انفعَل

Form Seven: It Happened to Something

Level 3

Form VII (اِنْفَعَلَ) describes what happens to something as a result of an action. It is the 'passive of result.' For example, if you break a glass (Form I), the glass 'breaks' or 'becomes broken' (Form VII).

How It Works

Form VII is one of the ten primary verb shapes in Arabic. It is formed by adding the prefix اِنـ (in-) to the three-letter root.

1. Meaning and Usage:
It acts as a 'quasi-passive.' While the formal passive (e.g., كُسِرَ 'it was broken') implies an agent performed the action, Form VII (اِنكَسَرَ 'it broke') describes the event as if it happened spontaneously or focuses purely on the resulting state. There is a strong tendency for this form to be used for physical events and 'impressions' on physical objects (like breaking, opening, or cutting), though abstract exceptions exist, such as اِنعَكَسَ ('to be reflected'). The common resultative verbs taught here are intransitive: the affected thing is their subject, not a direct object. They are active morphological forms with a passive-like meaning, not the vowel-changing passive paradigm.

2. Learn the Lexical Pattern:
Not every root is used in every derived form. Learn the attested verb rather than mechanically adding اِنْـ. For example, نَقَلَ has the counterpart اِنْتَقَلَ in Form VIII. There is no blanket ban on roots beginning with م: اِنْمَحَى (be erased) is an attested Form VII verb.

3. The Verbal Noun (Maṣdar):
The verbal noun for this form follows the pattern اِنفِعال (infiʿāl), such as اِنكِسار (breaking/fracture) or اِنفِجار (explosion).

4. The Vanishing Hamza:
The initial alif in infaʿala is a hamzat al-waṣl. This means the 'i' sound is pronounced when beginning an utterance or resuming after a pause. If a word precedes it, the alif is written but not pronounced (e.g., وَانكَسَرَ).

Present and Participle: The regular patterns are يَنْفَعِلُ and مُنْفَعِل: اِنْكَسَرَ → يَنْكَسِرُ → مُنْكَسِر. In يَنْكَسِرُ الزُّجَاجُ (the glass breaks), the glass is the subject. زُجَاجٌ مُنْكَسِرٌ means broken glass: مُنْكَسِر is morphologically an active participle even though English uses “broken.”

Further Connections

Examples (4)

  1. اِنْكَسَرَ الزُّجاجُ بَعْدَ العاصِفَةِ.

    The glass broke after the storm.

    Word by Word: Broke the glass after the storm.

    Here, 'inkasara' (Form VII) shows the result of the storm on the glass. The glass is the subject, not the object.

  2. اِنْفَتَحَ البابُ تِلْقائِيًّا.

    The door opened automatically.

    Word by Word: Opened the door automatically.

    Form VII is perfect for describing things that happen 'by themselves' or automatically.

  3. اِنْقَطَعَ التَّيّارُ الكَهْرَبائِيُّ فَجْأَةً.

    The electric current was cut off suddenly.

    Word by Word: Cut off the current electric suddenly.

    This describes the state of the electricity 'going out' without focusing on a specific person cutting it.

  4. اِنْصَرَفَ الضُّيوفُ في وَقْتٍ مُتَأَخِّرٍ.

    The guests departed at a late time.

    Word by Word: Departed the guests in time late.

    اِنْصَرَفَ is the lexical verb “depart.” The sentence tells us when the guests left; it does not say why.

Common Mistakes

  • Using Form VII with a direct object.

    اِنْكَسَرْتُ القَلَمَ.
    كَسَرْتُ القَلَمَ.

    Form VII is intransitive. You cannot say 'I broke (inkasartu) the pen.' You must use Form I (kasartu) if you are the one doing the breaking to the object.

  • Inventing a derived verb instead of learning its attested form.

    اِنْنَقَلَ الخَبَرُ.
    اِنْتَقَلَ الخَبَرُ.

    The normal verb for news spreading or being passed on is انتقل. Learn this lexical choice; it does not establish a universal ban on all roots beginning with a particular consonant.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

انفعَلLevel 3Form Seven: It Happened to Something

Learn This First

To understand Form Seven (infa'ala), you must first be comfortable with the Arabic root system and how patterns (awzan) change the meaning of a verb. Since Form Seven typically turns a transitive Form One verb into an intransitive or passive-like state, familiarity with the basic Form One is required.