قَرَأَ (qaraʾa) means to read. It is a hamzated Form I verb from the root ق ر ء (q-r-ʾ): قَرَأَ (qaraʾa) in the past, يَقْرَأُ (yaqraʾu) in the present and اِقْرَأْ (iqraʾ) 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 qaraʾa on this page comes from the engine behind our Arabic verb conjugator and was checked against Wiktionary's conjugation table for قَرَأَ, which is also the source of its verbal nouns.
Qaraʾa at a glance
| Root | ق ر ء (q-r-ʾ), starting with the letter qāf |
| Form | Form I, pattern فَعَلَ (faʿala) |
| Verb type | hamzated |
| Past, he | قَرَأَ (qaraʾa) |
| Present, he | يَقْرَأُ (yaqraʾu) |
| Command, you (one man) | اِقْرَأْ (iqraʾ) |
| Active participle | قَارِئ (qāriʾ) |
| Passive participle | مَقْرُوء (maqrūʾ) |
| Verbal noun (maṣdar) | قِرَاءَة (qirāʾa), قُرْآن (qurʾān) |
Past tense of qaraʾa
The past tense (al-māḍī) of qaraʾa is one stem, qaraʾ-, plus a suffix that carries the person: قَرَأْتُ (qaraʾtu) for I, قَرَأَتْ (qaraʾat) for she, قَرَؤُوا (qaraʾū) for they.
| Person | Arabic | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| I · أنا anā | قَرَأْتُ | qaraʾtu |
| we · نحن naḥnu | قَرَأْنَا | qaraʾnā |
| you m.sg. · أنت anta | قَرَأْتَ | qaraʾta |
| you f.sg. · أنت anti | قَرَأْتِ | qaraʾti |
| you dual · أنتما antumā | قَرَأْتُمَا | qaraʾtumā |
| you m.pl. · أنتم antum | قَرَأْتُمْ | qaraʾtum |
| you f.pl. · أنتن antunna | قَرَأْتُنَّ | qaraʾtunna |
| he · هو huwa | قَرَأَ | qaraʾa |
| she · هي hiya | قَرَأَتْ | qaraʾat |
| they two m. · هما humā | قَرَآ | qaraʾā |
| they two f. · هما humā | قَرَأَتَا | qaraʾatā |
| they m.pl. · هم hum | قَرَؤُوا | qaraʾū |
| they f.pl. · هن hunna | قَرَأْنَ | qaraʾna |
Present tense of qaraʾa
The present tense (al-muḍāriʿ) of qaraʾa has a in the stem, -qraʾ-, which no rule predicts: أَقْرَأُ (aqraʾu) for I, يَقْرَأُ (yaqraʾu) for he, يَقْرَؤُونَ (yaqraʾūna) for they.
| Person | Arabic | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| I · أنا anā | أَقْرَأُ | aqraʾu |
| we · نحن naḥnu | نَقْرَأُ | naqraʾu |
| you m.sg. · أنت anta | تَقْرَأُ | taqraʾu |
| you f.sg. · أنت anti | تَقْرَئِينَ | taqraʾīna |
| you dual · أنتما antumā | تَقْرَآنِ | taqraʾāni |
| you m.pl. · أنتم antum | تَقْرَؤُونَ | taqraʾūna |
| you f.pl. · أنتن antunna | تَقْرَأْنَ | taqraʾna |
| he · هو huwa | يَقْرَأُ | yaqraʾu |
| she · هي hiya | تَقْرَأُ | taqraʾu |
| they two m. · هما humā | يَقْرَآنِ | yaqraʾāni |
| they two f. · هما humā | تَقْرَآنِ | taqraʾāni |
| they m.pl. · هم hum | يَقْرَؤُونَ | yaqraʾūna |
| they f.pl. · هن hunna | يَقْرَأْنَ | yaqraʾna |
Subjunctive and jussive of qaraʾa
The subjunctive and the jussive of qaraʾa change only the ending of the present: يَقْرَأُ (yaqraʾu) becomes يَقْرَأَ (yaqraʾa) after لن (lan, will not) and يَقْرَأْ (yaqraʾ) after لم (lam, did not).
| Person | Subjunctive | Jussive |
|---|---|---|
| I · أنا anā | أَقْرَأَ (aqraʾa) | أَقْرَأْ (aqraʾ) |
| we · نحن naḥnu | نَقْرَأَ (naqraʾa) | نَقْرَأْ (naqraʾ) |
| you m.sg. · أنت anta | تَقْرَأَ (taqraʾa) | تَقْرَأْ (taqraʾ) |
| you f.sg. · أنت anti | تَقْرَئِي (taqraʾī) | تَقْرَئِي (taqraʾī) |
| you dual · أنتما antumā | تَقْرَآ (taqraʾā) | تَقْرَآ (taqraʾā) |
| you m.pl. · أنتم antum | تَقْرَؤُوا (taqraʾū) | تَقْرَؤُوا (taqraʾū) |
| you f.pl. · أنتن antunna | تَقْرَأْنَ (taqraʾna) | تَقْرَأْنَ (taqraʾna) |
| he · هو huwa | يَقْرَأَ (yaqraʾa) | يَقْرَأْ (yaqraʾ) |
| she · هي hiya | تَقْرَأَ (taqraʾa) | تَقْرَأْ (taqraʾ) |
| they two m. · هما humā | يَقْرَآ (yaqraʾā) | يَقْرَآ (yaqraʾā) |
| they two f. · هما humā | تَقْرَآ (taqraʾā) | تَقْرَآ (taqraʾā) |
| they m.pl. · هم hum | يَقْرَؤُوا (yaqraʾū) | يَقْرَؤُوا (yaqraʾū) |
| they f.pl. · هن hunna | يَقْرَأْنَ (yaqraʾna) | يَقْرَأْنَ (yaqraʾna) |
Imperative of qaraʾa
The command (al-amr) is the jussive تَقْرَأْ (taqraʾ) without its prefix, with a connecting alif (hamzat al-waṣl) in front that is pronounced only when the command starts a sentence: اِقْرَأْ (iqraʾ) to one man, اِقْرَئِي (iqraʾī) to one woman, اِقْرَؤُوا (iqraʾū) to a group.
| Person | Arabic | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| you m.sg. · أنت anta | اِقْرَأْ | iqraʾ |
| you f.sg. · أنت anti | اِقْرَئِي | iqraʾī |
| you dual · أنتما antumā | اِقْرَآ | iqraʾā |
| you m.pl. · أنتم antum | اِقْرَؤُوا | iqraʾū |
| you f.pl. · أنتن antunna | اِقْرَأْنَ | iqraʾna |
Passive of qaraʾa
The passive of qaraʾa keeps the consonants and changes the vowels: u and i in the past (قُرِئَ (quriʾa)), the prefix yu- and a before the last root letter in the present (يُقْرَأُ (yuqraʾu)).
| Person | Past passive | Present passive |
|---|---|---|
| I · أنا anā | قُرِئْتُ (quriʾtu) | أُقْرَأُ (uqraʾu) |
| we · نحن naḥnu | قُرِئْنَا (quriʾnā) | نُقْرَأُ (nuqraʾu) |
| you m.sg. · أنت anta | قُرِئْتَ (quriʾta) | تُقْرَأُ (tuqraʾu) |
| you f.sg. · أنت anti | قُرِئْتِ (quriʾti) | تُقْرَئِينَ (tuqraʾīna) |
| you dual · أنتما antumā | قُرِئْتُمَا (quriʾtumā) | تُقْرَآنِ (tuqraʾāni) |
| you m.pl. · أنتم antum | قُرِئْتُمْ (quriʾtum) | تُقْرَؤُونَ (tuqraʾūna) |
| you f.pl. · أنتن antunna | قُرِئْتُنَّ (quriʾtunna) | تُقْرَأْنَ (tuqraʾna) |
| he · هو huwa | قُرِئَ (quriʾa) | يُقْرَأُ (yuqraʾu) |
| she · هي hiya | قُرِئَتْ (quriʾat) | تُقْرَأُ (tuqraʾu) |
| they two m. · هما humā | قُرِئَا (quriʾā) | يُقْرَآنِ (yuqraʾāni) |
| they two f. · هما humā | قُرِئَتَا (quriʾatā) | تُقْرَآنِ (tuqraʾāni) |
| they m.pl. · هم hum | قُرِئُوا (quriʾū) | يُقْرَؤُونَ (yuqraʾūna) |
| they f.pl. · هن hunna | قُرِئْنَ (quriʾna) | يُقْرَأْنَ (yuqraʾna) |
Participles and verbal noun of qaraʾa
The active participle follows the pattern fāʿil: قَارِئ (qāriʾ). The passive participle follows mafʿūl: مَقْرُوء (maqrūʾ). Form I verbal nouns follow no single pattern, and Wiktionary lists two for qaraʾa: قِرَاءَة (qirāʾa), قُرْآن (qurʾān). Learn them with the verb, or look them up under q-r-ʾ in one of the dictionaries in our guide.
Why qaraʾa conjugates this way
The last root letter of قَرَأَ (qaraʾa) is a hamza. It sits on an alif after a (قَرَأَ (qaraʾa), يَقْرَأُ (yaqraʾu)), on a ya after i (قُرِئَ (quriʾa)). Faʿala (to do) and dhahaba (to go) share its vowels, a in the past and a in the present.
Qaraʾa in sentences
قرأ كثيرا.
He read a lot.
The verb: قَرَأَ (qaraʾa), past, he. Source: Tatoeba sentence 11505040 by dididodo (CC BY 2.0 FR), unvowelled as published.
هي تقرأ.
She reads.
The verb: تَقْرَأُ (taqraʾu), present, she. Source: Tatoeba sentence 13420877 by Adelpa (CC BY 2.0 FR), unvowelled as published.
Frequently asked questions
What is the present tense of qaraʾa?
The present tense of قَرَأَ (qaraʾa) is يَقْرَأُ (yaqraʾu) for he, أَقْرَأُ (aqraʾu) for I and تَقْرَأُ (taqraʾu) for you (one man). Its stem vowel, a, has to be learned with the verb.
What is the maṣdar (verbal noun) of qaraʾa?
قِرَاءَة (qirāʾa), قُرْآن (qurʾān), from Wiktionary: Form I verbal nouns have no fixed pattern. The active participle is قَارِئ (qāriʾ), and the passive participle مَقْرُوء (maqrūʾ).
Is qaraʾa a regular verb?
It is regular apart from spelling: the hamza of the root changes its seat with the vowels around it (قَرَأَ (qaraʾa), يَقْرَأُ (yaqraʾu)).