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

### Introducing Form IV Verbs

Form IV verbs are created by prefixing an Alif with a hamza (أ) to the basic three-letter root. They are frequently causative, meaning they describe causing an action to happen or bringing a state about.

Many common Form IV verbs related to media and communication are "defective" (الناقص), meaning their final root letter is weak. In the past tense, these verbs end in an Alif Maqsura (ى).

{{item:1121258}}

{{item:1121261}}

{{item:1121267}}

### Conjugating Defective Form IV Verbs in the Past Tense

The base past tense pattern for Form IV is أفْعَلَ. When conjugating defective verbs ending in ى, the final letter shifts depending on the subject:
- **He:** The ى remains unchanged.
- **She:** The ى is dropped entirely.
- **I / You / We:** The ى changes into a regular ي before the pronoun suffix is added.
- **They (dual):** The ى also changes to a ي before the dual suffix.

{{item:1121270}}

{{item:1121275}}

{{item:1121278}}

{{item:1121279}}

### Present Tense of Form IV

In the present tense, regular Form IV verbs follow the pattern يُفْعِلُ. Just like Forms II and III, there are two key vowel rules for the present tense:
- The prefix (ي، ت، أ، ن) takes a *damma* ( ُ ).
- The middle root letter takes a *kasra* ( ِ ).

For defective Form IV verbs, the final weak letter becomes a ي in the standard present tense.

| Tense | Pattern | Example (he cancels) |
|---|---|---|
| Past | أفْعَلَ | ألغى |
| Present | يُفْعِلُ | يُلغي |

{{item:1121268}}

{{item:1121271}}

{{item:1121264}}

Form IV verbs (أفعل)

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 cancel	ألغىalghâ
announcer	مذيعmuthî'
interview	مقابلةmuqâbala
The announcer cancelled the interview today.	ألغى المذيع المقابلة اليوم.alghâ al-mudhî'u al-muqâbalata al-yawma
channel	قناةqanâh
program (TV show)	برنامجbarnâmaj
Why is the channel cancelling the program now?	لماذا تلغي القناة البرنامج الآن؟limâdhâ tulghî al-qanâtu l-barnâmaja l-âna?
to deliver / to cast (a look, a glance)	ألقىalqâ
speech	خطابkhitâb
The minister delivered a long speech.	ألقى الوزير خطابا طويلا.alqâ alwazîru khitâban tawîlan.
The announcer is delivering a speech tomorrow.	يلقي المذيع خطابا غدا.yulqî al-mudhîu khitâban ghadan
to conduct	أجرىajrâ
Did you conduct an interview with the minister?	هل أجريت مقابلة مع الوزير؟hal ajrayta muqâbalatan ma'a al-wazîr؟
The channel is conducting an interview by phone.	تجري القناة مقابلة بالهاتف.tujrî al-qanâtu muqâbalatan bi-l-hâtifi.
to express	أبدىabdâ
The guest expressed his opinion on the article.	أبدى الضيف رأيه في المقال.abdâ ad-dayfu ra'yahu fil-maqâl.
media	إعلامi'lâm
We expressed our opinion in the media.	أبدينا رأينا في الإعلام.abdaynâ ra'yanâ fil i'lâm
to end	أنهىanhâ
When does the announcer end the report?	متى ينهي المذيع التقرير؟matâ yunhî al-mudhî'u at-taqrîr?
The channel ended the program.	أنهت القناة البرنامج.anhati al-qanâtu al-barnâmaja
The two announcers ended the interview.	المذيعان أنهيا المقابلة.al-mudhee'aani anhayaa al-muqaabalah
The media published urgent news.	نشر الإعلام خبرا عاجلا.nashara al-i'lâmu khabaran 'âjilan.
television	تلفزيونtilifizyôn
We watch the program on television.	نشاهد البرنامج على التلفزيون.nushâhidu al-barnâmaja ‘alâ at-tilfizyûn
The announcer ended the interview on television.	أنهى المذيع المقابلة على التلفزيون.anhâ al-mudhee'u al-muqâbalata 'alâ at-tilfizyooni

Contributors