intermediate · grammar
عَرِف وعَرَّف
What a verb pattern is
Three root letters, ten shapes — the idea that unlocks the dictionary
Almost every Arabic verb is three consonants — a root — poured into a shape. The root carries the meaning, and the shape bends it: makes it causative, mutual, passive, or turns doing into becoming.
Take the root ع‑ر‑ف, which is about knowing:
Phrases
Five verbs, one root, five shapes. If you know the root and you know the shapes, you can often work out a verb you've never met — and, just as usefully, you can guess how to pronounce and conjugate it, because all verbs in the same shape behave identically.
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