Form I (3-Letter Root) فَعَلَ، يَفْعَلُ

Meaning: The meaning of Form I verbs is not specific (understandable since other verb forms are derived from it to create another word with a related meaning).

• Form I is the fundamental verb form in Arabic as it is the barest form with no additional letters added to the root  (مُجَرَّدٌ = bare, stripped)  
• The vowel on the second root letter on a Form I verb varies in the past and present tense – it could be fatha, kasra or dhammah (see the table)
• The present tense can be predicted from the pattern of the past tense (and vice verse – see the table)
• If the second letter has a dhamma in the present tense, then the imperative has dhamma on the alif
• Form I verbs can be transitive or intransitive (usually it’s one or the other)

• Form I can occasionally be doubly transitive (takes two objects)
• Verbs with the pattern فَعُلَ – يَفْعَلُ are always intransitive – the traits are ‘reflexive’

 كَبُرَ الوَلَدُ
The boy grew up

• The meaning of this type of verb  usually indicates one of the following :
  • a state of being  ( e.g. ثَقُلَ – to be heavy – ADJECTIVE: ثَقِيلٌ )
  • the acquisition of something (e.g. كَبُرَ – to grow –  ADJECTIVE: كَبِيرٌ)
  • an increase of a certain quality (e.g حَسُنَ – to be good – ADJECTIVE: حَسَنٌ)
• Form I has many different verbal noun variations – one verb can have more than one verbal noun (usually one is used the most – the most commonly used verbal noun is the one indicated in the tables)

Strong Root Letters (صحيح)

*All the root letters are strong ‘صحِيح’
كَتَبَ= root: ك ت ب
شَرِبَ = root: ش ر ب
كََبُرَ= root: ك ب ر

Double Root Letters (مضاعف)

• When two root letters are the same and consecutive (double) it combines into one and a shaddah is put on the doubled letter.

دَلَّ= root: د ل ل = the 2nd and 3rd letters are the same
فَرَّ= root: ف ر ر  = The 2nd and 3rd letters are the same

Hamza as a Root Letter (مَهْمُوز)

Words with HAMZAH (ء) as root letterh causes a few differences in the way the verb is conjugated. 

أَكَلَ= root: أ ك ل – the first letter 

Other VERBAL NOUNS of أَكَلَ include مَأكَلٌ، إِكْلَةٌ، أُكَالٌ، أَكَالٌ 
They all share a similar meaning to أكْلٌ which is the most commonly used verbal noun out of the variations. 

Weak Root Letters (مُعْتَل) 

• If one of the root letters is a weak letter (ا / و / ي ), the pattern follows a similar pattern with a few differences. Notice the differences in the table.

وَضَعَ = root: و ض ع = the 1st letter is weak with a و
زَارَ = root: ز و ر = the 2nd letter is weak with a و
نَامَ= root: ن و م = the 2nd letter is weak with a و *notice how it doesn’t follow the exact same pattern as زَارَ
دَعَا = root: د ع و = the 3rd root letter is و

بَاعَ= root: ب ي ع = the 2nd letter is weak with a ي
بَنَى= root: ب ن ي= the 3rd letter is weak with a ي
نَسِيَ= root: ن س ي = the 3rd root letter is ي
رَأَى = root: ر أ ي = the 3rd root letter is ي

وَعِيَ= root:و ع ي  = the 1st and 3rd letter is weak with و and  ي
نَوَيَ= root: ن و ي= the 2nd and 3rd letter is weak with  و and  ي