Arabic and English Sentence Patterns: A Comparative Guide

6 | P a g e 1.2 ARABIC Arabic verbs share the above definition but differ according to type. The two most common primary auxiliaries are ﻛﺎنَ and ﻟَ ﯿْ ﺲَ 4F2F 3 . Unlike English, however, only some of the Arabic primary auxiliaries fully inflect. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) has no modal auxiliaries (see p. 18). Consequently, almost all Arabic verbs are lexical, including ﻛﺎنَ and ﺲَ ﯿْ ﻟَ when they function as main verbs. TENSE AND ASPECT MOOD AND MODALITY CHARTS SENTENCE TYPES NOTES 2 Tense and time reference: English and Arabic Time, when it relates to language, is semantic. When we speak or write, we mean (refer to) past, present, or future. Tense is not consistently semantic; it is related to the form of the verb rather than to its meaning. 4 Consider the following sentences: The meeting will begin (modal auxiliary and infinitive/uninflected verb) in two hours. أُ ﺪَ ﺒْ ﯾَ فَ ﻮْ ﺳَ ) particle and imperfect verb ( اﻹﺟْ .ﻦِ ﯿْ ﺘَ ﺳﺎﻋَ ﺪَ ﻌْ ﺑَ ﻤﺎعُ ﺘِ The meeting begins (present tense verb) in two hours. أُ ﺪَ ﺒْ ﯾَ ) imperfect verb ( اﻹﺟْ .ﻦِ ﯿْ ﺘَ ﺳﺎﻋَ ﺪَ ﻌْ ﺑَ ﻤﺎعُ ﺘِ The meeting is beginning (present tense primary auxiliary and present participle) in two hours. اﻹﺟْ ئٌ ﺑﺎدِ ﻤﺎعُ ﺘِ ) particle active ( .ﻦِ ﯿْ ﺘَ ﺳﺎﻋَ ﺪَ ﻌْ ﺑَ If the meeting began (past tense verb) in two hours, I would be late. أَ ﺪَ ﺑَ إذا ) perfect verb ( اﻹﺟْ .ﺧِّﺮًا ﺄَ ﺘَ ﻣُ ﻛﻮنُ ﺄَ ﺴَ ﻓَ ﻦِ ﯿْ ﺘَ ﺳﺎﻋَ ﺪَ ﻌْ ﺑَ ﻤﺎعُ ﺘِ All of these sentences refer to future time, yet none uses a future verb form because there are no future tense verb forms in English 5 or Arabic. Thus, the