Present Tense Verbs

All Arabic verbs conjugate the same way. We do not have groups of verbs like Spanish or
French, nor do we have “irregular” verbs. Here, we have used the verbs ‫ سكن‬to reside, and
‫ درس‬to study, as samples:
Verb* Person
‫ًأ ْدرُس‬ ‫أنا‬
‫ًأسْ ُكن‬
‫ت َْدرُس‬ َ ‫أ ْن‬
‫ت‬
‫تَسْ ُكن‬
‫ت َْدرُس ين‬ ِ ‫أ ْن‬
‫ت‬
‫تَسْ ُكن ين‬
‫َي ْدرُس‬ َ‫هُو‬
‫َيسْ ُكن‬
‫ت َْدرُس‬ ‫ِي‬
َ ‫ه‬
‫تَسْ ُكن‬
‫ن َْدرُس‬ ُ‫َنحْ ن‬
‫نَسْ ُكن‬
The letters in red represent what you have to add to the stem. You will notice the stem does
not change. Also, every present tense conjugation must have a prefix. Only one has a suffix as
َ ‫ أ ْن‬and
well. Lastly, notice that ‫ت‬ ‫ِي‬
َ ‫ ه‬forms are the same. This will be true of every verb.

ِ ‫) أ ْن‬can have a short vowel ُ at the end. This is

* = in formal speech, these verbs (except ‫ت‬
rarely pronounced in normal conversation and will sound a bit stilted, but recognize it when
you hear it.

Similarly, plural subjects have their own verb conjugations. You will notice that these look very

similar to the singular, but often with a suffix ‫ون‬:

Verb* Person
‫ًأ ْدرُس‬
‫ًأسْ ُكن‬ ‫أنا‬
 ‫َت ْدرُس‬
‫َتسْ ُكن‬ َ ‫أ ْن‬
‫ت‬
‫َت ْدرُسين‬
‫َتسْ ُكنين‬ ِ ‫أ ْن‬
‫ت‬
‫َي ْدرُس‬
‫َيسْ ُكن‬ ‫ه َُو‬
‫َت ْدرُس‬
‫َتسْ ُكن‬ ‫ِي‬
َ ‫ه‬
‫َن ْدرُس‬
‫َنسْ ُكن‬ ُ‫َنحْ ن‬
‫َت ْدرُس ون‬
‫َتسْ ُكن ون‬ ‫أن ُتم‬
‫َي ْدرُس ون‬
‫َيسْ ُكن ون‬ ‫هُم‬

Future Tense Verbs

The future is the easiest tense to construct, so it is worth learning along with the present. We
simply add the prefix َ‫ سـ‬onto the present. Here, we have again used the verbs ‫سكن‬ to reside,
and ‫ درس‬to study, as samples so you can see how simply the process is.:

Verb* Person

‫َسًأ ْدرُس‬ ‫َسًأسْ ُكن‬ ‫أنا‬

‫َست َْدرُس‬ ‫َستَسْ ُكن‬ َ ‫أ ْن‬

‫ت‬
‫َست َْدرُس ين‬ ‫َستَسْ ُكن ين‬ ‫أ ْن ِ‬
‫ت‬

‫َس َي ْدرُس‬ ‫َس َيسْ ُكن‬ ‫ه َُو‬

‫َست َْدرُس‬ ‫َستَسْ ُكن‬ ‫ِي‬

‫ه َ‬

‫َسن َْدرُس‬ ‫َسنَسْ ُكن‬ ‫َنحْ نُ‬