Sarf - The Command Verb: constructing the امر
The command verb, or the امر, is different from other verb conjugations previously covered in the
sense that a command is usually directed towards a second person e.g eat! or stop!; thus, the
construction of 2nd person command verb in Arabic is different from that of other conjugations of the
same. Also, at first, it seems rather odd that we can even have a command verb in 1stor 3rdperson
conjugations. However, examples like He must eat! and They must abstain! do give us good examples
of command verbs in persons other than second.
Based on the above information we see that the 2nd person active command verb requires special
attention. In fact, it’s construction rules are a bit different than those of 1st & 3rd person active
command verb. Below I give the general rules which govern the construction of active voice command
verbs in Arabic:
1. 2nd Person Active Command verb - constructed using active verb of the مضارعand applying 3
specific steps
2. 1st& 3rd person active & passive and 2ndperson passive - constructed using the endings of the ل
table and attaching لمof امرin front of each conjugation
Insha Allah we will see now how these rules are applied in practice.
As a first step we divide the لtable into two sections - 2nd person (left side) and 3rd & 1st persons (right
side):
You (male) did not do ل م ت ف ع لHe did not do لم يفعل
You (2 males) did not do ل م ت ف ع لThey (2 males) did not do لم يفعل
You (group of males) did not do م ت ف ع ل و اThey
ل (group of males) did not do ل م ي ف ع ل و ا
You (female) did not do م ت ف ع ل يShe
لdid not do لم تفعل
You (2 females) did not do ل م ت ف ع لShe (2 females) did not do لم تفعل
You (group of females) did not do م ت ف ع ل نShe
( لgroup of females) did not do ل م ي ف ع ل ن
I did not do لم أفعل
We did not do لم نفعل
Constructing the 1st Person / 3rd Person Active command verb:
1. Attach a لمwith a kasra in front of each conjugation and keep the endings exactly as those in
the لtable. This rule also applies to the passive construction. Here I will only give examples of
the active voice:
He must do! " لفيع ل
They (2 males) must do! $ ل يف عل
They (group of males) must do! ل ي ف ع ل و ا
She must do! ل تف ع ل
She (2 females) must do! $ ل تف عل
She (group of females) must
$ليفعلن
do!
I must do! ف ع ل$$ل
We must do! " لفنع ل
Constructing the 2nd Person Active command verb:
These conjugations are constructed from the مضارعverb as outlined below:
1. Remove the sign of مضارعi.e. تfrom the verb
2. After removing the sign of مضارعif the next letter (i.e. the فposition) has a vowel on it then
simply make the last letter of the remaining word sakin and use the endings from the لtable .
An example of this kind would be ت قب*ل. تSince the second letter already has a fathah on it
therefore the command verb would be ق ب*ل.ت
3. After removing the sign of مضارعif the next letter is sakin then it cannot be pronounced since
words need to start with a vowel (dhamma, fatha, kasra). In this case, we add a hamza ( )اءin
front of the word to aid pronunciation, and then look at the عposition of the word: if this letter
has a dhamma then we put a dhamma on the hamza which is at the front of the word. However,
if this letter has either a fathah or a kasra we put a kasrah on the hamza. Examples of this
construction are:
• ر.ت نصwhich changes to ر.أ نص
4. ت ضر بwhich changes to إضر ب
5. ت سم عwhich changes to إس ع
A complete listing of the 2nd Person Active command verb is given below. Note that the endings
remain that of the لtable:
You (male) do! " عإف ل
You (2 males) do! إفع ل
You (group of males) do! إف ع ل و ا
You (female) do! عإف ل ي
You (2 females) do! إفع ل
You (group of females)
إف ع ل ن
do!
The Emphatic Command :
In addition to saying He must do! we can also give an emphatic command: Verily, he must do!, which
is the addition of emphasis to the command verb. Since we know that emphasis in Arabic can be
achieved either by using ن ثقيلةor ن خفيفة, therefore we can have command verb conjugations in the
emphatic form. The table below lists these conjugations for the active voice. Notice that the endings are
exactly those of the emphatic table and that the لمof ( امرwith a kasra) replaces the لمwith a fatha at
the start in the 3rd and 1st person conjugations (and also in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person passive
conjugations). Plus, the 2 nd person active conjugations still start with ا ف
ن ثقيلةconjugations for the command verb:
Verily [You (male)] do! *افع ل ن Verily he must do! $لﹻيﹷفﹿعﹷلﹷنﱠ
Verily [you (2 males)] do! ;افع لن Verily they (2 males) must do! ;لﹻيﹷفﹿعﹷل ن
Verily [you (group of males)] do! * افع ل نVerily they (group of males) must do! $لﹻيﹷفﹿعﹷلﹹنﱠ
Verily [you (female)] do! *افع ل ن Verily she must do! *ل ت فع ل ن
Verily [you (2 females)] do! ;افع لن Verily they (2 females) must do! ;ل ت فع لن
Verily [you (group of females)]
; ا فع لنانVerily they (group of females) must ;لﹻيﹷفﹿعﹷلﹿنﹷان
do! do!
Verily I must do! *ل ا فع ل ن
Verily we must do! *ل ن فع ل ن
ن خفيفةconjugations for the command verb:
Verily [You (male)] do! افع ل ن Verily he must do! لﹻيﹷفﹿعﹷل ن
Verily [you (2 males)] do! Verily they (2 males) must do!
Verily [you (group of males)] do! افع ل نVerily they (group of males) must do! لﹻيﹷفﹿعﹷلﹹن
Verily [you (female)] do! افع ل ن Verily she must do! ل تفع ل ن
Verily [you (2 females)] do! Verily they (2 females) must do!
Verily [you (group of females)] do! Verily they (group of females) must do!
Verily I must do! ل فع ل ن
Verily we must do! ل نفع ل ن
