- Press Show to call for conjugation of the verb that has been selected.
- Most Arabic verbs are constructed on a set of three consonants, named root letters or radicals.
- These root letters are commonly referred to as R1, R2 and R3. Together (R1,R2,R3) are a verb's root.
- A root in itself generally conveys a basic meaning or notion, a common example being (k,t,b) with the notion of 'writing'.
- The second element in the construction of a verb is Form. Forms are all about vowelling patterns, prefixes and infixes.
- A verb's conjugation is fully determined by the combination of its root (R1,R2,R3) and Form.
- Forms show up as Roman numbers I-X (numbers beyond X exist but are not discussed here as they form a relatively small group).
- Form I requires the specification of the verb's R2 vowel in perfectum and imperfectum.
- This vowel pair can take the following values: aa, ai, au, ia, ii and uu.
- Forms relate to reflexivity, transitivity and/or causality of a verb often without affecting its basic
notion. Example: Form I-au of (k,t,b) means 'to write'. Forms II-X for (k,t,b) have meanings like dictate, correspond, subscribe and
be registered. For more about Forms, see FORM.