The Subjunctive in Arabic

The mark of subjunctive is known to be “fat7a”, a, in which case it is usually not visible in regular texts such as newspapers and books, and not pronounced in less formal contexts.

Students often wonder why they have to learn declensions, if they are not written or pronounced.

Well, here is a situation (among many) where they have to be written…. and pronounced!

The mark of the subjunctive is not always “fat7a”, a!

When it is not a, it’s a long suffix, which has to be written. Note that, in this case, the regular present already has a long suffix that changes in the subjunctive!

See it here, with different pronouns:

===أنا

َأريدُ أن أسافر

أتمنى أن أسافرَ

أحبُّ أن أسافرَ

===أنتِ

تريدين أن تسافري

تتمنين أن تسافري

تحبين أن تسافري

===أنتم

تريدون أن تسافروا

تتمنون أن تسافروا

تحبون أن تسافروا