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### Transforming States: Verbs of Becoming

Glassblowing is a beautiful art form that relies entirely on transformation. To describe how sand turns into glass, or how liquid turns into a solid masterpiece, Arabic uses "verbs of becoming."

### صار and أصبح

The two most common verbs for "to become" are صار and أصبح. They are used to express a change from one state to another.

{{item:1122221}}

### The Accusative Predicate

Grammatically, صار and أصبح belong to a special family of verbs known as the "sisters of كان" (was). Because of this, they follow a very specific rule: the subject of the sentence remains in the default nominative case, but the predicate—the new state or thing that the subject has *become*—must take the accusative case (منصوب).

For indefinite words, this accusative case is marked by an "-an" sound (a double fatha). In writing, this is usually indicated by adding an extra alif (اً) at the end of the word, unless the word ends in a taa marbuta (ة).

Let's see this in action with صار:

{{item:1122224}}

Notice how the words for art and beautiful take the accusative ending, changing from فن جميل to فنا جميلا.

The verb أصبح works exactly the same way. Watch how the glass changes state under the heat, with the predicate (liquid) taking the accusative form:

{{item:1122229}}

### The Art of Glassblowing

Let's look at the artist at work, combining our verbs of becoming with new vocabulary for blowing and shaping glass.

{{item:1122231}}

{{item:1122233}}

If the new state is a feminine word ending in a taa marbuta, the accusative double fatha sits directly on the letter (ة) without needing an extra alif:

{{item:1122235}}

Finally, we can describe the last stage of the glassblowing process, again using an accusative predicate for the new state:

{{item:1122238}}

Verbs of becoming (أصبح / صار)

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 become	صارsâra
sand	رملraml
art	فنfann
The sand became beautiful art.	صار الرمل فنا جميلا.sâra r-ramlu fannan jamîlan
heat / temperature	حرارةharâra
to melt	ذابdhâba
The heat was high and the sand melted.	كانت الحرارة عالية وذاب الرمل.kânati l-harâratu 'âliyatan wa dhâba r-ramlu
liquid	سائلsâ'il
With the heat, the glass became a liquid.	مع الحرارة، أصبح الزجاج سائلا.ma'a al-harârati, asbaha az-zujâju sâ'ilan
to blow / to inflate	نفخnafakha
The artist blew into the liquid glass.	نفخ الفنان في الزجاج السائل.nafakha al-fannânu fî az-zujâji as-sâ'il
shape	شكلshakl
He blew inside the tube and it became a beautiful shape.	نفخ داخل الأنبوب وصار شكلا جميلا.nafakha dâkhila al-unbûbi wa sâra shaklan jamîlan.
masterpiece / artifact, precious object	تحفةtuhfa
The new shape became a wonderful masterpiece.	صار الشكل الجديد تحفة رائعة.sâra ash-shaklu al-jadîdu tuhfatan râ'i'atan.
solid	صلبsulb
The solid glass melted again.	ذاب الزجاج الصلب مرة أخرى.dhâba az-zujâju aṣ-ṣulbu marratan ukhrâ
After a minute, the liquid became solid.	بعد دقيقة، أصبح السائل صلبا.ba'da daqîqatin, asbaha s-sâ'ilu sulban.
I watched the sand when it became art.	شاهدت الرمل عندما صار فنا.shâhadtu ar-ramla 'indamâ sâra fannan
This masterpiece is the most beautiful art in the museum.	هذه التحفة هي أجمل فن في المتحف.hâdhihi at-tuhfatu hiya ajmalu fannin fi al-mut'haf