Lesson 89
Verb Measures VII–VIII Infaʿala and Iftaʿala
انفعل افتعل
Form VII is passive/reflexive of Form I; Form VIII adds تَ after the first root letter. Both are extremely common in everyday Arabic and the Quran.
Forms VII and VIII
FormPatternMeaningExample
VIIاِنْفَعَلَPassive/reflexive of Iاِنْكَسَرَ (it broke by itself)
VIIIاِفْتَعَلَReflexive/intensive of Iاِجْتَمَعَ (gathered together)
FormMasdarPresent
VIIاِنْفِعَاليَنْفَعِل
VIIIاِفْتِعَاليَفْتَعِل
اِجْتَمَعَ الْمُسْلِمُونَ لِصَلَاةِ الْجُمُعَةِ اِنْكَسَرَ الزُّجَاجُ
Ijtamaʿa l-muslimūna liṣalāti l-jumuʿati Inkasara z-zujāj
The Muslims gathered for Friday prayer. The glass broke (on its own). (اِجْتَمَعَ = Form VIII; اِنْكَسَرَ = Form VII self-caused)
وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَنِ اجْتَهَدَ وَجَدَ وَاقْتَرَبَ وَاسْجُدْ
Wa-ttaqū llāha Mani jtahada wajada Wa-qtarib wa-sjud
"Fear Allah." Whoever strives will find. "Draw near and prostrate." (96:19) اِتَّقَى (Form VIII from و-ق-ي), اِجْتَهَدَ (Form VIII), اِقْتَرَبَ (Form VIII).
- Form VII: adds اِنْـ prefix اِنْكَسَرَ (it broke by itself) vs Form I كَسَرَ (he broke it) the self-directed or incidental passive meaning.
- Form VIII: inserts تَ after the first root letter اِجْتَمَعَ (from ج-م-ع), اِقْتَرَبَ (from ق-ر-ب) reflexive/intensive.
- Important Form VIII verbs: اِعْتَقَدَ (believed), اِجْتَهَدَ (strove), اِكْتَسَبَ (earned), اِلْتَزَمَ (committed to) rich in Islamic scholarly vocabulary.
- Form VIII undergoes phonological assimilation with certain root-initial letters: اِصْطَبَرَ (from ص-ب-ر, تَ → طَ after emphatics ص, ض, ط, ظ).
- Form VII cannot be formed from roots beginning with ن, و, or hamza these create awkward phonological clusters with the اِنْـ prefix.