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Tenses in Arabic Language

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IF : 3.62 | IC Value 70.36 Volume-5, Issue-6, June - 2016 • ISSN No 2277 - 8160

Commerce
Research Paper Linguistics
Tenses in Arabic Language

Mohammed
PH.D Research scholar, College of Arts, S.R.T.M University, Nanded
Abdulwasea Al-
MS. India
Asbahy
Ass. Prof. & Research Guide, Pansare College Arjapur, Nanded MS.
Syed Aleemuddin
India
ABSTRACT Arabic to some extent has a different grammatical structure. Tenses structure is the most controversial issue in most
languages. Languages of the same family might have some similarities. Yet, there are some areas to be investigated
to come to some common features among languages of the world. The present paper is investigating the structure of
Tenses in Arabic. The researcher sheds light on four types of tenses in Arabic which are past or perfect, present or imperfect, imperative and future.
Arabic past tense refers to a completed action and thus equates in most respects with English past tense and past perfect. Present tense expresses
an action still unfinished at the time to which reference is being made. It is most frequently translated into English by the present or future. The
imperative or command tense in Arabic is based upon the imperfect or present tense verb in the jussive mood. Some words or affixes are used to
express future tense in Arabic. This paper is significant since it exposes the real structure of tenses in Arabic for non-Arab readers with examples
and diagrams.

KEYWORDS : Arabic, Tenses, Grammar, Jussive, Imperative

Introduction: Thus, the above controversy on the number

of the Arabic tenses shows the wide different ideas.
There is no any coincidence in the tenses of
Duncan (1863) states five parts; the Preterit, the
Arabic language compared with the Indo-European
Aorist, the Imperative, the Participle and the
languages, especially English which involves
Infinitive. On the other hand, Alsamerrai (2003),
twelve tenses. Duncan (1863) said that the Arabic
Abduhamid (1980), Mobarak (1992), and Hassan
grammarians arrange their moods and tenses
(1995), see that tense of the Arabic language
differently from the Europeans, dividing their
involves three parts; 1st the Perfect ِ‫ اَ ْل َمـاضي‬al-māḍi,
paradigm into five parts: 1st, the Preterit; 2ndthe
2nd the Imperfect َ ‫ اَ ْل ُم‬al-muḍāriᶜ and 3rd the
‫ضـارع‬
Aorist; 3rd the Imperative; 4th Participle; and 5th, the
Imperative, ‫ األمر‬al-ᵓamr. However, Haywood and
Infinitive. Arabic, in common with other Semitic
Nahmad (1965), Thatcher (1992), Alhawary
languages, is deficient in tenses, and this does
(2011), and Wightwick and Gaafar (2005) say that
make for ease in learning. Moreover, the tenses do
there are only two tenses in Arabic, the Past (or
not have accurate time-significances as in Indo-
perfect) ِ‫ ;اَ ْل َمـاضي‬and the Present (or Imperfect)
European languages. There are two main tenses,
َ ‫اَ ْل ُم‬. Since the imperative, according to
‫ضـارع‬
the Perfect ِ‫اَ ْل َمـاضي‬ al-māḍi, denoting actions
Haywood and Nahmad (1965) is a modification of
completed at the time to which reference is being
the imperfect (present) verb form.
َ ‫ اَ ْل ُم‬al-muḍāri‫ع‬, for
made; and Imperfect ‫ضـارع‬
incomplete actions. There is also an Imperative,
‫ اَألمر‬al-amr, which may consider a modification 1.1 Past Tense or Perfect in Arabic:

of the Imperfect. (Haywood and Nahmad 95-96).

Ryding (2005) stated that Arabic past tense
The last view on tenses relating to Wightwick and
refers to a completed action and thus equates in
Gaafar (2005) is that Arabic is relatively
most respects with English past tense and past
straightforward when it comes to tenses. Some
perfect. For example:‫حِ ِالول ُد ِالرسالة‬
َ َ ‫ِفـَتـ‬ ‘fataḥa
languages have many tenses and are very specific
alwaladu alrisalah ‘The boy opened/has opened the
about time of an action and whether or not the
letter. As the action of opening the letter was
action has been completed. Arabic Grammar is
already completed and finished long ago. She adds
vague about time and there are only two basic
the past verb is formed by suffixing person-
tenses: the Past (or perfect) ِ‫اَ ْل َمـاضي‬, the Present (or
markers (indicators) to the past tense stem. The
َ ‫اَ ْل ُم‬.
Imperfect) ‫ضـارع‬
person markers in the past tense also denote

2
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number (singular – dual - plural) and gender. It to ‫‘ هـ َِي‬hiya‘ she; ‫َرسـَمـَ ْتِوردة‬ ‘rasamat warda‘
means that all these suffixes or endings telling you she drew a flower. Besides the above example, the
who the doer of the action is with no need to use table below has all the person markers in the three
any pronoun. For example: the ending ِْ‫‘ تـ‬at‘ refers types of number and gender:

Gender Singular Dual Plural

ُ َ‫كـَسـ‬
ِ‫رت‬ ‘kasartu‘ ‫كـَسـَرنا‬ ‘kasarna‘
1st person ‫ـــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ‬
I broke (m+f) we broke
2nd person
َِ‫كـَسـَ َرت‬ ‘kasarta‘ ‫كـَسـَرتُما‬ ‘kasartuma‘ ِ‫كـَسـَرتُ ْم‬ ‘kasartum‘
Male
you broke (m) you broke (m) you broke (m)
ِ‫كـَسـَ َرت‬ ‘kasarti‘ ‫كـَسـَرتُما‬ ‘kasartuma‘ ِ‫‘ كـَسـَرتُن‬kasartunna‘
Female
you broke (f) you broke (f) you broke (f)
3rd person
ِ‫كـَسـَ َر‬ ‘kasara‘ ‫كـَسـَ َرا‬ ‘kasarā‘ ‫كـَسـَروا‬ ‘kasarū‘
Male
he broke they broke (2 persons / m) they broke (m)
ِ‫كـَسـَ َر ْت‬ ‘kasarat‘ ‫كـَسـَ َرتا‬ ‘kasaratā‘ َِ‫كـَسـَرن‬ ‘kasarna‘
Female
she broke they broke (2 persons / f) they broke (m)

Table (1) the Person Markers of Numbers (Singular – Dual - Plural) and Gender

According to Hassan (1995) and Alsamerrai (2003)  Second, the verb is morphologically past but
we find that there are four cases of the past. They not semantically. The verb is in the past form,
are as follows: but it could be used for present actions. For
 First, the verb is morphologically and example, in what they call „contract‟ terms, the
semantically past. That is, it is in the past form verb is in the past but it is used to indicate
and it is used to indicate past actions whether present situations such as (‫‘ بعت‬biᶜt‘ sold,
these took place in the near or far past, and this ‫‘ اشتريت‬ishtarayt‘ bought).
use is the most common for the past.

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 Third, the past verb form could be used for  ‫ ‘ سـَواء ِعـَلي َك ِقـُمتَ ِأو ِقـَعـَدت‬sawaᵓun
future actions especially in some religious ᶜalika qumta am qaᶜata‘, whether
expressions such as in supplications: you stand up or sit down.
(‫‘ سـَاعـَد َك ِهللا‬saᶜadaka allah‘, May Allah  ‫‘ هـًَل ِسـَاعـَدت ِالمحتاج؟‬halla saᶜata
help you) or (ِ‫‘ بـَار َك ِهللا ِفي َك‬Baraka allah almuḥtaj?‘, will you help the
fɨɨka’, May Allah bless you). The past can poor/needy?
also be used for future actions to show that
these actions are sure to happen. Besides 1.2 The Present Tense or Imperfect in
this, the particles: (ِ‫‘ إن‬inna‘, ‫‘ اذا‬itha‘) Arabic:
convert the meaning of the past verb into The imperfect tense (‫)الـمـضـارع‬
future. (Qtd. in Alesawe 2015). ‘almuḍariᶜ‘ expresses an action still
The following clarify these points: unfinished at the time to which reference is
 ‫‘ َونـُفـخَِفيِالصور‬wa nufikha fi alṢūr‘. ’’ being made. It is most frequently translated
And the trumpet shall be blown‘‘ into English by the present or future. It
(Yasin, verse 51) (emphasized future expresses by prefixes and has also some
event). suffixes to denote number and gender,
 ‫‘ انِعـُدتمِعـُدنا‬in ᶜutum ᶜudna‘. “but if (Haywood and Nahmad 110). The
return to your previous state, We will imperfect itself denotes only to unfinished
too” (Al-Israᵓ, verse 8). action, but it also indicates future by putting
 ‫‘ اذا ِجاء ِالرجل‬idha jāᵓa alrajulu’, if the the independent word َِ‫ سـَوْف‬before the verb
man came. or prefixing the contraction َ‫سـ‬,
ِ e.g. ِ َ‫سـَوْف‬
 ‫ ‘ وهللاِالِكلمتكِبعدها‬wallahi la kalamtuka ‫‘ يـَكـْتب‬sawfa yaktub‘, he will write.
baᶜdaha‘ , by my God, I will not talk to However, there are some indicator words
you after that. which make the context clear, either in
 Fourth, when the verb is morphologically future, present continuous, habitual or even
in the past but semantically it refers to the past continuous. The following are some
past, present or future as in: examples for each case:

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 Tomorrow, ِ‫‘ غدا‬ghadan‘makes it clear that Singular

Gender Root Verb with Prefixes & Endings
the verb refers to future time; ِ‫وصل ِاليوم‬ Pronoun
ِ‫‘ ويرح ُل ِغدا‬waṢala alyaūm wa yarḥalu
‫أنا‬ I masc./fem ِ‫أَكـْتـ ُ ُب‬ I write ᵓaktubu
ghadan‘ He arrived today and will leave َِ‫ أَنـْت‬You masc. ِ‫تـَكـْتـ ُ ُب‬ you write taktubu
tomorrow. ِ‫ أَنـْت‬you fem. َِ‫تـَكـْتـُبـيـن‬ you write taktubɨɨna
 Now, ‫‘ اآلن‬alᵓān‘ gets the context in ِ‫هـ ُ َو‬ he/it masc. ِ‫يـَكـْتـ ُ ُب‬ he writes yaktubu
continuous time; ‫‘ يـَلـْعـَبِاآلن‬yalᶜab alᵓān‘ He ِ‫ هـ َي‬she/it fem. ِ‫تـَكـْتـ ُ ُب‬ she writes taktubu
is plying now.
 Every day, ‫‘ كل ِيوم‬kulla yaum‘ gives an Plural
Gender Root Verb with Prefixes & Endings
impression that the action is a habit; ِ‫يـَلـْعـب‬ Pronoun

‫‘كل ِيوم‬yalᶜab kulla yaum‘ He plays every ِ‫ نـَحـْ ُن‬we masc./fem ِْ‫نـَكـْتـُب‬ we write naktub
day. ‫ أَنـْتـ ُِْم‬you masc. َِ‫ تـَكـْتـُبُون‬you write taktubūna

 Was,ِ ‫‘ كـَان‬kana‘ the past continuous and ِ‫أَنـْتـُن‬ you fem. َِ‫ تـَكـْتـُبـْن‬you write taktubna

habitual are expressed by the perfect of ‫كـَان‬ ‫هـُم‬ they masc. َِ‫ يـَكـْتـُبـون‬they write yaktubūna
ِ‫هـُن‬ they fem. َِ‫يـَكـْتـُبْن‬ they write yaktubna
followed by the verb; ‫‘ كـَانِيلعبِكرةِقدمِكلِيوم‬
kana yalᶜab kurat qadam kulla yaum‘ He was Table (2-3) Prefixes and Endings Defining the Subject
playing football every day. (singular, plural, male or female)

Wightwick and Gaafar (2008) made a Furthermore, Wightwick and Gaafar (2005) point out that

reference to the present, as it is used for continuous verbs in every day Arabic; the final short vowels are dropped
or habitual action (or state) which is still going on and ‫‘ نـ‬na‘ on the end verbs. The verb َِ‫‘ تـَشـْ َربـين‬tashrabina‘
(unfinished.), and the present stem is formed from (you, fem. drink) becomes ‫‘ تـَشـْ َربـي‬tashrabi‘, and ‫يـَشـْ َربـُون‬
the three root letters with a vowel after the second ‘yashrabūna (they, masc. drink) becomes ‫ ‘ يـَشـْ َربـُو‬yashrabū‘,
(ktub, shrab, jlis) e.g. ‫‘ يـَكـْتـُب‬yaktub‘, ‫ يـَش ْـ َرب‬that is in the present tense. Likely in the past tense ‫فـَتـَ َِح‬
‘yashrab‘, ‫‘ يـَجـْلـس‬yajlis‘. Prefixes and sometimes ‘fataḥa‘ (he, masc. opened) becomes ‫‘ فـَتـَ ِْح‬fataḥ‘ , ‫ت‬ ُِ ْ‫فـَتـَحـ‬

endings are added to the stem, show the subject of ‘fataḥtu‘ (I opened) and َِ‫‘ فـَتـَحـَت‬fataḥta‘ (you, masc. opened)
the verb if it is singular, plural, male or female. The both become ‫ت‬ ِْ ْ‫ ‘ فـَتـَحـ‬fataḥt‘ , but the ending ɨ in ِ‫فـَتـَحـْت‬

tables below clarify all these varieties: ‘fatahti‘ (she, fem. opened) is remaining as it is without any
dropping or change.

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1.3 The Imperative: There are many situations and forms to

The imperative (‫ )فعلِأمر‬is formed from the make imperative according to the verb forms in
jussive, of which it may be considered a its jussive condition. The 1st type is when verbs
modification, by taking away the pronominal with sukūn ُِْ over the first root letter in the
prefix, and replacing it by an ᵓalif, .e.g. ‫ب‬
َِ َ‫كـَتـ‬ jussive; the letters at beginning (prefix) are
‘kataba‘ he wrote; jussive ِْ‫‘ يـَكـْتُب‬yaktub‘ he taken off and replaced by an alif, ‫‘ أ‬ᵓalif‘ and
writes will be in the imperative form ِْ‫‘ أُكـْتِـ ُب‬ ُ but a kasra if the
this ᵓalif will have a ḍammaُِ,
ᵓuktub‘ write. This alif, ‫‘ أ‬alif‘ is changeable, as middle vowel of the present is either fatḥa َُِ or
it might be vowel with ḍammaِ ُُ or kasraِ ُ, kasra ُِ . Some examples:
(Haywood & Nahmad 134). All these types  ِْ‫‘ يـَكـْتُب‬yaktub‘ (jussive), he writes becomes
will be explained later on. Ryding (2005) ِْ‫‘ أُكـْتـُب‬ᵓuktub‘ ; the prefix َ‫ ِيـ‬is removed and
argued that the imperative or command form of ُِ
replaced by an alif, ‫‘ أ‬ᵓalif‘ with ḍamma ُ.
the verb in Arabic is based upon the imperfect  ِْ‫‘ تـَشـْ َرب‬tashrab‘ (jussive), you drink
or present tense verb in the jussive mood. becomes ِْ‫‘ إشـْ َرب‬ᵓishrab‘ ; the prefix َ‫ ِتـ‬is
Consequently, we have to know that the dropped and substituted by alif, ‫‘ إ‬ᵓalif’
difference between jussive and subjunctive is with kasra ُِ.
not much, as in the jussive there is a sukūn ُِْ  ِ‫‘ يـَغـْسـ ْل‬yaghsil‘ (jussive), he washes
over the final root letter: ِْ‫‘ يـَكـْتُب‬yaktub‘ but a becomes ِ‫‘ إغ ْـسـ ْل‬ᵓighsil’, َ‫ ِيـ‬is crossed out
fatḥa َُِ is in the subjunctive: like ِ‫’يـَكـْتـ ُ َب‬ and alif, ‫‘ إ‬ᵓalif’ with kasraُِ is instead of it.
‘yaktuba‘. Moreover, in the book Arabic Verbs However, in the second type there are
and Essential of Grammar, Whightwick and verbs with a vowel over the first root letter of
Gaafar (2008) discussed the imperative by the jussive rather than a sukūn ُِ.ْ Here, verbs
asserting the previous views as they said the do not have an alif ‘ᵓalif‫ ‘أ‬like what occurs with
imperative (for command or request) is also the forms II, III, V, VI,. For example:
from the jussive by removing the initial prefix. Form II ِ‫‘ تـُكـَسـِّ ْر‬tukassir‘, jussive, she breaks,
If this leaves a sukūn ُِْ over the first letter, becomes in the imperative ‫‘ كـَسـِّري‬kassiri‘
an alif, ‫ أ‬is added at the beginning. crossed out the prefix ُ‫‘ تِـ‬tu‘ and suffix ‫‘ ي‬ya‘ is
The following examples will shed light on this added. Form III ‫‘ يـُشـَاهـ ِْد‬yushahid‘, jussive, he
point for more explanation regarding to watches, changed into imperative ‫شـَاهـ ِْد‬
Whightwick and Gaafar. ‘shahid‘. The same procedure also will be with

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the other forms; as the form V ‫تـَتـَ َذ َّكر‬ ‘wa yaqūlu alᵓinsanu ᵓᵓidha ma mitu la sawfa
‘tatadhakkar‘ becomes ِْ‫‘ تـَ َذكـّر‬tadhakkar’ and ᵓukhraju ḥayya’, And says man: What! When I
the form IV ‫‘ تـَتـَعـَاون‬tataᶜāwan‘ becomes ‫تـَعـَا َو ِْن‬ am dead shall I truly be brought forth alive?
‘taᶜāwan‘. Maryam, Verse 66. The particle (َِ‫ )لـَسـَوف‬is used
because; s/he thinks that resurrection is very far
1.4 Future: away.
Regarding the tenses in Arabic as has been Moreover, there are other words used for
mentioned, tense is merely divided into two, past expressing future time either in past or in
and present including the imperative. However, present. Such as, ‫‘ لن‬lan’ will not, ‫‘ لو‬law’ if,
future tense can be expressed by one of these ‫‘ يكاد‬yakad’ almost/about to, and ‫القـادم‬
tenses. Similarly, Ryding (2005) and Wightwick ‘alqadim’ next’, all of these are used in
and Gaafar (2008) agreed that if you want to talk present but denote to future. Some
about the future in Arabic, you also use present examples:
tense with adding the prefix َ‫سـ‬
ِ ‘sa’ or َِ‫سـَوف‬  ‫نِيذهب ِمعي‬
َ ‫‘ ل‬lan yadhhaba maᶜi’ , He
‘sawfa’ ‘will’ to the front of the present verb to will not come with me.
indicate the future. For example: ‫سـَأعود ِعلى ِالفور‬  ‫‘ يكا ُد ِالبئ ُر ِيجف‬yakdu albiᵓru yajif’,
‘saᵓaᶜūdu ᶜala alfaūr’ ‘I will be back immediately’, Almost the well dries up.
‫‘ سوفِأبذلِقصارىِجهدي‬sawfa ᵓabdhilu quṢara jahdi’  ‫‘ تنتهي ِالفعاليات ِاألسبوع ِالقادم‬tantahi
‘I will do my best’. alfaᶜaliat alᵓusbūᶜ alqadim’ The
In addition, the verb may be active or passive, e.g. activities will be finished next week.
ِ‫‘ سـَيـُعـْقـَ ُد ِاإلجتماعِغدا‬sayuᶜqadu alᵓijtimaᶜu ghadan’, Whereas, ‫‘ إن‬in’ and ‫‘ ال‬la’ are used in
The conference will be held tomorrow. Ryding past context to indicate future time.
points out that the particle َِ‫‘ سـ‬sa’ is identified by For example:
some grammarians as an abbreviation of َِ‫سـَوف‬ ْ َ‫ِحـَضـ‬،‫‘ إنِحـَضـَ َرِخالد‬in ḥaḍara khalid
 ِ‫رت‬
‘sawfa’.Nevertheless, Abdel-Hafiz (2006) and ḥaḍart’ , if Khalid comes, I will come.
Alsamerrai (2003) distinguished between َ‫سـ‬
ِ ‘sa’  ‫‘ ال ِشاركت ِبعدها‬la sharakt baᶜdaha’ , I
or َِ‫‘ سـَوف‬sawfa’. They saidَِ‫‘ سـ‬sa’ is used for near will not take part any more.
future, while َِ‫‘ سـَوف‬sawfa’ is for remote future.
The latter supported his view by the following
example from the Holly Quran:
‫ف أ ُ إخ َر ُج َح ًّيا‬ ُّ ‫َو َيقُو ُل إاْلِن َسانُ أَإِ َذا َما م‬
َ ‫ِت لَ َسوإ‬

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Conclusion: tenses also are used to express future time by

To sum up, this paper has discussed tense adding the morpheme َ‫سـ‬
ِ ‘sa’ ,the particle َِ‫سـَوف‬
in Arabic, which considers asِan essential category ‘sawfa’, ‫‘ لـَن‬lan’ , ‫‘ يـكـاد‬yakad’ , ‫‘ إن‬in’ , ‫‘ ال‬la’
in the Classical Arabic. As a matter of fact,tense in and‫‘ القادم‬alqādim’.
Arabic is a controversial subject, as the researcher References:
1- Abdel-Hafiz, A. Sokarno. The Development of Future Markers in Arabic and the Nile
displayed the different views regarding to its types. Nubian Language. Diss. South Vally University, Aswan, 2006.
2- Abdulhamid, Mohamed. Sharḥibn ᶜakɨɨl, Cairo: Dāralturāth, 1980.

At first,ِ he pointed out the five types of tense 3- Alesawe, Ahmed. A comparison of Tense, Aspect and voice Systems of English, Mod-
ern Standard Arabic and Libyan Dialects. Diss. University of Leeds, 2005.

regarding to Duncan (1863), as the latter said that

4- Alhawary, Mohammad. Modern Standard Arabic Grammar: A learner’s Guide. US: Bie-
ly-Blackwill, 2011.
5- Alsamarrāi, Fāḍil. MaᶜāniAlnaḥuAltaḥkɨk, Cairo: Dār Alfikr lilṭibāᶜa wanashr, 2003.
tense composed of the Preterit, the Aorist, the 6- Forbes, Duncan, Grammar of the Arabic Language. London: Wm. II Allen & Co., 13 Wa-
terloo Place, S.W., 1863.

Imperative, the Participle and the Infinitive. After 7- Hassan, ᶜabās. AlnaḥuAlwafi, Cairo: Dār Almaᶜārif, 1995.
8- Haywood, J. A. and Nahmad H.M. Anew Arabic Grammar of the written Language,
London: Lurd Humphries, 1965.
that, the three types of tense according to the view 9- Mubarak, Mubarak. QawāᶜidAlughaAlᶜarabia. Beirut: Alᶜālamiya Lilkutub, 1992.
10- Ryding, Karin, C. A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic. Cambridge: Cam-
of Alsamerrai (2003), Abduhamid (1980), bridge University Press, 2005.
11- Wightwick, Jane and Gaafar, Mahmoud. Arabic Verbs and Essentials of Grammar. New

Mobarak (1992), and Hassan (1995), as they all

York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc, 2008.

agreed that they are the Perfect ِ‫ اَ ْل َمـاضي‬al-māḍi, the

َ ‫ اَ ْل ُم‬al-muḍāriᶜ and the Imperative,
Imperfect ‫ضـارع‬
‫ األمر‬al-ᵓamr, as the latter used for command or
request which essentially based on present tense in
the jussive mood. There are two types of forming
imperative according to all forms of the verb. Thenِ
the last view is clarified by Haywood and Nahmad
(1965), Thatcher (1992), Alhawary (2011), and
Wightwick and Gaafar (2005) who said thatِthere
are only two tenses in Arabic, the Past (or perfect)
ِ‫ ;اَ ْل َمـاضي‬and the Present (or Imperfect) ‫ضـارع‬
َ ‫اَ ْل ُم‬.
Since, theِ past tenseِ is used for completed and
finished actions, while present is for unfinished
actions and still happening.ِ Furthermore, it is
obviously acknowledged how the doer is
recognized in terms of number or gender in both
tenses either in the past or in presentِthrough the
person markers shown in tables. Besides,ِthese two

GJRA - 8GLOBAL JOURNAL FOR RESEARCH ANALYSIS X 181

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