שشHebrabic

Grammar · Roots & Verbs · 6 min

The Past Tense

كَتَبْتُ is כָּתַבְתִּי — the suffixes are nearly identical

Arabic's past tense works exactly like Hebrew's: take the root in its bare form and attach person endings to the end. This is the suffix conjugation both languages inherited whole from Proto-Semitic, and the endings barely changed in either. If you can say כָּתַבְתִּי, כָּתַבְתָּ, כָּתַבְנוּ, you are one sound-shift away from كَتَبْتُ, كَتَبْتَ, كَتَبْنَا.

The full table

PersonArabicTranslitHebrewMatching suffix
Iكَتَبْتُkatabtuכָּתַבְתִּי-tu ↔ -ti
you (m.)كَتَبْتَkatabtaכָּתַבְתָּ-ta ↔ -ta — identical
you (f.)كَتَبْتِkatabtiכָּתַבְתְּ-ti ↔ -t
heكَتَبَkatabaכָּתַבbare stem in both
sheكَتَبَتkatabatכָּתְבָה-at ↔ -a (the old t hides)
weكَتَبْنَاkatabnāכָּתַבְנוּ-nā ↔ -nu
you (m. pl.)كَتَبْتُمkatabtumכְּתַבְתֶּם-tum ↔ -tem
you (f. pl.)كَتَبْتُنَّkatabtunnaכְּתַבְתֶּן-tunna ↔ -ten
they (m.)كَتَبُواkatabūכָּתְבוּ-ū ↔ -u
they (f.)كَتَبْنَkatabnaכָּתְבוּ-na (Modern Hebrew merged it)
كَتَبَ 'to write' in the past, next to כָּתַב

About كَتَبَت 'she wrote': the feminine -at is the ancient ending that Hebrew wore down to ־ָה. You can still catch Hebrew hiding the old ת — מַלְכָּה becomes מַלְכַּת־ in construct, and the same ת resurfaces in Arabic nouns too (taa marbuta is pronounced -at in construct: مَدْرَسَة → مَدْرَسَت...). One ancient ending, two disguises.

Drills

Cognate verbs, past tense

  • هَل سَمِعْتَ؟
    הל סמעת?hal samiʿta?

    Did you (m.) hear?

    שָׁמַעְתָּ? شَامَاتَا؟shamata?

    س-م-ع ↔ ש-מ-ע. The question word هَل does the job of Biblical Hebrew's הֲ־ interrogative — some linguists relate the two particles, though the link is debated.

  • فَتَحْتُ الْبَاب
    פתחת אלבאבfataḥtu l-bāb

    I opened the door

    פָּתַחְתִּי אֶת הַדֶּלֶת پَاتَاخْتِي إِت هَادِلِتpatakhti et hadelet

    ف-ت-ح ↔ פ-ת-ח; only the initial p→f softening separates fataḥtu from פָּתַחְתִּי.

  • كَتَبْنَا رِسَالَة بِالْعَرَبِيَّة
    כתבנא רסאלה באלערביהkatabnā risāla bil-ʿarabiyya

    We wrote a letter in Arabic

    כָּתַבְנוּ מִכְתָּב בַּעֲרָבִית كَاتَاڤْنُو مِخْتَاڤ بَاءَارَاڤِيتkatavnu mikhtav ba'aravit

    The بِـ of بِالْعَرَبِيَّة is Hebrew's בְּ־, letter for letter.

  • الْوَلَد شَرِبَ الْحَلِيب
    אלולד שרב אלחליבal-walad shariba l-ḥalīb

    The boy drank the milk

    הַיֶּלֶד שָׁתָה אֶת הֶחָלָב هَايِلِد شَاتَا إِت هِخَالَاڤhayeled shata et hekhalav

    حَلِيب ↔ חָלָב: same root ח-ל-ב, different vowel pattern.

  • زَرَعُوا قَمْح
    זרעו קמחzaraʿū qamḥ

    They planted wheat

    הֵם זָרְעוּ חִטָּה هِم زَارُو خِيتَاhem zaru khita

    زَرَعُوا = זָרְעוּ exactly. And قَمْح is קֶמַח with a twist: Arabic kept 'wheat', Hebrew slid to 'flour'.

Spot the suffix

  • دَرَسْتِ الْعِبْرِيَّة
    דרסת אלעבריהdarasti l-ʿibriyya

    You (f.) studied Hebrew

    לָמַדְתְּ עִבְרִית لَامَادِت إِڤْرِيتlamadet ivrit

    -ti = you (f.). And دَرَسَ ↔ דָּרַשׁ — studying as searching.

  • سَكَنَّا فِي حَيْفَا
    סכנא פי חיפאsakannā fī ḥayfā

    We lived in Haifa

    גַּרְנוּ בְּחֵיפָה گَارْنُو بِخِيفَاgarnu bekheifa

    sakan + nā fuses into sakannā (shadda). Root ↔ שָׁכַן; think שְׁכוּנָה.

  • لَبِسَت مِعْطَف
    לבסת מעטףlabisat miʿṭaf

    She wore a coat

    הִיא לָבְשָׁה מְעִיל هِي لَاڤْشَا مِئِيلhi lavsha me'il

    لَبِسَ ↔ לָבַשׁ. Bonus: مِعْطَف 'coat' is from ع-ط-ف 'wrap' ↔ עָטַף — a coat and a מַעֲטָפָה are both wrappers.

  • كَتَبْتُم رَسَائِل كَثِيرَة
    כתבתם רסאאל כת'ירהkatabtum rasāʾil kathīra

    You (pl.) wrote many letters

    כְּתַבְתֶּם מִכְתָּבִים רַבִּים كْتَاڤْتِم مِخْتَاڤِيم رَابِيمktavtem mikhtavim rabim

    -tum ↔ ־תֶּם. Hebrew even kept the m.

On the street (Levantine)

  • كَتَبْت
    כתבתkatabt

    I wrote / you (m.) wrote (Levantine)

    Spoken Levantine drops the final vowels, so katabtu and katabta merge into katabt — context decides, like so much in spoken language.

  • سِمِعْت
    סמעתsimiʿt

    I heard (Levantine)

    שָׁמַעְתִּי شَامَاتِيshamati

    Same merger; the vowels also shift a-i in the stem (simiʿt for samiʿtu).

That is the entire past tense — one table, most of which you already knew from Hebrew. Next: the prefix conjugation, where the parallel becomes almost eerie.