Conjugating the Passive Positive Past Tense (Maadhi Majhool)

1. What Is Maadhi Majhool?

Maadhi Majhool is the passive past tense.
In a passive sentence, the doer is not mentioned. The focus is on the person or thing that received the action.
Compare:
ضَرَبَ
He hit.
ضُرِبَ
He was hit.
The doer may be known in real life, but the passive form does not name that doer.

2. The Basic Passive Rule

Start with the basic active form:
فَعَلَ
To make the basic passive form, change the first two root vowels:

Passive vowelRoot position
DhammahFirst root letter
KasrahSecond root letter
Keep its corresponding stateThird root letter

Result:
فَعَلَ → فُعِلَ

3. Apply the Rule

The same passive pattern is applied to different active forms:

PassiveActive
ضُرِبَضَرَبَ
سُمِعَسَمِعَ
فُعِلَفَعُلَ — pattern only

The key is not the original middle vowel. In the basic passive pattern, the first root letter takes Dhammah and the second takes Kasrah.

4. The Endings Stay Familiar

Once the passive stem is formed, the 14 conjugation endings follow the same pattern you learned in the active past.

PassiveActive
فُعِلَفَعَلَ
فُعِلَافَعَلَا
فُعِلُوافَعَلُوا
فُعِلْتُمْفَعَلْتُمْ
فُعِلْنَافَعَلْنَا

Shortcut: learn the passive stem, then reuse the familiar person endings.

5. Masculine Ghaa'ib

MeaningNumberArabic form
he was acted uponsingularفُعِلَ
they two men were acted upondualفُعِلَا
they men were acted uponpluralفُعِلُوا

With a real verb such as ضَرَبَ, the first form becomes ضُرِبَ — “he was hit.”

6. Feminine Ghaa'ib

MeaningNumberArabic form
she was acted uponsingularفُعِلَتْ
they two women were acted upondualفُعِلَتَا
they women were acted uponpluralفُعِلْنَ

Notice that the feminine endings are the same endings you already saw in the active past.

7. Masculine Haadhir

MeaningNumberArabic form
you (one man) were acted uponsingularفُعِلْتَ
you two men were acted upondualفُعِلْتُمَا
you men were acted uponpluralفُعِلْتُمْ

Example with the verb “to hit”:
ضُرِبْتُمْ
You all men were hit.

8. Feminine Haadhir

MeaningNumberArabic form
you (one woman) were acted uponsingularفُعِلْتِ
you two women were acted upondualفُعِلْتُمَا
you women were acted uponpluralفُعِلْتُنَّ

As before, the dual Haadhir form is the same for masculine and feminine:
فُعِلْتُمَا

9. Mutakallim: I and We

EndingMeaningArabic form
تُI was acted uponفُعِلْتُ
نَاwe were acted uponفُعِلْنَا

Male and female speakers use the same first-person forms.

10. The Complete 14-Form Passive Pattern

PluralDualSingularGroup
فُعِلُوافُعِلَافُعِلَMasculine Ghaa'ib
فُعِلْنَفُعِلَتَافُعِلَتْFeminine Ghaa'ib
فُعِلْتُمْفُعِلْتُمَافُعِلْتَMasculine Haadhir
فُعِلْتُنَّفُعِلْتُمَافُعِلْتِFeminine Haadhir
فُعِلْنَا—فُعِلْتُMutakallim

Main idea: passive stem فُعِلَ + the familiar 14-form endings.
If you can recognize that relationship, you have understood the core of this level.