Active Participle Governance (عمل اسم الفاعل)
In Arabic, active participles (اسم الفاعل) describe the doer of an action, such as "organizing", "welcoming", or "funding".
Just like verbal nouns, active participles can behave syntactically like the verbs they are derived from. This means that if an active participle comes from a transitive verb, it can take a direct object.
When an active participle governs a direct object, the object takes the accusative case, exactly as it would if it followed a regular active verb.
Notice how the active participle منسق (coordinating) governs the noun مهرجانا (a festival), which takes the accusative ending.
| Are you coordinating a festival? | هل أنت منسق مهرجانا؟hal anta munassiqun mihrajânan? |
This rule applies regardless of the gender of the active participle. Below, the feminine participle مستقبلة governs the accusative object ضيوفا.
| The female volunteer is welcoming guests at the entrance. | المتطوعة مستقبلة ضيوفا عند المدخل.al-mutatawwi'atu mustaqbilatun duyûfan 'inda al-madkhali |
Plural Participles and Adjectives
The active participle will always match its subject in gender and number, taking the appropriate endings (such as the masculine plural ـون). However, the direct object it governs consistently remains in the accusative case.
| Are they distributing a leaflet to the people? | هل هم موزعون منشورا على الناس؟hal hum muwazzi'ûna manshûran 'alâ an-nâs? |
| We are supporting a local team in addition to the association. | نحن مساندون فريقا محليا بالإضافة إلى الجمعية.nahnu musânidûna farîqan mahalliyyan bil'idâfati ilâ aljamiyyati. |
An active participle can also govern a direct object when it acts as an adjective modifying another noun. In the following example, ممول (funding) describes the donor, and it governs the accusative object مشروعا (a project).
| I am looking for a donor funding a charitable project. | أنا باحث عن متبرع ممول مشروعا خيريا.anâ bâhithun an mutabarriin mumawwilin mashrûan khayriyyan. |
A single sentence can contain multiple active participles, each independently governing its own direct object in the accusative case.
| The organizer is wearing a badge and using a loudspeaker. | المنظمة لابسة شارة ومستخدمة مكبرا.al-munazzimatu lâbisatun shâratan wa-mustakhdimatun mukabbiran |
Seeing the endings
This course writes Arabic the way books and newspapers print it, without the short-vowel marks, so the ending this lesson is about is usually something you hear in the audio but cannot see in the drills. Here are some of them with every vowel written out:
| as written | fully vocalized | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| هل أنت منسق مهرجانا؟ | هَلْ أَنْتَ مُنَسِّقٌ مِهْرَجَانًا؟ | Are you coordinating a festival? |
| الجمعية جامعة حصيلة للأيتام. | الجَمْعِيَّةُ جَامِعَةٌ حَصِيلَةً لِلأَيْتَامِ. | The association is collecting proceeds for the orphans. |
| المتبرع مستقبل ضيوفا ومجهز ضيافة. | المُتَبَرِّعُ مُسْتَقْبِلٌ ضُيُوفًا وَمُجَهِّزٌ ضِيَافَةً. | The donor is welcoming guests and preparing hospitality. |
The participle keeps its own ending: مُنَسِّقٌ, جَامِعَةٌ, مُسْتَقْبِلٌ. Its direct object is accusative. On مِهْرَجَانًا and ضُيُوفًا the alif shows it. On a word ending in ة it is only heard: حَصِيلَةً, ضِيَافَةً.
