ARABIC TENSES
Verb=akala=to eat, masc=m, feminine=f
| English Pronouns |
Arabic Pronouns |
Perfect |
Imperfect |
| I |
anaa |
akaltu |
a'kulu |
| Thou (m) |
anta |
akalta |
ta'kulu |
| Thou (f) |
anti |
akalti |
ta'kuliyna |
| He |
huwa |
akala |
ya'kulu |
| She |
hiya |
akalat |
ta'kulu |
| We |
nahnu |
akalnaa |
na'kulu |
| You (m) |
antum |
akaltum |
ta'kuluuna |
| You (f) |
antunna |
akaltunna |
ta'kulna |
| You two (m,f) |
antumaa |
akaltumaa |
ta'kulaani |
| They two (m) |
humaa |
akalaa |
ya'kulaani |
| They two (f) |
humaa |
akalataa |
ya'kulaani |
| They (m) |
hum |
akaluu |
ya'kuluuna |
| They (f) |
hunna |
akalna |
ya'kulna |
Discussion of Arabic Tenses
There are two main tenses in the Arabic language. 1.Perfect Tense, 2.Imperfect
Tense or the Present Tense. The action is completed in the perfect tense.
You may also call this as the past tense because the action is completed
before the present so it belongs to the past. For example, one may say, "I
ate". The action of eating was finished in the past. The past could be a few
minutes or a few decades before the present time. Alternately, in the second
tense, i.e., the imperfect, the action is still continuing. For example, you
knock on the door and walk in. You see he is eating his meal. He says to
you, "I am eating". The action is still continuing, he is still eating
while talking to you. This is the present tense in English. It is also the
"imperfect tense" in Arabic. You look at the table above and locate the
pronoun "I" on the left column and follow it to the right to the "imperfect"
column. You will see the verb, "akulu". It means, "I am eating" or "I eat".
What about the future tense? Well, there is not such a thing as the future
tense in Arabic. This is done by adding the prefix "sa" to the imperfect
form of the verb. For example, let's look at the table above to find out the
imperfect form of the verb "akala". It is "ya'kulu". Add the prefix "sa" to
the "ya'kulu" you get, "saya'kulu" which means "He will eat".
Click on the link Here to
go to the next chapter which explains the perfect tense of the verb "akala".
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