86 Grammar: Active Participles with verbal force
Participles
“Participles” are nouns derived from verbs used to describe the state someone or something is in.* In Egyptian Arabic, the active participle اسم الفاعلoften have verbal force, and are often used instead of the present tense to describe either ongoing actions, actions that have just been completed, or actions that are about to be undertaken. Whether a participle refers to an action that is ongoing, was just completed, or is about to commence depends largely on context and the verb in question. At this stage of your Arabic, the important thing is to listen for how particular participles are used as verbs, and to use them in the same way.
Like other nouns, their feminine and plural forms (for humans) is similar to the other human nouns and adjectives you lave learned.
Participles اسم الفاعل
| know | عارفين | عارفة | عارف |
| understand | فاهمين | فاهمة | فاهم |
| hear | سامعين | سامعة | سامع |
| go | رايحين | رايحة | رايح |
| remember | فاكرين | فاكرة | فاكر |
| sit | فاعدين | قاعدة | قاعد |
| walk | ماشيين | ماشية | ماشي |
| come | جايين | جاية | جاي |
| eat | واكلين | والكلة | واكل |
| wear | لابسين | لابسة | لابس |
| work | عاملين | عاملة | عامل |
| go down | نازلين | نازلة | نازل |
| want | عايزين | عايزة | عايز |
| live | ساكنين | ساكنة | ساكن |
In the following examples, note if the participle is used to express the present, the near future, or the near past.
Examples
| I’m going out, do you want anything? | انا ماشي انت عايز حاجة؟ |
| I don’t remember the answer. | انا مش فاكرة الجواب |
| I don’t know. | انا مش عارف |
| I’m going right down. | انا نازل |
| ٍShe is coming | هي جاية |
| I just ate | انا لسه واكل |
(*You may have learned the active participle in English as “ing words” like “going” or “living.” But, in fact, English uses the “ing” ending for both participles eg. “I am living in Eugene” and gerunds/verbal nouns such as “living a good life is essential”. So it is important to get the difference between an active participle and gerund straight if you are thinking of “ing” as a point of reference.)
