عَمِلَ (ʿamila) means to work. It is a sound Form I verb from the root ع م ل (ʿ-m-l): عَمِلَ (ʿamila) in the past, يَعْمَلُ (yaʿmalu) in the present and اِعْمَلْ (iʿmal) as a command. The tables below give its full conjugation in all 13 persons, active and passive, vowelled, with its participles and verbal noun.
Every form of ʿamila on this page comes from the engine behind our Arabic verb conjugator and was checked against Wiktionary's conjugation table for عَمِلَ, which is also the source of its verbal noun.
ʿAmila at a glance
| Root | ع م ل (ʿ-m-l), starting with the letter ʿayn; the root ʿ-m-l in the Quran |
| Form | Form I, pattern فَعَلَ (faʿala) |
| Verb type | sound |
| Past, he | عَمِلَ (ʿamila) |
| Present, he | يَعْمَلُ (yaʿmalu) |
| Command, you (one man) | اِعْمَلْ (iʿmal) |
| Active participle | عَامِل (ʿāmil) |
| Passive participle | مَعْمُول (maʿmūl) |
| Verbal noun (maṣdar) | عَمَل (ʿamal) |
Past tense of ʿamila
The past tense (al-māḍī) of ʿamila is one stem, ʿamil-, plus a suffix that carries the person: عَمِلْتُ (ʿamiltu) for I, عَمِلَتْ (ʿamilat) for she, عَمِلُوا (ʿamilū) for they.
| Person | Arabic | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| I · أنا anā | عَمِلْتُ | ʿamiltu |
| we · نحن naḥnu | عَمِلْنَا | ʿamilnā |
| you m.sg. · أنت anta | عَمِلْتَ | ʿamilta |
| you f.sg. · أنت anti | عَمِلْتِ | ʿamilti |
| you dual · أنتما antumā | عَمِلْتُمَا | ʿamiltumā |
| you m.pl. · أنتم antum | عَمِلْتُمْ | ʿamiltum |
| you f.pl. · أنتن antunna | عَمِلْتُنَّ | ʿamiltunna |
| he · هو huwa | عَمِلَ | ʿamila |
| she · هي hiya | عَمِلَتْ | ʿamilat |
| they two m. · هما humā | عَمِلَا | ʿamilā |
| they two f. · هما humā | عَمِلَتَا | ʿamilatā |
| they m.pl. · هم hum | عَمِلُوا | ʿamilū |
| they f.pl. · هن hunna | عَمِلْنَ | ʿamilna |
Present tense of ʿamila
The present tense (al-muḍāriʿ) of ʿamila has a in the stem, -ʿmal-, which no rule predicts: أَعْمَلُ (aʿmalu) for I, يَعْمَلُ (yaʿmalu) for he, يَعْمَلُونَ (yaʿmalūna) for they.
| Person | Arabic | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| I · أنا anā | أَعْمَلُ | aʿmalu |
| we · نحن naḥnu | نَعْمَلُ | naʿmalu |
| you m.sg. · أنت anta | تَعْمَلُ | taʿmalu |
| you f.sg. · أنت anti | تَعْمَلِينَ | taʿmalīna |
| you dual · أنتما antumā | تَعْمَلَانِ | taʿmalāni |
| you m.pl. · أنتم antum | تَعْمَلُونَ | taʿmalūna |
| you f.pl. · أنتن antunna | تَعْمَلْنَ | taʿmalna |
| he · هو huwa | يَعْمَلُ | yaʿmalu |
| she · هي hiya | تَعْمَلُ | taʿmalu |
| they two m. · هما humā | يَعْمَلَانِ | yaʿmalāni |
| they two f. · هما humā | تَعْمَلَانِ | taʿmalāni |
| they m.pl. · هم hum | يَعْمَلُونَ | yaʿmalūna |
| they f.pl. · هن hunna | يَعْمَلْنَ | yaʿmalna |
Subjunctive and jussive of ʿamila
The subjunctive and the jussive of ʿamila change only the ending of the present: يَعْمَلُ (yaʿmalu) becomes يَعْمَلَ (yaʿmala) after لن (lan, will not) and يَعْمَلْ (yaʿmal) after لم (lam, did not).
| Person | Subjunctive | Jussive |
|---|---|---|
| I · أنا anā | أَعْمَلَ (aʿmala) | أَعْمَلْ (aʿmal) |
| we · نحن naḥnu | نَعْمَلَ (naʿmala) | نَعْمَلْ (naʿmal) |
| you m.sg. · أنت anta | تَعْمَلَ (taʿmala) | تَعْمَلْ (taʿmal) |
| you f.sg. · أنت anti | تَعْمَلِي (taʿmalī) | تَعْمَلِي (taʿmalī) |
| you dual · أنتما antumā | تَعْمَلَا (taʿmalā) | تَعْمَلَا (taʿmalā) |
| you m.pl. · أنتم antum | تَعْمَلُوا (taʿmalū) | تَعْمَلُوا (taʿmalū) |
| you f.pl. · أنتن antunna | تَعْمَلْنَ (taʿmalna) | تَعْمَلْنَ (taʿmalna) |
| he · هو huwa | يَعْمَلَ (yaʿmala) | يَعْمَلْ (yaʿmal) |
| she · هي hiya | تَعْمَلَ (taʿmala) | تَعْمَلْ (taʿmal) |
| they two m. · هما humā | يَعْمَلَا (yaʿmalā) | يَعْمَلَا (yaʿmalā) |
| they two f. · هما humā | تَعْمَلَا (taʿmalā) | تَعْمَلَا (taʿmalā) |
| they m.pl. · هم hum | يَعْمَلُوا (yaʿmalū) | يَعْمَلُوا (yaʿmalū) |
| they f.pl. · هن hunna | يَعْمَلْنَ (yaʿmalna) | يَعْمَلْنَ (yaʿmalna) |
Imperative of ʿamila
The command (al-amr) is the jussive تَعْمَلْ (taʿmal) without its prefix, with a connecting alif (hamzat al-waṣl) in front that is pronounced only when the command starts a sentence: اِعْمَلْ (iʿmal) to one man, اِعْمَلِي (iʿmalī) to one woman, اِعْمَلُوا (iʿmalū) to a group.
| Person | Arabic | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| you m.sg. · أنت anta | اِعْمَلْ | iʿmal |
| you f.sg. · أنت anti | اِعْمَلِي | iʿmalī |
| you dual · أنتما antumā | اِعْمَلَا | iʿmalā |
| you m.pl. · أنتم antum | اِعْمَلُوا | iʿmalū |
| you f.pl. · أنتن antunna | اِعْمَلْنَ | iʿmalna |
Passive of ʿamila
The passive of ʿamila keeps the consonants and changes the vowels: u and i in the past (عُمِلَ (ʿumila)), the prefix yu- and a before the last root letter in the present (يُعْمَلُ (yuʿmalu)).
| Person | Past passive | Present passive |
|---|---|---|
| I · أنا anā | عُمِلْتُ (ʿumiltu) | أُعْمَلُ (uʿmalu) |
| we · نحن naḥnu | عُمِلْنَا (ʿumilnā) | نُعْمَلُ (nuʿmalu) |
| you m.sg. · أنت anta | عُمِلْتَ (ʿumilta) | تُعْمَلُ (tuʿmalu) |
| you f.sg. · أنت anti | عُمِلْتِ (ʿumilti) | تُعْمَلِينَ (tuʿmalīna) |
| you dual · أنتما antumā | عُمِلْتُمَا (ʿumiltumā) | تُعْمَلَانِ (tuʿmalāni) |
| you m.pl. · أنتم antum | عُمِلْتُمْ (ʿumiltum) | تُعْمَلُونَ (tuʿmalūna) |
| you f.pl. · أنتن antunna | عُمِلْتُنَّ (ʿumiltunna) | تُعْمَلْنَ (tuʿmalna) |
| he · هو huwa | عُمِلَ (ʿumila) | يُعْمَلُ (yuʿmalu) |
| she · هي hiya | عُمِلَتْ (ʿumilat) | تُعْمَلُ (tuʿmalu) |
| they two m. · هما humā | عُمِلَا (ʿumilā) | يُعْمَلَانِ (yuʿmalāni) |
| they two f. · هما humā | عُمِلَتَا (ʿumilatā) | تُعْمَلَانِ (tuʿmalāni) |
| they m.pl. · هم hum | عُمِلُوا (ʿumilū) | يُعْمَلُونَ (yuʿmalūna) |
| they f.pl. · هن hunna | عُمِلْنَ (ʿumilna) | يُعْمَلْنَ (yuʿmalna) |
Participles and verbal noun of ʿamila
The active participle follows the pattern fāʿil: عَامِل (ʿāmil). The passive participle follows mafʿūl: مَعْمُول (maʿmūl). Form I verbal nouns follow no single pattern, so عَمَل (ʿamal) has to be learned with the verb, or looked up under ʿ-m-l in one of the dictionaries in our guide.
Why ʿamila conjugates this way
The root letters of عَمِلَ (ʿamila), ع م ل (ʿ-m-l), are all strong consonants, with no w, y or hamza and no letter repeated, so nothing in its conjugation changes shape. What has to be learned is the pair of stem vowels: i in the past and a in the present, which no rule predicts. Samiʿa (to hear) and fahima (to understand) share its vowels, i in the past and a in the present.
ʿAmila in sentences
عمل بجد.
He worked hard.
The verb: عَمِلَ (ʿamila), past, he. Source: Tatoeba sentence 372793 by saeb (CC BY 2.0 FR), unvowelled as published.
هي تعمل.
She works.
The verb: تَعْمَلُ (taʿmalu), present, she. Source: Tatoeba sentence 11677398 by dididodo (CC BY 2.0 FR), unvowelled as published.
Frequently asked questions
What is the present tense of ʿamila?
The present tense of عَمِلَ (ʿamila) is يَعْمَلُ (yaʿmalu) for he, أَعْمَلُ (aʿmalu) for I and تَعْمَلُ (taʿmalu) for you (one man). Its stem vowel, a, has to be learned with the verb.
What is the maṣdar (verbal noun) of ʿamila?
عَمَل (ʿamal), from Wiktionary: Form I verbal nouns have no fixed pattern. The active participle is عَامِل (ʿāmil), and the passive participle مَعْمُول (maʿmūl).
Is ʿamila a regular verb?
Yes. Its root letters are all strong, so nothing changes shape; only its stem vowels, i in the past and a in the present, have to be learned with it.