Grammar · Roots & Verbs · 8 min

Awzān Meet Binyanim

Arabic's ten verb forms mapped onto the seven בניינים you already know

Here is the best news in this entire app: the Arabic verb system is the Hebrew binyan system with three extra rooms added on. Arabic pours a root into ten numbered forms (I–X); Hebrew pours it into seven בניינים. Five of the mappings are so direct that the forms match prefix for prefix, doubling for doubling — and even the names match.

The big map

Form	Arabic pattern	Translit	Hebrew binyan	Shared signature
I	فَعَلَ	faʿala	פָּעַל	the bare root — the plain verb
II	فَعَّلَ	faʿʿala	פִּעֵל	doubled middle radical: shadda ↔ dagesh
III	فَاعَلَ	fāʿala	—	long ā after the 1st radical; action directed at someone
IV	أَفْعَلَ	afʿala	הִפְעִיל	causative prefix: a- ↔ hi-
V	تَفَعَّلَ	tafaʿʿala	הִתְפַּעֵל	ta- prefix + doubled middle: reflexive
VI	تَفَاعَلَ	tafāʿala	—	ta- + long ā: doing it to each other
VII	اِنْفَعَلَ	infaʿala	נִפְעַל	n- prefix: passive, or happens by itself
VIII	اِفْتَعَلَ	iftaʿala	—	a t slips inside the root (cf. הִסְתַּכֵּל!)
IX	اِفْعَلَّ	ifʿalla	—	colors and defects only — rare
X	اِسْتَفْعَلَ	istafʿala	—	ista-: ask for, consider, put to use

The ten Arabic forms and their Hebrew counterparts

Look at the five direct hits. Form I is פָּעַל: the plain verb. Form II doubles the middle consonant with a shadda — exactly what the dagesh does in פִּעֵל — and carries the same intensive or causative flavor. Form IV's causative أَ prefix answers הִפְעִיל's ה (both descend from one Proto-Semitic causative prefix that softened differently in each language). Form V is a ta- prefix stacked on Form II — Hebrew הִתְפַּעֵל, the הת on the דגש. Form VII's n- prefix for things that happen by themselves is נִפְעַל, one letter for one letter.

Form	Arabic	Translit	Meaning	Hebrew twin	Hebrew meaning
I	كَتَبَ	kataba	he wrote	כָּתַב	he wrote
II	كَسَّرَ	kassara	he smashed	שִׁבֵּר	he smashed
IV	أَلْبَسَ	albasa	he dressed (someone)	הִלְבִּישׁ	he dressed (someone)
V	تَعَلَّمَ	taʿallama	he learned	הִתְלַמֵּד	he trained himself
VII	اِنْكَسَرَ	inkasara	it broke	נִשְׁבַּר	it broke

The five matches, with real verbs

Form II ↔ פִּעֵל: double the middle, intensify the meaning

كَسَّرَ
כסרkassara
he smashed to pieces
שִׁבֵּר شِيبِرshiber
Form I كَسَرَ = broke (שָׁבַר); double the middle radical and it intensifies — precisely the שָׁבַר → שִׁבֵּר move.
عَلَّمَ
עלםʿallama
he taught
לִמֵּד لِيمِدlimed
Teaching is 'making someone know' — the causative shade of Form II, exactly like piʿel לִמֵּד. Bonus: Arabic تِلْمِيذ 'pupil' is תַּלְמִיד, borrowed via Aramaic.
دَرَّسَ
דרסdarrasa
he taught (a class)
לִמֵּד لِيمِدlimed
Form II of دَرَسَ 'study' (↔ דָּרַשׁ): study, doubled, becomes teaching — a مُدَرِّس works at a مَدْرَسَة.

Form IV ↔ הִפְעִיל, Form V ↔ הִתְפַּעֵל, Form VII ↔ נִפְעַל

أَلْبَسَ
אלבסalbasa
he dressed (someone)
הִלְבִּישׁ هِلْبِيشhilbish
The star example: same root (ل-ب-س ↔ ל-ב-ש), same causative form, same meaning. لَبِسَ = לָבַשׁ; أَلْبَسَ = הִלְבִּישׁ.
أَدْخَلَ
אדח'לadkhala
he brought in
הִכְנִיס هِخْنِيسhikhnis
دَخَلَ 'enter' → أَدْخَلَ 'make enter'. The a- prefix is doing exactly the job of Hebrew's הִ־.
تَعَلَّمَ
תעלםtaʿallama
he learned
הִתְלַמֵּד هِتْلَامِدhitlamed
عَلَّمَ 'taught' + ta- = 'taught himself'. The reflexive ת is the same consonant in הִתְפַּעֵל — Arabic just skips Hebrew's ה.
اِنْقَطَعَ
אנקטעinqaṭaʿa
it was cut off
נִקְטַע نِكْتَاnikta
Root ق-ط-ع ↔ ק-ט-ע plus the n- of nifʿal: the two words are effectively identical.

Arabic's extras: III, VI, VIII, X

Four forms have no dedicated Hebrew binyan — these are the 'extra rooms'. Form III (فَاعَلَ) stretches a long ā after the first radical and aims the action at a partner: كَاتَبَ 'corresponded with'. Form VI (تَفَاعَلَ) is its mutual version: 'each other'. Form VIII (اِفْتَعَلَ) tucks a ت inside the root. Form X (اِسْتَفْعَلَ) prefixes ista- and means asking for, deeming, or putting to use. (Form IX, اِفْعَلَّ, is a rarity reserved for colors and defects: اِحْمَرَّ 'it turned red' — from the same ح-م-ر root as حِمَار and Hebrew חֲמוֹר; some etymologists link the donkey's name to its reddish coat, though that remains a guess.)

The extra forms in action

سَافَرَ
סאפרsāfara
he traveled
נָסַע نَاسَاnasa
Form III of س-ف-ر 'set out'. Arabic also has سِفْر 'large book' — the same word as Hebrew סֵפֶר, an old Semitic scribal culture-word — but linguists treat 'travel' and 'book' as distinct look-alike roots, so enjoy the echo as a mnemonic, not an etymology.
تَعَاوَنَ
תעאוןtaʿāwana
they cooperated
Form VI: helping each other (عَاوَنَ 'assisted' made mutual). Hebrew reaches for שִׁתְּפוּ פְּעוּלָה.
اِجْتَمَعَ
אג'תמעijtamaʿa
he met, gathered
הִתְאַסֵּף هِيتَاسِفhitasef
Form VIII: ج-م-ع 'gather' with the infixed ت. An اِجْتِمَاع is a meeting.
اِسْتَقْبَلَ
אסתקבלistaqbala
he welcomed, received
קִבֵּל אֶת פָּנָיו كِيبِل إِت پَانَاڤkibel et panav
Form X on ق-ب-ل ↔ ק-ב-ל of קִבֵּל: 'to receive someone' — an اِسْتِقْبَال is a reception.
اِسْتَعْمَلَ
אסתעמלistaʿmala
he used
הִשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ هِشْتَامِشhishtamesh
Form X on ع-م-ل 'work' (↔ עָמַל 'toiled'). The Hebrew equivalent הִשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ even sounds like it — a happy mnemonic, though the roots differ.

Practical strategy: when you learn a new root, learn its Form I meaning and let the other forms be derived, not memorized. ع-ل-م gives you knowing; therefore عَلَّمَ must be teaching, تَعَلَّمَ learning, and مُعَلِّم the teacher — three words for the price of one, exactly the economy Hebrew taught you to expect.