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### The Modern Passive Construction

While Arabic has a traditional way to form passive verbs, modern formal Arabic—such as in news, business, and manufacturing contexts—frequently uses a multi-word passive construction.

Instead of conjugating the main verb into the passive voice, this structure uses an auxiliary verb meaning "to be completed" or "to take place," followed by the verbal noun (مصدر) of the action.

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In the past tense, use تَمَّ. Literally, this translates to "The [action] of [the object] was completed."

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To express ongoing or present passive actions, use the present tense form يَتِمُّ.

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### Using جَرَى

The verbs جَرَى (past) and يَجْري (present) work just like تَمَّ to form this passive construction.

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### Gender Agreement

Because the verbal noun functions as the grammatical subject of the auxiliary verb, the auxiliary verb must agree with the gender of the verbal noun (not the original object being acted upon).

For feminine verbal nouns (often ending in ة), use the feminine auxiliary forms تَمَّت (past) or تَتِمُّ (present).

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### Attaching Pronouns and Particles

When the recipient of the passive action has already been mentioned, it attaches as a possessive pronoun suffix directly to the verbal noun.

This construction also flows naturally after particles like أن (to), which simply changes the present tense auxiliary verb into the subjunctive mood as usual.

{{item:1186967}}

Modern periphrastic passive (تَمَّ / جَرَى)

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 take place / to be completed (happen, be carried out)	تمtamma
manufacturing / fabrication	تصنيعtasnî'
The vehicle was manufactured in the new factory.	تم تصنيع المركبة في المصنع الجديد.tamma tasniiu al-markabati fii al-masnai al-jadiid
installation / assembling	تركيبtarkîb
The robot is being installed on the assembly line.	يتم تركيب الروبوت على خط التجميع.yatimmu tarkeebu ar-roboti 'ala khatti at-tajmee'i
operation / running	تشغيلtashghîl
The machines are being operated automatically.	يجري تشغيل الآلات بشكل آلي.yajrī tashghīlu al-âlâti bishaklin âliyyin
approval / adoption (formal sanction, reliance, accreditation)	اعتمادi'timâd
This model was approved in the year 1999.	تم اعتماد هذا الطراز في عام ألف وتسعمئة وتسعة وتسعين.tamma i'timâdu hâdhâ at-tirâzi fî 'âmi alfin wa-tis'imi'atin wa-tis'atin wa-tis'îna
test / testing	اختبارikhtibâr
Do not use the equipment before it is tested!	لا تستخدم المعدات قبل أن يتم اختبارها!lâ tastakhdimi-l-mu'addâti qabla an yatimma-khtibâruhâ
packing / filling (containers, packaging)	تعبئةta'bi'a
batch (installment, payment, or class of graduates)	دفعةduf'ah
The first batch was packed successfully.	تمت تعبئة الدفعة الأولى بنجاح.tammat ta'bi'atu ad-daf'ati al-ûlâ binajâhin
mold / template	قالبqâlab
The mold is being manufactured in the new workshop.	يتم تصنيع القالب في الورشة الجديدة.yatimmu tasniiu al-qaalibi fii al-warshati al-jadiidati
If the design is approved, the manufacturing will start tomorrow.	إذا تم اعتماد التصميم، سيبدأ التصنيع غدا.idhâ tamma i'timâdu at-tasmîmi, sayabda'u at-tasnî'u ghadan.
Whatever is manufactured here is exported.	ما يتم تصنيعه هنا يتم تصديره.mâ yatimmu tasnî`uhu hunâ yatimmu tasdîruhu.
chip / microchip	رقاقةruqâqah
A new batch of chips is being produced.	يتم إنتاج دفعة جديدة من الرقاقات.yatimmu intâju duf'atin jadîdatin mina r-ruqâqâti
The manager was angry while the batch was being packed.	كانت المديرة غاضبة بينما كانت تتم تعبئة الدفعة.kânati al-mudîratu ghâdibatan baynamâ kânat tatimmu ta'bi'atu ad-daf'ati
Although the chips failed the test, they were approved!	بالرغم من أن الرقاقات فشلت في الاختبار، فإنه تم اعتمادها!bir-raghmi min anna ar-ruqâqâti fashilat fî al-ikhtibâri, fa-innahu tamma i'timâduhâ!
A few batches of the product were manufactured today.	تم تصنيع بضع دفعات من المنتج اليوم.tamma tasnii3u bid3i dafa3aatin mina almuntaji alyawma
The engineer confirmed that the operation was carried out successfully.	أكد المهندس أنه تم التشغيل بنجاح.akkada al-muhandisu annahu tamma at-tashghîlu binajâhin
The boxes were damaged, therefore the packing was delayed.	كانت الصناديق تالفة، لذلك تم تأجيل التعبئة.kânati as-sanâdîqu tâlifatan, lidhâlika tamma ta'jîlu at-ta'bi'ati.
The water was tested in the station.	جرى اختبار الماء في المحطة.jarâ ikhtibâru al-mâ'i fî al-maḥaṭṭah
The worker confirmed that the second mold was installed.	أكدت العاملة أنه تم تركيب القالب الثاني.akkadati l-'âmilatu annahu tamma tarkîbu l-qâlibi th-thânî