Arabic Irregular Verbs

If you are a new learner of the Arabic Language, Arabic Irregular verbs may be annoying. You need to say many verbs in Arabic but the Irregular verbs prevent you from talking. You reached the right place. 

We will start with regular verbs and show you the difference between regular and irregular verbs. After reading this topic, you will feel that Irregular verbs in Arabic have become very familiar so you can use them without hesitation. 

So let’s start

Introduction to Arabic Verb Types:

Arabic verbs are categorized into regular and irregular types based on the presence of weak letters (ḥurūf ‘illah: alif, waw, yaa). 

Regular verbs maintain a consistent structure across tenses, as seen in “فعل” (fa‘ala) for past, “يفعل” (yaf‘alu) for present, and “افعل” (if‘al) for imperative. 

Irregular verbs, influenced by weak letters, undergo structural changes, making their patterns more dynamic. Practice with examples like “سكت” (sakata) and “لعب” (la‘iba) simplifies mastering these forms.

In this article, we focus only on Arabic Irregular Verbs:

Arabic Irregular Verbs

Arabic Irregular Verbs are verbs that contain one or two weak letters (Ḥurūf ‘illah) حروف العلة in their root. The presence of Weak letters inside their root makes them change by several factors during conjugation. They are called الأفعال المعتلة (al-af’aal al-mu’atla.) derived from their structure that contains (Ḥurūf ‘illah).

Arabic Irregular verbs are classified according to the place of the weak letters into 4 main categories.  

1. Irregular المثال – al-mithāl

When the weak letter is the first letter of the irregular verb, It is called mithāl which means Assimilated since their conjugation in past tense is similar to the regular verbs. The first letter of the verb can be Waw(و) or Yaa(ي). The (alif) can not come in the first letter place. For example,

You can practice conjugation of more examples in our interactive Arabic group classes.

2. Irregular الأجوف – al-ajwaf 

They are also called Hollow Irregular Verbs. The weak letter is in the middle of the verb. It can be any weak letter. In the case of conjugation of this type, it may be rendered to another vowel or remain as it is. See the following examples:

3. Irregular الناقص-al-Naaqis

When the third letter of the root of the verb is weak.  For examples, see the following table. you should differentiate this type from “Kana wa Akhwatuha”. You can learn more about them and other grammar in our Classical Arabic Course.

4. Irregular اللفيفal-lafīf

When the verb root structure contains  2 weak letters. It can be lafif maqroonلفيف مقرون when the 2 weak letters are adjacent. If they are separated by a sound letter, it is called Lafif mafrooq(لفيف مفروق).

See the following examples:

Example of Irregular Verbs in Arabic

Practicing the conjugation of many Irregular verbs in Arabic is the best way to master them. The following table will help you practice many irregular verbs. Try to memorize them by using them in many sentences. Reading many Arabic texts in our Fusha Arabic class will help you differentiate regular from Irregular easily.

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Conclusion: 

There are 2 types of Arabic verbs: Regular and irregular verbs. The regular verbs remain their root structure during conjugation, whileas the Irregular verbs contain one at least of Huruf Al‘illah. For this, they are called الأفعال المعتلة (al-af’aal al-mu’atla.).

 The type of the irregular verbs depends on the position of the Weak letter. There are 4 types of irregular verbs: al Mithal, Ajwaf, Naqis ,and lafif. Their root may change with conjugation and you need to know how by memorizing some of them.