فَهِمَ (fahima) means to understand. It is a sound Form I verb from the root ف ه م (f-h-m): فَهِمَ (fahima) in the past, يَفْهَمُ (yafhamu) in the present and اِفْهَمْ (ifham) 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 fahima on this page comes from the engine behind our Arabic verb conjugator and was checked against Wiktionary's conjugation table for فَهِمَ, which is also the source of its verbal noun and active participles.
Fahima at a glance
| Root | ف ه م (f-h-m), starting with the letter fāʾ |
| Form | Form I, pattern فَعَلَ (faʿala) |
| Verb type | sound |
| Past, he | فَهِمَ (fahima) |
| Present, he | يَفْهَمُ (yafhamu) |
| Command, you (one man) | اِفْهَمْ (ifham) |
| Active participle | فَهِم (fahim) or فَهِيم (fahīm) |
| Passive participle | مَفْهُوم (mafhūm) |
| Verbal noun (maṣdar) | فَهْم (fahm) |
Past tense of fahima
The past tense (al-māḍī) of fahima is one stem, fahim-, plus a suffix that carries the person: فَهِمْتُ (fahimtu) for I, فَهِمَتْ (fahimat) for she, فَهِمُوا (fahimū) for they.
| Person | Arabic | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| I · أنا anā | فَهِمْتُ | fahimtu |
| we · نحن naḥnu | فَهِمْنَا | fahimnā |
| you m.sg. · أنت anta | فَهِمْتَ | fahimta |
| you f.sg. · أنت anti | فَهِمْتِ | fahimti |
| you dual · أنتما antumā | فَهِمْتُمَا | fahimtumā |
| you m.pl. · أنتم antum | فَهِمْتُمْ | fahimtum |
| you f.pl. · أنتن antunna | فَهِمْتُنَّ | fahimtunna |
| he · هو huwa | فَهِمَ | fahima |
| she · هي hiya | فَهِمَتْ | fahimat |
| they two m. · هما humā | فَهِمَا | fahimā |
| they two f. · هما humā | فَهِمَتَا | fahimatā |
| they m.pl. · هم hum | فَهِمُوا | fahimū |
| they f.pl. · هن hunna | فَهِمْنَ | fahimna |
Present tense of fahima
The present tense (al-muḍāriʿ) of fahima has a in the stem, -fham-, which no rule predicts: أَفْهَمُ (afhamu) for I, يَفْهَمُ (yafhamu) for he, يَفْهَمُونَ (yafhamūna) for they.
| Person | Arabic | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| I · أنا anā | أَفْهَمُ | afhamu |
| we · نحن naḥnu | نَفْهَمُ | nafhamu |
| you m.sg. · أنت anta | تَفْهَمُ | tafhamu |
| you f.sg. · أنت anti | تَفْهَمِينَ | tafhamīna |
| you dual · أنتما antumā | تَفْهَمَانِ | tafhamāni |
| you m.pl. · أنتم antum | تَفْهَمُونَ | tafhamūna |
| you f.pl. · أنتن antunna | تَفْهَمْنَ | tafhamna |
| he · هو huwa | يَفْهَمُ | yafhamu |
| she · هي hiya | تَفْهَمُ | tafhamu |
| they two m. · هما humā | يَفْهَمَانِ | yafhamāni |
| they two f. · هما humā | تَفْهَمَانِ | tafhamāni |
| they m.pl. · هم hum | يَفْهَمُونَ | yafhamūna |
| they f.pl. · هن hunna | يَفْهَمْنَ | yafhamna |
Subjunctive and jussive of fahima
The subjunctive and the jussive of fahima change only the ending of the present: يَفْهَمُ (yafhamu) becomes يَفْهَمَ (yafhama) after لن (lan, will not) and يَفْهَمْ (yafham) after لم (lam, did not).
| Person | Subjunctive | Jussive |
|---|---|---|
| I · أنا anā | أَفْهَمَ (afhama) | أَفْهَمْ (afham) |
| we · نحن naḥnu | نَفْهَمَ (nafhama) | نَفْهَمْ (nafham) |
| you m.sg. · أنت anta | تَفْهَمَ (tafhama) | تَفْهَمْ (tafham) |
| you f.sg. · أنت anti | تَفْهَمِي (tafhamī) | تَفْهَمِي (tafhamī) |
| you dual · أنتما antumā | تَفْهَمَا (tafhamā) | تَفْهَمَا (tafhamā) |
| you m.pl. · أنتم antum | تَفْهَمُوا (tafhamū) | تَفْهَمُوا (tafhamū) |
| you f.pl. · أنتن antunna | تَفْهَمْنَ (tafhamna) | تَفْهَمْنَ (tafhamna) |
| he · هو huwa | يَفْهَمَ (yafhama) | يَفْهَمْ (yafham) |
| she · هي hiya | تَفْهَمَ (tafhama) | تَفْهَمْ (tafham) |
| they two m. · هما humā | يَفْهَمَا (yafhamā) | يَفْهَمَا (yafhamā) |
| they two f. · هما humā | تَفْهَمَا (tafhamā) | تَفْهَمَا (tafhamā) |
| they m.pl. · هم hum | يَفْهَمُوا (yafhamū) | يَفْهَمُوا (yafhamū) |
| they f.pl. · هن hunna | يَفْهَمْنَ (yafhamna) | يَفْهَمْنَ (yafhamna) |
Imperative of fahima
The command (al-amr) is the jussive تَفْهَمْ (tafham) without its prefix, with a connecting alif (hamzat al-waṣl) in front that is pronounced only when the command starts a sentence: اِفْهَمْ (ifham) to one man, اِفْهَمِي (ifhamī) to one woman, اِفْهَمُوا (ifhamū) to a group.
| Person | Arabic | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| you m.sg. · أنت anta | اِفْهَمْ | ifham |
| you f.sg. · أنت anti | اِفْهَمِي | ifhamī |
| you dual · أنتما antumā | اِفْهَمَا | ifhamā |
| you m.pl. · أنتم antum | اِفْهَمُوا | ifhamū |
| you f.pl. · أنتن antunna | اِفْهَمْنَ | ifhamna |
Passive of fahima
The passive of fahima keeps the consonants and changes the vowels: u and i in the past (فُهِمَ (fuhima)), the prefix yu- and a before the last root letter in the present (يُفْهَمُ (yufhamu)).
| Person | Past passive | Present passive |
|---|---|---|
| I · أنا anā | فُهِمْتُ (fuhimtu) | أُفْهَمُ (ufhamu) |
| we · نحن naḥnu | فُهِمْنَا (fuhimnā) | نُفْهَمُ (nufhamu) |
| you m.sg. · أنت anta | فُهِمْتَ (fuhimta) | تُفْهَمُ (tufhamu) |
| you f.sg. · أنت anti | فُهِمْتِ (fuhimti) | تُفْهَمِينَ (tufhamīna) |
| you dual · أنتما antumā | فُهِمْتُمَا (fuhimtumā) | تُفْهَمَانِ (tufhamāni) |
| you m.pl. · أنتم antum | فُهِمْتُمْ (fuhimtum) | تُفْهَمُونَ (tufhamūna) |
| you f.pl. · أنتن antunna | فُهِمْتُنَّ (fuhimtunna) | تُفْهَمْنَ (tufhamna) |
| he · هو huwa | فُهِمَ (fuhima) | يُفْهَمُ (yufhamu) |
| she · هي hiya | فُهِمَتْ (fuhimat) | تُفْهَمُ (tufhamu) |
| they two m. · هما humā | فُهِمَا (fuhimā) | يُفْهَمَانِ (yufhamāni) |
| they two f. · هما humā | فُهِمَتَا (fuhimatā) | تُفْهَمَانِ (tufhamāni) |
| they m.pl. · هم hum | فُهِمُوا (fuhimū) | يُفْهَمُونَ (yufhamūna) |
| they f.pl. · هن hunna | فُهِمْنَ (fuhimna) | يُفْهَمْنَ (yufhamna) |
Participles and verbal noun of fahima
For the active participle Wiktionary gives فَهِم (fahim) or فَهِيم (fahīm). The passive participle follows mafʿūl: مَفْهُوم (mafhūm). Form I verbal nouns follow no single pattern, so فَهْم (fahm) has to be learned with the verb, or looked up under f-h-m in one of the dictionaries in our guide.
Why fahima conjugates this way
The root letters of فَهِمَ (fahima), ف ه م (f-h-m), 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. ʿAlima (to know, to be aware) and ʿamila (to work) share its vowels, i in the past and a in the present.
Fahima in sentences
لا أفهم.
I do not understand.
The verb: أَفْهَمُ (afhamu), present, I. Source: Tatoeba sentence 371513 by saeb (CC BY 2.0 FR), unvowelled as published.
لم يفهم.
He didn't understand.
The verb: يَفْهَمْ (yafham), jussive, he. Source: Tatoeba sentence 12825380 by dididodo (CC BY 2.0 FR), unvowelled as published.
Frequently asked questions
What is the present tense of fahima?
The present tense of فَهِمَ (fahima) is يَفْهَمُ (yafhamu) for he, أَفْهَمُ (afhamu) for I and تَفْهَمُ (tafhamu) for you (one man). Its stem vowel, a, has to be learned with the verb.
What is the maṣdar (verbal noun) of fahima?
فَهْم (fahm), from Wiktionary: Form I verbal nouns have no fixed pattern. The active participle is فَهِم (fahim) or فَهِيم (fahīm), and the passive participle مَفْهُوم (mafhūm).
Is fahima 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.