Counting irregular verbs in any language is a kind of arbitrary process, since ‘irregular’ often means ‘not conjugating according to the most common patterns’ (even though a pattern may exist shared by large numbers of ‘irregular verbs’). In studies on Arabic the term very rarely appears because the tendency is to categorise all verbs which conjugate according to a pattern that appears with multiple verbs as regular. You can do this in colloquial, too, since the vast majority of verbs conjugate in a predictable way according to a pattern shared by all other verbs of a similar shape.
Nonetheless, there are a few strange outliers/rare patterns that you need to know. These include some of the most common verbs, so for one of our ~bonus posts~ here are some handy conjugation tables:
éja ‘to come’
اجى éja |
||||
Active Participle | Passive Participle | |||
جاية jaaye, جايين jaayiin | N/A | |||
MaSdar | Noun of Instance | |||
N/A | جيّة jayye | |||
Imperative: | ||||
تعال تعالي تعالو ta3aal ta3aali ta3aalu | ||||
Present | Past | |||
Ana | éji béji | ايجي بيجي | jiit éjiit | جيت اجيت |
Inte | téji btéji | تيجي بتيجي | jiit éjiit | جيت اجيت |
Inti | téji btéji | تيجي بتيجي | jiiti éjiiti | جيتي اجيتي |
Huwwe | yéji byéji | ييجي بيجي | éja | اجى |
Hiyye | téji btéji | تيجي بتيجي | éjet | اجت |
Né7na | néji mnéji | نيجي منيجي | jiina éjiina | جينا اجينا |
Intu | téju btéju | تيجو بتيجو | jiitu éjiitu | جيتو اجيتو |
Hénnen | yéju béju | ييجو بيجو | éju | اجو |
éja is the unholy result of the loss of the hamza at the end of جاء. In Jor/Pal, the present tense has a long aa instead of é (baaji etc) and the prefixed form of the past has a short a instead of é- (ajiit etc). There is no difference in meaning between the past forms with prefixes and the ones without them. As should be obvious by now, the forms with the b- prefix are present and the forms without it are subjunctive.
اجى can take a direct object: اجاني ‘it came to me’.
جاية is used for both masculine and feminine in Syrian, although in Jor/Pal the distinction may be maintained (or jaay may be used for both). جاية takes suffixes in a slightly irregular way, attaching them to the form jaayiit- (جاييتك هلق jaayiitak halla2 ‘I’m coming to you now’).
اجى has no regular imperative, instead using the unrelated form ta3aal or its variant ta3a, ta3i, ta3u.
3aTa ‘give’
عطى 3aTa
‘give’ |
||||
Active Participle | Passive Participle | |||
عاطي 3aaTi | معطي mé3Ti | |||
MaSdar | Noun of Instance | |||
عطي 3aTi | N/A | |||
Imperative: | ||||
عطي عطي عطو
3aTi 3aTi 3aTu |
||||
Present | Past | |||
Ana | a3Ti ba3Ti | اعطي بعطي | 3aTeet | عطيت |
Inte | ta3Ti bta3Ti | تعطي بتعطي | 3aTeet | عطيت |
Inti | ta3Ti bta3Ti | تعطي بتعطي | 3aTeeti | عطيتي |
Huwwe | ya3Ti bya3Ti | يعطي بيعطي | 3aTa | عطى |
Hiyye | ta3Ti bta3Ti | تعطي بتعطي | 3aTet | عطت |
Né7na | na3Ti mna3Ti | نعطي منعطي | 3aTeena | عطينا |
Intu | ta3Tu bta3Tu | تعطو بتعطو | 3aTeetu | عطيتو |
Hénnen | ya3Tu bya3Tu | يعطو بيعطو | 3aTu | عطو |
3aTa conjugates straightforwardly in the past, but has an irregular imperative (3aTi). It also irregularly has /a/ in its present prefixes, a feature it shares with 3émel (‘to do’, otherwise regular) and 3éref (‘to know’, otherwise regular).
akhad ‘to take’
اخد akhad ‘to take’ |
||||
Active Participle | Passive Participle | |||
آخد aakhed | مأخود ma2khuud | |||
MaSdar | Noun of Instance | |||
اخد akh@d | اخدة akhde | |||
Imperative: | ||||
خود خدي خدو khood khédi khédu | ||||
Present | Past | |||
Ana | aakhod baakhod | آخد باخد | akhad@t | اخدت |
Inte | taakhod btaakhod | تاخد بتاخد | akhad@t | اخدت |
Inti | taakhdi btaakhdi | تاخدي بتاخدي | akhatti | اخدتي |
Huwwe | yaakhod byaakhod | ياخد بياخد | akhad | اخد |
Hiyye | taakhod btaakhod | تاخد بتاخد | akhdet | اخدت |
Né7na | naakhod mnaakhod | ناخد مناخد | akhadna | اخدنا |
Intu | taakhdu btaakhdu | تاخدو بتاخدو | akhattu | اخدتو |
Hénnen | yaakhdu byaakhdu | ياخدو بياخدو | akhadu | اخدو |
Not strictly irregular, akhad conjugates exactly like akal, the only other hamza-initial form I verb in common use. In its past tense forms it conjugates like a regular fa3al verb. In the present, however, the expected forms *é2khod etc do not exist. Instead the hamza drops and the prefix takes a long aa.
The imperative has a long vowel in the masculine singular (khood) which is shortened and neutralised to é when suffixes are added. This applies both to the person/number suffixes -i/u (khédi khédu) and to pronoun suffixes (khédo ‘take it’).
In Jor/Pal, the prefix vowel is long oo instead (bookhod, btookhod for example), and the participle is irregular, formed with a m standing in for the hamza (maakhed).
la2a ‘find’
لقى la2a |
||||
Active Participle | Passive Participle | |||
ملاقي mlaa2i | N/A | |||
MaSdar | Noun of Instance | |||
N/A | N/A | |||
Imperative: | ||||
لاقي لاقي لاقو laa2i laa2i laa2u | ||||
Present | Past | |||
Ana | laa2i blaa2i | لاقي بلاقي | la2eet | لقيت |
Inte | tlaa2i bétlaa2i | تلاقي بتلاقي | la2eet | لقيت |
Inti | tlaa2i bétlaa2i | تلاقي بتلاقي | la2eeti | لقيتي |
Huwwe | ylaa2i bilaa2i | يلاقي بلاقي | la2a | لقى |
Hiyye | tlaa2i bétlaa2i | تلاقي بتلاقي | la2et | لقت |
Né7na | nlaa2i ménlaa2i | نلاقي منلاقي | la2eena | لقينا |
Intu | tlaa2u bétlaa2u | تلاقو بتلاقو | la2eetu | لقيتو |
Hénnen | ylaa2u bilaa2u | يلاقو بلاقو | la2u | لقو |
la2a is basically regular in its conjugation, but its present tense and active participle are formed as if they were form III (faa3al) verbs whilst its past is formed as if it was a form I verb (fa3al).
The passive equivalent of لقى is التقى lta2a ‘be found’.
stanna ‘to wait’
استنى stanna |
||||
Active Participle | Passive Participle | |||
مستني méstanni | N/A | |||
MaSdar | Noun of Instance | |||
N/A | N/A | |||
Imperative: | ||||
استنى استني استنو stanna stanni stannu | ||||
Present | Past | |||
Ana | éstanna béstanna | استنى بستنى | stanneet | استنيت |
Inte | téstanna btéstanna | تسنتى بتستنى | stanneet | استنيت |
Inti | téstanni btéstanni | تسنتي بتستني | stanneeti | استنيتي |
Huwwe | yéstanna byéstanna | يستنى بيستنى | stanna | استنى |
Hiyye | téstanna btéstanna | تسنتى بتستنى | stannet | استنت |
Né7na | néstanna mnéstanna | نستنى منستنى | stanneena | استنينا |
Intu | téstannu btéstannu | تستنو بتستنو | stanneetu | استنيتو |
Hénnen | yéstannu byéstannu | يستنو بيستنو | stannu | استنو |
استنى stanna conjugates relatively straightforwardly but has a strange shape that does not look like any other verb. It can take a direct object (استناني stannaani ‘wait for me’).