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3.1.1 Fi’l Past Passive

We’ve finished the basics of grammar and started learning the meanings of the first ayaat of Surah Kahf.
We’re going to be starting Unit 3, Sarf, really soon. Before we do, though, we’re going to learn a few
things about passives. There are two kinds of passives: past passive and present passive. Passives are a
fi’l thing—not an ism or harf thing. Right now, we’ll focus on the past passives. Look at the fi’l below:

‫ﻛﺘﺐ‬ ‫ﻗﺎﺗﻞ‬ ‫ﻗﺘﻞ‬ ‫درس‬ ‫ﻧﺼﺮ‬

He wrote He fought He killed He taught He helped

In English, if I were to say, “He helped,” who’s the doer? “He” is. If I said, “The teacher helped,” who
helped? “The teacher” did. Now, if I said, “He was helped,” who helped? We don’t know. Likewise, if I
said, “The teacher was helped,” I don’t know who the doer is. I know the teacher was helped, but I don’t
know who did the helping. In cases like this, when the fi’l is mentioned, but you don’t know who the
doer is, you call that fi’l passive. The doer is a mystery. When you do know who the doer is like in “he
helped,” you’d say the fi’l is active.

You can make a word passive in English by adding words like “was,” “is being,” etc, for example, “He
sees” (active) becomes “He is being seen” (passive, because we don’t know who is doing the act of
seeing). Take a look at the second line to see how I’m going to make the first row passive:

‫ﻛﺘﺐ‬ ‫ﻗﺎﺗﻞ‬ ‫ﻗﺘﻞ‬ ‫درس‬ ‫ﻧﺼﺮ‬

‫ﻛﺘﺐ‬ ‫ﻗﻮﺗﻞ‬ ‫ﻗﺘﻞ‬ ‫درس‬ ‫ﻧﺼﺮ‬

Notice when I wrote the second line, the ending always stayed ‘a.’ I didn’t mess with the ending at all. I
did, however, change the first couple sounds, and I made the same change to every word. I made the
word sound like there was an ‘u’ and then an ‘e.’ When you’ve got a past tense fi’l invaded by an ‘u’ and
‘e’ sound (remember, the last letter is off-limits), the fi’l becomes passive.

‫ﻛﺘﺐ‬ ‫ﻗﺎﺗﻞ‬ ‫ﻗﺘﻞ‬ ‫در س‬ ‫ﻧﺼﺮ‬

He wrote He fought He killed He taught He helped

‫ﻛﺘﺐ‬ ‫ﻗﻮﺗﻞ‬ ‫ﻗﺘﻞ‬ ‫در س‬ ‫ﻧﺼﺮ‬

It was written (“he He was fought He was killed He was taught He was helped
was written” is
doesn’t make
sense)
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EXERCISES:

A. Which of the following words are passive?

ْ ْ ْ ْ
(٨) ‫ وإذا اﻟﻤ ْﻮءودة ﺳ ﻠﺖ‬.8 (١) ‫ إذا اﻟﺸﻤﺲ ﻛﻮرت‬.1
ْ ْ ْ ْ
(٩) ‫ﺐ ﻗﺘﻠﺖ‬
ٍ ‫ ﺑﺄي ذﻧ‬.9 (٢) ‫ وإذا اﻟﻨﺠﻮم اﻧﻜﺪرت‬.2
ْ ْ ْ
(١٠) ‫ت‬34 ‫ وإذا اﻟﺼﺤﻒ‬.10 (٣) ‫ وإذا اﻟﺠﺒﺎل ﺳﲑت‬.3
ْ ْ ْ
(١١) ‫ وإذا اﻟﺴﻤﺎء ﻛﺸﻄﺖ‬.11 (٤) ‫ وإذا اﻟﻌﺸﺎر ﻋﻄﻠﺖ‬.4
ْ ْ ْ ْ
(١٢) ‫ وإذا اﻟﺠﺤ? ﺳ@ت‬.12 (٥) ‫ت‬3‫ وإذا اﻟﻮﺣﻮش ﺣ‬.5
ْ ْ ْ ْ ْ
(١٣) ‫ وإذا اﻟﺠﻨﺔ أزﻟﻔﺖ‬.13 (٦) ‫ وإذا اﻟﺒﺤﺎر ﺳﺠﺮت‬.6
ْ ْ ‫ﺖ ﻧ ْﻔ ٌﺲ ﻣﺎ أ‬
ْ ْ
(١٤) ‫ﺣﻀﺮت‬ ‫ ﻋﻠﻤ‬.14 (٧) ‫ وإذا اﻟﻨﻔﻮس زوﺟﺖ‬.7

B. Try to make each of the following words passive. Remember that you want and ‘u’ and ‘e’ sound
take over the fi’l if you want to make it a passive past tense. (Hint: You can use multiple u’s and
at least one ‘e’ when you want to make a passive past tense. This will come in handy when you
see a fi’l with lots of letters in it!)

‫ﺟﻌﻞ‬ ‫أ ْرﺳﻞ‬ ‫أ ْﺳﻠﻢ‬ ‫ﻋﻠﻢ‬ ‫ﺳﺄل‬

‫ﺗﺬ ﻛ ﺮ‬ ‫ﺻﺎﺑﺮ‬ ‫ﺗﻌﺎون‬ ‫ﻛﺘﺐ‬ ‫ﻗﺘﻞ‬

ْ
‫ﻊ‬S ‫أﻧﻌﻢ‬ ‫ﺑﺪ ل‬ ‫ﻓﻀﻞ‬ ‫ﻧﺼﺮ‬
ْ
‫ﻓﺘﺢ‬ ‫ﺿﺮب‬ ‫ﻗﺮأ‬ ‫أﻣﺮ‬ ‫أﻧﺰل‬

C. Take the following fi’l, make them passive, and run through them through the entire past tense
chart.

‫ﻛﺘﺐ‬ ‫ﻧﺼﺮ‬ ‫أ ْﺳﻠﻢ‬

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‫‪ANSWER KEY:‬‬

‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬

‫‪A.‬‬ ‫‪ .8‬وإذا اﻟﻤ ْﻮءودة ﺳ ﻠﺖ )‪passive (٨‬‬ ‫‪ .1‬إذا اﻟﺸﻤﺲ ﻛﻮرت )‪passive (١‬‬
‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﺐ ﻗﺘﻠﺖ )‪passive (٩‬‬ ‫‪ .9‬ﺑﺄي ذﻧ ٍ‬ ‫‪ .2‬وإذا اﻟﻨﺠﻮم اﻧﻜﺪرت )‪(٢‬‬
‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫‪ .10‬وإذا اﻟﺼﺤﻒ ‪34‬ت )‪passive (١٠‬‬ ‫‪ .3‬وإذا اﻟﺠﺒﺎل ﺳﲑت )‪passive (٣‬‬
‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫‪ .12‬وإذا اﻟﺠﺤ? ﺳ@ت )‪passive (١٢‬‬ ‫‪ .5‬وإذا اﻟﻮﺣﻮش ﺣ‪3‬ت )‪passive (٥‬‬
‫ْ ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫‪ .13‬وإذا اﻟﺠﻨﺔ أزﻟﻔﺖ )‪passive (١٣‬‬ ‫‪ .6‬وإذا اﻟﺒﺤﺎر ﺳﺠﺮت )‪passive (٦‬‬
‫ْ‬ ‫ﺖ ﻧ ْﻔ ٌﺲ ﻣﺎ أ ْ‬‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﺣﻀﺮت )‪(١٤‬‬ ‫‪ .14‬ﻋﻠﻤ‬ ‫‪ .7‬وإذا اﻟﻨﻔﻮس زوﺟﺖ )‪passive (٧‬‬

‫‪B.‬‬ ‫ﺟﻌﻞ‬ ‫أ ْرﺳﻞ‬ ‫أ ْﺳﻠﻢ‬ ‫ﻋﻠﻢ‬ ‫ﺳﻞ‬

‫ﺗﺬﻛﺮ‬ ‫ﺻﻮﺑﺮ‬ ‫ﺗﻌﻮون‬ ‫ﻛﺘﺐ‬ ‫ﻗﺘﻞ‬

‫ْ‬
‫ﻓﺘﺢ‬ ‫ﺿﺮب‬ ‫ﻗﺮئ‬ ‫أﻣ ﺮ‬ ‫أﻧﺰل‬

‫‪C.‬‬ ‫ﻧﺼﺮوا‬ ‫ﻧﺼﺮا‬ ‫ﻧﺼﺮ‬ ‫أ ْﺳﻠﻤﻮا‬ ‫أ ْﺳﻠﻤﺎ‬ ‫أ ْﺳﻠﻢ‬

‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﻧﺼ ْﺮن‬ ‫ﻧﺼﺮﺗﺎ‬ ‫ﻧﺼﺮت‬ ‫أ ْﺳﻠﻤﻦ‬ ‫أ ْﺳﻠﻤﺘﺎ‬ ‫أ ْﺳﻠﻤﺖ‬
‫ﻧﺼ ْﺮ ْ‬
‫[‬ ‫ﻧﺼ ْﺮﺗﻤﺎ‬ ‫ﻧﺼ ْﺮت‬ ‫أ ْﺳﻠ ْﻤ\ْ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫أ ْﺳﻠﻤﺘﻤﺎ‬
‫ْ‬
‫أ ْﺳﻠﻤﺖ‬
‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﻧﺼ ْﺮﺗﻦ‬ ‫ﻧﺼ ْﺮﺗﻤﺎ‬ ‫ﻧﺼ ْﺮت‬ ‫أ ْﺳﻠﻤﺘﻦ‬ ‫أ ْﺳﻠﻤﺘﻤﺎ‬ ‫أ ْﺳﻠﻤﺖ‬
‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﻧﺼ ْﺮﻧﺎ‬ ‫ﻧﺼ ْﺮت‬ ‫أ ْﺳﻠﻤﻨﺎ‬ ‫أ ْﺳﻠﻤﺖ‬

‫ﻛﺘﺒﻮا‬ ‫ﻛﺘﺒﺎ‬ ‫ﻛﺘﺐ‬

‫ْ‬ ‫ْ‬
‫ﻛﺘﱭ‬ ‫ﻛﺘﺒﺘﺎ‬ ‫ﻛﺘﺒﺖ‬
‫ﻛﺘ ْﺒ\ْ‬ ‫ﻛﺘ ْﺒﺘﻤﺎ‬ ‫ﻛﺘ ْﺒﺖ‬

‫ﻛﺘ ْﺒﺘﻦ‬ ‫ﻛﺘ ْﺒﺘﻤﺎ‬ ‫ﻛﺘ ْﺒﺖ‬

‫ﻛﺘ ْﺒﻨﺎ‬ ‫ﻛﺘ ْﺒﺖ‬