Every verb form produces a whole family of words, not just a perfect and imperfect verb: an active participle (the doer), a passive participle (the one acted upon), a verbal noun (the action itself), a passive verb, and both imperative moods. This chapter gives you all nine for Form V — exactly the layout you'll find summarised in a good sarf chart, and exactly what Hans Wehr expects you to be able to derive from a root's Form V listing.
Every Arabic passage has a small circle button — click it to hear it read aloud using your browser's own Arabic voice.
BY THE END OF THIS CHAPTER YOU WILL BE ABLE TO
Produce all nine word-forms of a Form V verb from one root
Recognise the active participle مُتَفَعِّلٌ and passive participle مُتَفَعَّلٌ patterns
Use the verbal noun (maṣdar) تَفَعُّلٌ as an ordinary noun
Read a verse using the Form V active participle, not just the verb
TEACHER NOTES
Pacing: 40 min
Prerequisite check: Form I awareness; the reflexive sense builds on Form II.
Watch out for: Form V is often ‘Form II done to oneself’ — that one-line rule covers most of what students need.
01 — THE FULL PICTURE, FIRST
رُكْنُ الْقَوَاعِدِGrammar Corner
Nine word-forms, one root. Once you know a root's Form V perfect verb, every other slot below follows a fixed pattern — this is exactly the kind of chart a good sarf reference (or your own notes) should show for each form.
Perfect (active)
Imperfect (active)
Active participle
Perfect (passive)
Imperfect (passive)
Passive participle
Maṣdar (verbal noun)
Imperative (positive)
Imperative (negative)
تَعَلَّمَ
ta‘allama
he learned
يَتَعَلَّمُ
yata‘allamu
he learns
مُتَعَلِّمٌ
muta‘allim
a learner
تُعُلِّمَ
tu‘ullima
it was learned
يُتَعَلَّمُ
yuta‘allamu
it is being learned
مُتَعَلَّمٌ
muta‘allam
that which is learned
تَعَلُّمٌ
ta‘allum
learning
تَعَلَّمْ
ta‘allam
learn!
لَا تَتَعَلَّمْ
lā tata‘allam
don't learn!
Root ع-ل-م, Form V — تَعَلَّمَ ‘to learn’
Two patterns to fix in memory: the active participle is مُتَفَعِّلٌ (kasrah before the last root letter — “the one doing it”), and the passive participle is مُتَفَعَّلٌ (fatḥah instead — “the one it's done to”). The passive perfect and imperfect (تُعُلِّمَ / يُتَعَلَّمُ) exist grammatically for every root, even though some roots — like this one — rarely use them in real speech.
Quick check: what's the difference in meaning between مُتَعَلِّمٌ and مُتَعَلَّمٌ? (مُتَعَلِّمٌ = the learner (active participle); مُتَعَلَّمٌ = that which is learned (passive participle) — only the middle vowel changes.)
02 — LISTEN & REPEAT
حِوَارٌDialogue
Yūsuf and Maryam talk about learning and reliance on Allah, using several word-forms from the same roots. Listen twice, then read aloud.
Notice how many different word-types share the same root — the perfect verb, its participle, and its verbal noun are all in this table.
Arabic
Says
Meaning
Note
NEWتَعَلَّمَ/يَتَعَلَّمُ
ta‘allama / yata‘allamu
he learned / he learns
Perfect & imperfect — review from earlier in the course.
REVIEWتَعَلُّمٌ
ta‘allum
learning (the act of)
The maṣdar (verbal noun) of Form V.
NEWمُتَعَلِّمٌ
muta‘allim
a learner, student
The active participle — ‘one who learns.’
NEWتَوَكَّلَ/يَتَوَكَّلُ
tawakkala / yatawakkalu
he relied / he relies
Review — Form V, root و-ك-ل.
NEWمُتَوَكِّلٌ،جمعمُتَوَكِّلُونَ
mutawakkil(ūn)
one who relies (pl.)
Active participle — appears directly in the Qur'ān, see below.
NEWتَكَبَّرَ
takabbara
he became arrogant
Review.
NEWمُتَكَبِّرٌ
mutakabbir
arrogant (one who is)
Active participle — also appears in the Qur'ān.
NEWتَوَاضُعٌ
tawāḍu‘
humility
From a different root, ت-و-ض-ع — the opposite quality to تَكَبُّرٌ.
Also in this chapter's dialogue and reading.
Arabic
Says
Meaning
Note
EARLYالتَّوَاضُعُ
at-tawāḍu‘
humility
—
EARLYيَسْتَمِعُ
yastami‘
listens
—
04 — READING THE SOURCE
وَقْفَةٌ قُرْآنِيَّةٌQur'ān Connection
The active participle you just learned — not the verb — appears directly in the Qur'ān, immediately after the verse you read last chapter.
SŪRAT ĀLI ‘IMRĀN — 3:159
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُتَوَكِّلِينَ
Indeed, Allah loves those who rely [upon Him].
إِنَّ اللَّهَ
inna-llāh
indeed Allah
يُحِبُّ
yuḥibbu
He loves
الْمُتَوَكِّلِينَ
al-mutawakkilīn
those who rely (accusative plural, active participle)
الْمُتَوَكِّلِينَ is the plural accusative of مُتَوَكِّلٌ, the active participle from this chapter's vocabulary — accusative because it's the object of يُحِبُّ. This is a perfect example of why participles matter as much as verbs: the Qur'ān often describes people by what they habitually do (the participle), not just narrates a single completed action.
05 — SAY IT LIKE A NATIVE
عِبَارَاتٌ يَوْمِيَّةٌEveryday Phrases
Everyday phrases spanning several of this chapter's word-forms.
طَالِبٌ مُتَعَلِّمٌ
ṭālibun muta‘allim — a diligent student
بِتَوَاضُعٍ لَا بِتَكَبُّرٍ
bi-tawāḍu‘in lā bi-takabbur — with humility, not arrogance
لَا تَتَكَبَّرْ عَلَى أَحَدٍ
lā tatakabbar ‘alā aḥad — don't be arrogant toward anyone
هُوَ مِنَ الْمُتَوَكِّلِينَ
huwa mina-l-mutawakkilīn — he is among those who rely (on Allah)
تَعَلُّمُ اللُّغَةِ يَحْتَاجُ صَبْرًا
ta‘allumu-l-lughati yaḥtāju ṣabran — learning the language needs patience
قَلْبٌ مُتَكَبِّرٌ لَا يَفْلَحُ
qalbun mutakabbirun lā yaf laḥ — an arrogant heart does not prosper
تَعَلَّمْ وَلَا تَيْأَسْ
ta‘allam wa lā tay’as — learn, and don't despair
كُنْ مُتَوَكِّلًا عَلَى اللَّهِ
kun mutawakkilan ‘ala-llāh — be one who relies on Allah
SKILLS PRACTICE
الِاسْتِمَاعُListening
Audio track — Verb Forms Series 4.1
Aḥmad describes a teacher he admires, using several word-forms from this chapter. Listen first, script second.
Sentence building. Put these words in the correct order, then translate.
طَوِيلَةٌ رِحْلَةٌ التَّعَلُّمُ
الْمُتَوَكِّلِينَ يُحِبُّ اللَّهَ إِنَّ
صَبْرًا مُتَعَلِّمٍ كُلُّ يَحْتَاجُ
Guided writing. Pick one root you know well and write out all nine forms yourself — perfect, imperfect, active participle, maṣdar, passive perfect, passive imperfect, passive participle, and both imperatives — checking each against this chapter's table.
06 — CHAPTER EXERCISES
التَّدْرِيبَاتُExercises
1اخْتَرِ الْإِجَابَةَ الصَّحِيحَةَChoose the correct answer
1. The active participle pattern for Form V is:
2. The passive participle pattern for Form V is:
3. The maṣdar (verbal noun) of تَعَلَّمَ is:
4. الْمُتَوَكِّلِينَ in 3:159 is:
Reveal answers
1. b 2. b 3. c 4. c
2صِلْ كُلَّ كَلِمَةٍ بِمَعْنَاهَاMatch each item to its meaning
مُتَعَلِّمٌ
مُتَعَلَّمٌ
تَعَلُّمٌ
تَعَلَّمْ
لَا تَتَعَلَّمْ
don't learn!
learn!
learning (the noun)
that which is learned
a learner
Reveal answers
1–e, 2–d, 3–c, 4–b, 5–a
3تَرْجِمْ إِلَى الْإِنْجِلِيزِيَّةِTranslate into English
Self-check — type your answer, then compare with the model answer below. This one isn’t scored.
أَنْتِ طَالِبَةٌ مُتَعَلِّمَةٌ.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُتَوَكِّلِينَ.
التَّعَلُّمُ رِحْلَةٌ طَوِيلَةٌ.
لَا تَتَكَبَّرْ.
Reveal answers
1. You are a diligent student. 2. Indeed, Allah loves those who rely (on Him). 3. Learning is a long journey. 4. Don't be arrogant.
4تَرْجِمْ إِلَى الْعَرَبِيَّةِTranslate into Arabic
Self-check — type your answer, then compare with the model answer below. This one isn’t scored.
1. False — the middle vowel differs (kasrah vs fatḥah). 2. True. 3. False — it does not learn well, because it doesn't listen to others.
SKILLS PRACTICE
قِرَاءَةٌ حُرَّةٌFree Reading
Hover to check — no test, just read
A short passage using only words you've met so far. Just read for meaning — hover any word if you get stuck. Flip the switch to check whole sentences instead of single words.