Grammar term · I'rab · The verb's endings
What is the majzum (jussive) state?
majzum
مَجْزُوم
I'rabThe verb's endingscore term
In one line
A majzum (مَجْزُوم) verb, called the jussive in English grammar books, is a mudari' that a jazm particle has put into jazm — shown by a sukun, or by the loss of a nun or a weak letter.
Classical definition
وَلِلْجَزْمِ عَلَامَتَانِ: السُّكُونُ وَالْحَذْفُ.
“Jazm has two markers: the sukun, and elision.”
Key words in the Arabic
عَلَامَتَانِtwo markers
الْحَذْفelision — dropping a letter
Understand it
Jazm is the verb's own state — nouns never take it, mirroring how verbs never take jarr. A short list of particles causes it: لَمْ (did not), لَا of prohibition, the lam of command, and the conditionals. The default mark is a sukun; weak-ending verbs drop their final letter instead (يَدْعُو → لَمْ يَدْعُ), and the five verbs drop their nun.
How to spot it
Recognition test
A sukun (or a dropped letter) on a present-tense verb after لم / لا الناهية / إنْ signals jazm.
In the Qur'an
لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ
Al-Ikhlas 112:3 — “He begetteth not, nor is He begotten;”
يَلِدْ is majzum — clipped. Jazm is the one state a verb has that an ism never does, and only the present form can be put into it.
Study this ayah word by word →Related terms
Common questions
Why do English books call it the jussive?
Because its commonest use is commanding or prohibiting through a third party. The English name describes one function; the Arabic name describes the form — the ending is clipped. Majzum is the more accurate label, which is why it leads here.
Next in the guideمُؤَخَّرPostponed (mu'akhkhar) →Updated