A verbal noun in Palestinian-Jordanian Levantine Arabic can be equivalent to the gerund or infinitive in English. In Arabic, it is called the مَـصْـدَر (maṣdar), meaning ‘source.’
We have learned that derived verb forms modify the triliteral root in different ways, such as: doubling a consonant sound, lengthening a vowel, or inserting a prefix, infix, or suffix.
The ten most common past verb forms in Palestinian-Jordanian Arabic are:
| I | II | III | IV | V |
| فـعـل fx‘xl | فَـعَّـل fa‘‘al | فَـاعَـل fā‘al | أَفْـعَـل ’af ‘al | تْـفَـعَّــل tfa‘‘al |
| VI | VII | VIII | IX | X |
| تْـفَـاعَـل tfā‘al | اِنْـفَـعَـل infa‘al | اِفْـتَـعَـل ifta‘al | اِفْـعَـلّ if ‘all | اِسْـتَـفْـعَـل istaf ‘al |
Form I verbs are generally unpredictable and require memorization and practice to identify their corresponding verbal nouns.
Here are some examples of verbal nouns derived from simple triliteral past verbs, i.e., Form I:
| أَكَـــل ’akal he ate | أَكْــل ’ak(i)l eating | شِـــرِب shirib he drank | شُـــرْب shur(u)b drinking |
| قَـــعَـــد qa‘ad he sat | قَـــعْـــدِة qa‘deh sitting | عِــــرِف ‘irif he knew | مَــعْــرِفِــة ma‘rifeh knowing |
| سِـــمِــع simi‘ he heard | سَــمْــع sam(a)‘ hearing | رَاح rāḥ he went | رُوحَــــة rowḥah going |
| كَــتَــب katab he wrote | كْــتَــابِــة ktābeh writing | سِــبِــح sibiḥ he swam | سْــبَــاحَــة sbāḥah swimming |
| فِــهِــم fihim he understood | فَــهْــم fah(i)m understanding | قَــتَــل qatal he killed | قَــتْــل qat(i)l killing |
The verbal nouns of the other patterns are as follows:
| I | II | III | IV | V |
| difficult to predict | تَـفْـعِـيْـل † taf ‘īl | مُـفَـاعَـلِـة * mufā‘aleh | إِفْــعَــال ’if ‘āl | تَــفَــعُّــل tafa‘‘ul |
| VI | VII | VIII | IX | X |
| تَــفَــاعُـــل tafā‘ul | اِنْــفِــعَـــال infi‘āl | اِفْــتِــعَــال ifti‘āl | اِفْــعِــلَال if ‘ilāl | اِسْــتِــفْــعَــال istif ‘āl |
† Another less common verbal noun of Form II verbs is تَـفْـعِـلِـة (taf‘ileh).
* Another less common verbal noun of Form III verbs is فِــعَـال (fi‘āl).
Here are some verbal noun examples derived from the most common verb forms:
| II | غَـــيَّـــر ghayyar he changed | —> | تَــغْــيِــيْــر taghyīr changing | زَبَّــــط zabbaṭ he fixed | —> | تَــزْبِــيْــط tazbīṭ fixing |
| III | حَـــاوَل ḥāwal he tried | —> | مُــحَـــاوَلِــة muḥāwaleh trying | سَـــاعَـــد sā‘ad he helped | —> | مُــسَـــاعَـــدِة musā‘adeh helping |
| IV | أَسْـــلَـــم ’aslam he became Muslim | —> | إِسْــــلَام ’islām Islam | أَعْـــجَـــب ’a‘jab he impressed | —> | إِعْــجَــاب ’i‘jāb admiration |
| V | تْـــوَقَّـــع twaqqa‘ he expected | —> | تَـــوَقُّــــع tawaqqu‘ expecting | تْـــخَـــيَّـــل tkhayyal he imagined | —> | تَــخَـــيُّـــل takhayyul imagining |
| VI | تْـــعَـــامَـــل t‘āmal he dealt | —> | تَـــعَـــامُـــل ta‘āmul dealing | تْـــرَاجَـــع trāja‘ he retreated | —> | تَـــرَاجُـــع tarāju‘ retreating |
| VII | اِنْـــطَـــلَـــق inṭalaq he set off | —> | اِنْـــطِـــلَاق inṭilāq setting off | اِنْـــحَـــدَر inḥadar he declined | —> | اِنْـــحِـــدَار inḥidār declining |
| VIII | اِجْــتَــمَــع ijtama‘ he gathered | —> | اِجْـــتِــمَــاع ijtimā‘ meeting | اِنْــتَـــخَـــبَ intakhab he elected | —> | اِنْــتِــخَـــاب intikhāb electing |
| IX | اِحْــــمَــــرّ iḥmarr it became red | —> | اِحْـــمِـــرَار iḥmirār turning red | اِسْــــــوَدّ iswadd it became black | —> | اِسْــــوِدَاد iswidād blackening |
| X | اِسْـــتَــعْــمَــل ista‘mal he used | —> | اِسْـــتِــعْــمَــال isti‘māl using | اِسْـــتَـــأْجَـــر ista’jar he rented | —> | اِسْــتِــئْــجَــار isti’jār renting |
Most nouns in Arabic share the same root with corresponding verbs. Verbal nouns are a good demonstration of that.
Here are some examples in context:
| زِيَـــارِة اِلْأَهْـــل ziyāret il-’ah(i)l visiting family | تَــغْــيِــيْــر كْــبِــيْــر taghyīr (i) kbīr big change |
| اِلــتَّــعَــامُــل مَــع اِلــنَّـــاس it-ta‘āmul ma‘ in-nās dealing with people | تَـــوَقُّـــع اِلــنَّــتِــيْــجِــة tawaqqu‘ in-natījeh expecting the result |
| اِجْــتِــمَــاع مُـــهِـــمّ ijtimā‘ muhimm important meeting | اِسْـــتِــعْــمَــال مُــتَــوَاصِـــل isti‘māl mutawāṣil continuous usage |
Back to: Giving Commands & The Imperative
Other lessons in Level V: