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### Classical Passive-Form Verbs

Certain Arabic verbs take the passive form but carry an active meaning. They usually describe profound events outside of human control, such as passing away, losing one's mind, or fainting.

### Passing Away and Martyrdom

Two common passive-form verbs are توفي (to pass away) and استشهد (to be martyred). You use them just like regular verbs, followed directly by the person.

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These conjugate to match the gender of the subject. For a feminine subject, simply add the feminine ending to get توفيت or استشهدت.

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### Losing One's Mind

Another classic passive-form verb is جن (to go mad). Like the previous verbs, it takes a standard subject.

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### Fainting

The verb for fainting, أغمي, operates a little differently. Instead of taking a direct subject, it uses the preposition على to introduce the person who fainted. Think of it literally as "it was fainted upon [someone]."

Because the verb is impersonal in this structure, أغمي remains fixed in the masculine singular form, regardless of who fainted.

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When replacing the noun with a pronoun, attach the appropriate suffix to على (for example, عليها for "she"):

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Classical passive-form verbs (توفي، جن)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

interrogative

noun

numeral

particle

prefix

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

The definite article and locatives (الـ)

Basic noun gender (ة)

Sun and moon letters

Singular subject pronouns (أنا، أنت، هو، هي)

Indefinite nouns and nominal sentences (ـٌ)

Demonstrative pronouns for 'this' (هذا / هذه)

Separate prepositions (في، من، إلى، على)

Attributive adjectives

Predicative adjectives

Yes/No questions (هل، أ)

Basic questions (من، ما، أين)

Singular possessive pronouns (ـي، ـك، ـه، ـها)

Plural subject pronouns (نحن، أنتم، هم)

Plural possessive pronouns (ـنا، ـكم، ـهم)

Noun possession

Attached prepositions (بـ، لـ، كـ)

Pronouns with prepositions

Having and possessing (عند، لـ، مع)

Regular plural nouns (ـون، ـين، ـات)

Broken plurals

Dual nouns (ـان / ـين)

Plural and distant demonstratives (هؤلاء، ذلك، تلك)

Non-human plural agreement

Present tense singular verbs

Verbal sentences (VSO)

Present tense plural verbs

Topicalized sentences (SVO)

The indefinite accusative case (ـاً)

Verb object pronouns (-ني، -ك، -ه)

Present tense negation (لا)

Question words with verbs (متى، كيف...)

Adverbs of time and place

The future tense (سـ / سوف)

Intentions and desires (أن)

Negating states and possession (ليس)

Past tense singular suffixes

Past tense plural suffixes

Negating past events (ما)

Singular commands

Numbers 1 to 10

Number agreement for 1 and 2 (واحد، اثنان)

Asking how many (كم)

Numbers 3 to 10 (ثلاثة إلى عشرة)

Ordinal numbers 1 to 10 (الأول، الثاني)

Basic conjunctions (فـ، أو، لكن)

Ordering at a café (واحد، اثنان)

Food and drink with conjunctions (و، ف، أو، لكن)

There is and there are (هناك / ليس هناك)

Direct address (يا)

Giving reasons (لأنّ)

Relative pronouns (الذي / التي)

Quantifiers (كل / بعض)

The past tense of 'to be' (كان)

Past possession

Numbers 11 to 19 and tens to 80

Telling time (الساعة)

This book vs this is a book (هذا الكتاب، هذا كتاب)

Greetings (مرحبا، السلام عليكم)

How are you? and goodbye (كيف حالك، مع السلامة)

Nationalities (مصري، مصرية)

Roots and patterns (كتب، كتاب، مكتب)

Politeness (من فضلك، آسف)

Complex possession chains

Colors and traits (أفعل / فعلاء)

Plural colors and traits (فُعْل)

Comparative adjectives (أفعل من)

Superlative adjectives (أفعل)

Adverbs of manner (ـاً)

The nominative case (ـُ)

The genitive case (ـِ)

The accusative case (ـَ)

Dual noun cases (ـان / ـين)

Masculine plurals and 'the best of' (أفضل النجارين)

Emphasizing sentences (إنّ)

Connecting clauses (أنّ)

Reporting speech (قال إنّ)

Expressing contrast (لكنّ)

Comparison and probability (كأنّ, لعلّ)

Distant plural pointing (أولئك)

Plural relative pronouns (الذين, اللواتي)

Past habits (كان + present)

Ongoing actions (ما زال)

Masculine plurals online (مبرمجون، مؤثرون)

Perfective past (قد)

Probability (قد)

The subjunctive mood (أن)

Question	Answer
emperor	إمبراطورimbarâtûr
He is an emperor who passed away before the end of the war.	هو إمبراطور توفي قبل نهاية الحرب.huwa 'imbarâturun tuwuffiya qabla nihâyati l-harbi
to be martyred	استشهدustushhida
battle	معركةma'raka
We knew that the emperor was martyred in a historic battle.	عرفنا أن الإمبراطور استشهد في معركة تاريخية.arafnâ anna l-imbarâtûra ustushhida fî ma'rakatin târîkhiyyah.
to go mad	جنjunna
Did the commander go mad after he lost the battle?	هل جن القائد بعدما خسر المعركة؟hal junna al-qâ'idu ba'damâ khasira al-ma'rakata?
grief	حزنhuzn
The mother passed away from extreme grief over her son.	توفيت الأم من الحزن الشديد على ابنها.tuwuffiyati l-ummu mina l-huzni sh-shadîdi 'alâ bnihâ
throne	عرش'arsh
The patient king went mad and left the throne.	جن الملك الصبور وترك العرش.junna al-maliku s-sabûru wa taraka al-'arsha
to faint	أغمي علىughmiya 'alâ
The queen was going to the castle when she fainted.	كانت الملكة ذاهبة إلى القلعة عندما أغمي عليها.kânatil-malikatu dhâhibatan ilal-qal'ati 'indamâ ughmiya 'alayhâ
The heroine was martyred in the defense of the throne.	استشهدت البطلة في الدفاع عن العرش.ustushhidati al-batalatu fi ad-difa'i 'ani al-'arsh
The girl fainted because of grief when she heard the shocking news.	أغمي على الفتاة بسبب الحزن عندما سمعت النبأ الصادم.ughmiya 'alâ al-fatâti bisababi al-huzni 'indamâ sami'ati n-naba'a s-sâdima.
historian	مؤرخmu'arrikh
The historian said that the queen went mad and the emperor fainted.	قال المؤرخ إن الملكة جنت وأغمي على الإمبراطور.qâla al-mu'arrikhu inna al-malikata junnat wa ughmiya 'alâ al-imbirâtûri
The historian passed away, and it is known that the greatest hero was martyred.	توفي المؤرخ، ومن المعروف أن أعظم بطل استشهد.tuwuffiya al-mu'arrikhu, wa mina al-ma'rûfi anna a'ẓama baṭalin ustushhida