Arabic and English Sentence Patterns: A Comparative Guide

12 | P a g e can express the English simple 17 , perfect, or progressive, depending on context, so aspect indication is only one of their functions. For example, the perfect دَرَسَ is usually translated “he studied,” but “he has studied” is acceptable in certain contexts. Thus, both English simple past tense and present tense perfect aspect can be expressed by the Arabic perfect form. We cannot, then, equate the Arabic perfect with the English perfect, specifically because the Arabic perfect does not consistently have the reference that in English acts as background information for the event. MSA does have a structure that closely parallels the English perfect: a perfect verb is used with the particle ﻗَﺪْ , adding the primary auxiliary ﻛﺎنَ for past or ﻜﻮنُ ﯾَ for future time (the latter most often preceded by the particle سَ or ﺳَﻮْفَ ). 16F17F 18 The student had studied. ﻛﺎنَ اﻟﻄّ ﺎﻟِ ﺐُ ﻗَ ﺪْ دَرَسَ . The student has studied. اﻟﻄّ ﺎﻟِ ﺐُ . ﻗَﺪْ دَرَسَ The student will have studied. ﺳَﯿَ ﻜﻮنُ اﻟﻄّﺎﻟِﺐُ ﻗَﺪْ دَرَسَ . or ﺳَﻮْفَ ﯾَﻜﻮنُ اﻟﻄّﺎﻟِﺐُ دَرَسَ .* 19 Similarly, the imperfect ﯾَﺪْرُسُ is usually translated “he studies,” but “he is studying” is also acceptable. 20 In this case, both English simple present tense and present tense progressive aspect are expressed by the Arabic imperfect form. As Arabic uses the term imperfect and English progressive , there is less confusion here. Again, MSA has another structure that parallels the English progressive form. The active participle 21 can be used, again adding the appropriate form of ﻛﺎنَ for time distinction. The student was returning from Beirut. ﻣِﻦْ ﺑَﯿْﺮوتَ . راﺟِﻌً ﺎ ﻛﺎنَ اﻟﻄّ ﺎﻟِ ﺐُ