Modern Standard Arabic 4.7. Active & Passive Participles

Participles are descriptive terms that are derived from verbs and indicate a relationship with them. Participles can function as nouns or adjectives. There are two types of participles in Arabic: active participles and passive participles.

Active Participles in Arabic

An active participle describes the doer of an action. The active participle is derived from the corresponding verb. The basic and most common form of an active participle is فــاعِــل (fā‘il).

For instance, from the verb كَـتَـبَ (kataba) ‘he wrote,’ we can derive the active participle كـاتِـب (kātib) ‘writer.’

Note that the active participle can vary by gender and number. Feminine and plural markers can be added to the basic active participle form as follows:

Think of the English suffix “-er” in “writer,” “-or” in “inspector,” “-ist” in “novelist,” “-ian” in “historian,” or “-ent” in “correspondent.” Similarly, Arabic uses a variety of prefixes, infixes, and suffixes to form the active participle.

The most common patterns of the active participle in Arabic are:

Some common words have active participle forms, but have historically acquired their own specific meanings, such as جـاهِـز (jāhiz) ‘ready,’ شـارِع (shāri‘) ‘street,’ and راهِـب (rāhib) ‘monk.’

Here are some examples of the different active participle patterns:

Passive Participles in Arabic

A passive participle describes the action performed or the object upon which the action is done. The passive participle is derived from the corresponding verb. The basic and most common form of a passive participle is مَـفْـعـول (maf‘ūl).

For instance, from the verb كَـتَـبَ (kataba) ‘he wrote,’ we can derive the passive participle مَـكْـتـوب (maktūb), meaning ‘written’ or ‘letter.’

Feminine and plural markers can be added to the basic passive participle form as follows:

Other common patterns of the passive participle are:

Some common words have a passive participle form, but have historically acquired their own specific meanings, such as مَـكْـتـوب (maktūb) ‘letter’ and مَـشْـروع (mashrū‘) ‘project.’

Think of the English suffix “-ed” in “booked,” “-en” in “written,” or “-ne” in “done.” Similarly, Arabic uses a variety of prefixes, infixes, and suffixes to form the passive participle.

Here are examples of the most common patterns of the passive participle in Arabic:

Notice that Pattern (9) of the passive participle is identical to that of the active participle. This pattern is rarely used, except for a few color adjectives.

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