Arabic: An Essential Grammar

17.8 The particle َق ْد qad with the imperfect

The particle َق ْد has already been mentioned in chapter 14 in connection

with the perfect tense in order to emphasize the completion of an action

or state. But the particle َق ْد is used with the imperfect tense to denote the

uncertainty of an action or state, and is translated as ‘may’, ‘might’ or

‘perhaps’, e.g.

َق ْد َن ْك ُت ُب ِإَل ْي ِه ْم^ qad naktubu

ilay-him.

We may write to them. OR Perhaps we will write to them.

لأ ْس َتا ُذ َغ ًداَُْق ْد َي ْح ُض ُر qad yah

̇

d

̇

uru l-

usta ̄d

̄

u g ̇adan.

The teacher might come tomorrow.

17.9 Negative of the imperfect tense

The following three negative particles precede the verb in the imperfect:

Example:

ِفي ْلـ َم َسا ِءَ ما / َلا َي ْش َر ُب َق ْه َو ًة

ma ̄ / la ̄ yasˇrabu qahwatan fı- l-masa ̄

I.

He does not drink coffee in the evening.

ّم ِهََس ْو َف َلا َي ْذ َه ُب َو َلا َي ْك ُت ُب ِإَ لى ُأ

sawfa la ̄ yad

̄

habu wa-la ̄ yaktubu

ila ̄

ummi-hi.

He will neither go nor write to his mother.

Exercises

Practise your reading:

يِف

1

(^) َ ّيَأ
2
ٍعِراَش
3
ُنُكْسَت َنْيَأَو ُنُكْسَت
4
؟َكُتَلِئاَع
(1) fı

• 
  
  ayyi sˇa ̄ri



in taskunu wa-

ayna taskunu



a ̄

ilatu-ka?

On

1

which

2

street do

3

you live and where does

4

your family live?

َلا la ̄, not, neither َو َلا wa-la ̄, nor

َما ma ̄, not (rarely used in the imperfect)

110

Imperfect

tense in the

indicative,

word order