This is a comparative study of the verbal group in English and
Arabic, with a particular focus on verbal elements like tense,
aspect, finiteness and voice. The study analysed the data using
the systemic functional framework complemented by some Arabic
grammatical theories. The Systemic Functional theory (Halilday
and Matthiessen, 2004) proved efficient in analysing the data
due to its view of language as a mega-system of sub-systems,
whereby items are selected and arranged by language users based
on the functional suitability of the items. In English and
Arabic grammars (Hudson, 2005; Baidhoon, 2005), verbal
formations entail systematic selection and use of words and
affixes. With the Systemic Functional theoretical tool, this
study discovered that the two languages agree on salient
functional dimensions (tense, aspect, etc) but differ on minute
structural details (word order, word forms). English relies
mainly on word order, using same forms for various functions;
Arabic uses morphological processes, with mi