Passive Participles: Definition, Six Forms and Derivation

1. What is a passive participle?

The passive participle (ism al-mafʿūl) names the person or thing upon whom an action has been performed. It identifies the receiver or object of the action rather than its performer.

Word / formMeaning / explanation
مَنْصُورٌsomeone helped or supported.
مَضْرُوبٌsomeone struck.
مَسْمُوعٌsomething heard.

None of these forms identifies the helper, striker or hearer. Each characterises what receives the action.

2. Doer versus receiver

The same root can yield both an active participle (doer) and a passive participle (receiver).

Word / formMeaning / explanation
نَاصِرٌa helper
مَنْصُورٌsomeone helped.
ضَارِبٌa striker
مَضْرُوبٌsomeone struck.
سَامِعٌa hearer
مَسْمُوعٌsomething heard.

Sharing a root does not give the two nouns the same meaning: their patterns identify opposite roles in relation to an action.

3. Passive verb versus passive noun

ضُرِبَ is a passive perfect verb: “he/it was struck,” reporting a past event. مَضْرُوبٌ is a passive participle: “struck,” a derived noun that can describe a person or thing.

Word / formMeaning / explanation
نُصِرَhe was helped.
مَنْصُورٌhelped or supported.
سُمِعَit was heard.
مَسْمُوعٌheard.

Both carry a passive relationship to an action, but the finite verb conveys an event in time and the participle has nominal form and function.

4. The complete six-form paradigm

The source table gives six nominative forms, distinguished by gender and number.

Word / formMeaning / explanation
مَفْعُولٌmasculine singular, one affected entity.
مَفْعُولَانِmasculine dual, two affected entities.
مَفْعُولُونَmasculine plural.
مَفْعُولَةٌfeminine singular.
مَفْعُولَتَانِfeminine dual.
مَفْعُولَاتٌfeminine plural.

All six retain the passive sense. Their endings express gender and number; other syntactic cases may take different endings.

5. The three masculine forms

The three masculine forms keep the derived participle's stem while varying the ending for number.

Word / formMeaning / explanation
مَنْصُورٌone man who received help.
مَنْصُورَانِtwo men who received help.
مَنْصُورُونَmen who received help.
مَضْرُوبٌone man who was struck.
مَضْرُوبَانِtwo men who were struck.
مَضْرُوبُونَmen who were struck.

The endings -āni and -ūna distinguish dual and masculine plural. They do not turn the receiver into the doer.

6. The three feminine forms

The feminine paradigm also has singular, dual and plural. The singular normally uses ة, which appears as t in the dual/plural endings.

Word / formMeaning / explanation
مَنْصُورَةٌone woman who received help.
مَنْصُورَتَانِtwo women who received help.
مَنْصُورَاتٌwomen who received help.
مَتْرُوكَةٌone woman or feminine object left behind.
مَتْرُوكَتَانِtwo women left behind.
مَتْرُوكَاتٌwomen left behind.

Gender endings affect agreement, not the passive nature of the participle.

7. Full paradigm: manṣūr

The passive participle from نَصَرَ is مَنْصُورٌ. Its complete paradigm is:

Word / formMeaning / explanation
مَنْصُورٌone man who received help.
مَنْصُورَانِtwo men who received help.
مَنْصُورُونَmen who received help.
مَنْصُورَةٌone woman who received help.
مَنْصُورَتَانِtwo women who received help.
مَنْصُورَاتٌwomen who received help.

The radicals n-ṣ-r and the sense of receiving help remain; the endings encode gender and number.

8. Full paradigm: maḍrūb

The passive participle of ضَرَبَ is مَضْرُوبٌ, meaning the one who was struck rather than the one striking.

Word / formMeaning / explanation
مَضْرُوبٌone man who was struck.
مَضْرُوبَانِtwo men who were struck.
مَضْرُوبُونَmen who were struck.
مَضْرُوبَةٌone woman who was struck.
مَضْرُوبَتَانِtwo women who were struck.
مَضْرُوبَاتٌwomen who were struck.

ضَارِبَةٌ is a female striker, whereas مَضْرُوبَةٌ is a female who was struck.

9. Pattern of the regular triliteral

The normal pattern for a sound, unaugmented triliteral is مَفْعُولٌ. The placeholders f-ʿ-l are replaced by the three root letters, while the pattern contributes the prefix mīm and long ū.

Word / formMeaning / explanation
نَصَرَ ← مَنْصُورٌhelped.
ضَرَبَ ← مَضْرُوبٌstruck.
سَمِعَ ← مَسْمُوعٌheard.

This is the regular sound-triliteral rule. Verbs with weak radicals may undergo further morphological changes.

10. Radicals and added pattern letters

In مَضْرُوبٌ, the root is ḍ-r-b, not m-ḍ-r. The mīm and wāw belong to the مَفْعُولٌ pattern, while the root fills the f-ʿ-l positions.

Word / formMeaning / explanation
مَنْصُورٌroot n-ṣ-r.
مَسْمُوعٌroot s-m-ʿ; the second mīm is an actual radical.
مَكْتُوبٌroot k-t-b.

A visible mīm is not automatically extraneous: compare the word with its underlying root and pattern.

11. Heard and known: receiving an action

Word / formMeaning / explanation
سَمِعَhe heard
مَسْمُوعٌheard.
عَلِمَhe knew
مَعْلُومٌknown.
مَسْمُوعُونَheard masculine plural entities, where that description fits the context.
مَعْلُومَاتٌknown feminine plural things; the word also conventionally denotes information.

The first two are masculine singular participles. The -ūna and -āt endings produce the regular masculine and feminine plural, though lexical usage may become more specialised.

12. Number endings and grammatical case

The source paradigm presents nominative forms, using -āni in the dual and -ūna in the masculine plural. Syntactic case can change those endings.

Word / formMeaning / explanation
مَنْصُورَانِtwo men helped, nominative.
مَنْصُورَيْنِthe same dual in accusative/genitive.
مَنْصُورُونَmen helped, nominative.
مَنْصُورِينَthe same plural in accusative/genitive.

The gender and number do not change; syntax alters the case ending. These case endings do not convert a passive participle into an active one.

13. Forming passive participles from augmented verbs

For an augmented verb, derive the passive participle from its passive imperfect. Replace the imperfect prefix with mīm carrying ḍammah and use fatḥah on the penultimate letter.

Word / formMeaning / explanation
يُكْرَمُ ← مُكْرَمٌhonoured.
يُجْتَنَبُ ← مُجْتَنَبٌavoided.
يُتَقَبَّلُ ← مُتَقَبَّلٌaccepted.

The passive imperfect supplies the relevant stem because the resultant noun names the recipient or object of the action.

14. Deriving مُكْرَمٌ

أَكْرَمَ means “he honoured.” Its passive imperfect يُكْرَمُ means “he is honoured.” Replace initial yāʾ with mīm carrying ḍammah to obtain مُكْرَمٌ.
مُكْرِمٌ — the one who honours (active).
مُكْرَمٌ — the one honoured (passive).
Both begin with mu-, but the vowel on rāʾ differs: kasrah is active here, fatḥah passive. That penultimate vowel is essential to the distinction.

15. Deriving مُجْتَنَبٌ

اِجْتَنَبَ means “he avoided.” Its passive imperfect is يُجْتَنَبُ. Replacing the yāʾ with mu- yields مُجْتَنَبٌ.
مُجْتَنِبٌ — one who avoids.
مُجْتَنَبٌ — what is avoided.
The root j-n-b and the added tāʾ of Form VIII remain. The difference between kasrah and fatḥah on nūn distinguishes active from passive participles.

16. Deriving مُتَقَبَّلٌ

تَقَبَّلَ means “he accepted.” From passive imperfect يُتَقَبَّلُ comes مُتَقَبَّلٌ. The shaddah on bāʾ is retained; the vowel on that doubled letter distinguishes the role.
مُتَقَبِّلٌ — the one accepting.
مُتَقَبَّلٌ — accepted.
Thus describing a supplication or act as mutaqabbal points to its being accepted; mutaqabbil instead identifies the acceptor.

17. Deriving مُسْتَنْصَرٌ

اِسْتَنْصَرَ means “he sought assistance.” The passive imperfect يُسْتَنْصَرُ yields مُسْتَنْصَرٌ.
مُسْتَنْصِرٌ — the one seeking help.
مُسْتَنْصَرٌ — the one from whom help is sought.
The extra sīn and tāʾ of Form X remain. Kasrah/fatḥah on rāʾ distinguishes active/passive, and mustanṣar is not interchangeable in meaning with manṣūr (“helped”).

18. Why a single vowel changes the role

In many regular augmented forms, the most visible active/passive distinction is the penultimate vowel.

Word / formMeaning / explanation
مُكْرِمٌ / مُكْرَمٌone who honours / honoured.
مُجْتَنِبٌ / مُجْتَنَبٌavoider / avoided.
مُتَقَبِّلٌ / مُتَقَبَّلٌacceptor / accepted.
مُسْتَنْصِرٌ / مُسْتَنْصَرٌseeker of help / one from whom help is sought.

Both can start with mīm carrying ḍammah; the initial mīm alone therefore does not identify the voice.

19. Why not every passive participle is مَفْعُولٌ

مَفْعُولٌ is the regular sound-triliteral pattern. Augmented verbs retain the structural features of their own forms.

Word / formMeaning / explanation
نَصَرَ ← مَنْصُورٌForm I, mafʿūl.
أَكْرَمَ ← مُكْرَمٌForm IV, mufʿal.
اِجْتَنَبَ ← مُجْتَنَبٌForm VIII, muftaʿal.
تَقَبَّلَ ← مُتَقَبَّلٌForm V, mutafaʿʿal.

Forcing every passive participle onto the simple mafʿūl pattern loses the augmented form's characteristic consonants.

20. Reading the textbook forms accurately

The textbook exercises require both the lexical meaning and the correct person/number category.

Word / formMeaning / explanation
مَسْمُوعُونَmasculine plural entities described as heard.
مَعْلُومَاتٌknown things; feminine plural (also the word for information).
مَتْرُوكَةٌone feminine entity left behind.
مَنْصُورَانِtwo men helped; masculine dual.

First identify the root-related passive meaning; then read the ending to determine gender and number.

21. Conjugating the three exercise words

The textbook asks for paradigms of مُجْتَنَبٌ, مُسْتَنْصَرٌ and مُتَقَبَّلٌ. All take the same six gender/number positions, but the interior augmented stems differ.

Word / formMeaning / explanation
مُجْتَنَبٌ، مُجْتَنَبَانِ، مُجْتَنَبُونَmasculine singular, dual, plural.
مُجْتَنَبَةٌ، مُجْتَنَبَتَانِ، مُجْتَنَبَاتٌfeminine singular, dual, plural.
مُسْتَنْصَرَةٌone feminine entity from which help is sought.
مُتَقَبَّلَاتٌfeminine plural things accepted.

The derivational stem stays intact while gender/number endings are added.

22. Two full augmented paradigms

The six nominal inflections do not change the interior augmented pattern; they alter only the final gender/number ending.

Word / formMeaning / explanation
مُسْتَنْصَرٌ، مُسْتَنْصَرَانِ، مُسْتَنْصَرُونَmasculine singular, dual, plural.
مُسْتَنْصَرَةٌ، مُسْتَنْصَرَتَانِ، مُسْتَنْصَرَاتٌfeminine singular, dual, plural.
مُتَقَبَّلٌ، مُتَقَبَّلَانِ، مُتَقَبَّلُونَmasculine singular, dual, plural.
مُتَقَبَّلَةٌ، مُتَقَبَّلَتَانِ، مُتَقَبَّلَاتٌfeminine singular, dual, plural.

With the preceding mujtanab paradigm, this completes all three original exercise declensions.

23. Translating the original practice prompts

Translate both the passive relation and the correct gender/number ending.

Word / formMeaning / explanation
One woman who was struckمَضْرُوبَةٌ, feminine singular with ة.
Two women left behindمَتْرُوكَتَانِ, feminine dual in -atāni.
All the men who received helpمَنْصُورُونَ, masculine plural in -ūna.

“All men who help” has a different meaning and takes نَاصِرُونَ, not مَنْصُورُونَ.

24. Integrating meaning, pattern and agreement

A complete reading combines three levels: the root supplies the action, the pattern marks the recipient/target, and the ending indicates gender and number.

Word / formMeaning / explanation
مَنْصُورَتَانِn-ṣ-r ‘help’, passive relation, and feminine dual.
مُكْرَمُونَthe honouring verb, penultimate fatḥah for passive, and masculine plural.
مُجْتَنَبَةٌavoidance, passive-participle pattern, and feminine singular.

Reading all three elements prevents confusing the performer with the receiver and gives a precise translation.