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### Passive Participle Governance (عمل اسم المفعول)

In Arabic, passive participles (**اسم المفعول**) describe the recipient of an action, such as "used", "guaranteed", or "cracked".

Just as active participles behave syntactically like active verbs, passive participles behave like **passive verbs**. Since a passive verb takes a "proxy subject" (**نائب فاعل**) rather than a standard subject or direct object, any noun governed by a passive participle takes the **nominative** case.

This structure is highly practical when reviewing products and describing the condition of their specific components, translating to phrases like "a device whose packaging is torn." Notice how the passive participle **ممزقا** (torn) governs the proxy subject **تغليف** (packaging), which takes the nominative case ending.

{{item:1158614}}

### Adjective Agreement with a Proxy Subject

When a passive participle is used as an adjective to describe a component or feature of an item, it follows a specific pattern of agreement:

- It matches the **preceding noun** (the main item) in case and definiteness.
- It matches the **proxy subject** (the component) in gender.
- The proxy subject takes the **nominative** case and attaches a suffix pronoun pointing back to the main item.

In the following example, the passive participle **مشقوقة** (cracked) is feminine because it matches the gender of its proxy subject **شاشة** (screen).

{{item:1158619}}

Conversely, if the main item is feminine but the component is masculine, the passive participle will be masculine. Here, **مضمون** (guaranteed) is masculine to match the nominative proxy subject **محرك** (engine).

{{item:1158617}}

This governance pattern remains consistent even when dealing with plural nouns, different case endings for the main noun, or definite articles.

{{item:1158623}}

{{item:1158625}}

### Seeing the endings

This course writes Arabic the way books and newspapers print it, without the short-vowel marks, so the ending this lesson is about is usually something you hear in the audio but cannot see in the drills. Here are some of them with every vowel written out:

| as written | fully vocalized | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| استلمت جهازا مرتجعا ممزقا تغليفه. | اِسْتَلَمْتُ جِهَازًا مُرْتَجَعًا مُمَزَّقًا تَغْلِيفُهُ. | I received a returned device whose packaging is torn. |
| قرأت تقييما عن حاسوب مشقوقة شاشته. | قَرَأْتُ تَقْيِيمًا عَنْ حَاسُوبٍ مَشْقُوقَةٍ شَاشَتُهُ. | I read a review about a computer whose screen is cracked. |
| حصلت هذه الزبونة على تعويض عن حاسوب مشقوق غطاؤه. | حَصَلَتْ هَذِهِ الزَّبُونَةُ عَلَى تَعْوِيضٍ عَنْ حَاسُوبٍ مَشْقُوقٍ غِطَاؤُهُ. | This customer got compensation for a computer whose cover is cracked. |

The participle copies the case of the noun before it: **مُمَزَّقًا** after the object جِهَازًا, **مَشْقُوقَةٍ** and **مَشْقُوقٍ** after عَنْ حَاسُوبٍ. The noun after it is always nominative: **تَغْلِيفُهُ**, **شَاشَتُهُ**. Usually you only hear that damma, but in **غِطَاؤُهُ** you can see it: the hamza is written on a و.

Passive participle governance

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
returned	مرتجعmurtaja
packaging	تغليفtaghlîf
I received a returned device whose packaging is torn.	استلمت جهازا مرتجعا ممزقا تغليفه.istalamtu jihâzan murtaja'an mumazzaqan taghlîfuhu.
used	مستعملmusta'mal
guaranteed	مضمونmadmoon
The customer said that the used car's engine is guaranteed.	قال الزبون إن السيارة المستعملة مضمون محركها.qâla az-zabûnu inna as-sayyârata al-musta'malata madmûnun muharrikuhâ
cracked	مشقوقmashqûq
I read a review about a computer whose screen is cracked.	قرأت تقييما عن حاسوب مشقوقة شاشته.qara'tu taqyîman 'an hâsûbin mashqûqatin shâshatuhu
compensation	تعويضta'wîd
scratched	مخدوشmakhdûsh
You must request compensation if the package's glass is scratched.	يجب عليك أن تطلب تعويضا إذا كان الطرد مخدوشا زجاجه.yajibu 'alayka an tatluba ta'widan idha kana at-tardu makhdushan zujajuhu.
The engineers rejected the machines whose engines are broken.	رفض المهندسون الآلات المكسورة محركاتها.rafada al-muhandisoona al-âlâti al-maksoorata muharrikâtuhâ
refund / returning (sending back an item)	استرجاعistirjâ'
The user can get a refund if the product's packaging is opened.	يمكن للمستخدمة استرجاع المال إذا كان المنتج مفتوحا تغليفه.yumkinu lilmustakhdimati istirjâu almâli idhâ kâna almuntaju maftûhan taghlîfuhu
complaint	شكوىshakwâ
The manager sent a complaint about used goods whose components are broken.	أرسلت المديرة شكوى حول بضاعة مستعملة مكسورة مكوناتها.arsalati al-mudiratu shakwâ hawla bidâ'atin musta'malatin maksûratin mukawwinâtuhâ
reliable	موثوقmawthûq
All the phones are reliable except a returned phone whose screen is broken.	كل الهواتف موثوقة سوى هاتف مرتجع مكسورة شاشته.kullu al-hawâtifi mawthûqatun siwâ hâtifin murtajaʿin maksûratin shâshatuhu.
I will not buy a used car whose history is unknown.	لن أشتري سيارة مستعملة مجهولا تاريخها.lan ashtariya sayyâratan musta'malatan majhûlan târîkhuhâ
This customer got compensation for a computer whose cover is cracked.	حصلت هذه الزبونة على تعويض عن حاسوب مشقوق غطاؤه.hasalat hâdhihi az-zabûnatu 'alâ ta'wîdin 'an hâsûbin mashqûqin ghitâ'uhu.
The reliable company agreed to the complaint, and the refund is guaranteed.	وافقت الشركة الموثوقة على الشكوى واسترجاع المال مضمون.wâfaqati ash-sharikatu al-mawthûqatu alâ ash-shakwâ wastirjâu al-mâli madmûn
I will not receive a phone whose screen is scratched without a financial refund.	لن أستلم هاتفا مخدوشة شاشته بدون استرجاع مالي.lan astalima hâtifan makhdûshatan shâshatuhu bidûni istirjâ'in mâliyyin.

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