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Sarf صرف

All صرف families can be grouped into two large groups.

1. المُجَرَّد

The distinguishing feature of these families is that their container (in the هو version of past tense) has no extra letters, it only consists of حركات (vowels). For example:

نَصَرَ كَرُمَ سَمِعَ ضَرَبَ فَهِمَ كَبُرَ

Families in this category are unique and have additional members:

  • اسم الة (tools/devices)
  • اسم تفضيل (comparative/superlatives)
  • اسم صفة (adjectives for permanent qualities)
  • اسم مُبالَغَة (a hyperbolized form of اسم فاعل)

2. المَزِيْد فِيْه

The container always consists of extra letters in addition to the حركات (vowels).

Examples: اِنْقلب أسلم جاهد تفرّق تعاوَنَ اِستغفر

Note : It is very important to memorize all the families starting from Family 2 to 10 First, Then memorizing all the families of المُجَرَّد before moving forward in the Sarf Study

Family 2: باب تَفْعِيْل

In Classical Arabic tradition, name follows the pattern of Masdar.

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Rhetorical Implications of Family 2:

Words from this family are generally مُتَعَدٍّ and indicate that the action is repetitive and takes place over a long period of time .
For example, نَزَّلَ means to reveal gradually and repetitively over time. This verb is used to describe the revelation of the Quran over 23 years.

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ ءَامِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ وَٱلْكِتَـٰبِ ٱلَّذِى نَزَّلَ عَلَىٰ رَسُولِهِۦ وَٱلْكِتَـٰبِ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنزَلَ مِن قَبْلُ ۚ

In this Ayah - نزَّلَ is used to refer to Quran which was revealed gradually over 23 years and أَنزَلَ is used to refer to previous revelations , which were not revealed gradually like Quran but were revealed all at once to the previous prophets.

This pattern can also imply hyperbole. For example, قَتَّلَ means to massacre, whereas قَتَلَ simply means to kill.

Family 3: باب مُفَاعَلَة (Mufāʿala)

There are 2 Masdars, with the second one being more commonly used in modern Arabic.

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Rhetorical Implications of Family 3:

Action is directed from one individual/party to another.
For example, عاقب means to punish, which is something one individual/party does to another.

Family 4: باب إفعال

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Rhetorical Implications of Family 4:

Action is completed immediately and all at once.
For example, أَنَزَلَ means to send something down immediately and at once.

Family 5: باب تفعُّلً

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يَتَبَدَّلُ - فعل مضارع

2:108 أَمْ  تُرِيدُونَ  أَن  تَسْـَٔلُوا۟  رَسُولَكُمْ  كَمَا  سُئِلَ  مُوسَىٰ  مِن  قَبْلُ  ۗ  وَمَن  يَتَبَدَّلِ  ٱلْكُفْرَ  بِٱلْإِيمَٰنِ  فَقَدْ  ضَلَّ  سَوَآءَ  ٱلسَّبِيلِ 

Abdel Haleem: Do you wish to demand of your messenger something similar to what was demanded of Moses? Whoever exchanges faith for disbelief has strayed far from the right path.

Here in this Ayah يَتَبَدَّلِ is actually يَتَبَدَّلْ which is Lightest version ( مجزوم ) of Fi’l Mudha’ri and because the next word has الْ , since 2 sukoons cannot be adjacent to each other ( Difficult to pronounce ), So one day Arabs had a Barbeque and they decided to put Kasra ( ِ ) instead of sukoon ( ْ )

If you are a beginner then you don’t have worry about why the فعل is Majzoom, since reason for that comes in Advance(or intermediate) Nahw - It is الجملة الشّرطِيّة

For Details about noraml,light,lightest see the Nahw Chapter 7 - فعل مضارع of Dream Textbook, pg 88

Rhetorical Implications of Family 5:

Words from this family are predominantly لازم (intransitive) and can sometimes imply that the action took effort to complete.

Transitive v/s Intransitive Fi’l فعل

1 . Transitive Fi’l (متعدٍ): A transitive Fi’l is one that requires a direct object to make sense. The action of the Fi’l moves from the subject to an object. In Arabic, these Fi’ls are known as Fi‘l Muta‘addi (فعل متعدٍ). Example: أَنزَلَ (anzala) – “He sent down.”

ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنزَلَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ بِٱلْحَقِّ وَٱلْمِيزَانَ ۗ وَمَا يُدْرِيكَ لَعَلَّ ٱلسَّاعَةَ قَرِيبٌۭ ١٧

The verb “sent down” requires an object (the book) to complete its meaning.

2 . Intransitive Fi’l (لازم): An intransitive Fi’l is one that does not require an object to complete its meaning. The action is complete in itself and does not transfer to an object. In Arabic, these are called Fi‘l Lazim (فعل لازم).

Example: جَاءَ (jaa’a) – “He came.” The verb “came” does not need an object to complete its meaning.

Important Note: Some verbs in Arabic can be both transitive and intransitive depending on the context and additional elements (like prepositions). For example, ذَهَبَ (dhahaba) can be intransitive, meaning "he went," but when combined with a preposition, it can take an object, such as ذهب إلى (dhahaba ila – "he went to").

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