Arabic Past Passive: The u

Most Arabic verbs you know are active. For example, kataba means he wrote. In the active voice, the subject is the hero. But in the passive, the object becomes the star. The cool thing about Arabic is that we do not add extra words. We do not use a separate word for was or been. Instead, we change the internal vowels of the verb. It is a vowel dance! The consonants stay exactly the same. Only the tiny marks above and below the letters move. In the past tense, this change follows a very strict pattern. If you hear an u sound followed by an i sound, your brain should scream passive! It is one of the most consistent rules in the language. Once you hear it, you cannot unhear it.

1. 1Turning an active verb into a passive one is a two-step process. Let us use the three-letter verb fa'ala as our template. This is the standard model for all Arabic grammar.
2. 2Change the first vowel to a damma. This creates the u sound. The first letter now sounds like fu instead of fa.
3. 3Change the second-to-last vowel to a kasra. This creates the i sound. The middle letter now sounds like i instead of a.
4. 4Keep the final vowel as a fatha for the third person masculine singular. This represents the past tense marker.
5. 5So, fa'ala becomes fu'ila. Let us try a real word. Take kataba (he wrote). Following the steps: 1. ku, 2. ti, 3. ba. You get kutiba. It means it was written. See? It is like a secret code. Just change the a-a-a pattern to an u-i-a pattern. This works for almost every basic three-letter verb. Yes, even native speakers mess this up sometimes when they are talking fast! Take your time with it.

You will find the passive voice in many real-world scenarios. Imagine you are reading a news report about a new building. The reporter might say bunia al-mat'am (the restaurant was built). They do not need to name every construction worker. It is also great for being polite or vague. If you are at a job interview and a mistake happened, you might say fu'ila al-khata' (the mistake was made). It sounds less aggressive than accusing someone. Use it when:

• The doer is totally unknown (e.g., your bike was stolen).
• The doer is obvious (e.g., the law was passed by parliament).
• You want to be formal or academic.
• You want to hide who did something (the secret was told!).

It is like a grammar traffic light; it tells you when to slow down and focus on the result.

Do not use the passive for verbs that do not have an object. These are called intransitive verbs. For example, the verb dhahaba (he went). You cannot say he was gone in this specific passive way. You need a direct object to turn into the new subject. Also, avoid using it if you really need to mention the doer. In English, we say the book was written by Omar. In traditional Arabic, we rarely say by Omar after a passive verb. If you know Omar did it, just use the active voice! It is much more natural. Using the passive and then adding the doer back in is like buying a decaf coffee and adding caffeine powder. It defeats the purpose!

The most common mistake is forgetting the kasra (the i sound). If you only change the first vowel to u, the word sounds weird or incomplete. You need both the u and the i to make the passive work. Another mistake is trying to use the word by (like min qibal). While modern news uses this, it is not traditional. Try to avoid it at the A1 level. Just let the action stand alone. Also, remember that the verb must match the new subject in gender. If the thing that was broken is feminine, the verb needs a t at the end. For example, kusira al-qalam (the pen was broken) but kusirat al-shubbak (the window was broken). Think of it like matching your socks to your outfit.

Don't confuse the past passive with the present passive. The present passive also starts with an u sound, but the second vowel is different. In the past, it is u...i. In the present, it is u...a. For example, kutiba (it was written) versus yuktabu (it is being written). Also, watch out for certain verbs that naturally start with an u sound in the active voice. These are rare in the basic forms, but they exist. Always look for that kasra on the second-to-last letter. That is your ultimate clue. It is the signature of the past passive. It is like a fingerprint for the verb.