Grammatical System
Auxiliary Verbs
English and Arabic belong to two different and distant language families: Germanic and Semitic.
Accordingly, their grammars are sharply different.
1.Verb ‘be’:
Present tense:
1.1 When it is the main verb in the sentence:
I am a student
‫ طالبا‬/‫انا اكون‬
She is kind
‫طيبة‬/‫هي تكون‬
You are a father
‫ ابا‬/ ‫انت تكون‬
1.2 When used as an auxiliary verb:
I am leaving now
‫ مغادر اآلن‬/ ‫انا اكون اغادر‬
1.3 When in the passive voice:
I am given another chance
‫ معطى فرصة اخرى‬/ ‫انا اكون اعطى‬
She is invited to the party
‫هي تكون تدعى (مدعوة) الى الحفلة‬
In the Arabic sentence, the Arabic equivalent is usually dropped. It is unacceptable and poor in
Arabic grammar and word order.
Past tense:
1.4 When used as the main verb:
The child was ill
‫كان الطفل مريضا‬
1.5 When used as an auxiliary:
Her mother was preparing lunch
‫كانت امها تعد الطعام‬
1.6 When in the passive voice:
The food was eaten
‫كان أكل الطعام‬/‫كان الطعام مأكوال‬
The Arabic equivalent is retained when used as the main verb and an auxiliary. However, it is
unfavourable in the passive and can be neglected.
Past participle:
She has been late
‫ تأخرت‬/ ‫كانت كائنة متأخرة‬
It is not advisable to use the Arabic equivalent.
Future tense:
The full form of the verb ‘be’ is always literally translated and poses no problems.
He will be with us shortly
‫سوف يكون معنا قريبا‬
2. Verb ‘do’:
As a main verb it doesn’t pose a grammatical problem. Usually the Arabic equivalent is
‫يفعل‬/‫يؤدي‬/‫يقوم‬
He does his homework daily
‫ يعمل واجبه يوميا‬/ ‫هو يؤدي‬
I will do my best
‫سأفعل ما بوسعي‬
Mary does her job well.
‫ تقوم ماري بعملها بشكل حسن‬/ ‫تؤدي‬
However, as an auxiliary, it poses many problems.
2.1 In the negative:
All its forms (do, does, did) are meaningless in Arabic. The equivalent is the negative particle ‘not’
only:
He does not like coffee
‫انه ال يحب القهوة‬
She did not eat much
‫ ما أكلت كثيرا‬/‫لم تأكل‬
2.2 In questions: in Arabic it implies the question particle ‫هل‬:
‫هل تنام مبكرا‬
Do you sleep early?
‫هل انتظرك ليلة أمس؟‬
Did he wait for you last night?
2.3 As a substitute verb replacing a whole clause to avoid repetition, as an answer for a question:
Do you admit that? Yes, I do.
‫هل تقر بذلك؟ نعم أفعل‬
Or
‫هل تقر بذلك؟نعم أقر‬
2.4 It can be used as an emphatic device: in Arabic ‫ حقا‬/ ‫فعال‬
Muslims do recite the Holy Koran daily
‫يقرأ المسلمون القرآن يوميا بالتأكيد‬
3. Verb ‘Have’: as an auxiliary, it is not so problematic. However, as a main verb, it can pose a few
problems to students of translation.
3.1 As an auxiliary: it is used to perform important grammatical functions regarding tenses. This is
meaningless in Arabic and students can simply ignore it.
The workers have left early today.
‫غادر العمال باكرا اليوم‬
The patient has had the medicine.
‫تناول المريض الدواء‬/‫أخذ‬
3.2As a main verb (different meanings)
Have is always translated into one version ‫ يملك‬when it is the main verb. This is only one of its
several meanings, and students need to learn that have is a verb of several meanings.
-She has money
-She has her breakfast at 7 O’clock everyday
‫معها نقود‬/‫عندها نقود‬/‫في حوزتها نقود‬/‫هي تملك نقود‬
‫تتناول فطورها عند السابعة كل يوم‬
-She has just had the ticket
‫حصلت على التذكرة للتو‬
-She had a telephone call this morning
‫تلقت مكالمة هاتفية هذا الصباح‬
-She has to speak two languages
‫يجب عليها أن تتحدث بلغتين‬
- She had a nice holiday
‫قضت عطلة جميلة‬
-Have a good journey
‫أتمنى لك رحلة ممتعة‬
What helps students distinguish between these meanings is the consideration of the word
immediately after it. Together they make a special combination in Arabic.
4. Modal verbs: can, could may, might, will, would, shall, should, must, ought to. They create
several problems in translation for two major reasons:
(1) They do not have one-to-one single semantic equivalent in Arabic. Moreover, there is no
grammatical class of verbs called modal auxiliaries in Arabic.
(2) They have several complicated functions in English. For example:
Can: present ability, possibility, permission, willingness.
Could: past ability, possibility, present/future permission, willingness.
May: permission, possibility.
Might: possibility, probability.
Modal verbs are complicated and multifunctional in English. Therefore, it is difficult to give one
single specific meaning for each of them. It is important to focus on the grammatical differences
between the two languages in this respect.
Problem 1: will&shall are not verbs in Arabic: these are not verbs in Arabic when they are used to
refer to future. They mean the future particle ‫سوف‬/‫س‬.
Solution: In translation, both correspond to ‫ سوف‬/ ‫س‬regardless of the possibility of the reference of
the latter to the near future, and the former to the far future (as stated in Arabic grammar books):
-They will forgive us
‫سيغفرون لنا‬/‫سوف يغفرون لنا‬
-we shall delay the meeting
‫سنؤجل االجتماع‬/‫سوف نؤجل‬
Problem 2: the literal translation of modals into one word:
Can, may, and must are understood to mean one word. But the case is not so, as they imply two
words. The problem becomes clearer when they are translated from Arabic into English.
Solution: they are translated into ‫ يستطيع أن‬،‫ يمكن أن‬،‫ يجب أن‬because ‫ أن‬is implied, as it is obligatory in
Arabic grammar.
-We can walk
‫نستطيع أن نمشي‬
-We may walk
‫يمكننا أن نمشي‬
- We must walk
‫يلزمنا أن نمشي‬/‫يجب علينا‬
The same applies to the past tenses of these verbs.
Problem 3: the special use of shall:
It is used in law to refer to obligation not future.
Solution: shall means must in English legal texts.
-The defendant shall appear before court now.
‫يجب على المدعى عليه أن يمثل أمام المحكمة اآلن‬
Problem 4: among other meanings, should is for obligation.
It is understood to refer to the past, when in fact it is used in the sense of must.
Solution: should=must; always translated into ‫يجب أن‬
-I should believe my parents
‫يجب علي أن أصدق والدي‬
Problem 5: the confusion of must have and should have:
They are often understood to have the same meaning in the past. In fact, they are opposites.
Solution: must have=action which took place; should have=action which did not take place. In
translation, we must distinguish between the first which implies action, and the second which
implies no action.
-They must have finished work
‫ال بد أنهم أنهوا العمل‬
-They should have finished work
‫كان عليهم أن ينهوا العمل‬
(but they have not).
‫ ال بد‬is used to express the doing, or the expectation and necessity of doing something in the past;
whereas ‫ كان عليهم‬expresses the wish to have something done, but for some reason, it did not take
place.
Problem 6: the unclear meaning of would, could, might:
Understood as the past tenses of will, can, and may. These modals remain unclear when used in the
present simple with different meanings.
Solution: the common use of these verbs is in the sense of possibility, permission, and expression of
politeness/request. Therefore, they have the meaning of may.
-She could blame herself
‫تلوم نفسها‬/‫يمكن أن‬/‫قد‬
-She would blame herself
=
-She might blame herself
=
It is not possible to understand them as verbs in the past. They reflect the grammatical functions of
expressing possibility, permission, and/or polite request.
Problem 7: can, will = may:
Can usually expresses ability whereas will is used to refer to the future. However, both are used
here in the same meaning of may.
- You can open the window
‫يمكنك أن تفتح النافذة‬
- You may open the window
‫بإمكانك فتح النافذة‬
Or for a polite request:
-Can you open the window?
‫هل لك أن تفتح النافذة؟‬
- will you open the window?
)‫افتح النافذة إذا أمكن(من فضلك‬
- may you open the window?
=
Modal verbs are problematic. Their main problem may lie in the lack of one single unchanged
meaning for each of them. (None has one fixed meaning). It is only by understanding their
grammatical functions that students can distinguish their different meanings in Arabic. Care should
be taken regarding the differences in Arabic between the common meaning and the unusual
meaning of a modal.