Yiying Zhang
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Arabic Learning Notes

Passive Voice

What passive voice is in Arabic, how to spot it, and when it shows up.

1 Sections English + 中文 Grammar + Practice

Passive Voice

A quick guide to the passive voice (المبني للمجهول) in Arabic.

Passive Voice

1. What is passive voice?

In general, there are two ways to describe an action in any language: active or passive. In English, passive voice is often discouraged in academic writing, but in Arabic it is acceptable—though it is rare outside of formal writing and almost never used in colloquial speech.

Past tense

  • Active: I opened the door.
  • Passive: The door was opened by me.

Present tense

  • Active: I am opening the door.
  • Passive: The door is being opened by me.

2. How to identify passive voice

In Arabic, you identify the passive almost entirely by the vowels (تَشْكِيل). The consonants usually stay the same because Arabic is root-based, but the vowel “melody” changes to signal that the action is received.

Rule 1: The “U” starter

A passive verb in the present or past tense almost always begins with a Dammah (ُ).

  • Active: usually starts with Fathah (َ) or Kasrah (ِ).
  • Passive: almost always starts with Dammah (ُ).

Rule 2: The “penultimate” vowel (second-to-last root letter)

Past tense passive (U — I)

  • Pattern: Fu’ila
  • Example: قُتِلَ (Qutila) — “He was killed” (vs. Qatala — “He killed”).
  • Look for the “down/ee” sound at the end.

Present tense passive (U — A)

  • Pattern: Yuf’alu
  • Example: يُؤْخَذُ (Yu’khadhu) — “It is taken”.
  • Look for the “up/aa” sound at the end.

Summary identification table

Tense
Past Active
Start Vowel
Fathah (َ)
Penultimate Vowel
Fathah/Kasrah
Example
فَتَحَ (Fataha)
Meaning
He opened
Tense
Past Passive
Start Vowel
Dammah (ُ)
Penultimate Vowel
Kasrah (ِ)
Example
فُتِحَ (Futiha)
Meaning
It was opened
Tense
Present Active
Start Vowel
Fathah (َ)
Penultimate Vowel
Kasrah (ِ)
Example
يَفْتَحُ (Yaftahu)
Meaning
He opens
Tense
Present Passive
Start Vowel
Dammah (ُ)
Penultimate Vowel
Fathah (َ)
Example
يُفْتَحُ (Yuftahu)
Meaning
It is opened

Trick for unvoweled text

  • Check the subject: is the word after the verb capable of doing the action? If “the book [verb] yesterday,” the book probably didn’t read—it was read (قُرِئَ — Quri’a).
  • The preposition clue: passive verbs are often followed by مِنْ قِبَل (min qibali — “by” / “on the part of”).

Helpful hint for Najdi studies

In spoken ʿAmmiya, the formal passive (مبني للمجهول) is much less frequent. People often use the “In-” prefix (Form VII) to express passive meaning.

  • MSA passive: كُسِرَ (Kusira) — It was broken.
  • Najdi/spoken: اِنْكَسَرَ (Inkasar) — It got broken.

Would you like to try identifying the passive form in a few more sentences, or should we look at how the “In-” prefix works in Najdi Arabic?