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### Defective Verbs in the Past Tense

Verbs that end in a weak letter, such as *alif maqsura* (ى) or *yaa* (ي), are known as defective verbs (الناقص). Because these final letters are weak, they sometimes change or disappear depending on who is doing the action. Let's see how these behave in the past tense when talking about losing, finding, and remembering things.

### Conjugating for "I", "We", and "You"

When conjugating for "I" (أنا), "we" (نحن), or "you" (أنت), the weak letter is written as a regular ي. If the base verb already ends in a ي, like نسي (he forgot), it simply keeps it. If the base verb ends in ى, like أخفى (he hid) or حكى (he told), the ى turns into a ي before the pronoun suffix is added.

{{item:1121147}}

{{item:1121158}}

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### Conjugating for "She"

When conjugating for "she" (هي), verbs that originally end in ى drop their weak letter completely before adding the feminine suffix ت. For example, أتى (he came) becomes أتت (she came), and أعطى (he gave) becomes أعطت (she gave).

{{item:1121156}}

However, verbs that originally end in ي, like لقي (he found) or نسي (he forgot), keep their weak letter before adding the ت. Without vowel marks, "I found" and "she found" look identical in writing (لقيت), though they are pronounced differently.

{{item:1121161}}

### Conjugating for "They"

When conjugating for the plural "they" (هم), the weak letter drops completely for all defective verbs before adding the plural suffix وا. For example, مشى (he walked) becomes مشوا (they walked).

{{item:1121153}}

Here is another example showing the plural form of أخفى (he hid) dropping its weak letter.

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### Summary of Defective Past Tense Endings

Here is a quick overview of how these verbs change, using حكى (to tell) and نسي (to forget) as examples:

| Pronoun | Verb ending in ى (حكى) | Verb ending in ي (نسي) |
| - | - | - |
| I (أنا) | حكيت | نسيت |
| She (هي) | حكت | نسيت |
| They (هم) | حكوا | نسوا |

Let's see these rules applied together in one final example.

{{item:1121165}}

Defective verbs in the past tense (نسي)

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
glasses	نظارةnaZZâra
memory	ذاكرةdhâkira
I forgot my glasses because my memory is weak today.	أنا نسيت نظارتي لأن ذاكرتي ضعيفة اليوم.ana nasaytu nadhdhârati li'anna dhâkirati da'eefatun alyawma.
to find	لقيlaqiya
umbrella	مظلةmiDhalla
Did you find the umbrella which you forgot in the cafe?	هل لقيت المظلة التي نسيتها في المقهى؟hal laqîta al-mizallata allatî nasîtahâ fî al-maqhâ?
drawer	درجdurj
glove	قفازquffâz
They walked to the drawer to look for the glove.	هم مشوا إلى الدرج ليبحثوا عن القفاز.hum mashaw ilâ ad-durji liyabhathû 'anil-quffâzi.
to come	أتىatâ
to give	أعطىa'tâ
She came early and gave the glasses to my brother.	هي أتت مبكرا وأعطت النظارة لأخي.hiya atat mubakkiran wa a'tati n-nazzârata li-akhî
to hide	أخفىakhfâ
We hid the umbrella in the drawer.	نحن أخفينا المظلة في الدرج.nahnu akhfaynâ al-mizallata fî ad-durji.
to tell	حكىhakâ
I told a strange story about memory.	أنا حكيت قصة غريبة عن الذاكرة.ana hakaytu qissatan gharibatan an adh-dhakira
The girl found the glove inside the bag.	البنت لقيت القفاز داخل الحقيبة.albintu laqiyati alquffâza dâkhila alhaqîba
He gave me the key, then he walked quickly.	هو أعطاني المفتاح، ثم مشى سريعا.huwa a'tânî al-miftâha, thumma mashâ sarî'an
The boys hid the old toys and forgot them.	الأولاد أخفوا الألعاب القديمة ونسوها.al-awlâdu akhfaw al-al'âba al-qadîmata wa-nasawhâ.
Why did you come without the umbrella?	لماذا أتيت بدون المظلة؟limâdhâ atayta bidûni al-mizallah?
She told me that she forgot her glasses.	هي حكت لي أنها نسيت نظارتها.hiya hakat li annahâ nasiyat nazzâratahâ.
I forgot where I hid the glove.	أنا نسيت أين أخفيت القفاز.ana nasîtu ayna akhfaytu al-quffâza.