Grammar term · Nahw · syntax
ضَمِير مُسْتَتِر
damir mustatir
Hidden/implied pronoun
Nahw · syntaxPronoun typecore term6,896+ in the Qur'an
In one line
A hidden pronoun — the doer understood inside the verb without being written.
Classical definition
الضَّمِيرُ المُسْتَتِرُ ضَمِيرٌ لَا صُورَةَ لَهُ فِي اللَّفْظِ، يُقَدَّرُ فِي الفِعْلِ، كَتَقْدِيرِ «هُوَ» فِي قَامَ.
“The hidden pronoun has no visible form in the wording; it is understood within the verb — as هُوَ is understood in قَامَ (“he stood”).”
(بتصرف من الألفية)
Key words in the Arabic
لَا صُورَةَ لَهُit has no visible form
يُقَدَّرُit is understood, reckoned to be there
Understand it
Arabic verbs need no separate word for “he” or “I”: قَامَ already means “he stood”, and the grammarians count that “he” as genuinely present — a hidden pronoun filling the fa'il slot. This is why an Arabic sentence can be one word long and still complete, and why i'rab analysis of a bare verb always names a doer: تقديره هو.
How to spot it
Recognition test
A verb with no visible doer after it — the doer is a hidden pronoun (its taqdir: هُوَ، أَنَا، نَحْنُ…).
Related terms