Arabic Present Tense

The easiest way to learn how to conjugate Arabic verbs to the present tense is to look at the table below:

It’s very easy to put hundreds of verbs in the model above, just replace the numbers with the three consonants of the verb:

# 2 = first consonant, # 3 = second consonant, # 4 = third consonant. You will notice that there are some letters before the numbers 2, 3, 4, you shouldn’t replace the letters, the only thing you should replace are the numbers, vowels (symbols) + the letters should stay.

For example the verb (to draw) is (rasama رسم ) in Arabic, to conjugate it into the first person singular (I draw), try to use the form next to ( I do) on the top, which is , in other words, always use the Alef أ as a first letter for the first person singular, then replace the letter # 2 with the first consonant of the verb you’re conjugating (in our case it’s the verb رسم) meaning that the number 2 should be replaced with “ر” , number 3 should be replaced with the second consonant which is س , # 4 should be replaced with the third consonant which is the letter م . if you followed the steps the right way, then you will end up having أرسُمُ which means “I draw”, this rule applies to the trilateral verbs (with some exceptions), you can do the same thing with the rest, the table below shows how I replaced the numbers 2, 3, 4 with the consonants ر , س , م) + the letters that are unchanged like the Alef أ for the first person singular, the unchanged ( t ت ) for the second person singular and so on…and the most important is the vowels or symbols on the top of each consonant.

Please pay extra attention to the harakaat written in Arabic, the three small symbols ( َ ُِ ) are very important in the tables below and above, because they play the role of vowels, ( ََََََََ = vowel a) ( ُُُُُُ = vowel u) ( ِِِِِِِِ = vowel i or e),

Singular	Dual
I draw = arsumu أرسُمُ you draw (singular masculine) = tarsumu ترسُمُ you draw (singular feminine) = tarsumeena ترسُمِينَ he draws = yarsumu يَرسُمُ she draws = tarsumu تَرسُمُ	you draw (dual male or female) = tarsumani تَرسُمَانِ they draw (dual male or female) = yarsumani يَرسُمَانِ Plural we draw = narsumu نَرسُمُ you draw (plural masculine) = tarsumuna تَرسُمُونَ your draw (plural feminine) = tarsumna تَرسُمْنَ they draw (plural masculine) = yarsumuna يَرسُمُونَ they draw (plural feminine) = yarsumna يَرسُمْنَ

You can use the table above to conjugate hundreds of verbs, like (to write كتب) ( to learn درس) (to dream حلم) ( to protect حرس) …..

However some other trilateral verbs have some slightly different forms, look at the table below, it looks almost similar to the one on the top, with one exception, look at # 3, it has a vowel (symbol) different than the table on the top, the one on the top has a ( ُ ) on the top of number 3, while the table below has a symbol like ( َ ) on the top of number 3, basically instead of using the vowel (u ُ ) we will use the vowel (a َ ) with some trilateral verbs, like: to play لعب, to do فعل , to go ذهب , to swimسبح … but the rest of the consonants stay unchanged.

Finally there is a third table which will have also a slight modification, on the same place as the one before, which is under number 3,

instead of adding the vowel (u ُ ) or the vowel (a َ ), this time we will add the vowel ( e or i ِ ) to some verbs when conjugating them like:

to throw قذف, to hit ضرب, to beat هزم …..