Conjugating the Passive Positive Past Tense (Maadhi Majhool)

Read the bilingual lesson for Conjugating the Passive Positive Past Tense (Maadhi Majhool) and test your understanding with a focused quiz.

Lesson

1. What is Fi'l Maadhi Majhool?

◦ Maadhi Majhool (ماضی مجہول) is the passive voice of the past tense. ◦ "Passive" means the actor (فاعل) is not named or is unknown. Instead, the action is directed onto the object. ◦ Example: "He was hit" (compare to active: "He hit"). ◦ This lesson gives a simple formula to construct the passive past from any active 3-letter past verb.

2. The Derivation Rule (قاعدہ)

◦ Step-by-step transformation from Active (فَعَلَ) to Passive (فُعِلَ): ◦ Fa-letter (1st letter): Change its vowel to a Dhummah (پیش). ◦ Ayn-letter (2nd letter): Change its vowel to a Kasrah (زیر). ◦ Laam-letter (3rd letter): Leave it on its original active state (do not change it). ◦ Transformation: فَعَلَ (Active) → فُعِلَ (Passive). ◦ Example: ضَرَبَ (He hit) → ضُرِبَ (He was hit).

3. Application of the Passive Rule across Ayn variations

◦ What happens if the active verb has a Kasrah or Dhummah on the middle letter (like سَمِعَ or كَرُمَ)? ◦ Apply the rule strictly: The Ayn-letter must receive a Kasrah. ◦ سَمِعَ (Active: Kasrah on Ayn) → سُمِعَ (the passive keeps a kasrah on the middle root letter) - "He was heard". ◦ فَعُلَ → فُعِلَ (pattern example without a lexical gloss). ◦ This ensures that passive past verbs conform to the exact same starting weight: فُعِلَ (Fu-'i-la).

4. The 14 Passive Past Conjugation Table

Person/genderSingularDualPlural Third person masculineفُعِلَفُعِلَافُعِلُوْا Third person feminineفُعِلَتْفُعِلَتَافُعِلْنَ Second person masculineفُعِلْتَفُعِلْتُمَافُعِلْتُمْ Second person feminineفُعِلْتِفُعِلْتُمَافُعِلْتُنَّ First personفُعِلْتُ—فُعِلْنَا ◦ Once the base form is transformed into فُعِلَ, the suffixes (ending letters) are attached in the same order as the active past:

5. Practical Parsing of Passive Verbs

• Let us practice recognizing active vs. passive forms using the root ضَرَبَ (to hit): ◦ ضَرَبَ (Active): "He hit" ◦ ضُرِبَ (Passive): "He was hit" ◦ ضَرَبْتُمْ (Active): "You all hit" ◦ ضُرِبْتُمْ (Passive): "You all were hit" • The vowels at the beginning are your visual guide: "a-a-a" vs "u-i-a".

6. Summary of Stage 1 Past Positive

• You have now reviewed: ◦ Past Active Positive Tense (فَعَلَ) ◦ Past Passive Positive Tense (فُعِلَ) • Both tables have 14 forms indicating precise combination of gender, number, and person. • Next, we will learn how to turn these positive actions into negative ones.

Practice questions

Question 1: Choose the correct answer

What is the formula to turn an active past verb فَعَلَ into passive past?

  • Change final letter to Sukoon
  • Give Fa-letter a Dhummah (پیش) and Ayn-letter a Kasrah (زیر)
  • Give Fa-letter a Kasrah and Laam-letter a Dhummah
  • Add a prefix Alif at the beginning

Question 2: Match the correct pairs

Match the active past verb to its derived passive past form.

Question 3: Choose the correct answer

What is the passive form of the active verb سَمِعَ?

  • سُمِعَ
  • سَمِعَ
  • يَسْمَعُ
  • أُنْصُرْ

Question 4: Choose the correct answer

What is the meaning of ضُرِبَ according to Level 5 slides?

  • He hit
  • He was hit
  • You hit

Question 5: Choose the correct answer

In the passive past tense conjugation, which letter remains on its original active state according to the rule?

  • Fa-letter
  • Ayn-letter
  • Laam-letter
  • None of the letters

Question 6: Match the correct pairs

Match these passive past verbs to their natural actor translations.

Question 7: Choose the correct answer

Translate the verb ضُرِبْتُمْ naturally according to the grammatical person.

  • تم سب مارے گئے — جمع مذکر حاضر
  • ہم سب مارے گئے — جمع متکلم
  • وہ سب مارے گئے — جمع مذکر غائب
  • تم دو مارے گئے — تثنیہ مذکر حاضر

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