Form I قَرَأَ / يَقْرَأُ “read,” root ق-ر-ء, ends in a genuine hamza radical. In unsuffixed forms, the preceding a seats that hamza on alif: قَرَأَ، يَقْرَأُ، اِقْرَأْ. When a suffix follows, hamza becomes medial and its seat may change: يَقْرَؤُونَ “they read,” تَقْرَئِينَ “you (f.sg.) read,” and اِقْرَآ “read, you two.”
The consonant never becomes wāw, yāʾ, or alif. Those letters are a seat or part of an agreement ending. The morphological work must therefore come first: identify tense/aspect, person, mood, and suffix; then apply the spelling of hamza in that resulting form. This page follows the consistent medial-seat spellings قرؤوا، يقرؤون، اقرؤوا used in this guide. The alternative spelling قرأوا is also accepted and preserves the final-hamza spelling before the plural suffix; follow the house style of the text you are writing rather than mixing conventions.
For the three-way imperfect ending system assumed below, review Indicative, Subjunctive, and Jussive.
Principal parts and basic valency
The verified set is قَرَأَ — يَقْرَأُ — اِقْرَأْ — قِرَاءَة. قرأ normally takes the text or content as a direct object: قرأ الكتابَ “read the book,” قرأ الرسالةَ “read the message.” To mean “read about a subject,” add عن: قرأ عن التاريخ.
| Function | Form | Analysis |
|---|---|---|
| root and Form | ق-ر-ء, Form I | hamza is the third radical |
| 3 m.sg. perfect | قَرَأَ | final hamza after a sits on alif |
| 3 m.sg. imperfect | يَقْرَأُ | ordinary indicative -u |
| 2 m.sg. imperative | اِقْرَأْ | initial hamzat al-waṣl + final root hamza |
| maṣdar | قِرَاءَة | bare hamza after long ā |
| active participle | قَارِئ | hamza on a yāʾ-shaped seat |
يقرأ سامر الصحيفة في القطار كل صباح.
yaqraʾu sāmirun ṣ-ṣaḥīfata fī l-qiṭāri kulla ṣabāḥ.
Samer reads the newspaper on the train every morning. (Neutral MSA.)
قرأت الباحثتان الدراسة قبل الاجتماع.
qaraʾati l-bāḥithatāni d-dirāsata qabla l-ijtimāʿ.
The two women researchers read the study before the meeting. (Formal VSO; singular feminine verb.)
Perfect suffixes: final hamza becomes medial
Subject suffixes attach after the root hamza. Before endings beginning with ت or ن, the preceding a continues to favor أ: قَرَأْتُ، قَرَأْتِ، قَرَأْنَا، قَرَأْنَ. With masculine-plural وا, this guide treats the now-medial hamza as ḍamma-bearing and writes قَرَؤُوا.
| Subject | Perfect | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| he | قَرَأَ | unsuffixed final hamza |
| she | قَرَأَتْ | hamza remains on alif before t |
| I | قَرَأْتُ | hamza has sukūn before -tu |
| we | قَرَأْنَا | ordinary -nā after the full root |
| they, masculine | قَرَؤُوا | medial hamza on wāw before -ū |
| they, feminine | قَرَأْنَ | hamza remains before -na |
قرأت التقرير مرتين ولم أجد الرقم المذكور.
qaraʾtu t-taqrīra marratayni wa-lam ʾajidi r-raqama l-madhkūr.
I read the report twice and did not find the number mentioned. (Formal.)
هم قرؤوا العقد كاملا قبل أن يوقعوه.
hum qaraʾū l-ʿaqda kāmilan qabla ʾan yuwaqqiʿūh.
They read the entire contract before signing it. (Subject-first; full masculine-plural agreement.)
If the explicit plural subject follows the verb in neutral VSO, the verb is singular: قرأ الموظفون العقدَ. Plural قرؤوا is appropriate when the subject precedes it or is understood from context.
Imperfect agreement and mood
Unsuffixed singular يقرأ keeps the same base spelling in all three moods; full vocalization shows the contrast:
| Mood | Environment | Form |
|---|---|---|
| indicative | independent assertion | يَقْرَأُ |
| subjunctive | after لَنْ / أَنْ | يَقْرَأَ |
| jussive | after لَمْ | يَقْرَأْ |
لن تقرأ مريم الرسالة قبل أن تصل إلى المكتب.
lan taqraʾa maryamu r-risālata qabla ʾan taṣila ʾilā l-maktab.
Maryam will not read the message before she reaches the office. (Subjunctive after lan.)
لم يقرأ الطبيب التقرير حتى اتصل به المختبر.
lam yaqraʾi ṭ-ṭabību t-taqrīra ḥattā ttaṣala bihi l-mukhtabar.
The doctor did not read the report until the laboratory called him. (Jussive after lam.)
Underlying jussive يقرأْ acquires a helping i before the article in connected speech: يقرأِ الطبيب. It remains jussive.
Agreement endings make seat changes visible. Indicative تَقْرَئِينَ “you (f.sg.) read” places hamza on ئ because kasra is strongest. Masculine-plural يَقْرَؤُونَ places it on ؤ. Dual يَقْرَآنِ combines hamza with the following long ā in madda spelling.
الباحثتان تقرآن المصادر نفسها، لكنهما تصلان إلى نتيجتين مختلفتين.
al-bāḥithatāni taqraʾāni l-maṣādira nafsahā, lakinnahumā taṣilāni ʾilā natījatayni mukhtalifatayni.
The two women researchers read the same sources, but reach two different conclusions. (Subject-first; dual agreement.)
الطلاب الذين يقرؤون يوميا يكتبون بسرعة أكبر.
aṭ-ṭullābu lladhīna yaqraʾūna yawmiyyan yaktubūna bisurʿatin ʾakbar.
Students who read every day write more quickly. (Subject-first; masculine-plural agreement.)
After لن or لم, the five verbs lose nūn: لن تقرئي، لم تقرئي، لن يقرؤوا، لم يقرؤوا. The mood governor—not the hamza seat—licenses this deletion.
The imperative has two different hamzas
The command is built from the second-person jussive تَقْرَأْ. Removing تـ leaves an initial cluster, so Arabic adds hamzat al-waṣl: اِقْرَأْ. Its initial alif is a removable pronunciation aid; the final أ is the root radical and must be pronounced. Isolated اِقْرَأْ is iqraʾ, while connected وَاقْرَأْ is waqraʾ.
| Addressee | Imperative | Seat effect |
|---|---|---|
| one man | اِقْرَأْ | final hamza on alif |
| one woman | اِقْرَئِي | kasra/ī favors ئ |
| two people | اِقْرَآ | hamza + dual ā written آ |
| men or mixed group | اِقْرَؤُوا | ḍamma/ū favors ؤ |
| all-female group | اِقْرَأْنَ | hamza remains on alif before -na |
اقرئي الرسالة بصوت واضح يا مريم.
iqraʾī r-risālata biṣawtin wāḍiḥin yā maryam.
Read the message in a clear voice, Maryam. (Addressing one woman.)
اقرؤوا التعليمات كاملة قبل تشغيل الجهاز.
iqraʾū t-taʿlīmāti kāmilatan qabla tashghīli l-jihāz.
Read all the instructions before turning on the device. (Addressing men or a mixed group.)
The maṣdar قراءة and other final-hamza verbs
The maṣdar قِرَاءَة is lexical and must be memorized. Hamza follows long ā and is written on the line; the ending is tāʾ marbūṭa. With a suffix it stays visible: قِرَاءَتُهُ “his reading,” قِرَاءَتُهَا “her reading.” Do not generate قرائة by analogy with قارئ; the vowels and morphological patterns differ.
تمنحني القراءة المسائية وقتا هادئا بعيدا عن الشاشة.
tamnaḥunī l-qirāʾatu l-masāʾiyyatu waqtan hādiʾan baʿīdan ʿani sh-shāsha.
Reading in the evening gives me quiet time away from the screen. (Neutral MSA.)
Other Form I final-hamza verbs show the same structural logic but have their own principal parts: بَدَأَ / يَبْدَأُ / بَدْء “begin” and لَجَأَ / يَلْجَأُ / لُجُوء “seek refuge; resort.” Their maṣdars prove that no single noun pattern follows automatically from “final hamza.” With masculine-plural imperfect agreement, this guide writes يبدؤون and يلجؤون.
يلجأ كثير من القراء إلى القاموس عند قراءة النصوص القديمة.
yaljaʾu kathīrun mina l-qurrāʾi ʾilā l-qāmūsi ʿinda qirāʾati n-nuṣūṣi l-qadīma.
Many readers resort to a dictionary when reading old texts. (Formal.)
Common Mistakes
Using a feminine-singular ending for a plural subject
❌ الطلاب يقرئين المقال كل أسبوع.
Incorrect — يقرئين addresses one woman; a masculine or mixed plural subject requires يقرؤون.
✅ الطلاب يقرؤون المقال كل أسبوع.
aṭ-ṭullābu yaqraʾūna l-maqāla kulla ʾusbūʿ.
The students read the article every week.
Dropping the root hamza from the command
❌ اقرا التعليمات قبل البدء.
Incorrect — root-final hamza must be written and pronounced: اقرأ.
✅ اقرأ التعليمات قبل البدء.
iqraʾi t-taʿlīmāti qabla l-badʾ.
Read the instructions before starting. (Addressing one man.)
Misspelling the maṣdar by analogy with قارئ
❌ خصصت ساعة للقرائة.
Incorrect — the maṣdar is قِرَاءَة, with hamza on the line and tāʾ marbūṭa.
✅ خصصت ساعة للقراءة مساء كل يوم.
khaṣṣaṣtu sāʿatan lil-qirāʾati masāʾa kulli yawm.
I set aside an hour for reading every evening.
Keeping indicative nūn after لن
❌ لن تقرئين التقرير اليوم يا سلمى.
Incorrect — lan deletes the nūn of the feminine-singular five-verb form.
✅ لن تقرئي التقرير اليوم يا سلمى.
lan taqraʾī t-taqrīra l-yawma yā salmā.
You will not read the report today, Salma.
Using full plural agreement in neutral VSO
❌ قرؤوا الموظفون العقد صباحا.
Incorrect in neutral VSO — the verb before an overt human plural is singular.
✅ قرأ الموظفون العقد صباحا.
qaraʾa l-muwaẓẓafūna l-ʿaqda ṣabāḥan.
The employees read the contract in the morning.
Key Takeaways
- The principal parts are قَرَأَ / يَقْرَأُ / اِقْرَأْ / قِرَاءَة; hamza is always the third radical.
- Unsuffixed singular moods differ in vocalization, while agreement suffixes can change the visible hamza seat.
- Distinguish initial hamzat al-waṣl from final root hamza in the imperative.
- Learn each final-hamza verb’s maṣdar and complement frame; neither follows automatically from its English meaning.
Now practice Arabic
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- سأل and Other Medial-Hamza VerbsB1 — Conjugate سأل as a sound verb while spelling its stable middle radical correctly across active, passive, derived, and suffixed forms.
- Geminate Verbs: Doubled Second and Third RadicalsB1 — Recognize Form I roots whose second and third radicals are identical, and predict the main contracted and unpacked stem environments.
- The Arabic Verb SystemA1 — See how Arabic verb stems, agreement, mood, voice, and derived Forms work together in complete sentences.