Speak and Write Language Series

Unit III — الرَّأْي وَالحُجَّة وَالبَيَانَات (Opinion, Argument, and Data) — Chapter 14

العَمَلِيَّات وَالوَصْف الرَّسْمِيّChapter 14: Processes and Formal Description

Passive production, process sequence, and participles · Speak and Write Arabic: Independent Communication and Advanced Expression

Chapter Overview

In Chapter 13, you learned to state a percentage, describe a rate rising or falling, cite a source, and interpret a set of figures. This chapter turns from evidence about outcomes to the description of procedures themselves. You already recognized the passive voice receptively from Chapter 4 onward and saw it recur in media and institutional contexts in Chapters 6 through 9; this chapter moves the passive into fuller productive use so you can describe a formal procedure — an application, a request, a registration — without naming who carries out each step. You will also learn to sequence a process with ordering connectors and to use active and passive participles as descriptive labels for a step's current status. No new clause type is introduced: the content clauses and source-attribution patterns you have used since Chapter 4 continue to operate here, now describing procedures rather than data or opinions. By the end of the chapter, you will be able to read a short passage describing an official procedure, discuss the steps of a process with a partner, and write a short paragraph describing a procedure formally and impersonally.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

Form and use the internal passive of Form I sound verbs, such as يُقَدَّم and يُرَاجَع, to describe a step in a process without naming the agent.
Form and use the passive of derived verbs, such as Form II يُنَفَّذ, in formal process description.
Sequence the steps of a procedure using أَوَّلًا, ثُمَّ, بَعْد ذَلِك, and أَخِيرًا.
Use active and passive participles such as مُقَدَّم، مُعْتَمَد، and مَرْفُوض to describe the current status of a step or request.
Distinguish when to choose the passive rather than the active voice in formal, institutional description.
Read a short passage describing an official procedure and identify its steps, their sequence, and the status of each stage.
Write a short, organized paragraph that describes a formal procedure impersonally, step by step, from start to finish.

Opening Communication Scenario

A new international student at your university has asked you to explain how the housing-application procedure works, since the university website describes it only in very formal administrative language. You need to walk her through each step — from submitting the request to receiving a final decision — without focusing on which specific staff member handles each stage, since that information is not published and is not the point. Your explanation should describe what is done at each step, in what order, and what the current status of a request can be.

You will learn how to describe a procedure using the passive voice instead of naming an unspecified agent.
You will practice ordering the steps of a process and describing the status of a request.
You will read a short passage describing an official procedure, discuss the steps with a partner, and write your own process-description paragraph.

المُفْرَدَات الأَسَاسِيَّة — Core Vocabulary

Core Vocabulary

These items are new to this chapter and are productive from this point forward. Institutional vocabulary from Chapter 7 — طَلَب, مُؤَسَّسَة, مُوَظَّف — recurs below in process-description contexts.

Arabic	Meaning	Gender / Plural / Form	Notes
عَمَلِيَّة، عَمَلِيَّات	process, procedure	fem., sound fem. pl.	core noun of the chapter; head of construct phrases such as عَمَلِيَّة التَّسْجِيل
إِجْرَاء، إِجْرَاءَات	procedure, measure, formality	masc., sound fem. pl.	often used in the plural for a set of official steps
خُطْوَة، خُطُوَات	step	fem., sound fem. pl.	used with ordinal numbers: الخُطْوَة الأُولَى
مَرْحَلَة، مَرَاحِل	stage, phase	fem., broken pl.	broader than خُطْوَة; may contain several steps
قَدَّمَ (يُقَدِّم) / يُقَدَّم	to submit / to be submitted	Form II verb; internal passive shown	active and passive forms both productive; agent omitted in the passive
رَاجَعَ (يُرَاجِع) / يُرَاجَع	to review / to be reviewed	Form III verb; internal passive shown	describes the review stage of a request
نَفَّذَ (يُنَفِّذ) / يُنَفَّذ	to carry out, implement / to be carried out	Form II verb; internal passive shown	describes execution of an approved step
اِعْتَمَدَ (يَعْتَمِد) / يُعْتَمَد	to approve / to be approved	Form VIII verb; internal passive shown	يُعْتَمَد is the standard institutional passive for official approval
مُعْتَمَد / مَرْفُوض / مُكْتَمَل	approved / rejected / completed	passive participles used as status adjectives	describe the current state of a request, not an action in progress
أَوَّلًا / ثُمَّ / بَعْد ذَلِك / أَخِيرًا	first / then / after that / finally	fixed sequence connectors	order the steps of a procedure; recycled from earlier time-clause and sequence work

Verbs are listed with both active and passive forms, since this chapter activates the passive for independent production; nouns are listed with gender and plural, consistent with this volume's noun and verb policy.

التَّرْكِيب — Grammar and Sentence Patterns

Grammar and Sentence Patterns: Passive Production, Process Sequence, Participles

You have recognized the passive voice since Chapter 4 and seen it used in media and institutional texts through Chapter 9. This chapter moves the passive into independent production for one specific purpose: describing a formal procedure step by step, without naming who performs each action. No new clause type is introduced; the same simple declarative sentences you already produce now take a passive verb as their core.

Building Block 1 — The internal passive of Form I verbs

يُفْعَل ← فُعِل (present and past internal passive of a sound Form I verb)

The internal passive changes the vowel pattern of the verb rather than adding a separate word. The agent is not named; if it must be mentioned, this is done with a following phrase, but ordinary process description omits it entirely.

يُقَدَّم الطَّلَب أَوَّلًا إِلَى مَكْتَب شُؤُون الطُّلَّاب.

The request is first submitted to the student affairs office.

Building Block 2 — Passive of derived verbs (Form II and beyond)

يُفَعَّل / يُفَاعَل / يُعْتَمَد (passive of Form II, III, and VIII verbs)

Derived forms have their own passive patterns, but the function is the same: the action is described from the point of view of what happens to the request, not who acts on it.

ثُمَّ يُرَاجَع الطَّلَب مِن قِبَل اللَّجْنَة، وَيُعْتَمَد إِذَا اِسْتَوْفَى الشُّرُوط.

The request is then reviewed by the committee, and it is approved if it meets the conditions.

Building Block 3 — Sequencing the steps

أَوَّلًا، ... ثُمَّ، ... بَعْد ذَلِك، ... وَأَخِيرًا، ...

These four connectors recycle earlier discourse-cohesion work and give a process description its clear order. Each connector normally opens a new sentence built around a passive verb.

أَوَّلًا، يُقَدَّم الطَّلَب. ثُمَّ يُرَاجَع مِن قِبَل المَكْتَب. بَعْد ذَلِك، يُعْتَمَد أَو يُرْفَض. وَأَخِيرًا، يُبَلَّغ الطَّالِب بِالنَّتِيجَة.

First, the request is submitted. Then it is reviewed by the office. After that, it is approved or rejected. Finally, the student is informed of the result.

Building Block 4 — Participles as status descriptions

الطَّلَب + مُعْتَمَد / مَرْفُوض / مُكْتَمَل (participle used as a predicate adjective)

A passive participle names a current state, not an ongoing action, so it is used after a request has already passed through a step — a useful shortcut once the process itself has been described with full passive verbs.

طَلَبِي مُعْتَمَد مُنْذُ الأُسْبُوع المَاضِي، لَكِنَّ طَلَب صَدِيقِي لَا يَزَال قَيْد المُرَاجَعَة.

My request has been approved since last week, but my friend's request is still under review.

Recycled structures used in this chapter: passive recognition and limited production (Ch. 4-9); institutional and service vocabulary (Ch. 7); source attribution and content clauses with أَنَّ (Ch. 4, 6, 11-13), now describing the outcome of a procedure rather than a figure or an opinion.

أَمْثِلَة إِضَافِيَّة — Additional examples:

تُنَفَّذ هَذِه الإِجْرَاءَات عَادَةً خِلَال أُسْبُوعَيْن مِن تَارِيخ التَّقْدِيم.These procedures are usually carried out within two weeks of the submission date.
إِذَا رُفِض الطَّلَب، يُمْكِن تَقْدِيم اِسْتِئْنَاف خِلَال عَشَرَة أَيَّام.If the request is rejected, an appeal can be submitted within ten days.

Model Dialogue

لَيْلَى, a new international student, asks كَرِيم to explain the university's housing-application procedure.

لَيْلَى

كَيْف تَسِير عَمَلِيَّة طَلَب السَّكَن الجَامِعِيّ بِالضَّبْط؟How exactly does the university housing-application process work?

كَرِيم

أَوَّلًا، يُقَدَّم الطَّلَب إِلِكْتْرُونِيًّا عَبْر مَوْقِع الجَامِعَة قَبْل نِهَايَة شَهْر يُونْيُو.First, the request is submitted electronically through the university website before the end of June.

لَيْلَى

وَبَعْد ذَلِك؟ هَل يُرَاجَع الطَّلَب فَوْرًا؟And after that? Is the request reviewed immediately?

كَرِيم

ثُمَّ يُرَاجَع الطَّلَب مِن قِبَل مَكْتَب السَّكَن خِلَال أُسْبُوعَيْن، وَيُعْتَمَد إِذَا تَوَفَّرَت الشُّرُوط.Then the request is reviewed by the housing office within two weeks, and it is approved if the conditions are met.

لَيْلَى

وَمَاذَا لَو رُفِض؟And what if it is rejected?

كَرِيم

فِي هَذِه الحَالَة، يُمْكِن تَقْدِيم اِسْتِئْنَاف. وَأَخِيرًا، يُبَلَّغ الطَّالِب بِالقَرَار النِّهَائِيّ عَن طَرِيق البَرِيد الإِلِكْتْرُونِيّ.In that case, an appeal can be submitted. Finally, the student is informed of the final decision by email.

Guided Practice

تَمْرِين ١ — Change the verb to the passive. Rewrite each active sentence as a passive process-description sentence, omitting the agent.

يُقَدِّم الطَّالِب الطَّلَب إِلَى المَكْتَب. (Change يُقَدِّم to the passive.)
تُرَاجِع اللَّجْنَة الطَّلَبَات كُلّ أُسْبُوع. (Change تُرَاجِع to the passive.)
يَعْتَمِد المُدِير الطَّلَبَات المُسْتَوْفِيَة لِلشُّرُوط. (Change يَعْتَمِد to the passive.)

تَمْرِين ٢ — Order the steps. Arrange the following steps using أَوَّلًا, ثُمَّ, بَعْد ذَلِك, and أَخِيرًا, keeping each verb passive.

(الطَّلَب / يُقَدَّم) — (النَّتِيجَة / يُعْلَن عَنْهَا) — (المِلَفّ / يُرَاجَع) — (الطَّالِب / يُبَلَّغ)

تَمْرِين ٣ — Choose the correct form. Decide whether a full passive verb or a status participle fits each context better, then explain your choice in one sentence.

طَلَبِي ______ (مُعْتَمَد / يُعْتَمَد) مُنْذُ يَوْمَيْن؛ أَسْتَطِيع اِسْتِلَام المِفْتَاح الآن.
الطَّلَبَات الجَدِيدَة ______ (تُرَاجَع / مُرَاجَعَة) حَالِيًّا مِن قِبَل اللَّجْنَة.

Listening Practice

Ask your instructor, a partner, or a text-to-speech tool to read the following short procedural announcement aloud twice at a moderate pace. Listen without reading along the first time, then answer the questions below.

يُعْلَن مَكْتَب شُؤُون الطُّلَّاب عَن الخُطُوَات التَّالِيَة لِطَلَب المِنْحَة الدِّرَاسِيَّة. أَوَّلًا، يُقَدَّم الطَّلَب مَع الأَوْرَاق المَطْلُوبَة قَبْل نِهَايَة شَهْر أُكْتُوبَر. ثُمَّ يُرَاجَع المِلَفّ مِن قِبَل لَجْنَة المِنَح خِلَال ثَلَاثَة أَسَابِيع. بَعْد ذَلِك، تُعْتَمَد المِنَح المُسْتَوْفِيَة لِلشُّرُوط، وَتُرْفَض الطَّلَبَات النَّاقِصَة. وَأَخِيرًا، يُبَلَّغ جَمِيع الطُّلَّاب بِالنَّتِيجَة عَن طَرِيق البَرِيد الإِلِكْتْرُونِيّ فِي بِدَايَة شَهْر دِيسَمْبِر.

مُهِمَّة الاسْتِمَاع — Listening task

What is the first step in the scholarship-application procedure, and by when must it be completed?
Who reviews the file, and how long does the review take?
What happens to complete applications, and what happens to incomplete ones?
How and when are students informed of the result?

Speaking Practice

تَدْرِيب مُوَجَّه — Controlled practice: Describe one step

Choose one step from a procedure you know (renewing a passport, registering for a course, returning a purchased item) and describe it in the passive voice, without naming who carries it out.

مُهِمَّة تَوَاصُل — Communicative task: Walk a partner through a process

With a partner, choose an everyday institutional procedure. One partner describes the full sequence of steps using أَوَّلًا, ثُمَّ, بَعْد ذَلِك, and أَخِيرًا with passive verbs; the other partner asks about the current status of a hypothetical request using a participle such as مُعْتَمَد or قَيْد المُرَاجَعَة.

لِلْمُتَعَلِّمِينَ المُسْتَقِلِّينَ — Solo alternative

Record yourself describing a real or invented administrative procedure step by step, using at least three passive verbs and one status participle.

Reading Practice

Read the short passage below, then answer the comprehension questions. Predictable short vowels on familiar words remain unmarked, consistent with the reading level established across this unit.

عَمَلِيَّة تَجْدِيد بِطَاقَة الطَّالِب

تَتَكَوَّن عَمَلِيَّة تَجْدِيد بِطَاقَة الطَّالِب مِن أَرْبَع خُطُوَات رَئِيسِيَّة. أَوَّلًا، يُقَدَّم طَلَب التَّجْدِيد إِلِكْتْرُونِيًّا مَع صُورَة حَدِيثَة، وَذَلِك قَبْل اِنْتِهَاء صَلَاحِيَّة البِطَاقَة القَدِيمَة بِأُسْبُوعَيْن عَلَى الأَقَلّ. ثُمَّ يُرَاجَع الطَّلَب مِن قِبَل مَكْتَب شُؤُون الطُّلَّاب لِلتَّأَكُّد مِن اِكْتِمَال البَيَانَات. بَعْد ذَلِك، تُنَفَّذ عَمَلِيَّة الطِّبَاعَة، وَتُعْتَمَد البِطَاقَة الجَدِيدَة مِن قِبَل الإِدَارَة. وَأَخِيرًا، يُبَلَّغ الطَّالِب بِأَنَّ بِطَاقَتَه الجَدِيدَة جَاهِزَة لِلاِسْتِلَام مِن المَكْتَب الرَّئِيسِيّ. تُشِير الإِحْصَاءَات إِلَى أَنَّ مُعْظَم الطَّلَبَات تُعْتَمَد خِلَال عَشَرَة أَيَّام مِن تَارِيخ التَّقْدِيم.

أَسْئِلَة الفَهْم — Comprehension questions:

What must be submitted along with the renewal request, and by when?
Who reviews the request, and what are they checking for?
What happens after the review, in order?
According to the statistics mentioned, how long does most of the process take?

Writing Workshop — A Process Description Paragraph

In this workshop, you will write a short, organized paragraph that describes a formal procedure step by step, using the passive voice and sequence connectors taught in this chapter.

Step 1 — Name the procedure. Open with a sentence naming the procedure using عَمَلِيَّة or إِجْرَاءَات plus a construct phrase.
Step 2 — Describe the first step. Use أَوَّلًا with a passive verb such as يُقَدَّم.
Step 3 — Describe the middle steps. Use ثُمَّ and بَعْد ذَلِك with passive verbs such as يُرَاجَع and يُعْتَمَد.
Step 4 — Describe the final step. Use أَخِيرًا to describe how the outcome is communicated.
Step 5 — Add a status note. Close with one sentence using a status participle such as مُعْتَمَد or قَيْد المُرَاجَعَة to describe a request at a particular point in the process.
Review your draft against the checklist below.

قَائِمَة المُرَاجَعَة — Editing checklist:

My paragraph names the procedure clearly in the opening sentence.
I used at least three passive verbs to describe steps, without naming an agent.
I ordered the steps using أَوَّلًا, ثُمَّ, بَعْد ذَلِك, and أَخِيرًا.
I used at least one status participle correctly, distinct from a full passive verb.
I did not introduce any system beyond what this chapter and prior chapters authorized.

Culture and Communication

Culture in Context — Impersonal language in institutions

Official Arabic-language procedures — university regulations, government forms, employment notices — are very commonly described in the passive voice or with impersonal expressions. This is not evasive; it reflects the fact that a procedure is meant to apply consistently regardless of which specific employee handles an individual case, and formal MSA regularly favors this process-focused style in institutional writing.

Regional Variation — Naming offices and procedures

The names of the offices and forms involved in a given procedure vary by country and by institution, and some administrative terms differ between, for example, Gulf, Levantine, and North African usage. The passive structures and sequence connectors taught in this chapter remain stable across these institutional differences, even when local office names or form titles do not.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Common Mistake — Naming an unnecessary agent

Error: keeping the active voice and inventing a vague subject, such as أَحَد المُوَظَّفِين يُقَدِّم الطَّلَب, when the point of the sentence is the step itself, not who performs it.

Correction: use the passive and drop the agent entirely, as in يُقَدَّم الطَّلَب.

Common Mistake — Confusing a status participle with an ongoing action

Error: writing الطَّلَب مُرَاجَع الآن to mean that a request is currently being reviewed, when مُرَاجَع as a bare participle suggests the review is already complete.

Correction: use the full passive verb for an action in progress, as in الطَّلَب يُرَاجَع الآن or الطَّلَب قَيْد المُرَاجَعَة, and reserve the bare participle مُرَاجَع for a completed state.

Common Mistake — Leaving the sequence unmarked

Error: listing several passive-verb sentences with no connector between them, leaving the reader to guess the order of the steps.

Correction: open each new step with أَوَّلًا, ثُمَّ, بَعْد ذَلِك, or أَخِيرًا, so the sequence is explicit rather than assumed.

Chapter Summary

This chapter moved the passive voice, recognized since Chapter 4, into independent production for describing formal procedures with verbs such as يُقَدَّم, يُرَاجَع, and يُعْتَمَد. It introduced the sequence connectors أَوَّلًا, ثُمَّ, بَعْد ذَلِك, and أَخِيرًا for ordering steps, and it distinguished a full passive verb describing an action from a status participle such as مُعْتَمَد describing a completed state. No new clause type was introduced; the content clauses and source-attribution patterns from earlier chapters continue to operate, now applied to procedures. Chapter 15 is the Unit III assessment: it introduces no new system and asks you to combine opinion, comparison, data commentary, and process description into one supported argument.

Chapter Review

Section A — Structure Recognition

1. In the Model Dialogue, identify each passive verb and state which step of the procedure it describes.

2. In the Reading Practice passage, identify the four steps of the procedure in order and the sequence connector that introduces each one.

Section B — Self-Assessment

1. Which is harder for you to produce accurately: the internal passive of Form I verbs, or the passive of derived forms such as يُعْتَمَد?

2. Compare your Writing Workshop paragraph with the checklist. Did you distinguish a full passive verb from a status participle correctly throughout?

مُرَاجَعَة تَرَاكُمِيَّة — Cumulative review

Before moving to Chapter 15, confirm that you can comfortably combine: institutional vocabulary (Ch. 7); source attribution and content clauses with أَنَّ (Ch. 4, 6, 11-13); the percentage, rate, and data-interpretation expressions from Chapter 13; and the passive process description and status participles from this chapter. Unit III's assessment will ask you to bring these systems together in a single supported argument.

Practical Performance Task

مُهِمَّة عَمَلِيَّة — Practical Task

كَيْف تَسِير العَمَلِيَّة؟ — How Does the Process Work?

Complete both parts below.

Written: Submit the process-description paragraph drafted in the Writing Workshop, revised against the editing checklist.
Spoken: Explain a real or invented administrative procedure to a partner, instructor, or recording in under two minutes, using at least three passive verbs, all four sequence connectors, and one status participle.

Assessment focus: correctly formed passive verbs with the agent omitted; clear sequencing with the four connectors; a correctly used status participle distinct from a full passive verb; comprehensible, level-appropriate delivery.

Answer Key

Guided Practice

Exercise 1: يُقَدَّم الطَّلَب إِلَى المَكْتَب. / تُرَاجَع الطَّلَبَات كُلّ أُسْبُوع. / تُعْتَمَد الطَّلَبَات المُسْتَوْفِيَة لِلشُّرُوط.

Exercise 2 (model answer): أَوَّلًا، يُقَدَّم الطَّلَب. ثُمَّ يُرَاجَع المِلَفّ. بَعْد ذَلِك، تُعْلَن النَّتِيجَة. وَأَخِيرًا، يُبَلَّغ الطَّالِب.

Exercise 3: 1. مُعْتَمَد — describes the completed state of the request, matching "since two days ago." 2. تُرَاجَع — describes the review as an action still in progress, matching "currently."

Reading Practice — Comprehension

A recent photo must be submitted with the request, at least two weeks before the old card expires.
The student affairs office reviews the request, checking that the data is complete.
After the review, the card is printed, and the new card is approved by the administration; finally, the student is informed that the card is ready for pickup.
According to the statistics mentioned, most requests are approved within ten days of submission.

Listening Practice

The first step is submitting the request with the required documents before the end of October.
The scholarship committee reviews the file, and the review takes three weeks.
Complete applications meeting the conditions are approved; incomplete applications are rejected.
All students are informed of the result by email at the start of December.

Chapter Review — Model responses

Section A.1: يُقَدَّم describes submission; يُرَاجَع and يُعْتَمَد describe the review and approval stage; يُبَلَّغ describes the final notification.

Section A.2: Step 1 (أَوَّلًا): submitting the renewal request with a photo. Step 2 (ثُمَّ): the office reviews the request. Step 3 (بَعْد ذَلِك): the card is printed and approved. Step 4 (وَأَخِيرًا): the student is informed the card is ready.

Section B: Open-ended self-assessment; any honest, specific response identifying one part of the structure and a concrete plan to strengthen it is acceptable.

Looking Ahead

مَا الَّذِي تَسْتَطِيعُ فِعْلَهُ الآن — What you can do now

You can now describe a formal procedure step by step using the passive voice, order its stages with sequence connectors, and describe the current status of a request with a participle. Chapter 15 draws on this alongside opinion, comparison, and data commentary to build one integrated, evidence-based argument.

مُرَاجَعَة ٣: أُقَدِّمُ حُجَّةChapter 15: Unit III Assessment

Chapter 15 asks you to present a supported argument with evidence, synthesizing opinion, comparison, data commentary, and process description from Chapters 11 through 14 without introducing any new grammar system.