المحادثة: الْفِعْلُ وَالْفَاعِلُ
Dialogue: The verb and the doer — فَعَلَ and فَاعِلٌ in conversation
أَحْمَد
مَنْ كَتَبَ هَذَا؟
Who wrote this?
زَيْنَب
الْمُعَلِّمُ كَتَبَ.
The teacher wrote (it).
أَحْمَد
الْكِتَابُ جَمِيلٌ. مَنْ قَرَأَ؟
The book is beautiful. Who read (it)?
زَيْنَب
أَنَا قَرَأْتُ. وَأَنْتَ عَلِمْتَ؟
I read (it). And did you know?
أَحْمَد
نَعَمْ. هَذَا عَالِمٌ وَذَاكَ كَاتِبٌ.
Yes. This (person) is a scholar and that one is a writer.
زَيْنَب
الْجذرُ ك ت ب — كَتَبَ، كَاتِبٌ، كِتَابٌ.
The root is k-t-b — he wrote, writer, book.
أَحْمَد
مَنْ دَرَسَ؟ الْوَلَدُ دَرَسَ.
Who studied? The boy studied.
زَيْنَب
هَذَا دَارِسٌ وَتِلْكَ كَاتِبَةٌ. مِنْ جَذْرٍ وَاحِدٍ.
This (person) is a (male) student and that one is a (female) writer. From one root.
أَحْمَد
الْمُعَلِّمُ قَرَأَ وَالطَّالِبُ عَلِمَ. الْكِتَابُ جَمِيلٌ.
The teacher read and the student knew. The book is beautiful.
زَيْنَب
الْجَذْرُ ع ل م: عَلِمَ، عَالِمٌ، عِلْمٌ.
The root ʿ-l-m: he knew, scholar, knowledge.
Grammar Note
Verbs like كَتَبَ (wrote), قَرَأَ (read), عَلِمَ (knew) have a 3-letter root. The active participle (فَاعِلٌ) gives "the one who does": كَاتِبٌ (writer), قَارِئٌ (reader), عَالِمٌ (scholar).