D5Lesson 4 of 12◇ Core language

Past Tense — Plural Forms and Irregular Verbs

الفِعل الماضي — صِيَغ الجَمع والأَفعال الشَّاذَّة

Hobbies, Sport & Leisure · Personal and social life

10-minute rescue route
  1. Learn six key items.
  2. Read the grammar shortcut.
  3. Complete one quick check.
Keep it manageable. One completed section is useful revision. You can return later for the rest.
1

What you need to do

Focus on these outcomes rather than trying to memorise everything at once.

2

Key language

Tap each card to reveal the meaning.

3

Quick vocabulary check

Choose one answer. Mistakes are part of revision.

1. لعِبنا

2. قُلنا

3. جِئنا

4. نِمنا

4

Grammar shortcut

Read it once, then explain the rule or strategy in your own words.

Plural past tense suffixes: نحن → ـنا (فعَلنا), أنتم → ـتُم (فعَلتُم), هم → ـوا (فعَلوا). Hollow verbs in past: قال → قُلنا (middle ا vowel shifts to ُ in plural). Weak final verbs: مشى → مشَينا, رأى → رأَينا (ya replaces alif maqsura). Doubled verbs: غنَّى → غنَّينا. Focus on نحن (نا) and هم (وا) as the most useful plural forms for group narrative. Note: هم + وا — if verb ends in ا, the وا does not add another ا.
5

Four skills practice

Short tasks for listening, reading, speaking and writing. Choose the skill you find hardest.

🎧 Listening

🎧 Audio coming soon

Listen for time, place or person. Catch who is speaking, where they are and when the event happens. Until the audio is ready, prepare by covering the English, reading each item below aloud twice, then saying the meaning from memory.

  1. فعَلنا we did — نحن
  2. فعَلتُم you all did — أنتم
  3. فعَلوا they did — هم
  4. ذهَبنا we went
  5. لعِبنا we played
  6. قُلنا we said — hollow

Exam link: in Paper 1 you hear each recording twice — use the first listening for the general idea and the second for detail.

📖 Reading

Scan the four items below and write the English meaning of each one without looking back at the Key language section. Then write one sentence in Arabic about something you and your friends did together that uses two of them.

  • جِئنا
  • نِمنا
  • رَأَينا
  • مَشَينا
Check your answers
  • جِئنا — we came — weak
  • نِمنا — we slept — weak
  • رَأَينا — we saw — weak
  • مَشَينا — we walked — weak

🗣️ Speaking

Answer aloud in full Arabic sentences. Record yourself if you can, then listen back for clear pronunciation.

  1. Talk about something you and your friends did together for thirty seconds without stopping.
  2. Say what you did last time — use a past-tense verb.
  3. Ask a partner one question on this topic — then answer it yourself.

Exam link: Paper 3 is a role play and two topic conversations, with ten minutes of supervised preparation beforehand.

✍️ Writing

Task: Write 60–80 words about something you and your friends did together. Use the language from this lesson, give one opinion with a reason, and check your agreement before you finish.

Your answer is saved in this browser.

6

Revision sprint

Three short stages based on the revision plan above.

1 · Review

Main 1 15 min

Plural suffixes and 10 irregular past verbs Systematic plural suffix drill: use an infinitive/present form + pronoun prompt and write the past tense. 10 items, mixed persons. Then: 10 essential irregular past tense verbs with their نحن forms: قال → قُلنا، جاء → جِئنا، رأى → رأَينا، نام →…

2 · Practise

Main 2 20 min

Group narrative — نحن past tense (80–90 words) you write a group narrative about a real or invented group event: a school trip, a sports match, a family gathering, a concert. Must include: at least 5 different نحن past tense verbs, 2 هم past tense verbs, 2 time expressions, 1…

3 · Apply

Main 3 8 min

Chain story — past tense narrative. Add one past-tense sentence at a time to build a connected story. Start with: "الأسبوع الماضي، ذهبنا إلى..". Each sentence must use a past tense verb and connect to the previous sentence. Record the chain story on paper or in a shared document. After everyone has…

✓

Finish and reflect

Use the boxes as a final self-check.

What you should be able to show

Plural conjugation table (check suffix accuracy). Irregular verb reference card. Group narrative (check نحن form accuracy and narrative coherence).

Optional follow-up

Write a past tense narrative (70–80 words) about something you and your family or friends did together last month. Use: نحن past tense (4+ times), هم past tense (2 times), 2 irregular verbs, 2 time expressions, and 1 future sentence at the end.

Confidence check

How secure do you feel after this lesson?