When the Actor (Subject) Is Visible

 



A Simple Rule For a Verbal Sentence

A simple rule to remember in making a Verbal sentence is given by Ibn Hajib Rahimahullah Alaihi in his Nahw book Kaafiah. Often used by Mufti Rashid in his classes with his student, It says this:

If the Actor/Subject is given (clearly mentioned, not its pronoun such as he, she, them, etc.), the Verb is always the single version.

اِذَا كَانَ الْفَاعِلُ اِسْمًا ظَاهِرًاوُحِّدُ الْفِعْلُ أبَدًا

For example:

خَرَجَ النَّاسُ مِنَ الْمَسْجِدِ 

meaning people exited/came out of the masjid. 

Here  خَرَجَ is the verb فِعْلٌ, and النَّاسُ  is the actor/subject فَاعِلٌ and الْمَسْجِدِ  is the object of the verb مَفْعُوْلٌ.

Note here that Verb is singular خَرَجَ and not plural خَرَجوْا  to match with النَّاسُ  (the people), which is plural.

 

Other examples:

قَرَأ الطُلَّابُ الدَّرسَ

(Students read the lesson)

سَمِعَتْ الْبَنَاتُ الْأذَانَ

(Girls heard the adhan) Note سَمِعَتْ  is singular female because الْبَنَاتُ  is feminine gender.

If the Actor is a pronoun, then this rule does not apply. 

 

For example:

 خَرَجُوهُمْ مِنَ الْمَسْجِدِ

(They came out/exited the masjid). Here هُمْ pronoun is used, which is a plural male, so Verb is also plural male خَرَجُوا.

or

 سَمِعْنَ الْأذَانَ

(They, females, heard the adhan). Note that سَمِعْنَ  is the plural female third-person Verb.

 

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