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In Arabic, you can turn verbs into nouns or adjectives that describe the "doer" of an action (Active Participle) or the "receiver" of an action (Passive Participle). For all derived verbs (Forms II through X), these participles always begin with the prefix مُـ.

### The Active Participle (The Doer)

To describe the person or thing performing the action, use the مُـ prefix and place a **kasra** ( ِ ) on the second-to-last root letter.

- مُتَسَلِّل (infiltrator)
- مُحْتَرِف (professional)
- مُخْبِر (informant)

### The Passive Participle (The Receiver)

To describe the person or thing receiving the action (or describing a resulting state), use the مُـ prefix and place a **fatha** ( َ ) on the second-to-last root letter.

- مُزَوَّر (forged)
- مُسْتَعار (assumed / borrowed)
- مُشَفَّر (encrypted)

Because these words act as standard nouns and adjectives, they agree in gender and definiteness with the nouns they describe. Notice how both types of participles appear together in the world of espionage:

{{item:1121732}}

{{item:1121735}}

### Relying on Context

In most written Arabic, short vowels (like the *kasra* and *fatha*) are not written out. You will rely on context to know whether a word is an active doer or a passive receiver. If the word describes an object like a message or a document, it is likely a passive participle. If it is a person, it is often an active participle doing the action.

{{item:1121741}}

Passive participles are also perfect for describing the ongoing state of someone or something, such as being monitored (مُراقَب) or being armed (مُسَلَّح).

{{item:1121737}}

{{item:1121739}}

### Putting It All Together

Derived participles are incredibly common in Arabic. Whether describing a suspicious sender (مُرْسِل) or a dangerous explosive (مُتَفَجِّر), you can easily spot them by looking for the leading مُـ prefix.

{{item:1121743}}

{{item:1121748}}

Derived participles (مُـ)

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
infiltrator	متسللmutasallil
professional	محترفmuhtarif
forged	مزورmuzawwar
assumed	مستعارmusta'âr
The professional infiltrator had a forged passport and a false name.	كان عند المتسلل المحترف جواز مزور واسم مستعار.kâna 'inda al-mutasallili al-muhtarifi jawâzun muzawwarun wasmun musta'ârun
informant	مخبرmukhbir
encrypted	مشفرmushaffar
The informant sent an encrypted message to the embassy.	أرسل المخبر رسالة مشفرة إلى السفارة.arsala al-mukhbiru risâlatan mushaffaratan ilâ as-sifârati.
monitored	مراقبmuraqab
The informant is always monitored.	المخبر مراقب دائما.al-mukhbiru murâqabun dâ'iman
armed	مسلحmusallah
The armed infiltrator might attack suddenly.	قد يهاجم المتسلل المسلح فجأة.qad yuhâjimu al-mutasallilu al-musallahu faj'atan
sender	مرسلmursil
The sender does not know the encrypted secret.	لا يعرف المرسل السر المشفر.lâ ya'rifu al-mursilu as-sirra al-mushaffara
explosive	متفجرmutafajjir
The police searched for a forged document and an explosive device.	بحثت الشرطة عن وثيقة مزورة وجهاز متفجر.bahathati ash-shurtatu 'an wathiqatin muzawwaratin wa jihâzin mutafajjir.
The sender of the company manager's file is monitored.	مرسل ملف مدير الشركة مراقب.mursilu malaffi mudîri ash-sharikati murâqabun
The professional actor used a false name.	استخدم الممثل المحترف اسما مستعارا.istakhdama al-mumaththilu al-muhtarifu isman musta'âran.
The armed man might put an explosive device in the car.	قد يضع الرجل المسلح جهازا متفجرا في السيارة.qad yada'u ar-rajulu al-musallahu jihâzan mutafajjiran fis-sayyârah
The informant might know the infiltrator's location.	قد يعرف المخبر مكان المتسلل.qad ya'rifu al-mukhbiru makâna al-mutasallili
Is the professional team monitored?	هل الفريق المحترف مراقب؟hali al-fariiqu al-muhtarifu murâqab?
The infiltrator travelled with a forged passport and a false name.	سافر المتسلل بجواز مزور واسم مستعار.sâfara al-mutasallilu bijawâzin muzawwarin wasmin mustaârin