Conjugating the Active Positive Past Tense (Maadhi Ma'roof)

Read the bilingual lesson for Conjugating the Active Positive Past Tense (Maadhi Ma'roof) and test your understanding with a focused quiz.

Lesson

1. What is Fi'l Maadhi Ma'roof?

◦ Maadhi Ma'roof (ماضی معروف) refers to the active voice of the past tense. ◦ "Active" means the actor (فاعل) is known. Example: "The man hit". ◦ "Positive" (اثبات) means the action was performed (it is not negated). ◦ To conjugate the entire 14 forms, we take the base verb فَعَلَ and attach specific suffixes (ending letters) that represent each of the 14 grammatical persons.

2. The Third-Person Masculine Group (مذکر غائب)

◦ These are the first three forms of the conjugation table: ◦ فَعَلَ (Singular): "He did". Vowel ending is the base Fathah. ◦ فَعَلَا (Dual): "They two males did". Suffix added: Alif (ا) at the end. ◦ فَعَلُوْا (Plural): "They all males did". Suffix added: واو الجماعة followed by the non-pronounced الفِ فارقہ (وْا). The letter before the Waaw gets a Dhummah.

3. The Third-Person Feminine Group (مؤنث غائب)

◦ The next three forms represent female third-person subjects: ◦ فَعَلَتْ (Singular): "She did". Suffix added: Ta with Sukoon (تْ). ◦ فَعَلَتَا (Dual): "They two females did". Suffix added: Ta and Alif (تَا). ◦ فَعَلْنَ (Plural): "They all females did". Suffix added: Noon with Fathah (نَ). The letter before it (لام کلمہ) becomes silent (saakin).

4. The Second-Person / Addressed Masculine Group (مذکر حاضر)

◦ These forms represent addressed male actors ("you"): ◦ فَعَلْتَ (Singular): "You (1 male) did". Suffix added: Taa with Fathah (تَ). ◦ فَعَلْتُمَا (Dual): "You two males did". Suffix added: Tumaa (تُمَا). ◦ فَعَلْتُمْ (Plural): "You all males did". Suffix added: Tum (تُمْ). ◦ Notice that in all present and speaker forms, the third root letter (لام کلمہ) remains silent (saakin).

5. The Second-Person / Addressed Feminine Group (مؤنث حاضر)

◦ These forms represent addressed female actors: ◦ فَعَلْتِ (Singular): "You (1 female) did". Suffix added: Taa with Kasrah (تِ). ◦ فَعَلْتُمَا (Dual): "You two females did". Suffix added: Tumaa (تُمَا). Note that the dual form is identical to the masculine dual. ◦ فَعَلْتُنَّ (Plural): "You all females did". Suffix added: Tunna (تُنَّ).

6. The First-Person / Speaker Group (متکلم) & Master Conjugation Table

فَعَلْتُ (واحد)، فَعَلْنَا` (جمع) ◦ The final two forms represent the speaker: ◦ فَعَلْتُ (Singular): "I did". Suffix added: Taa with Dhummah (تُ). ◦ فَعَلْنَا (Plural/We): "We (two or more) did". Suffix added: Naa (نَا). ◦ Master Active Grid: فَعَلَ | فَعَلَا | فَعَلُوْا فَعَلَتْ | فَعَلَتَا | فَعَلْنَ فَعَلْتَ | فَعَلْتُمَا | فَعَلْتُمْ فَعَلْتِ | فَعَلْتُمَا | فَعَلْتُنَّ فَعَلْتُ | فَعَلْنَا

Practice questions

Question 1: Choose the correct answer

Which suffix is attached to the base verb فَعَلَ to form the third-person dual masculine form فَعَلَا?

  • Waaw
  • Alif
  • Taa
  • Noon

Question 2: Match the correct pairs

Match each conjugated past verb to its correct grammatical actor.

Question 3: Sort into the correct groups

Sort these verbs based on whether they represent a third-person subject (غائب) or a second-person / addressed subject (حاضر).

Question 4: Choose the correct answer

Select the correct Arabic verb that translates to "We did".

  • فَعَلْتُ
  • فَعَلْنَا
  • فَعَلْنَ

Question 5: Choose the correct answer

In the active past tense فَعَلْتُمْ, what suffix is appended to indicate "you all males did"?

  • تُمْ
  • تُمَا
  • تَا
  • تِ

Question 6: Match the correct pairs

Match the feminine past active verbs to their respective person profiles.

Question 7: Choose the correct answer

What is the correct natural Urdu translation and profile of the verb فَعَلْتَ?

  • تم نے کیا — واحد مذکر حاضر
  • اس نے کیا — واحد مذکر غائب
  • میں نے کیا — واحد متکلم
  • ہم سب نے کیا — جمع متکلم

Open the interactive quiz