Forms and Functions of Arabic Perfect Tense

Abstract

The current study aims at investigating the forms and functions of the Arabic perfect tense. It is hypothesised that Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) has different forms and functions in its usage by native speakers through daily speech and in their written performance. Some other dialects such as Iraqi Arabic as well as Egyptian Arabic quotations are also included in this study. To prove this hypothesis, several quotations from different genres such as (Newspapers, Magazines, Media, and authentic books of Arabic) are taken as data and analysed using quantitative and qualitative approaches. The study deals with different forms of Arabic perfect tense syntactically and morphologically. Regarding the function of MSA perfect tense, the aspectual differences such as habituality and narrative functions are dealt with. The conjugations of MSA verbs show a variety of forms and convey several meanings. The study concludes with some recommendations and suggestions for further study.