This section deals with verbs whose first radical is a waaw. These verbs are often referred to as assimilated verbs because the waaw assimilates to a ت in Form VIII, and assimilates into a ي in Forms IV and X when the verbal nouns are generated. This chapter, as whole, only deals with Form I verbs. Therefore, this section will only deal with assimilated verbs in Form I. The derived forms of these verbs will be dealt with in the chapters treating Forms IV and X.

Assimilated verbs in Form I are very common. All you have to do is look under the waaw in your copy of Hans Wehr to see that they are indeed numerous. They can be divided into several sub-classes based upon the behavior of the stem and the waaw. However, the needs of the American student do not necessitate any sort of complicated division. Here they will be treated in much the same way that we treated sound verbs. For a more detailed analysis (that is, if you are a nut about grammar and morphology as I am) see Wright starting at the bottom of page 77. In fact, the explanation below will make Wright’s more meaningful to you.

First of all, assimilated verbs in the past tense conjugate exactly like sound verbs. There is no difference whatsoever. Therefore you will be expected to conjugate them with no problem.

In the present tense and in the jussive, however, the waaw of the stem is dropped from the conjugations. For example, the verb وَجَدَ is يَجِدُ in the present tense. It may have something to do with the stem vowel in the imperfect which is usually, but not always, a kasra. (For some Form I assimilated verbs in which the imperfect stem vowel is a fatha, the waaw remains, as in وَحِلَ, يَوْحَلُ) It may just be that the diphthong was just dropped for easier pronunciation. In any event, the initial waaw is dropped in the present tense for the vast majority of these verbs. Any exception will be noted in this text. As a practical matter, you will rarely see such exceptions in use today.

Below are the conjugations for the verb وَجَدَ, يَجِدُ in the present tense.

Note that the conjugations for the above defective verb are perfectly regular for a defective verb, with the exception that the first radical, the waaw, is also dropped. Note also, that for this type of verb, one that is assimilated and defective in Form I, the imperfect conjugations are those of يَجري , جرى regardless of the voweling pattern of the past tense.