We studied these forms in school and I was already fascinated by them at this early stage. However, my teacher of the time was the 9th in the long line of horrible Arabic teachers I had, so I made sure to learn nothing that year. I had to pick up on the forms on my own, in daily conversation, and it is only recenty that I grabbed a book to see what linguists had to say about them. Here's an overview of the 10 Forms of those Barbapapa-verbs, with examples that I tried to make entertaining, taken right out of daily life (and so in colloquial Lebanese rather than literary Arabic). It's really challenging to explain a language I take for granted to people who have never been exposed to it, so I would appreciate candid feedback as to possibly confusing statements and examples.

But first, a little introduction to the structure of Arabic verbs.

Most verbs are triliteral, meaning their simplest form has 3 letters, those of the root. For the root KTB, "to write", we get the verb kataba, "he wrote". The "he wrote" conjugation of the verb is what we use as an equivalent to the infinitive in English. Other triliteral verbs: qatala (he killed), fataha (he opened), taraka (he left)... The masdar, or "source-verb" that we use in school to learn the Forms is fa3ala (he did). The 3 is used to represent the letter 3ayn, and because its sound is so alien to western ears and the 3 so confusing, I'll use kataba for a template instead.

There are only two tenses in Arabic: perfect and imperfect, or complete and incomplete. Unlike languages like English that divide time in a subjective way (behind the speaker, ahead of the speaker...), Arabic measures it according to whether an action is done or not. Kataba is perfect, or past; yaktubu is the imperfect version, corresponding roughly to present and future. To express the future we just add words. For instance in writing there is the prefixes sa- and fa-, the words sawfa, laqad... In Lebanon we say "ra7 ..." ("gone ...", i.e. "I am gone in advance to do this") or "bukra b-..." ("tomorrow I ..." -- "at some point in the future I'll do this"); in Algeria they precede the word with "rany" ("behold" -- "behold I am about to do this") or Inch'allah ("if God wills").

Now for the Forms themselves.

FORM 1: kataba

I have already mentioned it: it is the simplest form, "he wrote". Verbs of this form are generally transitive, meaning they require an object: Kataba risalat (he wrote a letter), fataha-l-bab (he opened the door).

Even though this form is pretty straightforward, it offers 3 more variants of kataba: katiba, katuba and kutiba.
The "a"s that are added to KTB to obtain kataba are not really part of the word. If you've ever seen arabic writing you may have noticed little signs above and under the letters themselves: these are the vowels, and most of the time they are not even written. They vary, changing the whole sound of the word along with them, depending on meaning. The word above is "kataba", and the small diagonal slashes are the "a" vowels. To change them would change its meaning in subtle ways:

- Katiba: the -a-i- construction (the final "a" doesn't count because it is constant in the perfect tense) is for intransitive verbs of the 1st form that denote temporary states or actions: fariha (he rejoiced), rabiha (he won).

- Katuba: -a-u- is also for intransitive verbs, but this time it denotes permanent qualities: hasuna (he improved), kabura (he grew important).

- Kutiba: the -u-i- is the majhool (unknown) mode, something like the passive voice. The difference with English is that the subject of the action is kept quiet. We would say "the book was bought" and not say by whom, even if we know.

In Lebanese we rarely pronounce the sacrosanct -a in the end of the verbs -- unless it has turned into a suffix we just stop at the last consonant: katab, rabih.

FORM 2: kattaba

- This form turns intransitive verbs into transitive ones:
Barado a3saboh = his nerves cooled down
Barrad a3saboh = he calmed his nerves down

A verb that is already transitive becomes doubly so, as it takes a meaning of "make do" or "make become":
Darast duruseh = I studied my lessons
Darrasneh belquwweh!! = He made me study by force!

- Another use of it is purely to intensify the verb.
"3assab beyyak kermel tokhbis el seyyara?" (Did your dad get angry at you for wrecking the car?)
"Kassarneh! Massaha-l ard fiyeh!" (He BROKE me! He wiped the floor with me!)
(The 1st forms of the verbs above being 3asaba, kasara and masaha)

- With certain verbs, it has a function of estimation, for instance sadaqa (tell the truth) becomes saddaqa (believe someone).
"Lesh m'akhkhar?
"'ashat Jisr eddawra."
"SHOO???"
"Saddaqtineh hella'?"
("Why are you late?"
"The Dora bridge collapsed."
"WHAT??"
"You actually believed me?")

- A final word to be said about this form is that it is used to turn words into verbs the way it happens in English: kheymat (tent) thus becomes kheyyama (to camp). Foreign words taken into the language are appropriated thanks to it:
slalom -> slallem (to drive in zig-zags between cars)
to save -> sayyev (save a computer file)

FORM 3: kâtaba

This form implies that there is someone or something else present and that the action is performed upon him/her/it.
Sabaqto 3al saff: I preceded him to class, I arrived before him.
Sâbaqto 3al saff: I raced him to class.

FORM 4: aktaba

It is similar to the 2nd form in that it makes intransitive verbs transitive, and transitive verbs doubly so. However, there are subtle nuances of meaning that don't follow a general rule, for instance: 3alama (to know), 3allama (to make know = to teach), a3lama (to inform). I can't really explain the latter subtlety, only tie it with a general tendency of this form to make verbs mean "it became full of it" (information in a3lama, fruit in athmara...) or "it began to" (bloom etc). The most used verb in this form may be aflasa, which should mean "become full of cash" but is used in the exact opposite meaning: "go broke".
"Betrooh 3al cinema?"
"Ma fiyye, aflaset"
("Wanna go to the movies?"
"I can't, I'm broke!")

FORM 5: takattaba

- Form 5 is linked to Form 2 in that the one is the submissive version of the other. Whatever action is done through a kattaba verb, the takattaba is from the point of view of the object of that verb.
Darrabneh kheyye (my brother trained me) -> Tadarrabet (I [have been] trained).
The second part is the result of the first: it's an action done to a person or a state produced in him/her.
Faddaytoh fa tafadda : I emptied it and so it was emptied (this kind of pleonasm is common in Arabic).

- For some verbs it takes on a meaning of attribute, complaining (tazallama=complain of injustice), avoiding an action, repetitive action (tamarrana=practice)...

FORM 6: takâtaba

- Form 6 is the submissive of Form 3 (kâtaba): you can notice that as in Form 5, this is obtained by adding ta- before the verb. Since kâtaba implies an action done on someone, takâtaba implies reciprocity as in the English sentence "they looked at each other". The subject cannot be singular in this function of the form. Takâtabâ itself would mean "they corresponded with each other" (they wrote to each other). To take and pursue an example given before:
Sabaqto 3al saff: I preceded him to class, I arrived before him.
Sâbaqto 3al saff: I raced him to class.
Tasâbaqna 3al saff: We raced each other to class.

- Another function of this form is to express pretence, and in this case it can take a singular subject:
Hajj tetsâ'al 3a rabbeh! Quit being a jerk! ("Stop making yourself a jerk to my Lord")
Tamârad kermel el emtehan... He pretended to be sick because of the test...

- In some cases it works just like the 1s Form.

FORM 7: nkataba

- This one expresses submission to an action or effect -- in the case of an animate being, an involuntary submission.
N'ata3 el khatt! The line was cut! (when a phone conversation is interrupted).
N'arat. He got screwed (terribly sorry but that's one of the clearest examples, and internationally understood, too).
Njabaret rooh masheh. I was forced to go on foot.

- For some verbs it works as a reflexive of Form 4 (aktaba):
Nfatah el-bab: the door opened (on its own).
Ntafa-l-nar: the fire got extinguished, died down.

FORM 8: ktataba

- It's generally the reflexive of the simple kataba, where the object of Form 1 becomes its own object.
Faraqa Mousa al-bahr al-ahmar (Moses parted the Red Sea) -> Ftaraqa-l-bahr el-ahmar (the Red Sea parted [itself]).

"Do you have red shirts? I'm sick of wearing blue"
"No but I have teal..."
"Ma khtalafna." (Big difference -- "we didn't make a difference for ourselves")

- For some verbs it has the reciprocity function of Form 6 (takâtaba). Let me take the race example again:
Sabaqto 3al saff: I preceded him to class, I arrived before him.
Sâbaqto 3al saff: I raced him to class.
Tasâbaqna 3al saff: We raced each other to class.
Stabaqna 3al saff: We raced each other to class (rarely used).

- More interestingly, this form is used for selfish actions or at least, actions that are to one's own advantage.
Ttakhadha: to take for oneself.
Stalamon kellon! He deceived them all! (used both for crook-deception and joke-deception)

FORM 9: ktabba

This one is very particular as it is derived solely from adjectives denoting color, size and physical imperfections.
ahmar (red) -> hmarr (became red)
akhdar (green) -> khdarr (became green)
Hmarr w hdarr w sfarr... He turned red and green and yellow...
a3waj (crooked) -> 3wajj (became crooked)
a3war (blind of an eye) -> 3warr (become blind of one eye)

FORM 10: staktaba

- This is usually the reflexive of the 4th Form (aktaba):
aslama (give up) -> staslama (give oneself up)
a3adda (prepare) -> sta3adda (prepare oneself)

- In some verbs it has a sense of pleading and requesting (stakhbara=get informed), in others one of estimating (stakhaffa=underestimate, staqwa=overestimate the strength of).

Whew!

As you can see, the forms of the verbs can express a large number of concepts. As a comparison, English is described by the following categories: tense, gender, number, voice, mood, government and agreement. Arabic has all these plus intensive (forms 2, 5, 9), causative or factitive (2, 4, 10), effort or attempt (3), reciprocity (3, 6, 8), reflexiveness (5 is that of 2, 6 of 3, 7 of 1, 8 of 1), estimative (2, 4, 10), request and entreaty (10), and the energetic concept. The latter is not present in the verb itself, it requires suffixes, but I mention it because it is considered characteristic.

So we are done with the 10 forms... But wait! I wasn't satisfied because I knew the verb continues morphing to turn into nouns, and I'd feel very frustrated if the list of those extra forms wasn't included with that of the verbs. Here's everything I can think of, in no particular order.

Kâteb

"The one who writes", writer. This has a permanent meaning though, as in professional writer. This form is called "esm fâ3el", the present participle, and it is used for the meaning above but also in the meaning of "is ...ing":
Râyeh 3al beit: I'm going home, I'm on my way home.

Kateeb

"The one who writes" again, but this time with a non-permanent connotation. For instance it is used with the verb la3aba to obtain la3eeb, i.e a player in a sports team, board game etc. A good comparison is also to the english -ee words: employee, trainee... An example is the name Sameer: "the one with wom one chats in the evening" (the permanent form of the name being Sâmer, "the one who chats in the evening"). It's also an adjective, as in bakheel=stingy.

Katoob

This form expresses tendency -- the tendency to be jealous, to be shy or to cheat for instance.

Kattoob

I don't know what that produces with this verb, but it is used for instance with the verb ghanaja=to cuddle: Someone "ghannooj" is someone who both is cuddly and loves cuddles.

Kattâb

Here is another form that says "one who does so-and-so". It's illustrated in a proverb, said of someone very dreamy: Qattâf ward, shammâm hawa (a rose-picker and a wind-breather).

Maktab

This form is used to mean a place where this action occurs. Maktab=a place where writing occurs=office. The feminine form, maktabat, means both a bookshop and a stationery store. In the same spirit:
stashfa (to be healed) -> mustashfa (hospital)
La3aba (to play) -> mal3ab (a court, whether tennis, basketball, soccer...)

Maktoob

This is "esm maf3ool", the past participle, and you probably heard of the Muslim's famous expression "Maktoob" meaning "(It is) written".

Kitâb

I would say this is the result of the action expressed by the verb. Here kitâb means "book", the result of writing. There's also berwâz (frame).

Kuteyba

A diminutive form, such as in the name 3ubeyda (little servant) from 3abd (servant).

Kitâbat

This is the substantive of the kataba verb; in this case it means "writing", or more appropriately in French, "écriture". It refers to the action of but also the domain of writing. Other examples: Ikhtitâf Europa: the kidnapping of Europa. Iqtisâd al-balad: the country's industry.

Bulos, Afif A, The Arabic Triliteral Verb.

Colin, Eléments du Langage arabe.

Life.

Article © Joumana Medlej