women are writing the reply together before the meeting.

The last sentence needs context to make feminine هما explicit. If the pair were masculine or mixed, the third-person form would be هما يكتبان.

What the suffixes contribute

The dual ـانِ and masculine/mixed plural ـونَ carry both number and indicative mood. Feminine singular ـينَ identifies one female addressee. Feminine plural ـنَ is a person-number suffix of its own and is preceded by sukūn in this strong verb: تكتبْنَ، يكتبْنَ.

أنتم تكتبون أسماء المشاركين في القائمة الأولى.

ʾantum taktubūna ʾasmāʾa l-mushārikīna fī l-qāʾimati l-ʾūlā.

You are writing the participants' names in the first list. (Addressing men or a mixed group.)

هن يكتبن الأخبار للقسم العربي.

hunna yaktubna l-ʾakhbāra li-l-qismi l-ʿarabiyy.

They write the news for the Arabic section. (All female.)

English you and they conceal distinctions that Arabic verbs express. Even when the pronoun is omitted, تكتبين، تكتبون، يكتبن identify gender and number.

Subject position changes the agreement pattern

When an explicit subject comes before the verb, formal MSA normally uses full agreement:

الطالبان يكتبان مشروعهما في المكتبة.

ʾaṭ-ṭālibāni yaktubāni mashrūʿahumā fī l-maktaba(h).

The two students are writing their project in the library.

الطالبات يكتبن تقاريرهن بعد الزيارة.

ʾaṭ-ṭālibātu yaktubna taqārīrahunna baʿda z-ziyāra(h).

The female students write their reports after the visit.

In neutral verb–subject order with an overt dual or plural subject, the preceding verb is normally singular while still matching gender:

يكتب الطالبان مشروعهما في المكتبة.

yaktubu ṭ-ṭālibāni mashrūʿahumā fī l-maktaba(h).

The two students are writing their project in the library.

تكتب الطالبات تقاريرهن بعد الزيارة.

taktubu ṭ-ṭālibātu taqārīrahunna baʿda z-ziyāra(h).

The female students write their reports after the visit.

This asymmetry is a property of formal MSA syntax. It is not permission to ignore number everywhere.

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Check word order before correcting agreement: subject–verb order normally has full agreement, while neutral verb–subject order normally has a singular verb before an overt dual or plural subject.

Indicative is the ungoverned base

The forms above are indicative. A particle can govern another mood and alter the ending while leaving person agreement intact. Compare Form-IV أَرْسَلَ / يُرْسِلُ “send” (root ر س ل):

هم يرسلون التقرير اليوم.

hum yursilūna t-taqrīra l-yawm.

They are sending the report today.

لن يرسلوا التقرير اليوم، لأنهم لم يراجعوه بعد.

lan yursilū t-taqrīra l-yawm, li-ʾannahum lam yurājiʿūhu baʿd.

They will not send the report today because they have not reviewed it yet.

Indicative يرسلونَ retains ن. After subjunctive governor لن and jussive governor لم, the corresponding five-verb forms lose that mood-marking nūn: يرسلوا، يراجعوا. Those particles receive full treatment on later mood pages; here the contrast defines what “indicative base” means.

Weak and geminate stems still take agreement

The affixes are stable, but a weak or geminate stem may change internally. Form-I قَالَ / يَقُولُ “say” has root ق و ل. The long vowel remains in يقولونَ, but it shortens before feminine-plural ـنَ: هن يقلْنَ, not يقولنَ.

هن يقلن إن الطريق مغلق بسبب الثلج.

hunna yaqulna ʾinna ṭ-ṭarīqa mughlaqun bi-sababi th-thalj.

They say that the road is closed because of the snow. (All female.)

Geminate Form-I مَدَّ / يَمُدُّ “extend” (root م د د) writes two identical radicals with shadda in يمدّ but may expose them before suffixes, as in feminine plural يمددْنَ. Learn verified principal parts and their weak or geminate behavior; do not simply paste endings onto the perfect spelling.

Common Mistakes

Using the perfect as the default English present

❌ أنا كتبت إلى والدي كل يوم.

Incorrect for a present habit — كتبت normally presents a completed past event.

✅ أنا أكتب إلى والدي كل يوم.

ʾanā ʾaktubu ʾilā wālidī kulla yawm.

I write to my father every day.

Losing feminine-singular agreement

❌ أنت تكتب التقرير الآن يا ليلى.

Incorrect in careful MSA — one female addressee requires تكتبين.

✅ أنت تكتبين التقرير الآن يا ليلى.

ʾanti taktubīna t-taqrīra l-ʾāna yā laylā.

You are writing the report now, Layla.

Using a plural verb before an overt plural subject

❌ يكتبون الطلاب الإجابات في دفاترهم.

Incorrect as neutral formal-MSA VSO — the preceding verb is normally singular.

✅ يكتب الطلاب الإجابات في دفاترهم.

yaktubu ṭ-ṭullābu l-ʾijābāti fī dafātirihim.

The students write the answers in their notebooks.

Keeping indicative nūn after a mood governor

❌ لن يرسلون التقرير اليوم.

Incorrect — لن governs the subjunctive, so يرسلون loses its final nūn.

✅ لن يرسلوا التقرير اليوم.

lan yursilū t-taqrīra l-yawm.

They will not send the report today.

Keeping a hollow long vowel before feminine plural ـن

❌ هن يقولن إن الموعد تغير.

Incorrect in fully inflected MSA — يقول shortens before feminine-plural ـن.

✅ هن يقلن إن الموعد تغير.

hunna yaqulna ʾinna l-mawʿida taghayyar.

They say that the appointment has changed. (All female.)

Key Takeaways

The imperfect uses أ، ت، ي، ن plus person-gender-number endings around a verified stem.
Learn perfect and imperfect principal parts together, especially for Form I, weak, hamzated, and geminate verbs.
The ungoverned indicative has final ـُ or retains mood nūn in ـينَ، ـانِ، ـونَ.
A preverbal explicit subject normally triggers full agreement; a following overt dual or plural subject normally follows a singular verb matching gender.
Subjunctive and jussive governors can change the ending without changing the subject agreement category.

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