Measure V


 Measure V is closely related to the Measure II meaning. It generally has a reflexive meaning of Measure II. This means that the meaning of M2 is reflected back onto the subject.

Reflexive of II - The meaning of Measure II reflects back onto the subject.

Let's look at a few examples:

M1 - علم - to know
M2 - علّم - to teach (to cause someone to know)
M5 - تعلّم - to learn (to be taught, or to 'teach yourself')


M1 - ذكر - to remember, to mention*
M2 - ذكّر - to remind
M5 - تذكّر - to remember (remind yourself)

*Although measure I does have the meaning "to remember", it also means "to mention, cite, quote". M1 is usually used to mean "to mention" and M5 is used to mean "to remember, recall".
I mention both meanings of M2 for this verb because it is necessary to see the progression of meaning from M1 to M2 and then to M5.

Conjugation

Now let's take a look at how to conjugate the Measure V verb.

We will use the measure V verb تَعَلَّمَ (to learn, be educated) as an example. All other M5 verbs are conjugated exactly the same way. The most noticeable characteristics of M5 are the stem prefix ت and the shadda over the middle root letter. Note that M2 and M5 are related in form.

Perfect (Past) - تَعَلَّمَ Imperfect (Present) - يَتَعَلَّمُ


Look at the image below for a visual description (conjugated for singular male):






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





Imperative

The imperative (الأمر) for Measure V is regular and very easy to form. The simplest method is to take the third person singular perfect tense * and change the final vowel to a sukuun. This will be your imperative stem.

For example, تَكَلَّمَ \ يَتَكَلَّمُ (to speak) becomes تَكَلَّمْ .

You can also follow the traditional method that is outlined in other measures (such as II, III, and IV) and get the same result.

Starting with the past tense form to determine the imperative can only be done with Measure V and VI. The reason is that the imperative stem is actually derived from the present tense. In other measures, such as II, III, and IV; the vowel over the second root letter is different for past and present; a fatha in the past and a kasra in the present. For Measure V and Measure VI, the vowel that is on the second root letter is a fatha for both past and present. So, it is by coincidence that we can start with the past tense when determining the Measure V and Measure VI Imperative and still be correct.

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 V Passive is is similar to other measures. The voweling over the root letters is identical. 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 (المصدر) 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 for Measure V is regular.




Here are some common Measure V 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 V 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.





Active Participle (Doer) -




Passive Participle -



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



Note that most Measure V verbs will not have both an Active Participle and Passive Participle. If a Measure V verb is intransitive (doesn't take a direct object), then the Active Participle usually takes on the meaning that we would normally expect from the Passive Participle.

For example:
تَعَلَّمَ \ يَتَعَلَّمُ - to be educated. The active participle مُتَعَلِّم means educated. We normally associate this kind of meaning with the Passive Participle. However, since Measure V is characteristically passive, then the Active Participle often carries a passive meaning. With Measure V, Active Participles are much more frequent than the Passive Participles.

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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