Original text, regular and weak forms, the raised passive subject, case parsing, and the temporal-condition nuance Read the bilingual lesson for Ism al-Mafʿūl: Formation, Weak Roots and Government and test your understanding with a focused quiz.
Lesson
1. Chapter: Passive Participle
فَصْلٌ: اسْمُ الْمَفْعُولِ
Translation: Chapter on the passive participle. Previously: kātib, the writer; now: maktūb, something written. We cover formation, syntactic government, and its contrast with the active participle.
2. The Source Definition
اسْمُ الْمَفْعُولِ اسْمٌ مُشْتَقٌّ مِنْ فِعْلٍ مُتَعَدٍّ لِيَدُلَّ عَلَى مَنْ وَقَعَ عَلَيْهِ الْفِعْلُ.
Translation: A passive participle is derived from a transitive verb to denote the one or thing upon which the action falls. Kataba gives maktūb, something written, not the writer.
3. Why Transitivity Matters
كَتَبَ الطَّالِبُ الدَّرْسَ.
The verb kataba has a direct object, ad-darsa. Its passive participle describes that object: ad-darsu maktūbun, the lesson is written.
4. Active versus Passive
كَاتِبٌ — مَكْتُوبٌ
Kātib denotes the doer; maktūb denotes what receives the action. Both are derived nouns, but their semantic roles differ.
5. Three Different Structures
كَتَبَ الطَّالِبُ الدَّرْسَ — كُتِبَ الدَّرْسُ — الدَّرْسُ مَكْتُوبٌ
Kataba is active past; kutiba is passive past; maktūb is a noun (a passive participle) here functioning as predicate.
6. Form I Passive Pattern
وَصِيغَتُهُ مِنْ مُجَرَّدِ الثُّلَاثِيِّ عَلَى وَزْنِ «مَفْعُولٍ».
Source: From a regular Form-I triliteral, the passive participle follows the mafʿūl pattern: maḍrūb, maktūb, manṣūr.
7. Build Maktūb
كَتَبَ — يَكْتُبُ — مَكْتُوبٌ
The three root letters k–t–b occupy the root slots of mafʿūl. Result: maktūb, not kātib.
8. Build Maḍrūb
ضَرَبَ — يَضْرِبُ — مَضْرُوبٌ
The source’s central example is maḍrūb, built from ḍaraba on the mafʿūl pattern.
9. Two More Form-I Examples
فَتَحَ — مَفْتُوحٌ؛ حَفِظَ — مَحْفُوظٌ
Maftūḥ and maḥfūẓ follow the same mafʿūl pattern with different roots.
10. Overt and Underlying Pattern
لَفْظًا كَـ«مَضْرُوبٍ» أَوْ تَقْدِيرًا كَـ«مَقُولٍ» وَ«مَرْمِيٍّ».
The text contrasts overt mafʿūl (maḍrūb) with an underlying mafʿūl analysis after weak-verb changes (maqūl and marmiyy).
11. Hollow Verb: Maqūl
قَالَ — يَقُولُ — مَقُولٌ
Qāla → maqūl. The hollow root undergoes contraction; the source counts its mafʿūl pattern as underlying rather than fully visible.
12. Hollow Verb: Mabīʿ
بَاعَ — يَبِيعُ — مَبِيعٌ
Bāʿa → mabīʿ. This is a supplementary weak-verb example showing a different vowel outcome from maqūl.
13. Defective Verb: Marmiyy
رَمَى — يَرْمِي — مَرْمِيٌّ
Ramā → marmiyy. The final yāʾ bears shadda; the source identifies this as another underlying mafʿūl pattern.
14. Defective Verb: Madʿūw
دَعَا — يَدْعُو — مَدْعُوٌّ
Daʿā → madʿūw, with final geminated wāw; compare marmiyy with geminated yāʾ.
15. Three Form-I Outcomes
مَضْرُوبٌ — مَقُولٌ — مَرْمِيٌّ
All three are passive participles. The source distinguishes a fully evident mafʿūl pattern from outcomes of weak-root phonological change.
16. Derived Verbs: The Core Rule
وَمِنْ غَيْرِهِ كَاسْمِ الْفَاعِلِ بِفَتْحِ مَا قَبْلَ الْآخِرِ.
For non-triliterals, form it on the derived-participle template, but with fatḥa before the final letter. Start from the passive imperfect.
17. Form IV: One Vowel Changes the Role
أَكْرَمَ — يُكْرِمُ — مُكْرِمٌ؛ أُكْرِمَ — يُكْرَمُ — مُكْرَمٌ
Mukrim (kasra) = honoring; mukram (fatḥa) = honored. They differ in voice, not merely in spelling style.
18. Form II: Shadda and Vowel
عَلَّمَ — يُعَلِّمُ — مُعَلِّمٌ؛ عُلِّمَ — يُعَلَّمُ — مُعَلَّمٌ
Muʿallim is the teacher; muʿallam is the one taught. Retain shadda in both forms.
19. Form X: Extraction
اِسْتَخْرَجَ — مُسْتَخْرِجٌ — مُسْتَخْرَجٌ
Mustakhrij denotes an extractor; mustakhraj denotes the thing extracted. The source uses mustakhraj as an example.
20. Mudkhal versus Madkhal
أَدْخَلَ — مُدْخِلٌ — مُدْخَلٌ
Mudkhal (mu-, passive participle of adkhala) differs from madkhal (ma-, often a noun of place or entry). Vowel marks matter.
21. Formation at a Glance
مَكْتُوبٌ — مُكْرَمٌ — مُعَلَّمٌ — مُسْتَخْرَجٌ
Maktūb is regular Form I; mukram, muʿallam, and mustakhraj are derived-form passive participles.
22. What Does It Govern?
وَيَعْمَلُ عَمَلَ فِعْلِهِ الْمَجْهُولِ.
The passive participle governs like the corresponding passive verb: it raises a nāʾib fāʿil (passive subject), not an ordinary active subject.
23. The Passive Verb First
فُتِحَ الْبَابُ.
Futiḥa is passive past; al-bābu is nominative as nāʾib fāʿil.
24. A Visible Passive Subject
خَالِدٌ مَفْتُوحٌ بَابُهُ.
Khālid is the topic; maftūḥ is the predicate and passive participle; bābuhu is its visible nominative passive subject. The door—not Khālid—is open.
25. The Book’s Worked Example
زَيْدٌ مَضْرُوبٌ غُلَامُهُ.
The book’s example means that Zayd’s servant is beaten. Zayd is mubtadaʾ, maḍrūb is predicate, and ghulāmuhu is the passive participle’s raised subject.
26. Parsing Ghulāmuhu
غُلَامُهُ = غُلَامُ + هُ
Ghulāmu is nominative and muḍāf; -hu is a genitive attached pronoun as muḍāf ilayh. The whole noun phrase serves as the passive subject.
27. Find What Receives the Action
فَاطِمَةُ مَكْتُوبَةٌ رِسَالَتُهَا.
Fāṭimah is the topic; maktūbah describes the feminine risālah. Risālatuhā is the passive subject of the participle.
28. Implicit Passive Subject
الدَّرْسُ مَكْتُوبٌ.
Ad-darsu is subject and maktūbun predicate. The participle contains an understood passive subject referring back to the lesson; unlike bābuhu it is not overt.
29. Not a Direct Object
زَيْدٌ مَضْرُوبٌ غُلَامُهُ — زَيْدٌ ضَارِبٌ عَمْرًا
Ghulāmuhu is the raised passive subject of maḍrūb. ʿAmran is the accusative object of active participle ḍārib.
30. Its Own Case Is Separate
رَأَيْتُ رَجُلًا مَحْمُودًا خُلُقُهُ.
Raʾaytu rajulan maḥmūdan khuluquhu: maḥmūdan is an accusative adjective agreeing with rajulan; khuluquhu remains nominative as its passive subject.
31. Two Different Case Assignments
رَأَيْتُ رَجُلًا مَحْمُودًا خُلُقُهُ.
Maḥmūdan is accusative by adjective agreement, while khuluquhu is nominative by the passive participle’s government.
32. Conditions of Government
بِالشُّرُوطِ الْمَذْكُورَةِ فِي اسْمِ الْفَاعِلِ.
The text refers back to the conditions discussed for the active participle. The commentary adds a qualification regarding the time condition.
33. What Does Iʿtimād Mean?
خَالِدٌ مَفْتُوحٌ بَابُهُ.
The passive participle serves as predicate of Khālid, an example of reliance on a preceding subject. Other recognized contexts include descriptive use, ḥāl, relative construction, interrogation, and negation.
34. After a Question
أَمَفْتُوحٌ الْبَابُ؟
A-maftūḥun al-bābu? The question particle supplies reliance; al-bābu is nominative as the participle’s passive subject, completing the predication.
35. After Negation
مَا مَفْتُوحٌ الْبَابُ الْآنَ.
Mā maftūḥun al-bābu al-āna shows reliance on negation; al-bābu remains nominative. Mā here is a negative particle, not a case governor of the participle.
36. A Nuance in the Time Condition
الْآنَ — غَدًا — أَمْسِ
The commentary reports a difference: later grammarians extended the present/future condition to passive participles, while earlier sources do not explicitly state this restriction. Do not flatten that disagreement.
37. The Source Uses Three Times
زَيْدٌ مَضْرُوبٌ غُلَامُهُ الْآنَ أَوْ غَدًا أَوْ أَمْسِ.
The book explicitly lists now, tomorrow, or yesterday in its example. These are alternative temporal readings, not simultaneous occurrences. The commentary notes different grammatical views on the restriction.
38. Definite Participles
زَيْدٌ الْمَضْرُوبُ غُلَامُهُ.
Like the definite active participle, the participle with al- can govern across time readings. This is a supplementary illustration, distinct from the book’s indefinite example.
39. A Mental Comparison
ضَارِبٌ — مَضْرُوبٌ
The active participle governs like an active verb; the passive participle governs like a passive verb, raising a nāʾib fāʿil.
40. Two Participles Side by Side
زَيْدٌ ضَارِبٌ غُلَامُهُ عَمْرًا — زَيْدٌ مَضْرُوبٌ غُلَامُهُ
In the active example ghulāmuhu is fāʿil and ʿAmran object. In the passive example ghulāmuhu is nāʾib fāʿil. Both are nominative, but for different reasons.
41. Five Quick Parsing Checks
مَفْتُوحٌ — مَكْتُوبٌ — مُسْتَخْرَجٌ
1. Maftūḥ follows mafʿūl. 2. Mukram has fatḥa on rāʾ. 3. Marmiyy ends with geminated yāʾ. 4. Bābuhu is the passive subject. 5. Maktūbun functions as predicate.
42. Frequent Errors
مُكْرِمٌ ≠ مُكْرَمٌ؛ مَكْتُوبٌ ≠ كُتِبَ
Avoid confusing active and passive participles, passive finite verbs and participles, the case of muḍāf with that of its pronoun, and direct object with passive subject.
43. Chapter Summary
اسْمُ الْمَفْعُولِ — مَفْعُولٌ — نَائِبُ فَاعِلٍ
A passive participle denotes the patient. Form I normally uses mafʿūl; weak roots yield altered surfaces. Derived forms use mu- and penultimate fatḥa. It governs a passive subject. The source commentary qualifies temporal conditions. Next: aṣ-ṣifah al-mushabbahah.
Practice questions
Question 1
What does a passive participle denote?
- The recipient of the action
- The doer
- A tense particle
- Every genitive noun
Question 2
Which is the passive participle of kataba?
- Kātib
- Kitābah
- Yaktubu
- Maktūb
Question 3
Choose the passive participle of ḍaraba.
Question 4
The standard passive participle pattern of regular Form I?
Question 5
Passive participle of fataḥa?
Question 6
Which form is maḥfūẓ?
- Active participle
- Past verb
- Preposition
- Passive participle
Question 7
Passive participle of qāla?
Question 8
Passive participle of ramā?
Question 9
Passive participle of bāʿa?
Question 10
How does the source classify maqūl’s pattern?
- Overt fāʿil
- Intensive form
- No derivational pattern
- Underlying mafʿūl
Question 11
What is the final yāʾ in marmiyy?
- Silent without shadda
- Preposition
- Geminated
- Separate pronoun
Question 12
Which consonant is geminated in madʿūw?
Question 13
Penultimate vowel in regular derived passive participles?
Question 14
Passive participle of akrama?
Question 15
Mukrim with kasra denotes?
- One honored
- The verbal noun
- One who honors
- The past verb
Question 16
Passive participle of ʿallama?
- Muʿallim
- Muʿallam
- ʿĀlim
- Taʿlīm
Question 17
Mustakhraj refers to?
- Something extracted
- Extractor
- An imperative to extract
- Vocative particle
Question 18
Initial vowel on the source’s mudkhal?
Question 19
Clear orthographic difference between madkhal and mudkhal?
- Shadda on rāʾ
- Final tanwīn
- The initial mīm vowel
- Number of consonants
Question 20
Difference between maktūb and kutiba?
- Both are verbs
- First a noun, second a passive verb
- Both are particles
- First maṣdar, second active participle
Question 21
A passive participle governs like which verb?
- Passive verb
- Imperative
- Only active verb
- Exclamatory verb
Question 22
What does it raise as its dependent?
- Direct object
- Tamyīz
- Absolute object
- Passive subject
Question 23
Function of al-bābu in futiḥa al-bābu?
- Active subject
- Accusative object
- Passive subject
- Genitive complement
Question 24
What is open in Khālidun maftūḥun bābuhu?
- Khālid himself
- Khālid’s door
- Every door
- A book
Question 25
Case of bābuhu in that sentence?
- Nominative passive subject
- Accusative direct object
- Genitive after preposition
- Invariable on fatḥa
Question 26
The role of Zayd in the source example?
- Participle’s passive subject
- Direct object
- Accusative circumstantial
- Subject/topic of nominal sentence
Question 27
Who is beaten in the source sentence?
- Zayd
- The speaker
- The servant
- A mentioned woman
Question 28
Function of -hu in ghulāmuhu?
- A separate nominative subject
- A genitive possessive pronoun
- Negative particle
- Absolute object
Question 29
Which phrase is the passive subject?
- Her letter
- Fāṭimah
- Maktūbah
- An omitted verbal noun
Question 30
Why is maktūbah feminine in that phrase?
- All passive participles are feminine
- Because of fatḥa
- Because it is plural
- Its raised dependent risālah is feminine
Question 31
Syntactic role of maktūbun in ad-darsu maktūbun?
- Past verb
- Preposition
- Nominative predicate
- Absolute object
Question 32
How is the participle’s passive subject expressed?
- Separate overt noun
- Understood pronoun
- Preposition
- Accusative object
Question 33
Why is maḥmūdan accusative?
- It modifies accusative rajulan
- Because it is its own passive subject
- Due to a preposition
- Because it is mubtadaʾ
Question 34
Why is khuluquhu nominative?
- It modifies rajulan
- It is predicate of mā
- It is the subject of inna
- It is the passive subject of maḥmūdan
Question 35
What licenses the participle in a-maftūḥun al-bābu?
- Vocative particle
- Oath wāw
- Interrogative hamza
- Exception particle
Question 36
Function of mā in mā maftūḥun al-bābu?
- Question
- Negation
- Condition
- Vocative
Question 37
Which shows reliance as predicate of a subject?
- Khālidun maftūḥun bābuhu
- Mustakhraj alone
- Marmiyy alone
- Mabīʿ alone
Question 38
Which three time expressions occur in the source?
- Today, morning, night
- In front, behind, above
- Here, there, where
- Now, tomorrow, yesterday
Question 39
What nuance does the commentary report?
- All grammarians require past meaning only
- Time has no relevance whatsoever
- Earlier and later grammarians differ in explicit restrictions
- Only future meaning is possible
Question 40
What does aw mean among the source’s time words?
- All three times simultaneously
- Alternative time readings
- Three distinct people
- One mandatory tense
Question 41
Role of al-maḍrūbu in the definite example?
- Predicate and passive participle
- Past verb
- Vocative
- Accusative ḥāl
Question 42
Function of ʿAmran in the active-participle sentence?
- Passive subject
- Genitive complement
- Mubtadaʾ
- Accusative direct object
Question 43
When is ghulāmuhu a passive subject?
- After ḍārib
- It is always an object
- After maḍrūb
- It is never nominative
Question 44
Best basic distinction between active and passive participles?
- Definite versus indefinite only
- Doer versus recipient
- Singular versus plural only
- Nominative versus genitive only
Question 45
Marmiyy and maqūl illustrate?
- Underlying mafʿūl due to weak roots
- Sound masculine plural
- Elative
- Negative lā of genus
Question 46
What do muʿallim and muʿallam share?
- The same vowel on lām
- Both are passive
- Both are verbal nouns
- Shadda on lām
Question 47
Penultimate vowel of mustakhraj?
Question 48
Why no separate passive-subject noun appears?
- The clause lacks a predicate
- An implied pronoun is in the participle
- Maktūb is imperative
- Ad-dars is genitive
Question 49
Main new grammatical addition relative to the previous level?
- Passive formation and its raised passive subject
- Repeating active forms only
- Numeral specification only
- Dual endings only
Question 50
Maktūb is a noun, not a past verb.
Question 51
Kātib and maktūb both mean the writer.
Question 52
Maqūl is a source example of underlying mafʿūl.
Question 53
Marmiyy ends in a geminated yāʾ.
Question 54
Kasra in mukrim marks a passive participle.
Question 55
Derived passive participles normally take penultimate fatḥa.
Question 56
Bābuhu is an accusative direct object after maftūḥ.
Question 57
In ghulāmuhu, ghulāmu is nominative and -hu genitive.
Question 58
Maḥmūdan can be accusative while khuluquhu is nominative.
Question 59
The source includes ams among time expressions for passive participles.
Question 60
All grammarians express an identical temporal restriction.
Question 61
Mudkhal and madkhal differ in the vowel on initial mīm.
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