Lesson 34
The Five Verbs al-Afʿāl al-Khamsah
الأفعال الخمسة
The Five Verbs are five present-tense conjugations whose iʿrāb is visible through a final nūn (rather than a short vowel). This nūn drops in subjunctive and jussive moods a critical rule for reading connected text.
The Five Verbs
These five forms show their grammatical mood through the nūn: present when indicative, absent in subjunctive and jussive. They are called الأفعال الخمسة because they number exactly five across the two genders and three persons.
FormPronounIndicative (nūn stays)Subjunctive/Jussive (nūn drops)
3rd m dualهُمَايَكْتُبَانِيَكْتُبَا
3rd m plهُمْيَكْتُبُونَيَكْتُبُوا
2nd m plأَنْتُمْتَكْتُبُونَتَكْتُبُوا
2nd f sgأَنْتِتَكْتُبِينَتَكْتُبِي
3rd f dualهُمَا (f)تَكْتُبَانِتَكْتُبَا
Mood Triggers
ParticleMoodEffect on Five Verbs
لَنْSubjunctive (نَصْب)Nūn drops: لَنْ يَكْتُبَا
لَمْJussive (جَزْم)Nūn drops: لَمْ يَكْتُبُوا
أَنْSubjunctive (نَصْب)Nūn drops: أَنْ تَكْتُبِي
لَنْ تَنَالُوا الْبِرَّ حَتَّى تُنْفِقُوا مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَ
Lan tanālū l-birra ḥattā tunfiqū mimmā tuḥibbūna
You will never attain righteousness until you spend from what you love. (3:92)
لَمْ يَكْتُبُوا الدَّرْسَ هَلْ تَكْتُبِينَ الرِّسَالَةَ؟
Lam yaktubū d-darsa Hal taktubīna r-risālata?
They did not write the lesson. Are you (f) writing the letter?
- Indicative = nūn stays. Subjunctive/Jussive = nūn drops.
- After لَنْ (subjunctive), لَمْ (jussive), and in command form the nūn is deleted.
- Quranic example: لَنْ تَنَالُوا الْبِرَّ (3:92) تَنَالُوا is the Five-Verb form in subjunctive (nūn dropped after لَنْ).
- In writing, the alif after the wāw of يَكْتُبُوا (subjunctive) is a silent orthographic alif it is written but not pronounced.
- These five forms also apply to any verb derived from any pattern (Form II–X) the rule is universal.