Arabic Tutor – Volume

Volume Two

Lesson 17

The Intransitive and Transitive Verbs and the Active

and Passive Verbs
(!"i N; . @:0; bY1 .)

1. Verbs are of two types:

• Intransitive (bY1): one which is complete with the

doer of the action, e.g. (:

m B)YM bM L J - Zaid became
noble.) The intransitive verb does not have an
object.
• Transitive (@:0;): one which requires both the
doer and the object to complete the statement, e.g.
(˜~?B –
L :m B)YM J J 2J - Zaid ate bread.)

2. Most transitive verbs require one verb only but there are
some verbs that require two objects, e.g. when it is said,
(˜/
K M :m B)YM =
M 
I M - Zaid thought that Bakr), the sentence is
incomplete. What did he think of Bakr? When it is said,
( &Iv
J ˜/K M :m B)YM =
M 
I M - Zaid thought that Bakr was wealthy),
the sentence becomes complete.
(˜7IM ˜:IM– :m I M
M IM ) – Hāmid knew that Khālid is pious.

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 Arabic Tutor – Volume
Volume Two

Such verbs are called (

I BJ"B L .K M 'JI @
B : M 0M%L KJ) – transitive to
two objects.

3. There are two types of transitive verbs:

• the active verb (N;): a verb that is related to
the doer of the action and the doer is known, e.g.
(˜:IM– :m I M
M M (
M - Hāmid hit Khālid.) In this

sentence, the doer of the verb (

M M (
M ) is known.
• The passive verb (!"i): a verb related to the

object and the doer is not mentioned, e.g. (

M I (
L
:m IM– - Khālid was hit.) In this example, the doer is
not mentioned at all. Therefore the verb ( M I (
L ) is a
passive verb.

4. The noun towards which the passive verb is related is

called (
I I J.K =
L IM* - the representative of the doer). It is

(`B",SB M - in the nominative case) like the doer. In the

sentence, (:
m IM–
M I (
L ), the word, (:m IM–) is the object in reality
and should have been ( "8& - in the accusative case).
However, due to the passive verb, it has taken the place of

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