Measure II

The Measure II verb represents the first shift in meaning from Measure I. Measure II is also much more regular than Measure I. Not all verbs will have a Measure II meaning. There are two main shifts in meaning from Measure I to Measure II.

Causative - To cause someone/something to do the meaning of the measure I verb.

Intensive - To intensify the meaning of the measure I verb.

Look at the following examples:



Conjugation

Let's first take a look at how to conjugate the Measure II verb. The M2 verb is very consistent and regular and is also very common in Arabic, especially the verbal noun. The difference between M1 and M2 is an addition of the shadda over the second root letter as well as some short vowel changes.

We will use the measure II word دَرَّسّ (to teach) as an example. All other M2 verbs are conjugated exactly the same way.


Look at the image below for a visual description:






The chart below has full conjugations for both Perfect and Imperfect for Measure II. All of the verbs are conjugated in the Indicative.
The Subjunctive and Jussive are not shown.





Imperative

The imperative ( الأمر ) for Measure II is very easy to form and very regular.

You can use the same method to determine the M2 imperative as you did for Measure I.
Follow these simple steps:
This form of the imperative is used when talking to a single male. We add suffixes to this stem to indicate number and gender of who we are talking to.
Look at the following chart:





Passive



The formation of the measure II Passive is a simple matter of changing the voweling. For more information on using the passive, visit the Passive Voice page.


Perfect (Past) -


Imperfect (Present) -



**Note: The following information, which is written using Measure I verbs, applies to Passive verbs in ALL measures. It is a characteristic of the passive voice, not a characteristic of the measure. Therefore, apply it regularly.

When the verb is transitive, the verb is conjugated by gender and number according to the object of the verb.
كُتِبَ المقال - The article was written. مقال is masculine, so the verb is masculine.
كُتِبَتْ الجريدة - The newspaper was written. جريدة is feminine, so the verb is feminine.


Whenever the verb is intransitive (when the object of the verb is also the object of the preposition associated with that verb), then the verb is conjugated in the singular male.
بُحِثَ عن السيارة - The car was searched for.
Since the object ( السيارة ) is the object of a preposition عن, the verb is conjugated in the singular male.

عُزِمَ على القرارات - The decisions were determined/resolved.
Even though القرارات is plural and therefore feminine, it is the object of a preposition and the verb is conjugated in the singular male.

**Note: These may not be perfectly usable examples in Arabic, but they illustrate the point.


Verbal Noun



The Verbal Noun (مصدر ) is basically the verb functioning as a noun. Another grammatical term that has the same meaning is gerund. However, this term is not used in Arabic grammar. The verbal noun carries the meaning of performing the action of the verb. In English, words such as eating, dancing, singing, sleeping, running, etc. are basic equivalents to the verbal noun in Arabic.

The Verbal Noun is regular for measure II. The measure II Verbal Noun follows the تَفْعِيل pattern.
♦ The first root letter is preceded by a تَ .
♦ The second root letter carries a sukuun.
♦ There is a ي between the second and third root letter.







Here are some common Measure II verbal nouns:



Warning: Do not confuse the Verbal Noun with the English progressive tense. You would not use the verbal noun to indicate an ongoing progressive action, such as "I am eating", "I am writing", "I am reading", etc. You might use a verbal noun to say things like "I like reading", "I hate writing", "Eating is fun", etc. In these three examples, the -ing words all function as nouns.



Active & Passive Participle



The Active Participle is the noun which is the "doer" of the verb or the person/thing that performs the action of the verb. Some examples in English are writer, runner, baker, teacher, student, etc. The active participle for measure I is fairly regular in Arabic.

The Passive Participle is the noun that receives the action of the verb. These words are often equivalent to English words that end with -ed or -en. Some examples are written, studied, eaten, covered, beaten, etc.


In Measure II, the active and passive participle are formed the same way except for a small difference in voweling.






As you can see, the only difference between the Active and Passive is the vowel on the second root letter.




Note that many Measure II verbs may not have both an Active and Passive Participle. Many M2 verbs only have one or the other. Although they may exist in theory, they may not exist in practical usage.

Plurals

The plural for active and passive participles that denote a person is formed by suffixing ون for masculine and ات for feminine.

The plural for participles that denote inanimate objects use ات regardless of gender.





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