Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

In Arabic, verb patterns (forms) give us clues about their meaning. Derived **Form VI** verbs follow the pattern تَفاعَلَ in the past tense, and often describe reciprocal actions—things that two or more people do to each other or together, like arguing or making peace.

### Form VI: Past and Present Conjugation

Form VI verbs are easy to recognize because they always start with the prefix تَـ and have a long vowel ا (alif) after the first root letter. 

Here is how the Form VI verb تَشاجَرَ (to quarrel) conjugates in the past and present tenses:

| Pronoun | Past Tense | Present Tense |
| --- | --- | --- |
| هو (he) | تَشاجَرَ | يَتَشاجَرُ |
| هي (she) | تَشاجَرَتْ | تَتَشاجَرُ |
| نحن (we) | تَشاجَرْنا | نَتَشاجَرُ |
| هم (they, m.) | تَشاجَروا | يَتَشاجَرونَ |

Let's see this verb in action in both tenses:

{{item:1121700}}

{{item:1121701}}

### Reciprocal Actions: Disputes and Reconciliations

Because Form VI verbs involve multiple parties interacting, they are perfect for describing the cycle of a dispute and reconciliation. Notice how verbs like تَجادَلَ (to argue) and تَصالَحَ (to reconcile) follow the exact same pattern.

{{item:1121706}}

{{item:1121708}}

After a disagreement or a discussion, hopefully the parties can reach an understanding (تَفاهَمَ), reconcile (تَصالَحَ), and forgive each other (تَسامَحَ).

{{item:1121714}}

{{item:1121717}}

{{item:1121720}}

### Other Uses of Form VI

While Form VI is most famous for reciprocal actions, some verbs in this pattern have a slightly different meaning. For example, تَجاهَلَ means "to ignore" (literally acting as if you are ignorant). It conjugates exactly like the rest!

{{item:1121726}}

{{item:1121727}}

Derived Form VI verbs (تفاعل)

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
to quarrel	تشاجرtashâjara
Why did the couple quarrel yesterday, my brother?	لماذا تشاجر الزوجان أمس يا أخي؟limâdhâ tashâjara az-zawjâni amsi yâ akhî
The children always quarrel because of a toy.	الأطفال يتشاجرون دائما بسبب لعبة.al-atfâlu yatashâjarûna dâ'iman bisababi lu'batin.
disagreement	خلافkhilâf
This is a small disagreement between two friends.	هذا خلاف صغير بين صديقين.hâdhâ khilâfun saghîrun bayna sadîqayni
I did not understand the reason for the disagreement that started today.	ما فهمت سبب الخلاف الذي بدأ اليوم.mâ fahimtu sababa l-khilâfi lladhî bada'a l-yawma
to argue	تجادلtajâdala
The colleagues are arguing in the office now.	الزملاء يتجادلون في المكتب الآن.az-zumalâ'u yatajâdalûna fil-maktabi al'âna.
party (side, participant)	طرفtaraf
The two parties argued before the meeting.	تجادل الطرفان قبل الاجتماع.tajâdala at-tarafâni qabla l-ijtimâ'i
The manager listened to every party in the problem.	استمع المدير إلى كل طرف في المشكلة.istama'a al-mudîru ilâ kulli tarafin fî al-mushkilati.
discussion	نقاشniqâsh
The discussion between the two teams ended.	انتهى النقاش بين الفريقين.intahâ n-niqâshu bayna l-farîqayn.
This is a very important discussion to solve the disagreement.	هذا نقاش مهم جدا لحل الخلاف.hâdhâ niqâshun muhimmun jiddan lihalli l-khilâf
to reach an understanding	تفاهمtafâhama
Did the couple reach an understanding after the discussion?	هل تفاهم الزوجان بعد النقاش؟hal tafâhama az-zawjâni ba'da an-niqâshi?
We always reach an understanding at work.	نحن نتفاهم دائما في العمل.nahnu natafâhamu da'iman fil-ʿamal.
to reconcile	تصالحtasâlaha
Finally, the two brothers reconciled after the disagreement.	أخيرا، تصالح الأخوان بعد الخلاف.akhîran, tasâlaha al-akhawâni ba'da al-khilâf
When will these friends reconcile?	متى يتصالح هؤلاء الأصدقاء؟matâ yatasâlahu ha'ulâ'i al-asdiqâ'u?
to forgive each other	تسامحtasâmaha
The two neighbors forgave each other and forgot the problem.	تسامح الجاران ونسيا المشكلة.tasâmaha al-jârâni wa nasiyâ al-mushkilata.
We must forgive each other and live in peace.	يجب أن نتسامح ونعيش في سلام.yajibu an natasâmaḥa wa na'îsha fî salâm
to communicate	تواصلtawâsala
How do these young men communicate?	كيف يتواصل هؤلاء الشباب؟kayfa yatawâṣalu hâ'ulâ'i ash-shabâbu?
The two teams communicated on the internet.	تواصل الفريقان على الإنترنت.tawâṣala al-farîqâni ala al-'internet
to ignore	تجاهلtajâhala
The manager did not ignore my question, professor.	ما تجاهل المدير سؤالي يا أستاذ.mâ tajâhala al-mudîru su'âlî yâ ustâdh
The couple is ignoring the problem that started today.	الزوجان يتجاهلان المشكلة التي بدأت اليوم.az-zawjâni yatajâhalâni al-mushkilata allatî bada'ati al-yawm

Contributors