Grammar term · I'rab · i'rab
الْأَفْعَال الْخَمْسَة
al-af'al al-khamsa
The five verbs
I'rab · i'rabI'rab marker (alama)advanced term3,530+ in the Qur'an
In one line
The five verbs — mudari' forms ending in ـانِ، ـونَ، ـينَ, whose nun is the case marker.
Classical definition
الأَفْعَالُ الخَمْسَةُ كُلُّ فِعْلٍ مُضَارِعٍ اتَّصَلَ بِهِ أَلِفُ اثْنَيْنِ أَوْ وَاوُ جَمَاعَةٍ أَوْ يَاءُ مُخَاطَبَةٍ، تُرْفَعُ بِثُبُوتِ النُّونِ وَتُنْصَبُ وَتُجْزَمُ بِحَذْفِهَا.
“The five verbs are every present verb joined to the alif of the pair, the waw of the group, or the ya' of the addressed woman; they take raf' by retaining the nun, and nasb and jazm by dropping it.”
(بتصرف من الألفية)
Key words in the Arabic
أَلِف الاثْنَيْنِthe dual alif — 'they two'
وَاو الْجَمَاعَةِthe group waw — 'they'
يَاء الْمُخَاطَبَةِthe ya' of 'you' (feminine)
Understand it
يَفْعَلَانِ، تَفْعَلَانِ، يَفْعَلُونَ، تَفْعَلُونَ، تَفْعَلِينَ — five patterns, hence the name. Their entire case system is one letter: nun present means raf'; nun gone means nasb or jazm. Read لَمْ تَفْعَلُوا and the missing nun is the grammar. The Quran's plural addresses live in these forms, so this one rule pays for itself many times a page.
How to spot it
Recognition test
A mudari' ending in ـانِ / ـونَ / ـينَ — watch its nun.
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