ABSTRACT
Verbal nouns in English are formed by the addition of -ing to the verb stem, e.g. 'doing', 'acting', 'dying', by other types of suffix, e.g. -ion 'action', or by changes in vowelling, e.g. 'deed', 'death'. In Gulf Arabic there are a number of fixed patterns used to form the verbal noun in simple verbs, and a single pattern for each of the derived themes. There are five common patterns used in the simple verb, and the particular pattern which any given verb takes is more or less fixed. As with 'broken' plurals, it is a good idea to learn the form of the verbal noun of each verb as you meet it, and from this point on, the verbal noun of each new simple verb will be listed as it occurs in the vocabulary summary.
