PRESENT TENSE PARTICLES IN ARABIC LANGUAGE (أدوات جزم الفعل المضارع)

 PRESENT TENSE PARTICLES IN ARABIC LANGUAGE (2) (أدوات جزم الفعل المضارع)

By: Yusuf Basirat Bolanle

 In our previous lesson, we have discussed the definition of the present tense in the Arabic Language. We also discussed the particles of the present tense in Arabic Language, most especially the Nazb particles which give the end of the present tense a fatha parsing mark instead of the initial Ad-dammah.

In today’s lesson, we shall discuss the Jazm particles of the present tense, a condition whereby the present tense takes as-sukun parsing mark instead of the initial ad-dammah, and we shall give examples to illustrate our explanation.

The Present Tense takes Jazm sign, which is as-sukun, if it is proceeded by one of the particles of Jazm. These particles are:(لم), (لا), and (إن). 

Meaning of Jazm

Jazm is given the end of the present tense a parsing mark “As-Sukun” instead of the initial parsing mark which is Ad-dammah. When a present tense is preceded by any of the Jazm particles, it automatically changes the parsing mark on its end from Ad-dammah to As-sukun.

(لم) and (لا):  These two particles give only one Present Tense Jazm sign. The first one is negating the occurrence of an action in the past while the second one rejects the occurrence of the action to be performed by the second person.
However, the (إن) gives two present tense jazm parsing mark at a time, and the occurrence of the first verb is the condition for the occurrence of the second verb preceded by (إن)

Now, let us give a brief explanation of each of the Jazm particles with examples.

       Lam (لم)

The first of these Jazm particles is (لم). Lam means “Did not” or “didn’t” it is used to express the action which has not been done in the past. 

Examples are the following.

 

لم يَقْرأْ يوسف درسَه

Yusuf did not read his lesson

 

لم أجلس على الكرسي اليوم

I did not sit on the chair

 

لم تكتب راضية الامتحان

Rodiyah did not write the exam

لم يسافر أبى 

My father did not travel 

 

لم نسمع إلى الخبر

We did not listen to the news

 

In the above examples, the verbs (يقرأ), (أجلس), (تكتب), (يسافر), and (نسمع) are all present tense, they all end with the parsing mark As-sukun because they were preceded by Jazm particle (لم).  

 

However, the jazm particle (لم) as mentioned in the sentences indicates the negation of the occurrence of an action in the past form or denying the occurrence of an action in the past.

 

               Laa (لا)

The second of the Jazm particle of the present tense is (لا), which means “Do not” or “don’t”. It is usually refers to as (لا الناهية), the negative Laa.  It indicates the negation of an action to be performed by the second person in the present time. This occurs when the speaker (the first person) tells the listener (the second person) not to do or perform a particular action.

Examples

 

لا تجلس على الكرسي

Do not sit on the chair

  

لا تأكل الطعام و أنت واقف

Do not eat the food while you are standing up

 

لا تقرب الصلاة وأنت سَكْرَانُ

Do not perform prayer while you are drunk

 

لا تشرب الماء الأن

Do not drink water now

 

لا تذهب الى الميدان

Do not go to the field

 

If we go through the above examples, we discover that the verbs (تجلس), (تأكل), (تقرب), (تشرب), and (تذهب) are all present tense with the parsing marks As-sukun on their end. This is due to the Jazm particle (لا) that preceded them.
Also, if we look at the function of the Jazm particle (لا) as used in those sentences, we discover that it is negating the occurrence of an action to be done by the second person.

 

  In (إن)

The third of the Jazm Particles of the present tense is In (إن) which means “If”. It is called a conditional  Jazm particle because it gives condition on the action to be performed likewise the result of such action if it is performed.

 

Examples

 

إن تجلس على المفعد، أجلس معك   

If you sit on the bench, I will sit with you

 

إن يسافر أبى، أسافر معه

If my father travels, I will travel with him

 

  إن تضرب أخاك، يضربك عمك

If you beat your brother, Your uncle will beat you

 

إن تقرأ القرأن، يفتح الله قلبك للحق

If you read Quran, Allah will open you heart to 

the truth

 

إن تسمع نصيحة والدك، تنجح فى 

الإمتحان

 

If you listen to your father’s advice, you will succeed in the exam

 

In all the sentences above, the present tense are all conditional present tense with the results of each action if it is performed. 

 
Each sentence consists of two present verbs and each of them ends with Jazm sign. The occurrence of one the these verbs is a condition for the occurrence of the second one. That is why the (إن) particle is regarded as a conditional Jazm particle. 

 

The first verb is known as the “Conditional Verb” while the second one is  “Conditional Result Verb”

 

Summarily, The present tense takes As-sukun on its end if it is preceded by one of the Jazm particles of the present tense. however, if these particles are removed, it ends with initial Ar-raf’u sign which is Ad-dammah.
Jazm is given the end of the present tense as-sukun parsing mark instead of the initial ad-dammah.