رَمَى-type Final-Yāʾ Verbs | Arabic (Modern Standard) Grammar

Form I رَمَى — يَرْمِي — رَمْيًا “throw,” root ر-م-ي, is a defective verb: its third radical is ي, and that weak radical changes its surface form according to the ending around it. The perfect citation form ends in alif maqṣūra ى, the ordinary imperfect ends in long ي, suffixes reveal a consonantal ي or a related glide, and the jussive and masculine-singular imperative delete the final weak letter.

English speakers often look for one unchanging stem plus endings. Arabic instead makes the surrounding grammatical environment visible in the stem. The reliable unit to learn is therefore the chain رَمَى — يَرْمِي — رَمَيْتُ — لَمْ يَرْمِ — اِرْمِ, not an imagined regular stem رمي- used everywhere. The final-weak mood guide compares this chain with final-wāw and a-stem verbs.

The principal parts explain the family

The spelling contrast رمى / يرمي is grammatical, not optional. In the third-person masculine singular perfect, final ي appears as ى and represents long ā: رَمَى ramā. In the indicative imperfect, the same root has long ī: يَرْمِي yarmī. The maṣdar رَمْي ramy shows the underlying yāʾ directly.

Environment	Form	What the final radical does
perfect, 3 m.sg.	رَمَى	appears as final ى, pronounced ā
imperfect indicative, 3 m.sg.	يَرْمِي	appears as long ī
perfect before -t	رَمَيْتُ	appears as consonantal y
jussive after لم	لَمْ يَرْمِ	ي is deleted; final kasra remains
imperative, 2 m.sg.	اِرْمِ	same shortened jussive stem

رمى الطفل الكرة إلى أخته، فردتها إليه.

ramā ṭ-ṭiflu l-kurata ʾilā ʾukhtihi, faraddathā ʾilayh.

The boy threw the ball to his sister, and she threw it back to him. (Formal contemporary MSA.)

ترمي اللاعبة الكرة بيدها اليسرى بدقة.

tarmī l-lāʿibatu l-kurata biyadihā l-yusrā bidiqqa.

The player throws the ball accurately with her left hand. (Present-time imperfect.)

The verb can also be figurative. رَمَى إلى “aim at; seek to” is (formal) and common in analytical prose. It keeps the same principal parts but selects إلى before the intended result.

يرمي الاقتراح إلى خفض تكلفة النقل في المدن.

yarmī l-iqtirāḥu ʾilā khafḍi taklifati n-naqli fī l-mudun.

The proposal aims to reduce the cost of transportation in cities. (Formal.)

💡

Store the complement with the meaning: literal رمى الكرة takes a direct object, while formal figurative رمى إلى خفض التكلفة uses إلى. Morphology alone does not choose the complement.

The perfect: suffixes reveal y or w

When a consonant-initial suffix is attached, the weak radical appears as ي: رَمَيْتُ “I threw,” رَمَيْتِ “you (f.sg.) threw,” رَمَيْنَا “we threw.” The feminine singular رَمَتْ has no written yāʾ, and the masculine plural is رَمَوْا, with و before the plural ending. These are inherited weak-verb alternations; no single English-style rule can replace learning the small paradigm.

Person	Perfect	Reading
he	رَمَى	ramā
she	رَمَتْ	ramat
the two men	رَمَيَا	ramayā
they, masculine/mixed	رَمَوْا	ramaw
they, feminine	رَمَيْنَ	ramayna
I	رَمَيْتُ	ramaytu
we	رَمَيْنَا	ramaynā

رميت الأوراق القديمة في حاوية إعادة التدوير.

ramaytu l-ʾawrāqa l-qadīmata fī ḥāwiyati ʾiʿādati t-tadwīr.

I threw the old papers into the recycling bin.

رمت الصحفيتان نسختين قديمتين من التقرير في سلة المهملات.

ramati ṣ-ṣaḥafiyyatāni nuskhatayni qadīmatayni mina t-taqrīri fī sallati l-muhmalāt.

The two journalists threw two old copies of the report in the wastebasket. (Formal VSO: singular feminine verb before a dual subject.)

With a subject before the verb, agreement is full: الصحفيتان رمتا “the two journalists threw.” In neutral verb-first order, an overt dual or plural subject normally follows a singular verb, with feminine singular used for a feminine human subject: رمت الصحفيتان. Weakness does not cancel agreement.

Indicative, subjunctive, and jussive

The indicative يَرْمِي has an estimated ḍamma: no extra vowel can be heard after long ī. In the subjunctive, the final fatḥa is audible and the yāʾ remains: لَنْ يَرْمِيَ lan yarmiya. In the jussive, the yāʾ itself is deleted: لَمْ يَرْمِ lam yarmi. Unvocalized يرمي can therefore be indicative or subjunctive, but jussive يرم is visibly shorter.

لن يرمي اللاعب الكرة قبل أن يعطي الحكم الإشارة.

lan yarmiya l-lāʿibu l-kurata qabla ʾan yuʿṭiya l-ḥakamu l-ʾishāra.

The player will not throw the ball before the referee gives the signal. (Subjunctive after lan.)

لم يرم الحارسان شيئا من الأدلة.

lam yarmi l-ḥārisāni shayʾan mina l-ʾadilla.

The two guards did not throw away any of the evidence. (Jussive after lam; neutral VSO.)

When endings beginning with a vowel are present, the yāʾ remains: هُمَا يَرْمِيَانِ “they two throw,” هُمْ يَرْمُونَ “they throw,” and هُنَّ يَرْمِينَ “they (f.) throw.” With لن or لم, dual and masculine-plural forms lose only the final nūn because they belong to the five verbs: لن يرميا، لم يرموا.

اللاعبتان لم ترميا الكرتين خارج الملعب.

al-lāʿibatāni lam tarmiyā l-kuratayni khārija l-malʿab.

The two female players did not throw the two balls outside the field. (Subject-first dual agreement.)

💡

Ask two questions in order: which mood does the particle govern, and which person/number ending is present? لم يرمِ deletes the weak radical, but لم يرميا keeps it before the dual ending and deletes the five-verbs nūn.

The imperative comes from the jussive

The masculine-singular command is derived from second-person jussive تَرْمِ. Remove تـ, then add hamzat al-waṣl because رْمِ cannot begin an utterance: اِرْمِ “throw!” The initial alif is plain ا, not hamzat al-qaṭʿ إ. Before a vowel it loses its supporting vowel in connected speech, though it stays in writing.

ارم المفتاح إلي، ولا تتركه على الطاولة.

irmi l-miftāḥa ʾilayya, wa-lā tatrukhu ʿalā ṭ-ṭāwila.

Throw me the key, and do not leave it on the table. (Addressing one man.)

Feminine singular اِرْمِي, dual اِرْمِيَا, masculine/mixed plural اِرْمُوا, and feminine plural اِرْمِينَ retain their addressee endings. The shortened اِرْمِ is only the masculine singular.

Common Mistakes

Writing yāʾ in the perfect citation form

❌ رمي الطفل الكرة إلى أخته.

Incorrect Form I perfect spelling—‘he threw’ is رمى with final alif maqṣūra, not رمي.

✅ رمى الطفل الكرة إلى أخته.

ramā ṭ-ṭiflu l-kurata ʾilā ʾukhtih.

The boy threw the ball to his sister.

Using alif maqṣūra in the ordinary imperfect

❌ يرمى اللاعب الكرة بيده اليسرى.

Incorrect active imperfect spelling—يرمى is read as passive yurmā; active ‘he throws’ is يرمي.

✅ يرمي اللاعب الكرة بيده اليسرى.

yarmī l-lāʿibu l-kurata biyadihi l-yusrā.

The player throws the ball with his left hand.

Keeping yāʾ after jussive لم

❌ لم يرمي الحارس الأوراق.

Incorrect in careful MSA—the masculine-singular jussive deletes final ي: لم يرمِ.

✅ لم يرم الحارس الأوراق.

lam yarmi l-ḥārisu l-ʾawrāq.

The guard did not throw away the papers.

Writing hamzat al-qaṭʿ on the imperative

❌ إرم المفتاح إلي.

Incorrect spelling—the imperative begins with hamzat al-waṣl, written ا, and ends in kasra: ارمِ.

✅ ارم المفتاح إلي.

irmi l-miftāḥa ʾilayya.

Throw me the key. (Addressing one man.)

Giving a verb-first clause full plural agreement

❌ رموا اللاعبون الكرات إلى الجمهور.

Incorrect in neutral formal VSO—use singular رمى before the overt masculine plural subject.

✅ رمى اللاعبون الكرات إلى الجمهور.

ramā l-lāʿibūna l-kurāti ʾilā l-jumhūr.

The players threw the balls to the crowd.

Key Takeaways

Learn رَمَى — يَرْمِي — رَمْيًا as verified principal parts of root ر-م-ي.
Consonant-initial perfect suffixes reveal ي in forms such as رَمَيْتُ; masculine plural رَمَوْا shows و.
Subjunctive يرميَ keeps yāʾ, while jussive يرمِ deletes it.
Masculine-singular imperative اِرْمِ comes from the jussive stem; other addressees retain their agreement endings.
Learn literal رمى شيئا and formal figurative رمى إلى هدف with their actual complements.

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