A Contrastive Analysis Between English And Arabic Past Tense

2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1 Definition of Past Tense
Thompson (1986: 162) says that simple past tense is used for an action whose
time is not given but which occupied a period of time now interminated, or
occurred at a moment in a period of time now interminated.
Azar (1989: 24) describes that the simple past tense indicates that an activity
or situation began and ended at a particular time in the past.
Types of Past Tense
There are two types of past simple verbs.
1). Regular past simple verbs are those that add either a -d or -ed to the present
tense form to create the past tense form.


The children skipped past the door.



We walked along the beach.

2). Irregular past simple verbs are those that don't add -d or -ed to the present

tense form to create the past tense form.


The children wrote to their grandmother.



My sister drank all of the milk.

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Regular Past Tense Verbs

Regular verbs are so nice and predictable. It's easy to remember how to
create the past tense of these verbs because they follow a pattern. They add either
a -d or an -ed to the present tense form to make the past tense form.

Present Tense


+ -d or -ed

Past Tense

Walk

+ -ed

Walked

Pick

+ -ed

Picked

Move

+ -d


Moved

Push

+ -ed

Pushed

Irregular Past Tense Verbs

Irregular verbs are just what they sound like. They are not regular. They
don't end in -d or an -ed in their past tense. In fact, they don't end in anything in
particular. That can make it hard to remember how to form their past tense.

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Present Tense

+?


Past Tense

Drive

+?

Drove

Eat

+?

Ate

Have

+?

Had


Begin

+?

Began

Break

+?

Broke

Steal

+?

Stole

Cost


+?

Cost

2.2 Form of Past Tense
A. Simple Past Tense

I

Form
I/we/you/ they

H

He/she/ it



+ Past Tense


Use
 To express an activity in a definite time in the past.

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e.g.:

~ He was born in 1964.
~ She came here yesterday.
~ I saw good panorama last week.

 To express past habitual activities.
e.g.:

~ Indah was worked hard when he was young.
~ We always played basket ball during our academic years.

B. Past Continuous Tense





Form
He/she/ it

= was + present participle

I/we/ you/ they

= were + present participle

Use
 To express an activity in the past which interrupted by another
activity.
e.g.:

~ They were watching TV when somebody knocked at the door.
~ While I was bathing in the river I heard a fearful cry.


 To express two activities in the past that happens in the same time.
e.g.:

~ Milza was reading a magazine while Zoelham was writing
letters.
~ When you called me, I was listening to the radio.

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C. Past Perfect Tense


Form
Subject + Had + Past Participle



Use


To express an activity in the past which completed before an another activity.
e.g.:

~ He had arrived at home before it rained.
~ Angie went home after she had bought some books.
~ I had copied my lesson before the exam began.

D. Past Perfect Continuous Tense


Form
Subject + Had + Been + Present Participle



Use

It is used to denote an action beginning in the past time and was still in progress at
certain time in the past also.

e.g.:

~ When Bobby came, Surya had been working for two hours.
~ Before he entered the exam, he had been studying hard for a
month.
~ The children had been playing in the garden the whole morning,
before their mother called them.

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Kind of English Sentences in Past Tense


Affirmative Sentence
 Subject + Verb II
 Subject + Be 2 + Verb I-ing
 Subject + had + Verb III
 Subject + had + Been + Verb I-ing + Object
e.g.:

~ I spoke English.
~ I was speaking English.
~ I had spoken English.
~ I had been speaking English.



Negative Sentence
 subject + did + not + Verb I
 subject + Be 2 + not + Verb I-ing
 subject + had + not +Verb III
 subject + had + not + Been + Verb I-ing + Object
e.g.:

~ I did not speak Japanese.
~ I was not speaking Japanese.
~ I had not spoken Japanese.
~ I had not been speaking Japanese.

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Interrogative Sentence
 Did + Subject + Verb I?
 Be 2 + Subject + Verb I-ing?
 Had + Subject + Verb III?
 Had + Subject + been + Verb I-ing + Object?
e.g.:

~ Did I speak English?
~ Was I speaking English?
~ Had I spoken English?
~ Had I been speaking English?



Negative Interrogative Sentence
 Did + not + Subject + Verb I?
 Be 2 + not + Subject + Verb I-ing?
 Had + not + Subject + Verb III?
 Had + not + Subject + been + Verb I-ing + Object?
e.g.:

~ Didn’t I speak English?
~ Wasn’t I speaking English?
~ Hadn’t I spoken English?
~ Hadn’t I been speaking English?

Remember, The sentence often contains an adverb or adverb phrase of
time, such as yesterday, the other day, last night, last week, three days ago, a few
minutes ago, in (year), from (year) to (year), etc.

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2.3 Definition of Fiil (‫(الفعـل‬
Fiil is a word that shows the meaning of the work or events that occur in a
period or time (past, present and future). Almost like a sense of the verb in the
Indonesian language, but there are slight differences.
Example:
go to work
ْ‫ا ْفعــ ْل‬

Being / will work
ْ‫ي ْفــعــل‬

Has worked
ْ‫فــعــل‬

Fiil sentence division:
1. by the time
a. Fiil Madhi
b. Fiil Mudhari
c. Fiil Amar
2. According to type the letters:
a. Fiil Saheeh
1) Fiil Salim
2) Fiil Mahmuz
3) Fiil Mudhoaf
b. Fiil Mutal
1) Fiil Mithal
2) Fiil Ajwaf
3) Fiil Naqish
4) Fiil Mafruq

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5) Fiil Maqrun
3. According to the Attractions Sufferers:
a. Prevalent Fiil
b. Fiil Mutaadi
4. According to the form of Active /Passive:
a. Fiil Malum
b. Fiil Majhul
5. The composition according to letters:
a. Fiil Mujarrad
b. Fiil Mazid
2.4 Definition of Fiil Madhi
Fiil Madhi is a verb that indicates the occurrence of a job or event in the
past (past tense).
Marking of Fiil Madhi
The signs include a look at the original letter verb and generally contain
the sound "a", for example ْ‫( كـتـب‬wrote), َ‫( قــرأ‬read).
2.5 Form of Fiil Madhi
Fiil Madhi has 14 forms in accordance with the number of dhamir (actor).
Dhamir serves as fa'il (actor). Taking the example of the word ْ‫( كـتـب‬kataba), then
there are 14 forms as follows:
No

Dhami

F.Madhi

Meaning

Explaining

1

ْ‫هـو‬

ْ‫كتب‬

He wrote

2

‫همـ‬

‫كتبـ‬

They (two man)
wrote

The original form
without any changes
‫ ا‬+ in the last letter

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3

‫هْـ ْْم‬

ْ‫ـو‬
ْ ‫كتب‬

4

ْ‫هـي‬

ْْ‫كتبـت‬

5

‫همـ‬

‫كتبـت‬

6

ْ‫هـن‬

7

َ+ ‫ ـــُو‬in the last letter

They (much man)
wrote
She wrote

+ ‫ ـت‬in the last letter

+ ‫ ـتـَا‬in the last letter

ْ‫كت ْبـن‬

They (two woman)
wrote
They (much) wrote

ْ‫ا ْنـت‬

ْ‫كت ْبـت‬

You (man) wrote

+ ‫ ـــت‬in the last letter

8

ْ ‫ا ْنتمـ‬

‫كت ْبتمـ‬

9

‫ا ْنتـم‬

ْ‫كت ْبتـ ْم‬

10

ْ‫ا ْنـت‬

ْ‫كت ْبـت‬

You (two man)
+ ‫ ـــتُمـا‬in the last letter
wrote
You (much man)
+ ‫ ـــتُم‬in the last letter
wrote
You (woman) wrote + ‫ ــت‬in the last letter

11

‫ا ْنتمـ‬

‫كت ْبتم‬

12

ْ‫َا ْنتـن‬

ْ‫كت ْبتـن‬

13

‫انـ‬

ْ‫كت ْبـت‬

You (two woman)
wrote
You (much
woman) wrote
I wrote

14

ْ‫ن ْحن‬

‫كت ْبـن‬

We wrote

+ ‫ ـــن‬in the last letter

+ ‫ ـتُمـا‬in the last letter
َ ُ‫ ــت‬in the last letter
+ ‫ـن‬
ُ ‫ ـ‬in the last letter
+ ‫ــت‬
+‫ ـــنـا‬in the last letter

Pattern of Fiil Madhi
1. Fiil Tsulatsi Madhi, the past tense verb that consists of three letters. The
patterns are:
ْ‫فــعـل‬

ْ‫ْكـفـر‬,‫ْنصـر‬, ‫( ضر‬hit, help, reject)

ْ‫َْ فــعـل‬

ْ‫ْعـ ـم‬,ْ ‫ْشـهـ‬,ْ‫( فهــم‬understand, see, know)
‫ْبـعـ‬, ‫ْكــر‬,ْ ‫( حــر‬forbid, glorify, distance)

ْْ‫فـعــل‬

2. Fiil Rubai Madhi, the past tense verb consisting of four letters. There are three
patterns:
1

ْ‫فعــل‬

ْ‫ْســ م‬,‫ْعـ م‬,ْ‫نــزل‬

2

ْ‫أْ ْفـعـل‬

ْ‫ْأ ْنــزل‬,‫ســ م‬
ْ ‫ْأ‬,‫أ ْرســل‬

3

ْ‫فـ عـل‬

ْ‫ْقـ تـل‬,‫ْخـ سم‬,‫ســ فر‬

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‫‪3. Fiil Khumasi Madhi, the past tense verb consisting of five letters. There are‬‬
‫‪four patterns:‬‬
‫ا ْنقـ ب‪ْ,‬ا ْنط ــق‪ْ,‬ا ْنقطـعْ‬

‫ا ْنفـعــلْ‬

‫‪1‬‬

‫ا ْقتــر ‪ْ,‬ا ْجتمــع‪ْ,‬ا ْجتنـبْ‬

‫ا ْفتعـــلْ‬

‫‪2‬‬

‫تع ــم‪ْ,‬تــأخــر‪ْ,‬تقــ ْ‬

‫تفــعـلْ‬

‫‪3‬‬

‫تســ قف‪ْ,‬تســـ هـل‪ْ,‬تجـــ هلْ‬

‫تفــ عـلْ‬

‫‪4‬‬

‫‪4. Fiil Sudasi Madhi, the past tense verb consisting of six letters. The pattern is‬‬
‫‪only one:‬‬
‫‪Example‬‬

‫‪Pattern‬‬

‫س ْ‬
‫تخــرْجْ‬
‫ست ْغفــــر‪ْ,‬ا ْ‬
‫تحــو ‪ْ,‬ا ْ‬
‫س ْ‬
‫ا ْ‬

‫ست ْفعـــلْ‬
‫ا ْ‬

‫‪Examples of changes fiil Madhi, rubai, khumasi, and sudasi:‬‬
‫‪Ruba’i‬‬

‫‪Dhomir‬‬

‫‪Sudasi‬‬

‫‪Khumasi‬‬

‫فعــلْ‬

‫أْ ْفــلْ‬

‫ا ْنفـعــلْ‬

‫ا ْفتعـــلْ‬

‫تفــعـلْ‬

‫ست ْفعـــلْ‬
‫ا ْ‬

‫هوْ‬

‫نــزلْ‬

‫أ ْرســلْ‬

‫ا ْنقطـعْ‬

‫ا ْجتمــعْ‬

‫تقــ ْ‬

‫ست ْغفــرْ‬
‫ا ْ‬

‫هيْ‬

‫نــزلتْْ‬

‫أ ْرســ تْْ‬

‫ا ْنقطـعتْْ‬

‫ا ْجتمــعتْْ‬

‫تقــ متْْ‬

‫ست ْغفــرتْْ‬
‫ا ْ‬

‫ا ْنتْ‬

‫نــز ْلتْ‬

‫أ ْرســ ْتْ‬

‫اْْنقطـ ْعتْ‬

‫ا ْجتمــ ْعتْ‬

‫تقــ ْمتْ‬

‫ــرتْ‬
‫ست ْغف ْ‬
‫ا ْ‬

‫ا ْنتْ‬

‫نــز ْلتْ‬

‫أ ْرســ ْتْ‬

‫ا ْنقطـ ْعتْ‬

‫ا ْجتمــ ْعتْ‬

‫تقــ ْمتْ‬

‫ــرتْ‬
‫ست ْغف ْ‬
‫ا ْ‬

‫ان‬

‫نــز ْلتْ‬

‫أ ْرســ ْتْ‬

‫ا ْنقطـ ْعتْ‬

‫ا ْجتمــ ْعتْ‬

‫تقــ ْمتْ‬

‫ــرتْ‬
‫ست ْغف ْ‬
‫ا ْ‬

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Note:
1. All of fiil Madhi inaccessible by ْْ ‫ قـــ‬which means really, examples:
Arabic

English

ْ‫ـــرت‬
ْ ‫ســت ْغـف‬
ْ ‫قــ ْْا‬

Indeed, I have asked for forgiveness

2. If in the future there ْ ‫ مـ‬in Fiil Madhi, it means no, for example:
Arabic

English

ْ‫ـــرت‬
ْ ‫ســت ْغـف‬
ْ ‫مــ ْا‬

I did not ask for forgiveness

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