I'rabThe signsadvanced term
In one line
Elision of the weak letter (حَذْف حَرْف العِلَّة) is the dropping of a final ا، و or ي, and it is how jazm shows on a verb that ends in one.
Classical definition
وَأَمَّا الْحَذْفُ فَيَكُونُ عَلَامَةً لِلْجَزْمِ فِي الْفِعْلِ الْمُضَارِعِ الْمُعْتَلِّ الْآخِرِ…
“Elision is the marker of jazm in the present verb whose final letter is weak…”
Key words in the Arabic
الْمُعْتَلّ الْآخِرending in a weak letter: ا، و، ي
Understand it
يَدْعُو، يَرْمِي، يَخْشَى cannot take a sukun — their endings are barely-there letters already — so jazm removes the letter itself: لَمْ يَدْعُ، لَمْ يَرْمِ، لَمْ يَخْشَ. In the mushaf this looks startling, a root letter gone, but the gap IS the marker: فَلْيَدْعُ نَادِيَهُۥ (al-'Alaq 96:17) — the waw of يَدْعُو cut by the lam of command.
How to spot it
Recognition test
A mudari' missing its final weak letter after لَمْ / لام الأمر / a condition — that gap is the jazm.
Related terms
Common questions
Why does the verb lose a letter instead of taking a sukun?
Because the letter it ends in cannot carry a sukun cleanly. When a verb ends in a weak letter, jazm removes that letter altogether — the loss is the marker, standing in for a sign the word could not show.
Next in the guideتَنْوِينNunation (tanwin) →Updated