The Arabic jussive (المضارع المجزوم) is the imperfect form selected by specific governors: especially لم for negated past, prohibitive لا, command لِـ, and conditional particles such as إنْ. Its meaning is not one single English category. The same morphology can occur in “did not write,” “do not write,” “let him write,” and “if he writes.”
Three form changes identify it: a sound verb takes sukūn, a final-weak verb loses its final weak letter, and a “five-verb” form loses its mood nūn. The governor supplies the clause relation; the lexical verb keeps its root, stem, voice, agreement, and complements.
The three jussive markers
Regular Form I كَتَبَ — يَكْتُبُ — كِتَابَةً “write,” root ك-ت-ب, shows sukūn in forms without a nūn-bearing ending.
| Verb class | Indicative | Jussive | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| sound singular | يَكْتُبُ | لَمْ يَكْتُبْ | final sukūn |
| you f.sg. | تَكْتُبِينَ | لَمْ تَكْتُبِي | mood nūn deleted |
| dual | يَكْتُبَانِ | لَمْ يَكْتُبَا | mood nūn deleted |
| masculine plural | يَكْتُبُونَ | لَمْ يَكْتُبُوا | mood nūn deleted |
| feminine plural | يَكْتُبْنَ | لَمْ يَكْتُبْنَ | agreement nūn remains |
لم يكتب المحرر عنوان المقال قبل إرساله.
lam yaktubi l-muḥarriru ʿunwāna l-maqāli qabla ʾirsālih.
The editor did not write the article's title before sending it.
Underlying يكتبْ gains a support i before the article in connected speech: يكتبِ المحرر. That phonological repair does not cancel jussive mood.
الطالبتان لم تكتبا اسميهما على الورقة.
aṭ-ṭālibatāni lam taktubā smayhimā ʿalā l-waraqa(h).
The two female students did not write their names on the paper.
الموظفون لم يرسلوا الفواتير إلى قسم الحسابات.
al-muwaẓẓafūna lam yursilū l-fawātīra ʾilā qismi l-ḥisābāt.
The employees did not send the invoices to accounting.
After mood nūn is deleted, the dual تكتبا retains ا as its dual marker. In masculine-plural يرسلوا, by contrast, the final ا is the silent separator الألف الفارقة written after subject و; it is not pronounced. Feminine-plural ـنَ is a subject marker, so it remains in every mood.
لم gives an imperfect form past-negative time
لم is a particle, not a lexical verb and therefore has no root or Form. It requires a jussive imperfect but places the negated event in the past.
وصلت الحافلة، لكن السائق لم يفتح الباب الخلفي.
waṣalati l-ḥāfilatu, lākinna s-sāʾiqa lam yaftaḥi l-bāba l-khalfiyy.
The bus arrived, but the driver did not open the rear door.
English uses did + base form. Arabic uses لم + jussive imperfect. A perfect after لم is not licensed. The fuller morphology of this past denial appears on the لم page.
Related لَمَّا (formal) also governs the jussive but means that the event has not happened up to the reference time, often with an expectation that it may still happen. Interrogative أَلَمْ is simply question hamza plus لم and retains the same government.
لما تصل الشحنة بعد، ولذلك أجلنا عملية التوزيع.
lammā taṣili sh-shiḥnatu baʿdu, wa-li-dhālika ʾajjalnā ʿamaliyyata t-tawzīʿ.
The shipment has not arrived yet, so we postponed distribution.
ألم تتلقوا رسالة التأكيد من الفندق؟
ʾa-lam tatalaqqaw risālata t-taʾkīdi mina l-funduq?
Did you not receive the confirmation message from the hotel? (To a group.)
Do not confuse negative لَمَّا + jussive with temporal لَمَّا + perfect “when”: لما وصلت الشحنة بدأ التوزيع “When the shipment arrived, distribution began.”
Prohibitive لا gives a negative command
Prohibitive لا addresses someone and requires the jussive. It differs from declarative لا, which normally leaves an ungoverned imperfect indicative.
لا تتركي حقيبتك قرب الباب.
lā tatrukī ḥaqībataki qurba l-bāb.
Do not leave your bag near the door. (To one woman.)
لا تتأخروا عن موعد التسجيل.
lā tataʾakhkharū ʿan mawʿidi t-tasjīl.
Do not be late for registration. (To a group of men or a mixed group.)
In تتركي and تتأخروا, the indicative nūn has been deleted. By contrast, أنتم لا تتأخرون عادة “you are not usually late” is a statement and retains indicative تتأخرونَ.
Command لِـ is attached to the verb
Command لِـ (لام الأمر) makes a third- or first-person directive (formal) and governs the jussive. It is written attached to the verb. After و or ف, its vowel is commonly dropped: وَلْيَكْتُبْ، فَلْنَبْدَأْ.
ليحتفظ كل مشارك بنسخة من الإيصال.
li-yaḥtafiẓ kullu mushārikin bi-nuskhatin mina l-ʾīṣāl.
Let each participant keep a copy of the receipt. (Formal instruction.)
فلنبدأ الاجتماع بمراجعة جدول الأعمال.
fal-nabdaʾi l-ijtimāʿa bi-murājaʿati jadwali l-ʾaʿmāl.
Let us begin the meeting by reviewing the agenda.
Underlying نبدأْ takes linking i before the article. Purpose لِـ can instead govern a subjunctive; meaning and the ending distinguish لِيَفْهَمْ “let him understand” from purpose لِيَفْهَمَ “so that he understands.”
Conditions can govern two jussives
With a simple real open condition introduced by إنْ, both the condition verb and a directly verbal result can be jussive.
إن تصل مبكرا تجد مقعدا قرب المنصة.
ʾin taṣil mubakkiran tajid maqʿadan qurba l-minaṣṣa(h).
If you arrive early, you will find a seat near the stage. (To one man.)
من يلتزم بالتعليمات يتجنب معظم الأخطاء.
man yaltazim bi-t-taʿlīmāti yatajannab muʿẓama l-ʾakhṭāʾ.
Whoever follows the instructions avoids most errors.
Conditional nouns and adverbs such as مَنْ، مَهْمَا، مَتَى can create the same dependency. Not every result has a bare jussive: a nominal result, imperative, request, or result introduced by سـ، سوف، لن، قد normally needs linking فـ.
إن تنتهوا قبل الخامسة، فسوف نرسل النتيجة اليوم.
ʾin tantahū qabla l-khāmisati, fa-sawfa nursilu n-natījata l-yawm.
If you finish before five, we will send the result today.
Conditional تنتهوا loses its nūn. The result is not a second jussive because سوف begins the linked future clause.
Final-weak, hollow, and geminate verbs
Final-weak jussives delete their final weak letter:
| Principal parts | Indicative | Jussive after لم |
|---|---|---|
| دَعَا — يَدْعُو — دُعَاءً, root د-ع-و | يَدْعُو | لَمْ يَدْعُ |
| رَمَى — يَرْمِي — رَمْيًا, root ر-م-ي | يَرْمِي | لَمْ يَرْمِ |
| سَعَى — يَسْعَى — سَعْيًا, root س-ع-ي | يَسْعَى | لَمْ يَسْعَ |
لم يدع المنظم الصحفيين إلى الجلسة المغلقة.
lam yadʿu l-munaẓẓimu ṣ-ṣaḥafiyyīna ʾilā l-jalsati l-mughlaqa(h).
The organizer did not invite journalists to the closed session.
لا ترم البطاريات في سلة النفايات العادية.
lā tarmi l-baṭṭāriyyāti fī sallati n-nufāyāti l-ʿādiyya(h).
Do not throw batteries in the regular trash. (To one man.)
Hollow قَالَ — يَقُولُ — قَوْلًا, root ق-و-ل, shortens to يقلْ. Geminate رَدَّ — يَرُدُّ — رَدًّا, root ر-د-د, commonly retains contraction with a movement vowel in connected formal speech: لم يردَّ المديرُ.
لم يقل المتحدث إن الموعد نهائي.
lam yaquli l-mutaḥaddithu ʾinna l-mawʿida nihāʾiyy.
The spokesperson did not say that the date was final.
لم يرد رئيس اللجنة على اعتراضات الأعضاء في الجلسة الأخيرة.
lam yarudda raʾīsu l-lajnati ʿalā ʿtirāḍāti l-ʾaʿḍāʾi fī l-jalsati l-ʾakhīra(h).
The committee chair did not respond to the members' objections at the last session.
Agreement and verb-first order still matter
Mood does not override agreement. In neutral verb-first order before an overt human dual or plural, the verb is normally singular; a subject-first verb has full agreement. Nonhuman plurals normally trigger feminine-singular agreement.
إن تصل الباحثتان غدا، فلتدخلا من البوابة الشمالية.
ʾin taṣili l-bāḥithatāni ghadan, fal-tadkhulā mina l-bawwābati sh-shamāliyya(h).
If the two female researchers arrive tomorrow, let them enter through the north gate.
Before the overt dual subject, conditional تصلْ is feminine singular, realized with linking i. Once the dual is represented only by the subject marker in تدخلا, the command verb has full dual agreement and deleted mood nūn.
الطلبات لم تصل إلى اللجنة في موعدها.
aṭ-ṭalabātu lam taṣil ʾilā l-lajnati fī mawʿidihā.
The applications did not reach the committee on time.
Common Mistakes
Putting a perfect after لم
❌ لم كتب المحرر العنوان.
Incorrect — English ‘did not write’ corresponds to لم plus a jussive imperfect, not a perfect.
✅ لم يكتب المحرر العنوان قبل إرسال المقال.
lam yaktubi l-muḥarriru l-ʿunwāna qabla ʾirsāli l-maqāl.
The editor did not write the title before sending the article.
Reading prohibitive لا as indicative
❌ لا تفتح النافذة أثناء التجربة.
lā taftaḥu n-nāfidhata ʾathnāʾa t-tajriba(h)
Incorrect reading for a prohibition — لا الناهية requires jussive taftaḥ.
✅ لا تفتح النافذة قبل انتهاء التجربة.
lā taftaḥi n-nāfidhata qabla ntihāʾi t-tajriba(h).
Do not open the window before the experiment ends. (To one man.)
Retaining mood nūn
❌ إن تراجعون الأرقام تكتشفون الخطأ.
Incorrect — both directly conditional masculine-plural verbs delete mood nūn.
✅ إن تراجعوا الأرقام تكتشفوا الخطأ بسرعة.
ʾin turājiʿū l-ʾarqāma taktashifū l-khaṭaʾa bi-surʿa(h).
If you review the figures, you will discover the error quickly. (To a group.)
Giving a verb-first form dual agreement
❌ إن تصلا الباحثتان مبكرا، فلتنتظرا في المكتبة.
Incorrect in neutral verb-first order — use singular feminine تصل before the overt dual subject.
✅ إن تصل الباحثتان مبكرا، فلتنتظرا في المكتبة.
ʾin taṣili l-bāḥithatāni mubakkiran, fal-tantaẓirā fī l-maktaba(h).
If the two female researchers arrive early, let them wait in the library.
Regularizing weak and geminate stems
❌ لم يدعو المدير ولم تردد مساعدته على الرسالة.
Incorrect — final-weak يدعو must lose و, while Form I ‘reply’ is contracted تردّ, not the distinct Form II verb تردد.
✅ لم يدع المدير إلى الاجتماع ولم ترد مساعدته على الرسالة.
lam yadʿu l-mudīru ʾilā l-ijtimāʿi wa-lam tarudda musāʿidatuhu ʿalā r-risāla(h).
The director did not call for the meeting, and his assistant did not reply to the message.
Key Takeaways
- Jussive morphology is selected by governors, not by a single English meaning.
- Sound forms take sukūn, final-weak forms delete the weak letter, and the five verbs delete mood nūn.
- لم، لا الناهية، لام الأمر and conditional particles are the central environments.
- Agreement, VSO order, and nonhuman-plural agreement remain active independently of mood.
- Hollow and geminate verbs require their verified stems and may not display simple final sukūn on the surface.
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