Moods of the Arabic
Verb
Gordon Center for Language
Mood
Just as case changes the voweling for nouns, mood
changes the voweling for verbs.
Mood only affects the present tense of the verb, never
the past tense.
Arabic has three moods: indicative, subjunctive and
jussive. Indicative is the default mood.
A verb will be in the subjunctive if it is preceded by the
following particles: ‫ل‬, ْ‫كي‬, ‫حتى‬, ‫كيال‬, ْ‫أن‬, ْ‫ألن‬, ْ‫لن‬, ‫أل‬,
ّْ ‫لئال‬,
ّْ ‫عسى‬
A verb will be in the jussive when it is preceded by ‫لم‬,
when it is the verb in a conditional clause introduced by
ْ‫إن‬, or if it is in the imperative (affirmative or negative).
Mood
Important changes for the jussive





Except for 2nd and 3rd person feminine plural (ّْ‫ هن‬,ّْ‫)انتن‬,
verb conjugations ending in ‫ ن‬lose their final ‫ن‬
Hollow verbs lose their middle vowel (e.g. ْ‫يقوم‬
becomes ْ‫ (يقم‬Exceptions: when the vowel is
pronounced as a consonant, or if the conjugation
ends in a long vowel sound, it is retained.
Defective verbs lose their final vowel (e.g. ْ‫يدعو‬
becomes ْ‫(يدع‬
Doubly weak verbs also lose their final vowel (e.g.
ْ‫ ياتي‬becomes ْ‫)يات‬
Hamzated verbs keep their Hamza
Mood
Important changes for the subjunctive

Except for 2nd and 3rd person feminine plural
(ّْ‫ هن‬,ّْ‫)انتن‬, verb conjugations ending in ‫ ن‬lose
their final ‫ن‬
Changes in Unsound Verbs
Subjunctive
Jussive
Hollow
Same as
ْ‫يقومْ= يقم‬
indicative
except for fatha
Defective
Same as
ْ =ْ‫يدعو‬
‫يدع‬
indicative
except for fatha
Same as
ْ‫ت‬
ِ ‫ياتيْ= يا‬
indicative
except for fatha
Doubly Weak
‫‪Conjugations‬‬
‫‪Jussive‬‬
‫‪Subjunctive‬‬
‫‪Subject‬‬
‫يفعلوا‬
‫يفعلوا‬
‫هم‬
‫تفعلي‬
‫تفعلي‬
‫تْ‬
‫ان ِ‬
‫تفعلوا‬
‫تفعلوا‬
‫انتم‬
‫يفعال‬
‫يفعال‬
‫هما‬
‫تفعال‬
‫تفعال‬
‫هما‬
‫تفعال‬
‫تفعال‬
‫انتما‬