The present: the person is seen in the first and the last letter
The present-tense verb is conjugated from both ends: the person is seen in the prefix and in the ending. Take the verb "katab" — wrote. The present from it is built so: put "a/ta/ya/na" and, where needed, add an ending. "Aktub" — I write, "taktub" — you write, "yaktub" — he writes. For example: “أكتب الدرس كل يوم” — I write down the lesson every day. A rule from the Arabic course: worked out on examples, not…
How it works
The present-tense verb is conjugated from both ends: the person is seen in the prefix and in the ending. Take the verb "katab" — wrote. The present from it is built so: put "a/ta/ya/na" and, where needed, add an ending. "Aktub" — I write, "taktub" — you write, "yaktub" — he writes.
The prefixes hold the gender and the number: "ta-" — you and she, "ya-" — he and they, "na-" — we. The endings finish the rest: "taktubiina" — you write (to a woman), "taktubuuna" — you write (pl.), "yaktubuuna" — they write. The masculine and the feminine "he/she" differ only in the prefix: "yaktub" — he, "taktub" — she.
No separate verb "to be" is needed in the present: "al-kitaab jadiid" — the book is new. And the future is made by a particle before the present: "sa-yaktub" — he will write.
Table
| person | form | reading | in English |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | أكتب | aktub | I write |
| you (m.) | تكتب | taktub | you write |
| you (f.) | تكتبين | taktubiina | you write |
| he | يكتب | yaktub | he writes |
| she | تكتب | taktub | she writes |
| we | نكتب | naktub | we write |
| you (pl.) | تكتبون | taktubuuna | you write |
| they | يكتبون | yaktubuuna | they write |
By example
- أكتب الدرس كل يومактуб ад-дарс куль йаумI write down the lesson every day
- تكتبين الرسالة الآنтактубиина ар-рисаля аль-аанYou are writing the letter now
- يكتبون التقرير في المساءйяктубууна ат-такриир фи аль-масааThey are writing the report in the evening
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Present tense conjugation in Arabic?
The present-tense verb is conjugated from both ends: the person is seen in the prefix and in the ending. Take the verb "katab" — wrote. The present from it is built so: put "a/ta/ya/na" and, where needed, add an ending. "Aktub" — I write, "taktub" — you write, "yaktub" — he writes.
The arabic present endings?
The present-tense verb is conjugated from both ends: the person is seen in the prefix and in the ending. Take the verb "katab" — wrote. The present from it is built so: put "a/ta/ya/na" and, where needed, add an ending. "Aktub" — I write, "taktub" — you write, "yaktub" — he writes.
Taktubiina vs taktubuuna in Arabic?
The present-tense verb is conjugated from both ends: the person is seen in the prefix and in the ending. Take the verb "katab" — wrote. The present from it is built so: put "a/ta/ya/na" and, where needed, add an ending. "Aktub" — I write, "taktub" — you write, "yaktub" — he writes.
How to say we write in Arabic?
The prefixes hold the gender and the number: "ta-" — you and she, "ya-" — he and they, "na-" — we. The endings finish the rest: "taktubiina" — you write (to a woman), "taktubuuna" — you write (pl.), "yaktubuuna" — they write. The masculine and the feminine "he/she" differ only in the prefix…
What does it look like in a Arabic example sentence?
“أكتب الدرس كل يوم” (актуб ад-дарс куль йаум) — I write down the lesson every day. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.