Arabic Verb Forms [Transitive vs.

Intransitive]Posted by Ibnulyemen ‫ ِابْنُ ال َي َمن‬ on Aug 10, 2017

in Grammar, Vocabulary

We use the language to share our feelings and thoughts. This

entails expressing a state of being or an action. In Arabic, the
latter is done using a verbal sentence. As the name suggests,
it should contain a verb; plus, it, the verb, must occur
sentence-initially. To make sense, it is essential that we know
whether the verb requires an object
(i.e. intransitive  ‫اَل ِزم‬  laazim) or not
(i.e. transitive  ‫ ُم َت َعدِّ ي‬ muta‘addii).

What is intransitive ‫?اَل ِزم‬

Put simply, an intransitive verb is a verb that does not require an
object. For instance, the English sentences (1) and (2) are
completely meaningful without an object, and so is the case with the
corresponding Arabic ones.
(1) John laughed. ‫ض ِح َك ُج ْون‬.         DaHika
َ John.
 َ ‫ َت ْبكِي‬.          tabkii Sally.
(2) Sally is crying. ‫سالِي‬
What is a transitive ‫? ُم َت َعدِي‬
It basically is the opposite; that is, the sentence is not meaningful
unless an object is added. For example, the English sentences (3)
and (4) do not make a complete sense, and so are the respective
Arabic translations.
(3) Jack hit. ‫ب َجاك‬
َ ‫ض َر‬.         Daraba
َ Jack.
(4) Samar is throwing. ‫س َمر َت ْرمِي‬.         Samar
َ tarmii.
To make them meaningful, an object must complement the verb, as
is in (5) and (6).
(5) Jack hit Sarah. ‫ارة‬
َ ‫س‬َ ‫ب َجاك‬
َ ‫ض َر‬.              Daraba
َ Jack Sarah.
(6) Samar is throwing a bottle. ‫س َمر َت ْرمِي َقا ُر ْو َرة‬.            Samar
َ tarmii
qaaruurah.
Hence, ‫ض ِح َك‬ and ‫ِي‬
َ ‫ َت ْبك‬ are intransitive verbs,
while ‫ب‬ ‫ َت ْرم‬ are transitive. Hmm! How do we know what is
َ ‫ض َر‬ and ‫ِي‬
َ
what? Well, this is oftentimes implied in the meaning of verbs.
Furthermore, intransitives normally express behavior, appearance,
mood, or condition. However, it is important to know that
an intransitive can be made transitive, but not the other way
round.
How to change an intransitive verb into a transitive?
There are three ways to do this:
a) by means of a prefix, namely ‫أ‬, as in the table above and in (7),
َ , and ‫ َف ِر َح‬ become
(8), and (9). The intransitive verbs ‫ب َكى‬ ,‫ض ِح َك‬
transitive after adding ‫أ‬ hamzah to the beginning to form ‫أَ ْب َكى‬ ,‫ض َحك‬ َ َ‫أ‬,
and ‫أَ ْف َر َح‬, ‘make laugh’, ‘make cry’, and ‘make happy’, respectively.
(7) ‫ارة‬
َ ‫س‬ ْ َ‫أ‬. aDhHaka John Sarah ‘John made Sarah laugh.’
َ ‫ض َح َك ُج ْون‬
َ ‫أَ ْب َكى َجاك‬. Abkaa Jack Sally.        ‘Jack made Sally cry.’
(8) ‫سالِي‬

َ ‫أَ ْف َر َح َخالِد‬. afraHa Khalid Sadiiqatahu     ‘Khalid made his

(9) ‫ص ِد ْي َق َت ُه‬
girlfriend happy.’
b) using an infix (i.e. an addition inserted within the verb), namely ّ
on the middle letter, as in (10), (11), and (12). After doubling the
َ , and ‫ َف ِر َح‬ become transitive.
middle letter,‫ َب َكى‬ , ‫ض ِح َك‬
(10) ‫ارة‬
َ ‫س‬َ ‫ض َّح َك ُج ْون‬. DhaHHaka
َ John Sarah.         ‘John made Sarah
laugh.’

َ ‫ َب َّكى َجاك‬. bakkaa Jack Sally.                  ‘Jack made Sally

(11) ‫سالِي‬
cry.’
(12) ‫ص ِد ْي َق َت ُه‬
َ ‫ َف َّر َح َخالِد‬. farraHa Khalid Sadiiqatahu   ‘Khalid made his
girlfriend happy.’
c) by adding ‫ا‬ after the first letter of the tri-consonantal verbs, as in
(13) and (14):
(13) intransitive: ‫صالِح‬ َ ‫ج َل‬. Jalasa
َ ‫س‬ َ SaaliH.             ‘Saleh Sat.’
transitive: ‫سلِ ْيم‬
َ ‫صالِح‬ َ ‫جا َل‬.       Jaalasa
َ ‫س‬ َ SaaliH Saliim            ‘Saleh
Sat with Salim.’
(14) intransitive: ‫الو َلد‬
َ ‫ِب‬َ ‫ َلع‬. la‘iba al-walad                       ‘the boy
played.’

ِ ‫الو َلد‬
transitive: ‫الب ْنت‬ َ ‫ب‬ َ ‫اَل َع‬.        la‘aba al-walad al-bint           ‘the boy
played with the girl.’
Seemingly, ‫أ‬ and ّ are used with pretty much the same meaning.
However, this is not the case; rather, the insertion of ّ on the middle
letters signifies repetitiveness in the action; e.g., ‫ض َّح َك‬ ‘makeَ
somebody laugh’ means the action of laughing was done
repetitively, and so is the case with ‫ َب َّكى‬  and ‫ َف َّر َح‬ in (11) and (12),
respectively.
As for the addition of ‫ ا‬after the second letter, as in (c), it always
means participatory roles in performing the action. That is, the
action is done by both persons/things involved in the sentence.
As to the transitive, it is also further divided into mono-transitive,
requiring one object, ditransitive, requiring two, and tri-transitive,
requiring three. This is something to expound further in future posts.
Exercise:
Make these intransitive verbs intransitive in at least two ways. Use
your dictionary for help. Also, attempt to use them in sentences.
Answers will be posted on our Facebook Page 24 hours later.

َ ‫ َر َق‬        َ‫ َر َقد‬     ‫ف‬
‫ص‬ َ ‫ َو َق‬      ‫ش ِب َع‬
َ       ‫ َعلِ َم‬        َ‫ َق َعد‬     ‫َر َج َع‬