The verbal noun in Arabic

As we’ve seen when discussing Arabic root forms, there are patterns.

In this post, we’ll go over one of the most important patterns: the verbal noun.

What is a verbal noun with an example?

The verbal noun, or المصدر (al maSdar), names the action of its corresponding verb.
It’s very similar to the English -ing form, as in running.

Examples:

• From the verb to write كَتَبَ (kataba), the name of the action is writing → كِتَابَة (kitaba).

• From the verb to read قَرَأَ (qaraa’a), the name of the action is reading → قِرَاءَة (qira’a).

• From the verb to study دَرَسَ (darasa), the name of the action is studying → دِرَاسَة (diraasa).

Each masdar (verbal noun) can be derived from triliteral or quadriliteral roots.

Some have abstract meanings, while others are more specific, so don’t worry if a certain masdar doesn’t translate perfectly into English.

How to use the masdar?

Let’s look at some examples:

Example 1 – I love traveling to new countries.

In Arabic: أنا أحب السفر إلى بلدان جديدة (ana uhibb as safar ila buldan jadyda).

The name of the action I love is traveling.

The verb to travel in Arabic is سَافَرَ (saafara) and its masdar is سَفَر (safar).

Example 2 – She tried to break the tradition.

In Arabic: حاولت كسر التقليد (Haawalat kasar al-taqliid).

The verb to break is كَسَرَ (kasara). Its masdar is كَسْر (kasr).

Here’s the key: كَسَرَ (kasara) means he broke (past tense, 3rd person singular), but كَسْر (kasr) is a noun meaning breaking. In our sentence, we used the noun, not the verb, so there’s no feminine verb ending.

Example 3 – Learning languages is important.
In Arabic: تعلّم اللغات مهم (ta‘allum al lughaat muhim).

The verb to learn is تَعَلَّمَ (ta‘allama) and its masdar is تَعَلُّم (ta‘allum).

Remember: even though it’s called a verbal noun, the masdar is a noun, not a verb. It behaves like a noun in the sentence.

Why the masdar matters?

The masdar allows you to express actions in a flexible way, similar to how English uses gerunds (-ing forms) and infinitives.

You’ll see it in many contexts, after certain verbs, in titles, in formal writing, and in expressions.

Arabic verbal forms

Don’t worry if the verbs and their masdars look different, we’ll cover them when we talk about verb forms.

Here’s the bigger picture:

• Arabic verbs are divided into forms (patterns).

• There are 10 important verb forms.

• Nouns have their own important patterns.

• For each verb form, the noun patterns (including the masdar) can change slightly, but the differences are small.

Everything starts from verbs: if the verb changes form, the corresponding noun pattern changes accordingly.

We’ll go over each verb form, and its related noun patterns, in detail in upcoming lessons.