How Arabic verbs change for person, number and tense.
A conjugated verb already tells you who did it — كَتَبْتُ on its own means "I wrote", with no separate word for "I". Arabic has two core tenses: the past (الماضي) and the present (المضارع); the future is the present with a prefix. Shown here with كَتَبَ "he wrote", a fully regular verb.
Built by adding an ending to the stem كَتَبْ‑.
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | كَتَبْتُI wrote | كَتَبْنَاwe wrote | كَتَبْنَاwe wrote |
| 2nd (m.) | كَتَبْتَyou wrote | كَتَبْتُمَاyou two | كَتَبْتُمْyou all |
| 2nd (f.) | كَتَبْتِyou wrote | كَتَبْتُمَاyou two | كَتَبْتُنَّyou all |
| 3rd (m.) | كَتَبَhe wrote | كَتَبَاthey two | كَتَبُوا۟they wrote |
| 3rd (f.) | كَتَبَتْshe wrote | كَتَبَتَاthey two | كَتَبْنَthey wrote |
Built with a prefix — and sometimes an ending too — around the stem ‑كْتُب‑.
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | أَكْتُبُI write | نَكْتُبُwe write | نَكْتُبُwe write |
| 2nd (m.) | تَكْتُبُyou write | تَكْتُبَانِyou two | تَكْتُبُونَyou all |
| 2nd (f.) | تَكْتُبِينَyou write | تَكْتُبَانِyou two | تَكْتُبْنَyou all |
| 3rd (m.) | يَكْتُبُhe writes | يَكْتُبَانِthey two | يَكْتُبُونَthey write |
| 3rd (f.) | تَكْتُبُshe writes | تَكْتُبَانِthey two | يَكْتُبْنَthey write |
The prefix carries the person: أ for I, نـ for we, تـ for you (and she), يـ for he and they.
Arabic has no separate future conjugation. Prefix سَـ (soon) or سَوْفَ (general) onto the present-tense verb.
Many verbs are not this regular: roots containing و, ي or ء, and roots whose last two letters are the same, contract in predictable ways. Each verb's own card shows the forms actually used in the Qur'an.