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### Impersonal Passives

In Arabic, standard passive sentences are formed by turning the direct object into the new subject (known as the "deputy agent"). When a verb is intransitive—meaning it relies on a preposition to connect to its target (like "to gesture to" or "to search for")—Arabic uses an **impersonal passive**. In this structure, the entire prepositional phrase acts as the deputy agent.

Because a prepositional phrase does not have a gender or a number, the passive verb is **always locked into the third-person masculine singular** form.

Notice in the example below that even though "dome" (قبة) is feminine, the passive verb is masculine (أومئ) because it is modifying the entire prepositional phrase (إلى القبة), not the noun itself.

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### Tour Activities in the Past Tense

This structure is extremely common when describing historical events or activities during a walking tour. Whether a mural was praised (using على), a famous actress was honored (using بـ), or a queen was searched for (using عن), the verb remains in its fixed masculine singular passive form.

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### Present Tense Passives

The exact same rule applies in the present tense. To form the present impersonal passive, use the masculine third-person prefix. It keeps the passive vowel pattern regardless of who or what is inside the prepositional phrase.

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### Historical Contexts

Impersonal passives are incredibly useful for setting a scene or providing historical context about a location. You will frequently encounter them combined with particles like قد to describe an action that had already taken place before you arrived.

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Impersonal passives

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 gesture to	أومأ إلىawma'a ilâ
dome	قبةqubba
The huge dome was gestured to.	أومئ إلى القبة الضخمة.'ûmi'a ilâ al-qubbati ad-dakhmah.
to honor	احتفى بihtafâ bi
shrine	مزارmazâr
The actress was honored at the historical shrine.	احتفي بالممثلة في المزار التاريخي.uhtufiya bil-mumaththilati fi-l-mazâri at-târîkhiyyi
to praise (+ preposition)	أثنى علىathnâ 'alâ
mural	جداريةjidâriyyah
The mural was praised, not to mention the shrine.	أثني على الجدارية، ناهيك عن المزار.uthniya alâ al-jidâriyyati, nâhîka ani al-mazâr
minaret	مئذنةmi'dhana
to listen closely to	أصغى إلىasghâ ilâ
We stood near the minaret where the tour guide was closely listened to.	وقفنا قرب المئذنة حيث أصغي إلى المرشد.waqafnâ qurba al-mi'dhanati haythu ushghiya ilâ al-murshid
to overthrow	أطاح بatâha bi
We visited the square, and the king had already been overthrown.	زرنا الساحة وقد أطيح بالملك.zurnâ as-sâḥata waqad utîha bil-maliki
mausoleum	ضريحdarîh
The tourist was welcomed at the ancient mausoleum.	رحب بالسائح في الضريح العتيق.ruhhiba bis-sâ'ihi fid-darîhi l-'atîqi
The beautiful dome was approached.	اقترب من القبة الجميلة.uqturiba mina al-qubbati al-jamîlati
The queen was searched for beside the minaret.	بحث عن الملكة بجانب المئذنة.buhitha ani almalikati bijanibi almi'dhanati
The guide was contacted in front of the mural.	اتصل بالمرشد أمام الجدارية.ittusila bil-murshidi amâma al-jidâriyyati
The missing child was found near the mausoleum.	عثر على الطفل المفقود قرب الضريح.uthira 'alâ at-tifli al-mafqûdi qurba ad-darîh
On the tour, the guide is listened to and the historical building is gestured to.	في الجولة، يصغى إلى المرشدة ويومأ إلى المبنى التاريخي.fil jawla, yusghâ ilal murshida wa yooma' ilal mabna t-târîkhi.
The design of the palace was praised and ancient art was celebrated.	أثني على تصميم القصر واحتفي بالفن القديم.uthniya 'alâ tasmîmi al-qasri wahtufiya bil-fanni al-qadîm
Here, the king was overthrown in the past.	هنا أطيح بالملك في الماضي.hunâ utîha bi-l-maliki fî-l-mâdî