Active Participles In Arabic (اسم الفاعل)

An active participle, or ism al-fāʿil (اسم الفاعل) in Arabic, is basically a word that describes who or what is doing an action.

In Arabic, it’s literally called “noun of the doer”.

For example, in English, if someone writes, they are a “writer.” If someone sings, they are a “singer.” “Writer” and “singer” are the same thing - they tell us about the doer of the verb.

In Arabic, these “doer” words are used a lot, and thankfully they follow some pretty clear patterns.

Your Arabic will sound a lot more natural if you use them.

The basic pattern

Most basic Arabic verbs, as you might already know, come from a three-letter root. These are often called “Form I” verbs.

To make an active participle from these simple verbs, you usually follow the pattern: فَاعِل (fāʿil).

Basically you’re lengthening the first vowel with an alif.

Here are a few examples to see how it works:

1. The verb “to write” is kataba (كَتَبَ).

To get the “writer” (the one who writes), you change the root letters (K-T-B) into the fāʿil pattern:

kātib (كَاتِب) - writer

الكَاتِبُ مَوْهُوبٌ.

al-kātib mawhūb.

The writer is talented.

2. The verb “to work” is ʿamila (عَمِلَ).

So, the “worker” or “one who works” is:

ʿāmil (عَامِل) – worker

هُوَ عَامِلٌ فِي الْمَصْنَعِ.

huwa ʿāmil fī-l-maṣnaʿ.

He is a worker in the factory.

3. The verb “to open” is fataḥa (فَتَحَ).

The “opener” (the person or thing that opens) is:

fātiḥ (فَاتِح) - opener

كَانَ فَاتِحَ النِّقَاشِ.

kāna fātiḥ an-niqāsh.

He was the opener of the discussion.

See the pattern?

You take the three root letters, put an alif (ا) after the first root letter, and the vowel for the second root letter becomes a kasra (the ‘i’ sound).

This fāʿil pattern is a common one, and you’ll find it in both Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and spoken dialects.

What if the verb has a ‘weak’ letter in the middle?

Some Arabic verbs have “weak” letters in the middle, which is usually a wāw (و) or a yāʾ (ي) in its original root form.

For example, the verb qāla (قَالَ - to say) comes from a root like Q-W-L.

When you make the active participle for these verbs, that middle weak letter often changes into a hamza (ء).

• Verb: qāla (قَالَ) - to say
• Active Participle: qāʾil (قَائِل) - sayer, speaker

رَفَعَ الْقَائِلُ صَوْتَهُ.

rafaʿa al-qāʾil ṣawtahu.

The speaker raised his voice.

• Verb: nāma (نَامَ) - to sleep
• Active Participle: nāʾim (نَائِم) - sleeper, or simply “sleeping”

الطِّفْلُ نَائِمٌ

aṭ-ṭiflu nāʾim.

The child is sleeping.

In dialects like Egyptian, this is common but you’ll often hear a yāʾ (ي) instead of a hamza (ء). For example:

huwwa nāyim” (هو نايم): “he is sleeping”

What if the verb has a ‘weak’ letter at the end?

If the verb ends in a weak letter (like alif maqṣūra ى or an alif ا that comes from an original و or ي root), the active participle still follows the fāʿil idea.

However, the ending can look a bit different, especially when the word is indefinite (meaning it doesn’t have “al-” at the beginning and isn’t the first part of an iḍāfa construction).

• Verb: qaḍā (قَضَى) - to judge, to decree, to spend (time)
• Active Participle (definite, i.e., “the judge”): al-qāḍī (الْقَاضِي)
• Active Participle (indefinite, e.g., “a judge” in nominative or genitive case): qāḍin (قَاضٍ)

قَاضٍ عَادِلٌ

qāḍin ʿādil.

A fair judge.

That “in” sound at the end (called tanwīn al-ʿiwaḍ) basically replaces the final yāʾ letter in certain grammatical situations when the word is indefinite.

• Verb: daʿā (دَعَا) - to call, to invite, to pray (for)
• Active Participle (definite): ad-dāʿī (الدَّاعِي) - the caller, the inviter
• Active Participle (indefinite): dāʿin (دَاعٍ) - a caller, an inviter

هُوَ دَاعٍ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ.

huwa dāʿin ilal-khayr.

He is an inviter to good.

Don’t get too bogged down by the grammar rules for this right now; just try to get a general feel for the pattern.

Active participles for ‘longer’ verbs (more than three letters)

What about verbs that aren’t just the simple three-letter types?

Arabic has many verb forms that are built from the basic three-letter root by adding extra letters. You might have seen verbs starting with an ا (alif), or having a doubled middle letter, and so on (these are often called Forms II through X).

For these “longer” verbs, there’s a different, but very consistent, rule to form the active participle:

1. Start the word with the prefix mu- (مُـ).
2. Look at the main part of the verb (what’s left after you take off any present tense prefixes like ya- or tu-).
3. Make sure the vowel on the second-to-last letter of this main part is a kasra (i).

Here are some examples:

Form II: faʿʿala (فَعَّلَ)

• darrasa (دَرَّسَ) - to teach
• Active Participle: mudarris (مُدَرِّس) - teacher (mu- + darris, with a kasra on the ‘r’)

دَخَلَ الْمُدَرِّسُ الْفَصْلَ.

dakhala al-mudarris al-faṣl.

The teacher entered the classroom.

Form III: fāʿala (فَاعَلَ)

• shāhada (شَاهَدَ) - to watch
• Active Participle: mushāhid (مُشَاهِد) - viewer, spectator (mu- + shāhid, with a kasra on the ‘h’)

الْمُشَاهِدُ يُشَاهِدُ الْبَرْنَامَجَ.

al-mushāhid yushāhid al-barnāmaj.

The viewer is watching the program.

Form IV: afʿala (أَفْعَلَ)

• arsala (أَرْسَلَ) - to send
• Active Participle: mursil (مُرْسِل) - sender (mu- + rsil, with a kasra on the ‘s’)

مَنْ هُوَ مُرْسِلُ الرِّسَالَةِ؟

man huwa mursil ar-risālah?

Who is the sender of the letter?

Form V: tafaʿʿala (تَفَعَّلَ)

• takallama (تَكَلَّمَ) - to speak
• Active Participle: mutakallim (مُتَكَلِّم) - speaker (mu- + takallim, with a kasra on the second ‘l’)

الْمُتَكَلِّمُ الْأَوَّلُ كَانَ وَاضِحًا.

al-mutakallim al-awwal kāna wāḍiḥan.

The first speaker was clear.

Form VIII: iftaʿala (افْتَعَلَ)

• ijtamaʿa (اجْتَمَعَ) - to meet, gather
• Active Participle: mujtamiʿ (مُجْتَمِع) - meeting, gathered (mu- + jtamiʿ, with a kasra on the ‘m’)

الْفَرِيقُ مُجْتَمِعٌ.

al-farīq mujtamiʿ.

The team is meeting.

If you’re describing a feminine noun, like “committee” - lajnah (لَجْنَة) - you make it feminine: mujtamiʿah (مُجْتَمِعَةٌ).

This mu- prefix combined with the kasra (i-vowel) on the second-to-last letter is your big clue for active participles from these longer verb forms.

How are active participles used?

Active participles are incredibly versatile in Arabic. They can function like:

Nouns: Describing a person or thing based on what they do.

• al-kātib (الْكَاتِب) - the writer
• al-mudarris (الْمُدَرِّس) - the teacher
• al-musāfir (الْمُسَافِر) - the traveler (from sāfara (سَافَرَ) - to travel)

Adjectives: Describing another noun.

• walad nāʾim (وَلَدٌ نَائِمٌ) - a sleeping boy
• rajul fāhim ad-dars (رَجُلٌ فَاهِمٌ الدَّرْسَ) - a man understanding the lesson (Here, fāhim (فَاهِمٌ) is from fahima (فَهِمَ) - to understand)
• sayyārah musriʿah (سَيَّارَةٌ مُسْرِعَةٌ) - a speeding car (Here, musriʿah (مُسْرِعَةٌ) is the feminine of musriʿ (مُسْرِعٌ), from asraʿa (أَسْرَعَ) - to speed up)

You’ll also find them used constantly in everyday spoken Arabic, often to describe what someone is currently doing or their state.

For example, in Egyptian Arabic:

عَامِل إِيه؟

ʿāmil ēh?

What are you doing? (to a male)

Here, ʿāmil (عَامِل) is the active participle of ʿamala (عَمِلَ - to do/make). It literally means “(one who is) doing.” So, the question is like saying, “doing what?” (a variation of how are you)

Or if someone asks if you understand (to a male):

فَاهِم؟

fāhim?

Are you understanding?

Fāhim (فَاهِم) is the active participle of fahima (فَهِمَ - to understand).

A quick note on dialects

As you can see, the great news is that these patterns for active participles are largely the same between MSA and most spoken dialects.

A kātib (writer) is a kātib whether you’re reading a formal text or chatting with someone in a café in Beirut.

A mudarris (teacher) is understood across the Arab world.

Of course, pronunciation will vary a bit from dialect to dialect, like the pronunciation of the letter qāf (ق), or how vowel endings are often shortened or dropped in casual speech. But the fundamental shape of the active participle usually stays the same.

You’ll hear words like these all the time:

• ʿāmil (عَامِل) - worker (from ʿamala - to work/do). Extremely common.
• ṭālib (طَالِب) - student (from ṭalaba - to seek/request).
• sāʾiq (سَائِق) - driver (from sāqa - to drive).
• musāfir (مُسَافِر) - traveler.

Keep an ear out for them.

Just remember these main points for the ism al-fāʿil:

• For simple three-letter verbs: look for the فَاعِل (fāʿil) pattern.
• For longer verbs (the derived forms): look for the mu- (مُـ) prefix and make sure there’s a kasra (an i-vowel sound) on the second-to-last letter of the stem.
• Avoid confusing active participles with verbal nouns.

Once you start recognizing the patterns, you’ll find it easier to determine the meaning of new words and build your vocabulary.

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