The imperative verb in Arabic

The imperative verb, also called the command verb, is constructed from the imperfect conjugations. The table is divided into two sections, each with its own method of construction. The first is the active second person conjugations and the other is the third and first person conjugations as well as all the passives.

 The method of constructing the first set is as follows.

Start with the imperfect and remove the prefix. E.g. تَسْمَعُ becomes سْمَعُ

  • Add the eliding Hamza. The vowel on this Hamza will be determined as follows
    • If the second base letter has a ضمة, the Hamza will be given a ضمة
    • If the second base letter has either of the other two vowels, the Hamza will be given a كسرة. So in our example, we haveاِسْمَعُ
  • The same procedure will be carried out to the end of the new verb as was carried out for the tables with لم. E.g. our example verb will become اِسْمَعْ

 The method of constructing the other conjugations is as follows.

 Prefix the conjugations with لِـ. This لام may have a سكون in certain situations

  • This لـ will do to the verb what لم did to it.

 

Imperative Active

Imperative Passive

 لِيَسْمَعْ(he should listen)

 لِيُسْمَعْ(he should be heard)

لِيَسْمَعَا (they should listen)

لِيُسْمَعَا (they should be heard)

لِيَسْمَعُوْا (they should listen)

لِيُسْمَعُوْا (they should be heard)

لِتَسْمَعْ (she should listen)

لِتُسْمَعْ (she should be heard)

لِتَسْمَعَا (they should listen)

لِتُسْمَعَا (they should be heard)

 لِيَسْمَعْنَ(they should listen)

 لِيُسْمَعْنَ(they should be heard)

 اِسْمَعْ(listen)

لِتُسْمَعْ (you should be heard)

اِسْمَعَا (listen)

لِتُسْمَعَا (you should be heard)

اِسْمَعُوْا (listen)

لِتُسْمَعُوْا (you should be heard)

اِسْمَعِيْ (listen)

لِتُسْمَعِيْ (you should be heard)

اِسْمَعَا (listen)

لِتُسْمَعَا (you should be heard)

اِسْمَعْنَ (listen)

لِتُسْمَعْنَ (you should be heard)

 لأَِسْمَعْ(I should listen)

 لأُِسْمَعْ(I should be heard)

 لِنَسْمَعْ(we should listen)

 لِنُسْمَعْ(we should be heard)

 

Now the imperative can be emphasized using the same two methods of emphasis as in the imperfect verb. The method of construction is the same, except that the لَـ prefix is not added, and the meaning should be obvious. To gain a deep understanding of this, to learn it correctly and see and practice the conjugation tables, one is highly encouraged to learn Arabic through a course and use this tutorial only as a study resource.