Lesson 27
The Past Tense Verb Form I
الفعل الماضي
The Arabic past tense (مَاضِي) is formed by adding suffixes to the root. كَتَبَ (kataba he wrote) is the dictionary form and the model for all Form I verb conjugation.
Past Tense Full Conjugation of كَتَبَ
PersonPronounPast formSuffix
3rd m sgهُوَكَتَبَ— (base form)
3rd f sgهِيَكَتَبَتْـَتْ
3rd dualهُمَاكَتَبَاـَا
3rd m plهُمْكَتَبُواـُوا
3rd f plهُنَّكَتَبْنَـْنَ
2nd m sgأَنْتَكَتَبْتَـْتَ
2nd f sgأَنْتِكَتَبْتِـْتِ
1st sgأَنَاكَتَبْتُـْتُ
1st plنَحْنُكَتَبْنَاـْنَا
كَتَبَ الطَّالِبُ الدَّرْسَ ذَهَبَتِ الطَّالِبَةُ إِلَى الْمَكْتَبَةِ كَتَبُوا رِسَالَةً
Kataba ṭ-ṭālibu d-darsa Dhahabati ṭ-ṭālibatu ilā l-maktabati Katabū risālatan
The student wrote the lesson. The female student went to the library. They wrote a letter.
كَتَبْتُ ثَلَاثَةَ كُتُبٍ الْعَامَ الْمَاضِيَ هَلْ كَتَبْتِ رِسَالَتَكِ؟
Katabtu thalāthata kutubin al-ʿāma l-māḍiya Hal katabti risālataki?
I wrote three books last year. Did you (f) write your letter?
- Past tense = root + suffixes only (no prefixes unlike the present tense which uses prefixes).
- The 3rd-person base form كَتَبَ is also the dictionary (citation) form for all Arabic verbs.
- The three-letter root ك-ت-ب carries the core meaning: كَتَبَ / يَكْتُبُ / كِتَاب / كَاتِب / مَكْتُوب.
- Verb-before-subject rule: verb stays singular even if the subject is plural (تَقَدَّمَ الطُّلَّابُ).
- الْعَامَ الْمَاضِيَ (last year) an accusative time expression. الشَّهْرَ الْمَاضِيَ (last month).