The Incomplete Verbs (Af'aal Naaqisah) – Nahw Meer 6.8–6.9

Nahw Meer in English · Lesson 6.8–6.9

نَحْوُ مِير

Section 6.8 – Incomplete Verbs فَصْلٌ ٦. ٨ – أَفْعَالُ النَّاقِصَةِ

 

There are seventeen types of Incomplete Verbs

أَفْعَالُ النَّاقِصَةِ :

 

Table 13 – Incomplete Verbs

1	كَانَ	He was
2	صَارَ	To become
3	ظَلَّ	To be or to become in the daytime
4	بَاتَ	To be or to become in the nighttime
5	أَصْبَحَ	To be or to become in the morning time
6	أَضْحَىٰ	To be or to become at mid-morning
7	أَمْسَىٰ	To be or to become in the evening
8	عَادَ	Return
9	آضَ	Happened
10	غَدَا	To be or Tomorrow
11	رَاحَ	To go or to go in the evening
12	مَا زَالَ	To keep on, not to cease, to continue
13	مَا انْفَكَّ	To keep on or to not discontinue
14	مَا بَرِحَ	To continue
15	مَا فَتِئَ	Always, continuously
16	مَادَامَ	To continue, as long as
17	لَيْسَ	No, not

 

These Verbs are not complete with the actor فَاعِلٌ alone and require a Predicate اَلْخَبَرُ. That is why they are called Incomplete Verbs أَفْعَالُ النَّاقِصَةِ.

 

These Verbs enter in a Nominative Sentence اِسْمِيَّةٌ جُمْلَةٌ and give the Nominative رَفْعٌ status to مُسْنَدٌإِلَيْهِthat is الْمُبتَدَأُ and it is called a Noun of Incomplete Verb, and an Accusative نَصْبٌ to اَلْمُسْنَدُthat is a Predicate اَلْخَبَرُ. For example, كَانَ زَيْدٌ قَائمًا meaning “Zaid was standing”. Its Nominative رَفْعٌ is called a Noun of كَانَ and its Accusative مَنْصُوْبٌ is a Predicate اَلْخَبَرُ of كَانَ. You can guess[1]the remaining based on this.[2]

 

And some Verbs in these are complete with its single actor فَاعِلٌ. For example, كَانَ مَطْرٌ meaning “there was rain”. And when that happens, كَانَ isfor the meaning of “happened”. It is called complete كَانَ. Sometimes كَانَ is extraneous.[3]

 

Section 6.9 – Verbs of Approximation فَصْلٌ ٦ ٩ – أَفْعَالُ الْمُقَارَبَةِ

 

There are four Verbs of Approximation:

1.              عَسَىٰ   Hopefully

2.              كَادَ      Soon, almost

3.              كَرُبَ   Soon

4.              أَوْشَكَ To be just about to

 

These enter in a Nominative Sentence الْاِسْمِيَّةِ جُمْلَةُ similar to the way they enter other Incomplete Verbs which are called كَانَ وَ أَخْوَاتُهَا meaning “كَانَ and its sisters” and give Nominative رَفْعٌ status to its Noun, and Accusative نَصْبٌ status to its Predicate. This is true when its Predicate is an Imperfect Tense Verb اَلْفِعلُ الْمُضَارِعُ, and it is used with أَنْ, as in عَسٰى أَنْ يَخْرُجَ زَيْدٌ meaning “hopefully Zaid will leave or is leaving”; When used without أَنْas in

 عَسٰى يَخْرُجُ زَيْدٌ with the same meaning, both the Noun and Predicate are Nominative رَفْعٌ.

 

It is possible that an Imperfect Tense Verb فِعْلُ الْمُضَارِعِ with أَنْ is an actor فَاعِلٌ for عَسٰى. When that happens, there is no need for a Predicate اَلْخَبَرُ here as in:

 [4]أَنْ يَخْرُجَ زَيْدٌ عَسٰى and that it أَنْ يَخْرُجَ زَيْدٌ is in a Nominative رَفْعٌ position/location فِي مَحَلِّ رَفْعٍ with the meaning of Verbal Source اَلْمَصْدَرُ and its flexibility إِعْرَابٌ is called Presumed تَقْدِيْرِيٌ.

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[1] Its meaning: All incomplete Verbs enter on a Nominative sentence; Nominative status is given to the Noun and Accusative to its Predicate. The first one is named Noun of كَانَand it is Nominative and second is Predicate of كَانَ and it is Accusative.

[2] That is, guess based on كَانَ.

[3] As in Allah SWT Says in Holy Quran in Surah Maryam, Ayah 29

﴿كَيْفَ نُكَلِّمُ مَنْ كَانَ فِي الْمَهدِ صَبِيًّا﴾

 meaning “how can we talk with one who is a child in the cradle”. كَانَ here is redundant because meaning of the sentence is complete without it but it is used for the beauty of the phrase.

[4]عَسٰىhere has become a complete verb.