Al-Muḍāri' — The Imperfect Tense
The Scale · Three Patterns · All 14 Conjugations
- Understand what the muḍāri' covers — present, continuous, and future actions
- Identify the harf al-muḍāra' (the obligatory prefix letter of the imperfect)
- Know the three muḍāri' scales and which vowel marks each middle root letter
- Conjugate any Form 1 muḍāri' verb through all 14 forms
- Identify which sighas have a mustatir (hidden) doer and which admit an external noun doer
Video Lesson
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Introduction
Lesson 6 begins the study of the second major verb type: al-muḍāri' (الْمُضَارِعُ) — the imperfect tense. We have done the māḍī in full. The rules for the fā'il and maf'ūl learned in the previous lessons apply equally here — only the verb form changes. This lesson focuses on recognising the scale, understanding what the muḍāri' means, and conjugating all 14 forms for each of the three main patterns.
Lesson Notes
What Is al-Muḍāri'?
The muḍāri' describes an action that is not yet complete at the time of speaking. It covers three English tenses:
| English tense | Example | Arabic |
|---|---|---|
| Present habitual | he goes / he helps | يَذْهَبُ / يَنْصُرُ |
| Present continuous | he is going | يَذْهَبُ |
| Future | he will go | يَذْهَبُ |
All three meanings share the same Arabic form. Context determines which English translation to use.
Al-muḍāri' = any action that is not yet complete. It is the present, ongoing, and future tense all in one.
The Scale of al-Muḍāri'
The muḍāri' is identified by four fixed features:
- Harf al-muḍāra'ah — an obligatory prefix letter, always one of: ي ت أ ن
- For sigha 1 (huwa): the prefix is ي (yaa)
- For sigha 4 (hiya) and 2nd person: the prefix is ت (taa)
- For 1st person singular (anā): the prefix is أ (hamza)
- For 1st person plural (naḥnu): the prefix is ن (noon)
- First root letter — always takes sukoon
- Third root letter — always takes damma (in the base/rafa' form)
- Second root letter — variable: fatha, kasra, or damma
This gives three scales:
| Scale | Pattern | Middle vowel | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| يَفْعَلُ | yaf'alu | fatha | يَذْهَبُ (to go), يَفْتَحُ (to open) |
| يَفْعِلُ | yaf'ilu | kasra | يَضْرِبُ (to strike), يَظْلِمُ (to wrong) |
| يَفْعُلُ | yaf'ulu | damma | يَنْصُرُ (to help), يَكْرُمُ (to be noble) |
The scale a verb follows is determined by its bāb (door/category). It must be looked up — it cannot be guessed. But for recognition purposes, any verb beginning with ي ت أ or ن and following this structure is a muḍāri'.
The 14 Conjugations of al-Muḍāri'
Using يَذْهَبُ (to go — scale yaf'alu) as the model:
| # | Pronoun | Conjugation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | هُوَ | يَذْهَبُ | Doer is mustatir (hidden); prefix = ي |
| 2 | هُمَا m | يَذْهَبَانِ | Alif = doer (huma); noon added |
| 3 | هُمْ | يَذْهَبُونَ | Waw = doer (hum); noon added |
| 4 | هِيَ | تَذْهَبُ | Prefix changes to ت; doer is mustatir |
| 5 | هُمَا f | تَذْهَبَانِ | ت prefix + alif doer + noon |
| 6 | هُنَّ | يَذْهَبْنَ | ي prefix + noon (doer = hunna) |
| 7 | أَنْتَ | تَذْهَبُ | Same form as هِيَ — context distinguishes |
| 8 | أَنْتُمَا | تَذْهَبَانِ | Same form as هُمَا — context distinguishes |
| 9 | أَنْتُمْ | تَذْهَبُونَ | ت prefix + waw doer + noon |
| 10 | أَنْتِ | تَذْهَبِينَ | ت prefix + ya doer (unique to anti) + noon |
| 11 | أَنْتُمَا f | تَذْهَبَانِ | Same as #8 |
| 12 | أَنْتُنَّ | تَذْهَبْنَ | ت prefix + noon (doer = antunna) |
| 13 | أَنَا | أَذْهَبُ | Prefix = أ (hamza); no suffix |
| 14 | نَحْنُ | نَذْهَبُ | Prefix = ن; no suffix |
Key patterns:
- Sighas without a suffix (simplest to remember): 1, 4, 7, 13, 14 — يَذْهَبُ، تَذْهَبُ، تَذْهَبُ، أَذْهَبُ، نَذْهَبُ
- Only sighas 1 and 4 can be followed by an external noun as doer (all others have the doer embedded)
- Sighas 4 and 7 (هِيَ and أَنْتَ) have the same form — context distinguishes
- Sighas 6 and 12 (هُنَّ and أَنْتُنَّ) have the same form — context distinguishes
- The noon at the end of dual and plural forms (نِ and نَ) is a special noon whose role is explained in the following lesson
Only after sigha 1 (هُوَ) and sigha 4 (هِيَ) can an external noun appear as the doer. In all other sighas, the doer pronoun is embedded within the verb itself.
The Same Conjugation — Three Scales
The 14 suffixes and prefixes are identical for all three scales. Only the middle root vowel changes:
- يَذْهَبُ (fatha) → يَذْهَبَانِ، يَذْهَبُونَ...
- يَضْرِبُ (kasra) → يَضْرِبَانِ، يَضْرِبُونَ...
- يَنْصُرُ (damma) → يَنْصُرَانِ، يَنْصُرُونَ...
Learn one conjugation fully — the other two follow automatically.
Summary
- Al-muḍāri' describes an action not yet complete — it covers present, continuous, and future tense.
- It is always marked by a harf al-muḍāra'ah (prefix letter): ي، ت، أ، ن.
- The three Form 1 scales differ only in the middle root vowel: يَفْعَلُ (fatha), يَفْعِلُ (kasra), يَفْعُلُ (damma).
- There are 14 sighas (conjugations), matching the 14 pronouns — exactly as with the māḍī.
- Sighas 1 and 4 (هُوَ and هِيَ) have a mustatir (hidden) doer — only these two admit an external noun doer.
- The suffixes and prefixes are identical across all three scales — learn one scale and the others follow.
Terminology Reference
| Arabic | Transliteration | Meaning | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| الْمُضَارِعُ | al-muḍāri' | the imperfect tense — action not yet complete at time of speaking | ISM |
| حَرْفُ الْمُضَارَعَةِ | harf al-muḍāra'ah | the prefix letter that marks a verb as muḍāri' — one of ي ت أ ن | ISM |
| يَذْهَبُ | yadhhabu | he goes / he is going / he will go (root ذ هـ ب) | FIL |
| يَضْرِبُ | yaḍribu | he strikes / he is striking / he will strike (root ض ر ب) | FIL |
| يَنْصُرُ | yanṣuru | he helps / he is helping / he will help (root ن ص ر) | FIL |