Doers and Professions: fāʿil and faʿʿāl

Two patterns turn a root into a person.

• فاعِل (fāʿil) is the one who does the action: ك-ت-ب → كاتب (writer), ل-ع-ب → لاعب (player), ر-ك-ب → راكب (passenger). It also makes adjectives such as ناجح (successful) and غائب (absent).
• فَعّال (faʿʿāl), with a doubled middle letter, names a trade someone practises every day: خ-ب-ز → خبّاز (baker), ن-ج-ر → نجّار (carpenter), ط-ي-ر → طيّار (pilot).

If the middle root letter is و or ي, fāʿil writes a hamza there instead: س-و-ق → سائق (driver), ب-ي-ع → بائع (seller). Use ال for a specific person (الخباز يستيقظ مبكرا) and the bare form as a predicate (أبي نجار, my father is a carpenter) or before another noun (سائق الحافلة, the bus driver).