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The root verb can also be changed to modify its meaning. The usual past/present changes are then applied to the new verb forms. Again only a few letters are used in these alterations, which makes it easy for us to spot them. I suppose this is similar to the transformations that can occur in English. For instance the letter combinations 're' and 'dis' can make new verbs from old. 'gain' can become 'regain'. 'appear' can become 'disappear'.

Here is the root pattern for reference: فَعَلَ

Form II

This is the form II past . It is made simply by adding ّ to the second root letter, with a َ whatever the original middle vowel.

So, for instance, the 'they' form would look like فَعَّلُوا

The pattern for the present is . The middle vowel of the past has changed to ِ  , and a ُ is used on the prefix letter. This makes for 'we are...'

Typical uses of this form are to intensify the meaning, to add causation (e.g. 'to know' becomes 'to cause to know' - i.e. 'to teach') and to change an intransitive verb (with no object - e.g. I walk) into a transitive one (that takes an object - e.g. I walk the dog). You will meet it occasionally in the quraan.

Form III

This is the form III past . It is made simply by adding ا between the first and second letters.

So, for instance, the 'we' form would look like فَاعَلنَا

The pattern for the present is . Just as for form II, the middle vowel of the past has changed to ِ  , and a ُ is used on the prefix letter. This makes for the singular 'you are...'

Typical usage is indicating an attempt (to try to do), and relating the action to a person (e.g. 'to write' becomes 'to write to').

Form IV

This is the form IV past . It is made simply by adding أ to the front.

So, for instance, the 'they' form would look like أَفْعَلُوا

The pattern for the present is . Just as for forms II and III, the middle vowel of the past has changed to ِ  , and a ُ is used on the prefix letter. Notice the added أ has been dropped. This makes for 'they are...'

Typical usage is similar to form II (causative, or adding an object to the verb). It is a very common form in the quraan.

There are some more forms, but let's try out some of the ones you have just seen. Here is 2:9

The first word looks like a 'they' present tense. This should be your normal reation to words that look like this - (start with a ي and end in ون )!

Another clue is that there are already three letters in the word (خ  د  ع ) that are not used for modifying words, so they must be root letters anyway!

There are plenty more clues there as well. The fact that the ي has a ُ says we have a form II, III or IV verb, which is supported by the middle root vowel being ِ

All that is left to notice is the extra ا after the خ , which is form III.

I hope you don't have any doubts after that!

So we will find the word under خ  د  ع  in the dictionary, meaning 'deceive'. Form III makes this 'try to deceive' or 'outwit'. So we have 'they try to deceive' or 'they outwit ...'.

The second word should not need my help. Notice the word ends َ  showing Allah is not the subject of the sentence, but the object.

You should recognise وَ - 'and' immediately. The next word is one you should learn to recognise as well. الَّذِينَ is the relative pronoun 'those who'.

Thus far, we have 'They try to deceive Allah and those who...' or 'They outwit Allah and those who...'

The next word looks like it has the past tense 'they' ending وا. If it is a past tense, then nothing would have been added on the front, so the root seems to be اامن. Four letters? No. The first ا is just the one added on the front for form IV, and the root is امن.

So the dictionary gives 'believed, trusted'. Form IV gives the additional option of causation ('reassure').

Now I tend to avoid using the word 'believe' or 'believers' with this root. This is simply because it carries the meaning of 'not having enough evidence to know' and also as a westerner the cultural background for 'believer' carries too much of 'belonging to our club (denomination or religion)' rather than the 'trust' of the purposes of God and the distinction of right and wrong you are provided with. In the quraan the word is often used in contrast to كفر meaning 'to cover up, deny' (and not the 'un-believer/blasphemer' - person to be burned alive for infringing the club rules).

The next two words are 'and' and مَا which you should remember from the previous page can mean 'what = that which' or negates the following verb.

The next word again looks like a present 'they...', with the same root as the first verb. This time the prefixed ي has a َ so cannot be form II, III or IV. But no other changes have been made either, so this is in fact just the original form I 'they deceive'.

Next is another useful word to learn. which means 'except'.

So far we have 'they try to deceive Allah and those who trusted and not they decieve except...'

Yes, the هم on the end is a 'them'. What is left cannot be form II, III or IV present (َ on the first letter), nor can it be past since these have letters added on the end, but it might be form I, 1st peron singular present (which has ا tacked on the front), making the whole word 'I something them'. The root would be نفس . Since the middle root vowel is ُ, this limits the root verb to being 'injure' from نَفَسَ or 'is precious/costly' from نَفُسَ. This last verb also has passive uses ('was born') which cannot apply here since we already have an object 'them'.

But while it fits a verb pattern, it also fits a noun pattern. اَنفُس is a plural of نَفس meaning 'self, soul, individual, substance, desire, pride etc.'. In this case the word could mean 'themselves'.

Which is it to be? 'They do not deceive except themselves...' or 'They do not deceive except I injure them...'?

(In fact if it was a verb, the last root letter vowel sound puts the verb in a subjunctive mode '[if] ... I would injure' - but more of that later! - you may have noticed it was not the ُ of the 'normal' 1st person singular present.)

Next we again have 'and not'

Looks like another straightforward present 'they...' (again it cannot be II, III or IV - why not?) with root شعر

There are three verbs of this form (each having a different middle vowel) but it is شَعَرَ that has ُ as a middle vowel in the present tense. Its meaning is 'perceived, noticed, observed...' so we have 'they perceive'.

Putting it all together we have:

'They try to deceive Allah and those who trusted and not they deceive except themselves and not they perceive'

They try to deceive Allah and those who trusted, but they do not deceive anyone except themselves, and they don't realise it!

Recognising that changes can be made to the root to form new verbs.

That the normal ways of making the past and present tense are applied to these new forms.

The useful word 'except'.

الَّذِينَ is the relative pronoun 'those who'.

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