Derived Nouns: The Active Participle (Ism Fa'il)

1. What Are Derived Nouns?

Some nouns are formed from verbs to express a related person or meaning.
In this section, two important derived nouns are introduced: اسمِ فاعل and اسمِ مفعول.
This level focuses on Ism Fa'il — the noun that points to the doer of an action.

2. The Basic Weight of Ism Fa'il

For the basic triliteral pattern taught here, Ism Fa'il is formed on the weight فَاعِلٌ.
The construction can be remembered in four steps:

ResultStep
Fathahfirst root letter
Alif insertedbetween first and second root letters
Kasrahsecond root letter
Tanweenfinal root letter

Result: فَاعِلٌ.

3. Example: Nasara to Naasir

Apply the pattern to the root of helping.

MeaningFormStage
to helpنَصَرَverb/root example
helper / one who helpsنَاصِرٌIsm Fa'il

The letters of the root remain, but they are arranged on the فَاعِلٌ pattern.

4. The Six Basic Ism Fa'il Forms

Ism Fa'il is shown here in six number-and-gender forms.

PluralDualSingularGender
فَاعِلُوْنَفَاعِلَانِفَاعِلٌMasculine
فَاعِلَاتٌفَاعِلَتَانِفَاعِلَةٌFeminine

Read the grid as: masculine and feminine × singular, dual, and plural.

5. Recognizing Number from the Ending

The endings make the number easy to recognize.

ExampleNumber
فَاعِلٌ / فَاعِلَةٌSingular
فَاعِلَانِ / فَاعِلَتَانِDual
فَاعِلُوْنَ / فَاعِلَاتٌPlural

So you can often identify the number by looking at the ending first.

6. Recognizing Gender

Compare the masculine and feminine forms side by side.

FeminineMasculineNumber
فَاعِلَةٌفَاعِلٌSingular
فَاعِلَتَانِفَاعِلَانِDual
فَاعِلَاتٌفَاعِلُوْنَPlural

The feminine forms are easy to spot because their endings differ clearly from the masculine set.

7. A Simple Map of the Level

Remember three things:
1. Ism Fa'il points to the doer.
2. Its basic weight here is فَاعِلٌ.
3. Its six basic forms cover masculine/feminine and singular/dual/plural.

Example: نَاصِرٌ = one male helper; نَاصِرَاتٌ = female helpers.