Al-Baqara · 2:9

يُخَادِعُونَ اللّٰهَ وَالَّذ۪ينَ اٰمَنُواۚ وَمَا يَخْدَعُونَ اِلَّٓا اَنْفُسَهُمْ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَۜ

They seek to deceive God and the believers but they only deceive themselves, though they do not realize it

يُخَادِعُونَ
yukhādiʿūna

The coloured letters are the root — the meaning core. The rest are prefixes, vowels and the pattern. Learn to spot them and you can find the root in a word you've never seen.

Meaning
they seek to deceive
Part of speech
Verb (فعل)
Root meaning
The root خدع (khdE) primarily means to hide or conceal. From this, it extends to deceiving, deluding, or outwitting someone by pretending the opposite of what is concealed.
Dictionary form
خَادَعَ
Derivation
Form III (mufāʿala) — attempted / mutual action
Verb form
Form III (فَاعَلَ)
Tense
Present (muḍāriʿ)
Voice
Active
Mood
Indicative (marfūʿ)
Person
3rd person masculine plural (‘they’)
Role
Main verb; subject is the ‘they’ (wāw)
Case
Indicative (nūn retained)
Grammar
‘They try to deceive’ — Form III (mufāʿala) often means an attempted or two-sided action, so ‘seek to deceive’. Present indicative; the wāw is the subject.
Conjugation

In the present, the prefix carries the subject (I / we / you / he) — no separate pronoun.