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There is no verb corresponding to I am. It is omitted. Thus, ana mabsūt, I am contented; hmwa faqīr, he is poor.
I have, &c., is formed with the preposition 'and (near) and the personal pronouns, as
| 'andi, | I have. | 'andena, | we have. |
| 'andak, | thou hast. | 'andehum, | you have. |
| 'andu, | he has. | 'andehum, | they have. |
I had is kān 'andi, (there was near me) ; and similarly for the other persons.
General Formation of Tenses.
An ordinary verb—katab, he wrote—is here given, and all the verbs are formed similarly:—
| katab, | he wrote, | kātib, | writing, | maktūb, | written. |
| PRESENT OR FUTURE. | ||
| ana aktib, | I write or will write, | ehna niktib, |
| inta tiktib, | intum tiktibu, | |
| huwa yiktib, | humma yiktibu. | |
| PAST. | ||
| ana katábt, | I wrote. | ehna katábna, |
| inta katdbt, | intum katábtu, | |
| huwa katab, | humma katabu. | |
| IMPERFECT. | ||
| ana hunt aktib, | I was writing. | ehna kunna niktib, |
| inta kimt tiktib, | intum kuntu tiktibu, | |
| huwa kān yiktib, | humma kdnu yiktibu. | |
| PLUPERFECT. | ||
| ana hunt katábt, | I had written. | ehna kunna katábna, |
| inta kunt katábt, | intum kuntu katábtu, | |
| huwa kān katab, | humma kānu katabu. | |
Nearly all imperatives are formed uniformly, as Iktib—Write! Imsik—Take hold of! Imshi—Walk! or Go! Iftaḥ—Open! From masak, māshi, fatah.
A form to express present action, to distinguish the present from the future, is often used, the present being given the prefix bi. Thus,
| ana baktib, | I am writing (now), |
| inta bitiktib, | |
| huwa biyiktib, &c. |
