Grammar term · I'rab · The signs
The five verbs
al-af'al al-khamsa
الْأَفْعَال الْخَمْسَة
I'rabThe signsadvanced term
In one line
The five verbs (الأَفْعَال الخَمْسَة) are the mudari' forms ending in ـانِ، ـونَ or ـينَ, and it is their nun, not a vowel, that carries the i'rab.
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 rafa by retaining the nun, and nasab and jazm by dropping it.”
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 rafa; nun gone means nasab 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.
In the Qur'an
ٱلَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱلْغَيْبِ وَيُقِيمُونَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَٰهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ
Al-Baqarah 2:3 — “Who believe in the Unseen, are steadfast in prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them;”
يُؤْمِنُونَ and وَيُقِيمُونَ are two of the five verbs — present-tense forms that end in an added nun. It is that nun, not a vowel, that reports their state.
Study this ayah word by word →Related terms
Common questions
Why call them five verbs when Arabic has thousands?
Because it is five forms, not five words. Any present-tense verb takes these five shapes when conjugated for the dual, the masculine plural and the feminine singular addressee. The name counts patterns, not vocabulary.
Next in the guideأَلِف الِاثْنَيْنDual alif →Updated