Team Nisreen’s

Fusha to Shami
Contents
Spelling etc ............................................................................................................................................. 8
Consonants ............................................................................................................................................ 9
Initial consonant clusters ................................................................................................................ 11
Vowels .................................................................................................................................................. 12
Length .............................................................................................................................................. 12
Short vowel é ................................................................................................................................... 12
Helping vowel @.............................................................................................................................. 13
Vowel dropping ............................................................................................................................... 14
Vowel shifting .................................................................................................................................. 14
Stress ..................................................................................................................................................... 15
Pronouns, ‘here’, ‘there’ etc............................................................................................................... 16
Independent personal pronouns .................................................................................................... 16
Object pronouns .............................................................................................................................. 16
Pronoun suffix and la- .................................................................................................................. 17
The -la- object pronouns ................................................................................................................ 17
The carrier yaa- ............................................................................................................................... 19
Possessive pronouns ........................................................................................................................ 20
Double object construction .......................................................................................................... 21
Demonstrative pronouns ................................................................................................................ 21
Here and there ................................................................................................................................. 22
Question words ................................................................................................................................ 22
Who, what, which ......................................................................................................................... 22
How much, how many, how long etc............................................................................................ 23
Where, how................................................................................................................................... 23
Why ............................................................................................................................................... 24
When ............................................................................................................................................. 24
Heek .................................................................................................................................................. 24
Keza................................................................................................................................................... 25
Someone, anyone; somewhere, anywhere etc ............................................................................... 26
Nouns .................................................................................................................................................... 27
Gender.............................................................................................................................................. 27
Definiteness ...................................................................................................................................... 28
The dual ........................................................................................................................................... 30
 The plural ........................................................................................................................................ 30
Collectives and their singulars ....................................................................................................... 31
Negation ........................................................................................................................................... 33
Adjectives ............................................................................................................................................. 34
Masculine, feminine and plural ..................................................................................................... 34
Agreement........................................................................................................................................ 34
Modifying adjectives ....................................................................................................................... 35
Superlative and comparative ......................................................................................................... 36
Negating adjectives ......................................................................................................................... 36
Adverbs ................................................................................................................................................. 38
Verbs ..................................................................................................................................................... 40
Verbs and pseudoverbs .................................................................................................................... 40
Agreement ........................................................................................................................................ 41
Negation............................................................................................................................................ 42
Past tense .......................................................................................................................................... 45
Conjugation ................................................................................................................................... 45
Usage............................................................................................................................................. 45
Present tense .................................................................................................................................... 47
Conjugation ................................................................................................................................... 47
Usage............................................................................................................................................. 48
‫ بكون‬bikuun .................................................................................................................................... 49
Subjunctive........................................................................................................................................ 50
Conjugation ................................................................................................................................... 50
Usage............................................................................................................................................. 51
Imperative ......................................................................................................................................... 56
Conjugation ................................................................................................................................... 56
Participles .......................................................................................................................................... 58
Derivation...................................................................................................................................... 58
Feminine and plural forms ............................................................................................................ 60
Object pronouns ........................................................................................................................... 63
Usage............................................................................................................................................. 64
Participles and nouns-from-participles ......................................................................................... 67
Compound tense structures ............................................................................................................... 68
Future ............................................................................................................................................ 68
 Continuous .................................................................................................................................... 68
Combinations of kaan and other verb forms ................................................................................. 69
Possession ............................................................................................................................................. 71
iDaafe ............................................................................................................................................... 71
Taba3 ................................................................................................................................................ 71
Open conditionals ................................................................................................................................. 74
Hypothetical and counterfactual conditionals ....................................................................................... 75
The if-clause...................................................................................................................................... 75
The result clause ............................................................................................................................... 77
Other uses of law .................................................................................................................................. 78
Wlaw ‘even if’ ................................................................................................................................... 78
‘If only’ ............................................................................................................................................. 78
Other conditional expressions .............................................................................................................. 79
Relative clauses..................................................................................................................................... 82
Definites ........................................................................................................................................... 82
Indefinites ........................................................................................................................................ 83
Structures with ma .......................................................................................................................... 84
Agreement........................................................................................................................................ 84
Other ‘That’-clauses.............................................................................................................................. 86
Statements of fact ............................................................................................................................ 86
Subjunctives..................................................................................................................................... 87
‘For X to…’ ..................................................................................................................................... 87
Exceptions with élli ......................................................................................................................... 88
MaSdars and nouns of instance ............................................................................................................. 89
Formation of maSdars .................................................................................................................... 89
Formation of the ‫ اسم مرة‬.................................................................................................................. 90
Normal gerund uses ........................................................................................................................ 90
Cognate accusative .......................................................................................................................... 91
Passive .................................................................................................................................................. 93
Conjugation ..................................................................................................................................... 93
Usage ................................................................................................................................................ 93
Reflexives ............................................................................................................................................. 95
The reflexive pronoun..................................................................................................................... 95
Reciprocals............................................................................................................................................ 96
 The reciprocal pronoun .................................................................................................................. 96
Reciprocal verbs .............................................................................................................................. 96
Causatives ............................................................................................................................................ 97
‫ خلى‬khalla .......................................................................................................................................... 97
Other verbs ...................................................................................................................................... 97
Derived verbal forms ...................................................................................................................... 98
Causatives in context ...................................................................................................................... 99
Tamyiiz ................................................................................................................................................ 101
Numbers ............................................................................................................................................. 104
One.................................................................................................................................................. 104
Two ................................................................................................................................................. 104
3-10 ................................................................................................................................................. 105
11-19 ............................................................................................................................................... 106
20-90 ............................................................................................................................................... 107
100, 1,000, 1,000,000, 1,000,000,000 ............................................................................................ 107
Fractions ......................................................................................................................................... 108
(Basic) maths .................................................................................................................................. 108
Expressing possibility, obligation, etc ............................................................................................. 110
Possibility ....................................................................................................................................... 110
Ability ............................................................................................................................................. 116
Obligation ...................................................................................................................................... 118
Simple prepositions ............................................................................................................................ 121
‫ ب‬b- or bé- ....................................................................................................................................... 121
‫ مع‬ma3 ............................................................................................................................................. 122
‫ عند‬3énd ........................................................................................................................................... 123
‫ عن‬3an ............................................................................................................................................. 124
‫ من‬mén ............................................................................................................................................ 124
‫ لـ‬la-.................................................................................................................................................. 125
‫ كـ‬ka- ................................................................................................................................................ 127
‫ على‬3ala ........................................................................................................................................... 127
Complex prepositions ......................................................................................................................... 132
‫ قدام‬2éddaam ................................................................................................................................... 132
‫ قد‬2add............................................................................................................................................. 132
‫ قبل‬2ab@l ‘before’ ........................................................................................................................... 133
 ‫ برا‬barra ........................................................................................................................................... 133
‫ بقلب‬b2alb ‘inside’............................................................................................................................ 134
‫ بعد‬ba3@d ‘after’ ............................................................................................................................. 134
‫ بين‬been ‘among, between’ ............................................................................................................ 134
‫ بنص‬bnéSS ‘in the middle of’ .......................................................................................................... 134
‫ داير‬daayer ....................................................................................................................................... 135
‫ جنب‬janb, jamb ‘next to’ ................................................................................................................. 136
‫ جوا‬juwwa ‘inside’ ........................................................................................................................... 136
‫ مواجيه‬,‫ مواجه‬mwaajeh, mwaajiih ‘opposite’ .................................................................................. 137
‫ قفا‬2afa............................................................................................................................................. 137
‫ تحت‬ta7@t ....................................................................................................................................... 137
‫ طول‬Tool ........................................................................................................................................... 137
‫ وسط‬wasT ‫ بوسط‬bwasT ‘in the middle of’ ....................................................................................... 138
‫ ورا‬wara........................................................................................................................................... 138
‫ حوالي‬7awaali, 7awaalee- ‘around’ ................................................................................................ 138
Conjunctions ....................................................................................................................................... 140
‫ أصبح‬aSba7 ...................................................................................................................................... 140
‫ او‬aw ................................................................................................................................................ 140
‫ بقى‬ba2a........................................................................................................................................... 140
‫ بعدين‬ba3deen .................................................................................................................................. 140
‫ بس‬bass............................................................................................................................................ 141
‫ ف‬fa- ................................................................................................................................................ 141
‫ كإنو‬ka2énno .................................................................................................................................... 141
‫ لحتى‬,‫ لـ‬la-, la7atta ........................................................................................................................... 142
‫ ال ال‬laa… laa .................................................................................................................................... 143
‫ إلنو‬la2énn(o) ................................................................................................................................... 143
‫ مادام‬maadaam ................................................................................................................................ 143
‫ ما عاد‬maa3aad, ‫ مابقى‬maaba2a ...................................................................................................... 143
‫ مشان منشان عشان‬méshaan ménshaan 3ashaan .............................................................................. 144
‫ كرمال‬kurmaal/kérmaal ................................................................................................................... 144
‫ شي‬,‫ شي‬shi… shi ............................................................................................................................... 144
‫ و‬w-.................................................................................................................................................. 145
‫ وال‬wala............................................................................................................................................ 145
‫ وال‬wélla, willa ................................................................................................................................. 146
 Forms with -ma .............................................................................................................................. 146
‫ احسن ما‬a7san ma ‘lest’ ............................................................................................................... 147
Nouns + ma ..................................................................................................................................... 147
Prepositions + ma ........................................................................................................................... 148
Question words with -ma .............................................................................................................. 149
‫ شلون ما‬shloon ma, ‫كيف ما‬kiif ma 'however' .................................................................................. 150
Superlatives + ma ........................................................................................................................... 150
Combinations with énno ................................................................................................................ 150
Verb tables.......................................................................................................................................... 151
Form I .............................................................................................................................................. 151
Form II ............................................................................................................................................. 158
Form III ............................................................................................................................................ 161
Form V ............................................................................................................................................. 163
Form VI ............................................................................................................................................ 165
Form VII ........................................................................................................................................... 167
Form VIII .......................................................................................................................................... 169
Form IX ............................................................................................................................................ 172
Form X ............................................................................................................................................. 173
Quadriliteral verbs .......................................................................................................................... 176
Spelling etc
There are very few resources that discuss colloquial in anything other than an academic
transliteration complete with intimidating dots, circumflexes and other unpleasant diacritics, and the
ones that don’t do that often try and adopt some kind of terrible system of representing colloquial
sounds using Arabic letters and diacritics (or spell everything like fuSHa).

Both of these systems have problems – the former reflect a time when colloquial was almost never
written, which thanks to social media is firmly in the past, and the latter is absolutely terrible at
accurately representing the way that colloquial Arabic is actually pronounced in real life.

To try and get the best of both worlds, in this document all Arabic words and example sentences are
given in both their original Arabic spelling and in a transliteration based on the 3arabiizi occasionally
used by native speakers to write Arabic when support for letters is not conveniently available. This
has the downside of involving quite a lot of capital letters and numbers where an English speaker
definitely doesn’t expect them to be.

Because spelling is not standardised, colloquial words can be written in a variety of different ways
ranging from slightly modified fuSHa (‫ قايل‬or even ‫ قائل‬for 2aayel) to the very phonetic (‫ )ئايل‬to the
unpredictable and weird (‫ ـكون‬for -kon). Most speakers lean towards modified fuSHa spelling which
reflects the usual pronunciation of those letters, alongside some odd conventions and phonetic
spellings, which appear particularly in function words, suffixes etc. I’ve kept the sentences here
mostly as they were where I found them, but I’ve got rid of some of the more bizarre spellings.

One particularly weird thing I have got rid of which you might encounter in real life is that in Syrian
text-speak, ‫‘ الـ‬the’ is often not written at all. When it is written it is sometimes separated from the
word it’s attached to: ‫ بال بيت‬bélbeet ‘at home’, ‫ هال بيت‬halbeet ‘this house’. Even more weirdly,
these ‘separated’ forms are sometimes written alongside ‫الـ‬: ‫هال البيت‬. I can’t explain this, but I can
warn you to watch out for it since it’s very counterintuitive.
Consonants
Most of the Arabic consonants are pronounced basically the same in Shami as in newsreader-style
MSA, but just to showcase the transliteration we’ll list them all here;

‫ب‬b

‫ت‬t

‫ خ‬kh

‫د‬d

‫ر‬r

‫ز‬z

‫س‬s

‫ ش‬sh

‫ع‬3

‫ غ‬gh

‫ف‬f

‫ك‬k

‫م‬m

‫ن‬n

‫ه‬h

‫ و‬w (when a consonant)

‫ ي‬y (when a consonant)

You should be aware of the following sounds:

‫ – ث‬usually transliterated and pronounced as s in more common words.

In higher-register words like ‫ ثقافه‬saqaafe ‘culture’ or ‫ ثورة‬sawra ‘revolution’ some speakers may
have th (as in English thin) as in fuSHa. This seems to be more common in southern Levantine than in
northern Levantine – many Syrians cannot pronounce ‫ ث‬consistently as th and even when reading
fuSHa will pronounce it as s.
Note that a lot of common words which have ‫ ث‬in fuSHa have a ‫ ت‬t instead in colloquial: ‫ تالته‬tlaate
‘three’, ‫ تني‬tneen ‘two’, ‫ بعت‬ba3at ‘he sent’ – but this is not a rule you can generalise to just any
word (‫ حديث‬7adiis ‘conversation’).

‫ ذ‬- usually transliterated and pronounced as z in more common words.

In higher-register words like ‫ ذهب‬zahab ‘to go’ some speakers may have dh (as in English that) as in
fuSHa. This seems to be more common in southern Levantine than in northern Levantine – many
Syrians cannot pronounce ‫ ذ‬consistently as dh and even when reading fuSHa will pronounce it as z.

As with ‫ث‬, a lot of common words which have ‫ ذ‬in fuSHa have a ‫ د‬d instead in colloquial: ‫ داق‬daa2
‘he tasted’, ‫ داب‬daab ‘it melted’, ‫ بوالد‬buulaad ‘steel’. This is not a rule you can generalise to all words
however (‫ ذوق‬zoo2 ‘taste’, ‫ حبذ‬7abbaz ‘he was in favour of’).

‫ ح‬7 – Generally pronounced as in fuSHa, but in Syrian is sometimes not pronounced word-
finally in a few common words like ‫ صح‬Sa7ii.

‫ ج‬j – generally pronounced as in English pleasure in northern Levantine and as in English jam
in southern Levantine (although in southern Levantine both pronunciations occur).

J has a tendency to get confused with sounds produced in the same area of the mouth, and in a few
common words like ‫ تجوز‬tjawwaz ‘get married’ and ‫ سداجة‬saddaaje ‘carpet’ it has switched places
with other sounds, producing jumbled-up versions of the fuSHa equivalents.

‫ ض‬D – in Levantine this is the emphatic equivalent of ‫د‬, pronounced velarised (with the back
of your tongue raised). This is probably the pronunciation you were taught in fuSHa, but if your
teacher was Iraqi you may have learnt to pronounce it as an emphatic version of ‫ ذ‬dh instead.

Note that there are a few words which have ‫ ض‬in fuSHa which have an emphatic Z (‫ )ظ‬in colloquial,
at least for some speakers: ‫ ظابط‬ZaabeT ‘officer’, ‫ بالظبط‬biZZab@T ‘exactly’.

Especially in Lebanese but to some extent elsewhere, some words with ‫ ض‬may actually be
pronounced ‫د‬.

‫ ص‬S and ‫ ط‬T – Pronounced as in fuSHa with the back of the tongue raised. As with D these
sounds are a bit confused with ‫ س‬and ‫ ت‬and some words appear with both in different areas or by
ّ ّ
different people (‫ سفط سفت‬saffaT/saffat ‘line up’, ‫ فقص فقس‬fa2aS/fa2as ‘hatch’). The most common
ّ
word like this is ‫ صدق‬sadda2 ‘believe’, which is usually spelt as in fuSHa but pronounced with a
normal s.

Z – depending on who taught you, you may have learnt the Levantine pronunciation in
fuSHa – that is, as an emphatic version of z. If, however, you learnt this sound as an emphatic
version of ‫ – ذ‬a more prestigious fuSHa pronunciation – you should change it to Z in Levantine.

There are a number of words with ‫ ظ‬in fuSHa which instead have ‫ ض‬in Levantine: ‫ ضل‬Dall ‘he
stayed’, ‫ الضهر‬éDDahr ‘noon’, ‫ ضفر‬Défr ‘fingernail’. But this is not a rule that can be generalised to all
words: ‫ الظاهر‬éZZaaher ‘it seems’, ‫ ظريف‬Zariif ‘nice’.

‫ ق‬q – Probably the most well-known ‘transformation’ from fuSHa to colloquial is the change
of q to a glottal stop 2. Generally speaking, most more colloquial words undergo this change:
‫ بق‬bé2i ‘it remained’, ‫ داق‬daa2 ‘he tasted’, ‫ قال‬2aal ‘he said’.
However, many words – especially higher-register ones – retain their q sound: ‫ ثقافة‬saqaafe ‘culture’,
‫ مقالة‬maqaale ‘article’. There are some more common words that typically retain ‫ ق‬too: wéqe7
‘rude’. (In Lebanese all q can become a glottal stop, however).

The glottal stop pronunciation is probably the most sensible for non-native speakers to adopt in any
country. Although regional dialects exist which have q, g, or even k instead of a glottal stop, they are
relatively marked. The one exception to this might be Jordan, where men studying Arabic might be
expected to use g in at least some situations (here is an article discussing the complexity of the
situation in Jordan).

‫ ل‬l – Generally pronounced as in fuSHa. In a few words, particularly ‫ هللا‬and its derivations, l
is pronounced emphatic/velarised (with the back of the tongue raised).

‫ ء‬2 – Pronounced as in fuSHa as a glottal stop. However, most fuSHa hamzas have no
equivalent in colloquial, being dropped and replaced by vowel lengthening or just going missing
entirely.

Where the hamza appears in fuSHa conjugation patterns as a stand-in for vowels, they tend to be
replaced by semivowels consistently, as in the active participle pattern faa2il (for hollow verbs),
which in colloquial is replaced by faayil: ‫ دايق‬daaye2 ‘having tasted’, ‫ سايق‬saaye2 ‘driving’.

Initial consonant clusters

Shami allows lots of consonant clusters that fuSHa does not, especially word initially (where fuSHa
has none):

‫ كالب‬klaab ‘dogs’

‫ صحون‬SHuun ‘dishes’

‫ صغار‬Sghaar ‘little kids’

‫ ضوب‬Droob ‘hit (it)’

It is often the case in common words (and patterns) that where fusha has an a- prefix or an
unstressed short i/u in the first syllable, this will be dropped if it results in a cluster of only two
consonants (so ‫أوالد‬becomes wlaad, ‫ حدود‬becomes 7duud etc). But this is again not a generalisable
rule to all words and you should be careful not to over-Shamify higher register words!
Vowels
The actual exact pronunciation of the vowels in Levantine is, as in English, one of the many
indicators of regional dialect. The most important thing for an initial learner is trying to approximate
the sounds and keep the various different vowels distinct. You can worry about getting them closer
to native pronunciation later when you have people to imitate.

Length

One of the most important things to worry about is length – you have to make your long
vowels longer than your short vowels. The five long vowels are aa ii uu ee oo (ee and oo
correspond to ay and aw in fuSHa and probably sound to you, if you are a native English
speaker, like the vowels in ‘late’ and ‘wrote’ and should not be confused with our vowels in
‘beet’ and ‘boot’).

‫ كاتب‬kaatab ‘he wrote to’ and ‫ كتب‬katab ‘he wrote’ are distinct from one another.

‫ مي‬miin ‘who’ and ‫ من‬min ‘from’ are distinct from one another.

‫ دوق‬duu2 ‘taste (it)!’ and ‫ دق‬du2(2) ‘hit (it)!’ are distinct from one another.i

In fuSHa, there are almost no long final vowels that are not followed by a consonant. If
you’re pronouncing fuSHa right, then ‫ شهداء‬shuhadaa2 should have a long vowel in its last
syllable, but ‫ ذكرى‬dhikra, despite being written with one, has a short final vowel (unless you
learnt Tajwiid or something, in which case good for you). The only exception is in words like
‫ مباراة‬mubaaraa(h) where there is a final taa marbuuTa that is not pronounced. This is mostly
the same in Levantine, with one exception: when we attach the pronoun ‫‘ ـه‬he’ to a final
vowel, that vowel is lengthened and the -h is dropped.

‫ درس‬drési ‘study!’ is distinct from ‫ درسيه‬drésii ‘study it!’

‫ مصاري‬maSaari ‘money’ is distinct from ‫ مصاريه‬maSaarii ‘his money’.

Finally, in Palestinian and Jordanian, long vowels which are not stressed are usually
shortened: ‫ مفاتيح‬mafatii7 ‘keys’ (not mafaatii7 as in Syrian and as the spelling suggests).

Short vowel é
In Palestinian and Jordanian, short u/i are distinct at all times. In Syrian and Lebanese, however,
short u/i/o/e do not commonly occur in stressed syllables, merging into a sound we write with
é (‫ بدرس‬bédros ‘I study’, ‫ كتبو‬ktébu ‘write!’, ‫ شغل‬shégh@l ‘work’). This sound also occurs in some
unstressed syllables (‫ قدام‬2éddaam ‘in front of’).

This sound is pronounced in a variety of ways depending quite predictably on the sounds around it.
The two most common realisations in Damascene are as what is called in linguistics a schwa

i
Although in lots of Syrian and Lebanese dialects the latter is actually dé22 not du22 and has a different vowel
quality entirely.
(approximately the central-ish vowel sound in English ‘but’) and as a kind of short i (similar to in
English ‘pit’). This means that ‫كنت‬ként ‘I was’ sounds like kint, whilst ‫ حط‬7éTT ‘put (it) down’ sounds
sort of like English ‘hut’.

Note that this sound is being replaced in some words by its higher-register (fuSHa) equivalent. ‫حب‬
for example (‘love’) is pronounced both 7ébb and 7ubb by different speakers.

Helping vowel @
Whilst initially Shami allows lots of consonant clusters, finally and across word boundaries it is less
keen on them and usually breaks them up with a helping vowel @. This vowel cannot be stressed
and the word takes stress as though it wasn’t there (‫ تعلمت‬t3allam@t ‘I learnt’, ‫ مشمشه‬mésh@mshe
‘apricot’). Exactly which final consonant clusters are broken up depends on the speaker and the
dialect, but here are some examples:

‫ فيلم‬fil@m ‘film’

‫ كنت‬kén@t ‘I was’

‫ بحر‬ba7@r ‘sea’

In Syrian and Lebanese this vowel is pronounced exactly like é. In Palestinian and Jordanian, where
there is no é vowel, it is pronounced differently depending on the real (non-epenthetic) vowel
before it. In verbs it is always e, but in nouns it is typically e after a i e and o after o u:

‫ فلم‬filem ‘film’

‫ كنت‬kunet ‘I was’

‫ عذر‬3uzor ‘excuse’

The helping vowel is typically inserted into final consonant clusters when they appear before a pause
or if the next word begins with a consonant which creates an unpleasant consonant cluster:

‫ الفيلم يل شفتو‬élfil@m yalli shéfto ‘the film I saw’

‫ رحت لعندو‬ré7@t la3éndo ‘I went to his house’

‫ اخدت دوى؟ اي اخدت‬akhad@t dawa? ee akhad@t ‘have you had some medicine? Yeah, I have

It can also be inserted in between words. This typically happens if the next word begins with a
consonant cluster itself:

‫ انبسطت كتي‬mbasaTT @ktiir ‘I had a really good time’

‫ كنت اشييت‬ként @shtareet ‘I had bought’

Vowel dropping
Unstressed o e i u in a final syllable are usually dropped when a suffix beginning with a
vowel is added:

‫ كاتب كاتبه كانبين‬kaateb, kaatb-e, kaatb-iin ‘writer, writers’

‫ شربو‬,‫ شربت‬,‫ شرب‬shéreb, shérb-et, shérb-u ‘he drank’, ‘she drank’, ‘they drank’

‫ قالتلكن‬,‫ قالت‬2aalet, 2aalt-élkon ‘she said’, ‘she said to you’

Unstressed a is not normally dropped, except when the third person singular feminine suffix -
et, -at is added:

‫ كتبو‬,‫ كتبت‬katb-et/katb-at, katab-u ‘she wrote’, ‘they wrote’

Vowel dropping can also occur across word boundaries when words are pronounced as part
of a tight unit:

‫ شافت الفيلم‬shaaf(e)t élfilm ‘she saw the film’

‫ مدرسة دمحم‬madras(e)t @m7ammad ‘Muhammad’s school’

Vowel shifting
Adding some suffixes results in a stress shift (according to the regular rules of stress). If this results in
an unstressed e o i u becoming stressed, in Syr/Leb it changes into an é:

‫ بيكتب بيكتبلك‬byéktob, byéktéblak ‘he writes’, ‘he writes for you’

‫ بتمسكها‬,‫ بتمسك‬btémsek, btémsékha ‘you grab, you grab it’

When the –l- suffixes are added to a hollow verb, its long vowel is shortened. If the long vowel
is ii or uu, then in Syr/Leb it is shortened to é:

‫ بقللك‬,‫ بقول‬bi2uul, bi2éllak ‘he says’, ‘he says to you’

When suffixes are added to nouns and adjectives ending in -i, it never drops (as in fuSHa ‫ماس‬
‫ ماشون‬maashi maashuun for example). Where the suffix is a nisba adjective suffix, it becomes -iyy-:

ّ
‫حلبية‬ ,‫ حلب‬7alabi, 7alabiyy-e ‘Aleppan’, ‘Aleppans’

In most other cases it becomes -y-:

‫ ماس ماشيي‬maashi, maashyiin ‘walking’

‫ مستوي مستوية‬méstewi, méstéwye ‘cooked’

There are a few exceptions, however, like form I defective passive participles:

‫ مطفية‬,‫ مطق‬méTfi, méTfiyye ‘switched off’

Stress
The stress system of Levantine is pretty similar to the one usually taught as the standard for fuSHa,
with a few exceptions.

The placement of the stress depends on the ‘weight’ of the syllable. A syllable consisting of just a
consonant and a short vowel (like daras, katab etc) is ‘light’. A syllable consisting of a consonant-
short vowel-consonant sequence (like daras, katab) is ‘heavy’. Any other syllable is considered
~super-heavy~. These syllables are either a consonant followed by a long vowel (maashi, waraa), a
consonant followed by a vowel and then a consonant cluster (kalb, khawwaftni) or, more unusually,
a combination of the two (7aasse).

The rule is basically that if the final syllable of the word is super-heavy, then that takes the stress:

‫ وراه‬waraa ‘behind him’

‫ شايفتيه؟‬shaayéftii? ‘do you see him?’
‫ مزراب‬mézraab ‘gutter’

If not, then if the second-to-last syllable of the word is heavy or super-heavy, then that takes the
stress:

‫ مدارس‬madaares ‘school’
‫ درستو‬darasto ‘you studied it’
‫ اختارتنا‬khtaartna ‘you chose us’

If not, then the third-to-last syllable automatically takes stress regardless of its weight.

‫ درسو‬daraso ‘he studied it’

‫ طلبة‬Talabe ‘students’

Note that the helping vowel is ignored when deciding where stress goes:

‫ خوفتب‬khawwaf@tni ‘you scared me’

‫ اخدتنا‬akhad@tni ‘you took me’

Since é and @ are pronounced the same, pairs like the following are only distinguished by stress:

‫ درستب‬darrasétni ‘she taught me’

‫ درستب‬darras@tni ‘you taught me’

There are a few exceptions, mainly form VII verbs and related forms, where stress is not predictable
in Syrian. In other dialects these forms are regularised:

‫ بيشتغل‬byéshtéghel ‘he works’ (Pal. bishtghel)

‫ منتدا‬muntada ‘conference’
Pronouns, ‘here’, ‘there’ etc
Independent personal pronouns
The independent (‫ )منفصل‬pronouns in Shami are as follows:

‫ انا‬ana

‫ انت‬inta/inte

‫ انب‬inti

‫ هو‬huwwe

‫ ه‬hiyye

‫ احنا‬,‫ نحنا‬ni7na, i7na

‫ انتو‬intu

‫ همه‬,‫ هم‬,‫ هن‬,‫ هنه‬,‫ هي‬hinnen, hinne, hin, hum, humme

As you can see, most of the forms are pretty close to fuSHa. There are no dual pronouns and no
plural feminine – the form hin(ne) is simply plural despite its similarity to the fuSHa feminine plural.
The forms i7na, hum and humme are only used in Jor/Pal. Jordanian does not have the forms hinnen,
hinne, hin, but Palestinian does.

Object pronouns
The object pronouns are pretty similar to fuSHa, especially if you’ve been taught the less literary
variants used in many readings of MSA. They are also almost identical to the possessive pronouns:

ana: -ni
inte: -ak/k
inti: -ek/ki
huwwe: -o/h
hiyye: -(h)a
ni7na: -na
intu: -kon, -kum
hinne/hum: -(h)on, -hom

The forms -hom and -kum are only used in Jor/Pal, whilst -hon and -kon are not used in Jordanian. In
Syr/Leb, -ha and -hon often lose their h.

-ak/k, -ek/ki and -o/h are found in all regions, but have two forms depending on what they are
attached to. The first form is used following a consonant: ‫ تركتك تركتك تركتو‬tarakt-ak tarakt-ek tarakt-
o. The second form is used following a vowel: ‫ بينساك بينساك بينساه‬byénsaak byénsaaki byénsaa(h). -h
is not pronounced as an h, but has the effect of lengthening the final vowel of the word and shifting
the stress: byénsa ‘he forgets’ is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable, whilst byénsaa ‘he
forgets it’ is stressed on the second syllable.
When suffixes beginning with vowels are added to a verbal form, they can trigger the expected
vowel dropping:

‫ بتشبو‬btéshrbo ‘you drink it’

‫ ضاربو‬Daarbo ‘I’ve hit it’

Pronoun suffix and la-

Sometimes rather than just using a straightforward verb plus noun an object pronoun attaches to
the verb and the object will instead follow la-:

‫ ضبتو الحمد‬Darabto la-2a7mad

This can even happen when the direct object is a pronoun:

‫ ضبتو اللو‬Darabto la-2élo (or just élo)

This construction is sometimes used for emphasis, especially when the object is a pronoun, but often
there is no clear reason why it is used as opposed to a simple direct object construction.

The -la- object pronouns

Completely unlike fuSHa, colloquial has a second set of suffixes derived from ‫‘ لـ‬to’ which regularly
appear attached to verbs and certain other expressions, usually in the meaning of ‘to’ or ‘for’:

ana: -li/élli
inte: -lak/éllak
inti: -lek/éllek
huwwe: -lo/éllo
hiyye: -élha, élla
ni7na: -élna
intu: -élkon, -ilkom
hinne, hum: -éllon, élhon, ilhom

The first four pronounsi have alternative forms in -éll- which appear after consonant clusters:

‫تركل‬ tarak-li ‫ تركتل‬tarakt-élli

| ‫تركلك‬ tarak-lak ‫ تركلتك‬tarakt-éllak
‫تركلك‬ tarak-lek ‫ تركتلك‬tarakt-éllek
‫تركلو‬ tarak-lo ‫تركتلو‬ tarakt-éllo

This of course includes doubled consonants:

‫ دقيتيلك‬da22eetii-lak ‫دقلك‬ da22-éllak

As well as consonant clusters, for lots of speakers the -éll- forms appear after -eet too:

i
For some speakers who drop the h in pronouns the hiyye form also has two forms which act like this: -la and -
élla.
 ‫ حكالك‬7akaa-lak ‫ حكيتلك‬7akeet-éllak
‫ دقيتيلو‬da22eetii-lo ‫ دقيتلو‬da22eet-éllo

When these four suffixes (-li -lak -lek –lo) are attached to hollow verbs, they (unlike normal object
pronouns) cause a shortening of the long vowel:

ykuun-lak > ykén-lak

bjiib-lak > bjéb-lak biira ‘I’ll get you a beer’

This applies even when another suffix comes between the -l- form and the long vowel of the root:

bét2uuli-lo > bét2élii-lo ‘you (f.) tell him’

bijiiibu-lo > bijébuu-lo ‘they bring him’

The same thing happens with passive participles on the form maf3uul (where the long vowel is part
of the pattern, not the root):

masmuu7-li > masmé7-li ‘permitted to me’

The usage of these pronouns is very wide but it is basically analogous to the additional objects we
see in English expressions like ‘I got you a present’ or ‘I told you a story’ or, when the person it
references is the same as the subject, as in expressions like ‘get you a guy who can do both’:

‫طيب قول اسمها وانا بجبلك الها صوره‬

Tayyeb 2uuli isma w2ana bjéblak 2éla Suura
OK, tell me her name and I’ll get a picture up of her for you [= I’ll bring you of her a picture]

‫بظنلك بدون إبر أحسن خلينا طبيع‬

bzénnéllek biduun ébar a7san khalliina Tabii3i
I think [for you] without vaccinations is best, let’s keep it natural

The effect expressed by the l- suffixes does not necessarily have to be positive. Often it expresses
some kind of negative effect which cannot be nicely translated directly:

‫متل الل ميتلو اخ‬

métl élli mayyétlo 2akh
Like someone whose brother has died [= the one for whom a brother has died]

‫وائل كفوري كرسلي رجل‬

waa2el @kfuuri kasarli réjli
Wael Kfoury broke [for me] my leg

‫رسقولي جزدان‬
sara2uuli jézdaani
they stole [for me] my purse

There are also a large number of verbs (like 2aal ‘say’, da22 ‘ring’ etc) which typically take objects
with la- when they are nouns but take these pronominal forms when they are pronouns.
 ‫لما يقولولك بالمطار مسمحلك بشنطة وحدة بس‬
lamma y2éluulek bilmaTaar masmé7lek [< masmuu7-lek] b-shanTa wa7de bass
When they tell you in the airport you’re only allowed one bag [= one bag is permitted to
you]i

‫ي‬
‫دقل‬ ‫بس تفض‬
bass téfDa dé22élli
As soon as you’re free ring me [= tap for me]

‫انا جايه قللك شغلة‬

ana jaaye 2éllak shéghle
I’ve come to tell you something

There are also a few other functions of the normal preposition la- in which it occasionally ends up
attaching to a verb, including as a ‘verb’ of possession (in which case it appears with kaan ‘to be’)
and a few other miscellaneous cases:

‫عراس أنا هون ناطرك ال يكنلك فكر‬

3araasi 2ana hoon naaTrak laa ykénlak fék@r
Of course, I’ll be here [= I’m here] waiting for you, don’t worry [= let there not be to you/let
you not have thoughts about it]

‫اخدتال كزا صورة بالشمس‬

2akhadtélla keza Suura bishsham@s
I took a few photos of her in the sunii

There are a limited number of non-verbs which take these suffixes, mainly comparative adjectives:

‫خليك بحالك اريحلك‬

khalliik b7aalak 2arya7lak
It’s better for you to keep yourself to yourself [=more comfortable for you]

‫برأنياحسنلك ما تروح‬
b-ra2yi a7sanlak maa truu7
To me it’s better for you not to go [= better for you]

The carrier yaa-

As in modern fuSHa, in Shami it is impossible for a verb to carry two object suffixes at a time. When
two object pronouns occur with the same verb, one of them must be carried by a ‘holder’, yaa-
(clearly derived from ‫ ّإياه‬in fuSHa):

‫ عطيب ياه‬3aTiini yaa ‘give me it’

‫ عطيتو ياها‬3aTeeto yaaha ‘I gave him it’

i
This is a passive of a verb sama7 la- b- whose object takes a preposition, b-. As such the normal object follows
b- and the participle is in masculine singular. For more explanation see the section on the passive.
ii
In this one a la- (see the section on prepositions or the example above) which is actually not directly related
to the verb but to a noun – in this case ‘of’ in ‘a picture of her’ – is transformed into a suffix on the verb.
This is also used to carry object pronouns for a range of ‘semi-verbal’ constructions, most commonly
‫بدي‬, which already takes attached pronouns to mark its subject:

‫ بدي ياها‬béddi yaaha ‘I want it’

The -l- series of pronouns can also not, in Shami, coexist with suffixed object pronouns. Adding an -l-
pronoun to a verb with a direct object pronoun forces the direct object off onto yaa-:

‫يا ريت تشفليياهي‬

yaa reet tshéf-li yaa
could you please have a look at it for me?

The yaa forms are also used in conjunction with w- when coordinating pronouns:

‫ميوح انا وياك‬

ménruu7 ana wiyyaak
you and me will go

‫انا وياها‬
ana wiyyaaha
me and her

Possessive pronouns
As well as being placed in iDaafe with other nouns, nouns can take possessive pronoun suffixes
which attach directly to the end of the word. The suffixes are as follows:

ana: -i/yi
inte: -ak/k
inti: -ek/ki
huwwe: -o/h
hiyye: -(h)a
ni7na: -na
intu: -kon, -kum
hinne/hum: -(h)on, -hum

-hum and -kum are Jor/Pal, -(h)on and -kon are found everywhere except Jordan but are more
common in Syr/Leb. The forms -i, -ak, -ek, -o are attached to nouns ending in consonants; -yi, -k, -ki
and -h to nouns ending in vowels:

‫ كلب كلبك كلبك كلبو‬kalbi kalbak kalbek kalbo ‘my, your, your, his dog’

‫ مصاريه‬,‫ مصاريك‬,‫ مصاريك‬,‫ مصارن‬maSaariyyi, maSaariik, maSaariiki, maSaarii ‘my, your, your, his
money’

The forms -(h)a -(h)on usually drop the initial h. This usually does not affect the stress (the word is
still stressed as though the h were still there) but for many Syrians it does:

‫ ريحتها‬rii7ét-ha, rii7ét-a, rii7t-a ‘her smell’

When a suffix beginning with a consonant is attached to the ‫ة‬, it is stressed and becomes –ét-:
 ‫ دفعتكون‬daf3ét-kon ‘your payment’

When suffixes beginning with vowels are added to any noun, they trigger the usual vowel dropping:

‫ كاتبو‬kaatbo ‘its writer’

‫ مشيتو‬mashito~mashyto ‘his walk, way of walking’

Double object construction

As with the objects of verbs, speakers often use a ‘double possessive’ where a pronoun appears on
the possessed noun and the possessor is then preceded by la-. This seems to happen particularly
frequently with personal relationships but also appears elsewhere. It is important not to mistake
these constructions for two separate elements of the sentence (‘her brother, to Nisreen’ rather than
Nisreen’s brother):

‫ اخوا لنشين‬akhuwwa la-nisriin – Nisreen’s brother

‫ رفيقو لمجيد‬rfii2o la-majiid – Majeed’s friend

Demonstrative pronouns
The demonstrative pronouns have a lot of regional variation. Here we will list only a few very
common variants:

‫ هاد هادا هيدا‬haad haada heeda – this (masc)

‫ ه هادي هيدي‬heyy haadi heedi – this (fem)

‫ هدول هول‬hadool hool – these (pl)

‫ هداك‬hadaak – that (masc)

‫ هديك‬hadiik – that (fem)

‫ هدوالك هدوليك‬hadolaak hadooliik – those (pl)

The hee- forms and hool are Lebanese. Hadooliik is Leb/Syr, hadolaak Jor/Pal. All of these forms can
be used on their own (meaning ‘this one’, ‘that one’ etc). They can also appear before definite
nouns:

‫ ه الفكرة‬hayy élfékra – this idea

In this position they can be contracted into ‫ هـ‬ha-, which can stand in for all of them and can only
appear with nouns:

‫ هالبيت‬ha-lbeet ‘this house’

‫ هالزلمة‬haz-zalame ‘this guy’

Note that whilst hal is obviously a contraction of ha- and the definite article l- and assimilates just
like l-, in Syrian it can prefix to things that él- cannot, particularly definite iDaafe constructions:

‫ هالبيت المخدة‬hal-beet lémkhadde ‘this pillowcase’ (< beet mkhadde)

Using the full forms allows for emphasis and contrasting of different things, neither of which are
possible with ha-. In the opposite direction, ha-sometimes carries additional nuance that the full
forms do not. You don’t need to worry about this for now, though.

Here and there

The most common forms are:

‫ هون‬hoon – here

‫ هناك هنيك‬hunaak huniik~hniik – there

Huniik is Leb/Syr, hunaak Jor/Pal. Note that whereas English ‘here’ and ‘there’ can also express
motion to somewhere (‘go there’, ‘come here’) in Arabic these require the preposition la- (‫تعال لهون‬
ta3aal la-hoon, ‫ روح لهنيك‬ruu7la-hniik).

Question words

Who, what, which

‫ ايش‬,‫ شو‬shu, eesh ‘what’

‫ مي‬miin ‘who’

Shu is used in all dialects. Eesh is largely Southern Levantine.

‫ انو ان‬,‫ اي اية‬eyy eyyet; anu ani ‘which’

Anu and ani are originally (and in some dialects) masculine and feminine, but in Damascene are used
freely for both genders. Whilst eyy can be used to mean ‘any’, anu/ani can only be used to mean
‘which’.

Anu and ani can stand alone in the meaning ‘which one’, which eyy/eyyet cannot. However, all of
these forms are usually, but not always, followed by waa7ed or waa7de in the meaning ‘which (one)’
(anu waa7ed, ani waa7de etc):

‫ان واحد بدك؟‬

ani waa7ed béddak?
which one do you want?

Prepositions referring to question words move to the beginning of the sentence rather than staying
in place like in English:

‫لميي الجزدان؟‬
lamiin éjjézjdaan
whose [= to whom] is the purse?
 ‫عن شو عم تحك؟‬
3an shu 3am té7ki?
what are you talking about?

‫عل شو عم تدور؟‬
3ala shu 3am @tdawwer?
what are you looking for?

How much, how many, how long etc

‫ كام‬kam ‘how many’

‫ قديش‬2addeesh ‘how many, how much, how long’

Kam is used with a following singular noun to mean ‘how many’:

‫كام لية؟‬
kam leera?
how many lira?

‫كام شخص؟‬
kam shakh@S?
how many people?

2addeesh usually (but not always) means ‘how much’:

‫بقديش الجزدان؟‬
b2addeesh éjjézdaan?
how much is the purse?

Note that ‫ قديش‬is also the normal, idiomatic way of requesting any answer which contains a number,
even in cases where in English we usually use ‘what’:

‫قديش مواليدك؟‬
2addeesh mawaaliidak?
what year were you born in [= what number is your birth year]?

‫قديش رقم تليفونك؟‬

2addeesh ra2@m telefoonak?
what’s your phone number?

Where, how

‫ وين‬ween ‘where’, ‫ مني‬mneen ‘from where’

‫ شلون‬,‫ كيف‬kiif, shloon ‘how’

Kiif is used everywhere. Shloon (originally a contraction of shu loon ‘what is the colour of’) is only
used in Syria. Despite its origins, shloon is an all-purpose word for ‘how’:
 ‫شلون بدي افتح الباب؟‬
shloon béddi éfta7 élbaab?
how am I supposed to open the door?

Ween, kiif and shloon all very commonly take pronoun suffixes: weenak ‘where are you’, kiifak ‘how
are you’, shloonak ‘how are you’.

Why

‫ ليه‬,‫ ليش‬leesh, leeh ‘why’

Leesh is the more common form (probably from la-eesh originally).

When

‫ ايمت ايمب‬eemat eemta ’when’

‫ اي ساعة‬eyy saa3a ‘at what time’

These can be combined with prepositions:

‫اليمتي رح نضل هيك؟‬

la2eemta ra7 @nDéll heek?
how long [= until when] are we going to go on [= stay] like this?

Heek
The form ‫ هيك‬heek (not exactly a pronoun but in that general area) has a variety of meanings. On its
own it typically means ‘in that way’, ‘in this way’, etc. It is essentially the equivalent of fuSHa ‫ هكذا‬in
this sense:

‫ليش؟ هيك‬
leesh? Heek
Why? – Just because.

‫نحنا هيك‬
né7na heek
That’s just how we are.

‫بالمناسبة مي هيك بيتغالظ؟‬

bilmunaasabe miin heek byétghaalaZ?
And by the way – who [else] is rude like this?

‫تاغ لحدا بتحسو هيك‬

taag la7ada bét7ésso heek
Tag someone you think is like this
 ‫رفاع ايدك هيك‬
rfaa3 iidak heek
Lift up your hand like thisi

It also appears in comparisons meaning ‘that’ (generically, referring for example to a situation):

‫وال احل من هيك‬

wala 2a7la mén heek
There’s nothing nicer than that!

It also commonly appears in tag questions:

‫رحت امبارحيمويهيك؟‬
ré7t @mbaare7 muu heek?
You went yesterday, didn’t you?

It also appears in the set phrases ‫ لهيك‬laheek and ‫ مشان هيك‬mishaan heek ‘thus, so, for that reason’
and ‫مع هيك‬ma3 heek ‘nonetheless’.

It can also appear in front of nouns meaning ‘such (a)’, etc:ii

‫مي بحاجة هيك س؟‬

miin b7aajet heek shi?
Who needs something like this/such a thing?

‫هيك ناس ما عندا جنس احساس‬

heek naas maa 3énda jéns i7saas
People like that [= such people] don’t have an ounce of compassion

Keza
The form ‫ كذا‬keza is often used synonymously to/as a slightly more elegant synonym of heek.iii In
particular, ‫ وكذا‬w-keza is a common equivalent to ‘and so on’, ‘etc’:

‫قلول عندك مقابلة وكذا‬

2éluuli 3éndek muqaabale w-keza
So they told me ‘you have an interview’ and so on...

Like heek, keza can also appear before nouns. Unintuitively, however, in this case it means ‘several’
and doesn’t mean the same as heek:

‫فيها شوية أخطاء أو خلينا نحك كذا شغلة ما عجبتب‬

fiiha shwayyet akhTaa2 aw khalliina ni7ki keza sheghle maa 3ajbatni!
It has a few mistakes or let’s say several things I didn’t like!

i
In Jordanian you will hear zayy heek, but this does not exist in other dialects.
ii
You hear this sometimes in MSA – ‫ هكذا مشاكل‬for example – but this is probably actually a borrowed structure
from colloquial rather than the other way around as the fuSHa structure is a recent innovation.
iii
In Egyptian a cognate form keda is used as the all-purpose equivalent of heek, but this keza is probably
recently borrowed from fuSHa.
Someone, anyone; somewhere, anywhere etc
Generally the ‘some’ and ‘any’ element here is expressed with ‫ س‬shi used as a kind of indefinite
article which also appears with other nouns (i.e. there are no dedicated words for this purpose):

‫اذا شيمرةيحبيت تلعب مع‬

iza shi marra 7abbeet tél3ab ma3i
if you want to play with me sometime [= on some occasion]

‫ بش مكان‬bshi makaan – someplace, somewhere

The only major exception is‫ حدا‬7ada ‘someone’, ‘anyone’, which is always singular masculine:

‫حدا بيحك انكليي؟‬

7ada byé7ki ingliizi?
does anyone speak English?

‫ما شفت حدا‬

maa shéf@t 7ada
you didn’t see anyone

When it is the subject it is negated by ‫ما‬:

‫مايحدايشافب‬
maa 7ada shaafni
nobody saw me

In certain limited circumstances ‫ مي‬can also appear in a similar meaning:

‫عندي ميي يساعدن‬

3éndi miin ysaa3édni
I have (someone, people etc) who can help me

‫فيمييغيك يحك عنو‬

fii miin gheerak yé7ki 3anno
there are others [someone other than you] who will speak for him
Nouns
Gender
Nouns can be either masculine or feminine. In the singular, most feminine nouns are distinguished
by the presence of a ‫( ـة‬a taa marbuuTa), as in fuSHa. Unlike fuSHa, this is pronounced as –a or -e
depending on the preceding sound: generally, it is -a after ‫ ط ص ض ظ خ غ ق ح ع ه ء ر‬but -e after
other consonants:

‫ دبدوبة‬dabduube ‘teddy-bear’

‫ محكية‬mé7kiyye ‘spoken’

‫ ملعونة‬mal3uune ‘naughty’

‫ بوسة‬boose ‘kiss’

‫ طريقة‬Tarii2a ‘way’

‫ بيضة‬beeDa ‘egg’

‫ شوشة‬shooshara ‘fuss’

‫ بطة‬baTTa ‘duck’

There are a few exceptions to this rule, almost all of them with r. These have to be learnt.

‫ ابره‬ibre ‘needle’ (also ibra)

‫ شفرة‬shafre ‘razor’

Most adjectives ending in -iir also follow this pattern:

‫ كبية‬kbiire ‘big’

‫ صغية‬zghiire ‘small’

But: ‫ امية‬amiira ‘princess’

There is one other common feminine endings, invariable -a, which is found in words like ‫ ذكرى‬zikra
‘memory’ and the feminine of colour ( ‫ بيضا‬beeDa ‘white’) and nouns of ‘defect’ (‫ هبال‬habla ‘idiot’). A
few words with this ending, like ‫ شب‬shita ‘winter’ and ‫دنيا‬dunya world, are usually pronounced with
final -e in Damascene (shéte, dénye).

Unlike in MSA, many nouns that have final -a as a realisation of a final root vowel (like ‫ معب‬ma3na
‘meaning’, ‫ مستشق‬mustashfa ‘hospital) are treated as feminine at least some of the time.

In some dialects, including most or all Palestinian dialects, words ending in -aaye elsewhere lose
their final -e when not in construct state, producing forms like the following:
 ‫ مراي‬mraay ‘mirror’ (Damascene mraaye)

‫ كنباي‬kanabaay ‘sofa’ (D. kanabaaye)

‫ عرباي‬3arabaay ‘carriage’ (D. 3arabaaye)

As in MSA, there are a number of words with no ‫ ـة‬which are nonetheless feminine, but these words
are not necessarily the same ones as in MSA (and vary by dialect – ‫ شاي‬is feminine for some people
but not othersi for example). This includes most place names, letters of the alphabet, body parts that
come in pairs, and the following common exceptions:

‫ أرض‬arD ‘earth’

‫ بلد‬balad ‘town, country’

‫ بالد‬blaad ‘country’

‫ دقن‬da2@n ‘beard’

‫ حرب‬7arb ‘war’

‫ م‬may y ‘water’

‫ سما‬sama ‘sky’

‫ سكي‬sékkiin (also sékkiine) ‘knife’

‫ دكان‬dékkaan (also dékkaane) ‘shop, stall’

‫ شمس‬sham@s ‘sun’

‫ طي‬Tiiz ‘arse’

Definiteness
The definite article is (@)l- (Syr/Leb) or (i)l- (Jor/Pal) before single consonants. The initial vowel often
drops, especially after other vowels:

‫ البسة‬él-bisse ‘the cat’

‫ بالبيت‬bi-l-beet ‘in the house’

As in fuSHa the l of the article assimilates to sun letters. The only difference is that ‫ ج‬j is (optionally)
a sun letter in Shami:

‫ الجو‬éj-joww ‘the weather’

Before consonant clusters, the article is lé/li:

i
This is probably limited to dialects with the -aaye > -aay thing mentioned above – so shaay then patterns with
other words ending in –aay.
 ‫ الكتاب‬lé-ktaab ‘the book’

‫ الكبي‬lé-kbiir ‘the big one’

As in fuSHa, the definite is used for both specific things that the speaker and the listener are
expected to understand the reference of (i.e. the way it is used in English) and for generics,
languages, some countries etc. The definite plural or singular are often used to make
generalisations, sometimes causing ambiguities:

‫السوري شغيل‬
éssuuri shéghghiil
the Syrian is hardworking/Syrians are hardworking

‫بحب الكتب‬
b7ébb élkétob
I love books/I love the books

This general rule results in a few cases where an indefinite is used in English but a definite is required
in Arabic:

‫واحد بيضحك متل الحمار وتان بيضحك متل الدبابة‬

waa7ed byéD7ak métl lé7maar w taani byéD7ak métl éddabbaabe
One guy who laughs like a donkey and another who laughs like a tank!

‫ال عنا اتصاالتيمتليالعالميوالخلق وال بلد وال مازوت وال طرقات‬

lil2asaf laa 3énna ittiSaalaat métl él3aalam wélkhal@2 wala balad wala maazoot wala
Tur2aat
Unfortunately we don’t have phones [communication] like normal people, nor a country,
nor diesel, nor roads...

‫بتحك متل جماعةيضيعةيضايعة‬

bté7ki mét@l jamaa3et Dee3a Daay3a
You talk like someone/like the guys from A Lost Village [a TV series set in Latakia]

There are a few verbs/expressions however which always take indefinite objects where we would
expect the definite, unlike fuSHa:

‫بحكي عربي‬
bé7ki 3arabi
I speak Arabic (not ‫)العربي‬

‫هاد اسمو شغل‬

haad ésmo shéghl
this is what work is [= this thing’s name is work, this is called work]

‫خلصت قراية‬
khallaSt @2raaye
I’ve finished reading
The dual
The dual is invariably formed with -een (there is no case variation):

‫ كلبي‬kalbeen ‘two dogs’

‫ كاتبي‬kaatbeen ‘two writers’

On feminine nouns with ‫ تاء مربوطة‬the suffix becomes -t:

‫ مرتي‬marteen ‘two women’

‫ حبتي‬7abbteen ‘two pills’

Unlike in fuSHa, the suffix does not drop its n in iDaafe, and is rarely used with pronoun suffixes.
Certain body parts that come in twos have what appears to be a dual suffix: éjreen ‘legs’, réjleen,
‘legs’, 3eeneen ‘eyes’. But this suffix acts differently. It does drop its -n in iDaafe and is often
followed by pronoun suffixes, and is the normal way to express ‘someone’s Xes’:

‫ رجلب‬réjleyyi ‘my legs’

‫ ايدن‬iideyyi ‘my arms’

‫ربط ايدينا ورجلينا‬

rabaT iideena w réjleena
it’s got us all tied up [= has tied our arms and legs]i

These nouns also have a proper dual with -t- inserted which does not drop the n:

‫ عينتي‬3eenteen ‘two eyes’

‫ رجلتي‬réj@lteen ‘two legs’

Also unlike in fuSHa, the dual is not compulsory whenever two of a noun is meant and the plural can
be freely used in these circumstances. It is possible, in fact, to use tneen just like any other number
with the plural noun in place of the dual: ‫ تني رجال‬tneen @rjaal ‘two men’. Often the dual is used to
introduce the idea of two Xes before switching to the plural thereafter.

The plural
In fuSHa nouns are usually pluralised in one of three ways: with the sound masculine -uun/iin, with
the sound feminine -aat, or with some kind of broken plural pattern. This is largely the same in
Shami. The sound masculine plural is invariably -iin (there’s no case), the sound feminine is -aat, and
there is a bewildering array of broken plural patterns which can be largely predicted from the shape
of the singular noun. Some of these are the same as fuSHa:

‫ مكتب مكاتب‬maktab makaateb ‘office’

i
Cowell thinks these forms are normal plurals, but since we use the singular when talking about the single
body parts of a number of people (e.g. ‫‘ قلب الناس‬the hearts of the people’), it’s not unreasonable to say these
are duals referring to the two arms and two legs of a number of different people too.
 ‫ مفتاح مفاتيح‬miftaa7 mafaatii7 ‘key’

Some correspond to fuSHa patterns closely with minor adjustments in line with common
correspondences:

‫ درس دروس‬dars druus ‘lesson’

‫ كلب كالب‬kalb klaab ‘dog’

‫ شهيد شهدا‬shahiid shéhada ‘martyr’

Some seem to be unique to colloquial:

‫ فرد فرودة‬fard fruude ‘gun’

Also unique to colloquial is the formation of a number of plurals with the suffix ‫ ـة‬or ‫( ـية‬-a/e or -iyye)
which is normally restricted in fuSHa to feminines. This applies to a number of nouns, most
particularly many nisba nouns:

‫ لبنانية‬lébnaaniyye Lebanese people

‫ مسيحية‬masii7iyye Christians (there’s also the weird plural ‫ إسالم‬islaam for ‫مسلم‬
méslem/muslem)

‫ شوفرية‬shooferiyye drivers

‫ حلبية‬7alabiyye Aleppans

‫ لعيبة‬la33iibe ‘players’

It’s best just to learn nouns’ plurals as you encounter them (though Cowell’s Syrian grammar has an
exhaustive list of patterns if you want to look it up).

Collectives and their singulars

Some nouns do not have a simple singular/plural distinction – they are collectives, which refer to an
undifferentiated mass of stuff:

‫ ورق‬wara2 ‘paper’

‫ بطاطا‬baTaaTa ‘potatoes’

‫ بندورة‬banadoora ‘tomatoes’

These nouns take singular agreement:

‫السالح مانو للوالد‬

léslaa7 maano la-léwlaad
Guns [= weapons] aren’t for children
So far so fuSHa. Like fuSHa, in order to refer to a single item (e.g. a piece), we need a ‘singulative’.
For most native nouns this is formed by addition of ‫ـة‬, producing a feminine singular noun. In many
cases generic noun ‫ حبة‬7abbe (which itself is the singulative of 7abb) is typically used instead:

‫ ورقة‬wara2a ‘piece of paper’

‫ حبة بطاطا‬7abbet baTaaTa ‘a (single) potato’

Lots of speakers are actually perfectly happy to form singulatives from loanwords like ‫بطاطا‬:

‫ بطاطاية‬baTaaTaaye ‘a (single) potato’

‫ بندوراية‬banadooraaye ‘a (single) tomato’

Of course, these singulatives can themselves be made into plurals and counted, usually with -aat but
sometimes with a broken plural:

‫ تلت بطاطايات‬tlett baTaaTaayaat ‘three potatoes’

‫ تلت وراق‬tlett @wraa2 or ‫ تلت ورقات‬tlett wara2aat ‘three pieces of paper’

Collectives (and some other abstract nouns) also often have their own plurals formed with ‫ـات‬. The
use of these is difficult to summarise nicely because it’s very idiomatic, but here are some contexts in
which they are used:

‫شو هالبردات‬
shu hal-bardaat
it’s so cold! = what is this cold we’re experiencing?

‫شو بدك بهالتلجات‬

shu béddak b-hat-taljaat
what are you doing with that snow? = that snow in your hands

‫كيف اللحمات اليوم؟‬

kiif élla7maat élyoom?
how’s the meat today? = the meat in your shop

‫قهوات مرتي كتير طيبين‬

2ahwaat marti ktiir Tayybiin
my wife’s coffee is really tasty = the coffee she makes (the singular would imply the coffee
that belongs to her, the coffee she is drinking as opposed to yours)

They can also have broken plurals, which often refer to large amounts or different kinds:

‫ ميايا‬mayaaya ‘waters’

‫ زيوت‬zyuut ‘oils’
Negation
Nouns and adjectives are typically negated with mish (Jor/Pal/Leb) or muu (Syr):

‫ مو منيح‬muu mnii7 – not good

‫ مو رجال‬muu réjjaal – not a man

There are exceptions to these rules but at this point they are not very important.

There is also a construction using the semi-verb maan- (or maal-) which is used in Syr/Leb: maani
maanak maanek maano maan(h)a maanna maankon maan(h)on.

‫ مالي رايح‬maali raaye7 – I’m not going

‫ مانو مظبوط‬maano maZbuuT – it’s not right

Adjectives
Masculine, feminine and plural
Adjectives typically only have three or four forms in colloquial – a masculine singular, a feminine
singular, and a plural which does not distinguish gender. In most adjectives the feminine is formed
through addition of -a/e, sometimes dropping an unstressed short vowel:

‫ كبي كبية‬kbiir kbiire – big

‫ شاطر شاطرة‬shaaTer shaaTra – clever

‫ مشهور مشهورة‬mashhuur mashhuura – famous

The only other regular feminine pattern that exists is for adjectives of ‘colour and defect’ (basically
adjectives with masculines formed on af3al), which have a feminine in fa3la and usually a plural
in fé3l, as you would predict from their fuSHa forms:

‫ أهبل هبال‬ahbal hable hébl – idiot

‫ اسود سودا‬aswad sooda suud – black

‫ اسمر سمرا‬asmar samra sémr – brown-skinned

The plural is formed either through the addition of the suffix -iin or on a broken plural pattern (some
of which are rare or nonexistent in fuSHa):

‫ شاطر شاطرين‬shaaTer shaaTriin – clever

‫ كبي كبار‬kbiir kbaar – big

‫ قليل قاليلة‬2aliil 2alaayle – few

Many speakers have an optional feminine plural in -aat which can only occur with feminine plurals.
Using this form is not compulsory for anyone, however, except perhaps some rural speakers:

‫ طيب طيبي طيبات‬Tayyeb Tayybiin Tayybaat – tasty

Agreement
Dual nouns usually take plural nouns:

‫ رجالي اوادم‬réjjaaleen 2awaadim – two nice guys

‫ شغلتي مهمي‬shégh@lteen muhummiin – two important things

Plural inanimate nouns, unlike in (modern) fuSHa, can occur with both feminine singular and plural
adjectives. Where there is a nuance, it is that the singular generalises or collectivises more:
 ‫الكراس فاضة‬
élkaraasi faaDye
the chairs are empty

‫الكراس فاضين‬
élkaraasi faaDyiin
the (various, different) chairs are empty

When the plural noun is used in a generic sense (i.e. when it is translated as ‘Xes are good’ and not
‘the Xes are good’), however, only the feminine is acceptable.

‫الكتب مفيدة‬
élkétob mufiide
books are useful (or ‘the books are useful’)

‫الكتب مفيدين كتي‬

élkétob mufiidiin @ktiir
the books are very useful = the ones you gave me

Matching feminine singular adjectives (or verbs) with plural animate nouns is also possible, although
much less common (and again generalises).

As in fuSHa, adjectives agree with nouns in definiteness when they modify them:

‫الكتب المنيحة‬
élkétob lémnii7a
the good books

Modifying adjectives
Unlike in fuSHa, adverbs modifying adjectives, like ktiir ‘very’ (and its fancier equivalent, jiddan) can
go before the adjective as well as after it:

‫كتي صعب‬
ktiir Sa3@b
very difficult

‫عن جد جدا مفيد‬

3an jadd jiddan mufiid
[it] really [was] very useful

‫بس شوي حام ضاحة‬

bass shwayy 7aami Siraa7a
but it’s a bit hot, to be honest
Superlative and comparative
As in fuSHa not all adjectives can have a superlative derived from them. Only the simpler superlative
and comparative constructions (with no agreement) appear in colloquial. Superlatives cannot usually
stand on their own and require a noun to come after them:

‫أشطر واحد‬
ashTar waa7ed
the cleverest (one)

If an adjective cannot form its own superlative, a construction with aktar immediately preceding the
noun is used with the normal adjective:

‫اكي واحد مجنون‬

aktar waa7ed majnuun
the craziest one

With a relative clause this sort of construction is the idiomatic way to say ‘the X I Yed most’ or ‘the
one who Xes most’, as in these examples:

‫اكي س حبيتو باالردن‬

aktar shi 7abbeeto bél2érdon
the thing I liked most about/in Jordan [ = the most thing I liked in Jordan]

‫انا اكي واحد بحبك‬

ana aktar waa7ed b7ébbak
I’m the one who loves you most [ = I’m the most one who loves you]

Comparatives follow as in fuSHa. Although they are invariable for gender and number, they do agree
in definiteness where appropriate:

‫ واحد اشطر مب‬waa7ed ashTar ménni – someone cleverer than me

‫ القنينة االكي‬él2anniine él2akbar – the bigger bottle

If an adjective cannot form its own comparative, a structure with the plain adjective plus aktar
following it is used:

‫ مجنون اكي‬majnuun aktar – crazier

Negating adjectives
Unlike fuSHa, nominal sentences (i.e. sentences like ‘the X is Y’) are usually negated with a particle
rather than a verb. This particle is muu in Syrian and mish in the other Levantine dialects:

‫ مو جديد‬,‫مش جديد‬
mish @jdiid, muu jdiid
(he’s) not new
This particle, as well as the ‫ غي‬you may be familiar with from fuSHa, can precede adjectives with
articles, in which case they take the article:

‫المو معقول انو يرشح حالو‬

él-muu ma32uul énno yrashshe7 7aalo
the unreasonable/unbelievable thing is for him to nominate himself

‫الشخص المو منيح‬

ésh-shakhS él-muu mnii7
the not good person

In Leb/Syr, adjectives can also be negated with the sort-of-verbal negative ‘to be’ structure, which
conjugates for person as maani, maanak, maanek, maano, maan(h)a, maanna, maankon,
maan(h)on. In Syria some people say maal- instead, and in Lebanon the forms are with mann- (not
maan-).

‫مان جديد‬
maani jdiid
I’m not new
Adverbs
Most adjectives can be used straightforwardly as adverbs to modify verbs:

‫عود ادمي‬
3ood 2aadami
Sit nicely! [= nice]

‫بتحكي عربي منيح‬

bté7ki 3arabi mnii7
You speak Arabic well

This includes superlatives:

‫انت بتعرف احسن مني‬

inte bta3ref a7san ménni
You know better than me

The equivalents of 7aal expressions with accusatives in fuSHa are simply unmarked:

‫الشيكات بتجي هيك طويلة‬

éshsheekaat btéji heek Tawiile
cheques are about this length [= come long]

‫ما في احلى من انو تجي ع البيت تعبان وجوعان وبتالقي اهلك طابخين ملوخية‬
maa fii a7la mén énno térja3 3albeet ta3baan w-joo3aan w-bétlaa2i ahlak Taabkhiin
@mluukhiyye
There’s nothing nicer than coming home tired and hungry and finding your family have
cooked mlukhiyye

‫الماسورة جاية فلتانة‬

élmaasuura jaaye faltaane
The pipe’s come loosei

There are some fuSHa adverbial expressions formed with the accusative suffix –an which are also
commonly used in colloquial:

‫ عادة‬3aadatan ‘usually’

‫ اصال‬aSlan ‘to start with, anyway’

ً
‫اساسا‬ asaasan ‘basically’
ً
‫مبدئيا‬ mabda2iyyan ‘to start with, as a starting point’

‫ خاصة‬khaaSSatan ‘in particular, especially’

‫ عامة‬3aammatan ‘in general, generally’

i
This is an idiomatic use of ‫‘ اج‬to come’ which is combined with an adjective or a participle.
With nisba adjectives (formed with -i) this is quite productive, at least in higher-register contexts,
just as in fuSHa:

‫ سياسيا‬siyaasiyyan ‘politically’

‫ عاطفيا‬3aaTifiyyan ‘emotionally’

There are also a few odd set expressions:

‫ ليل نهار‬leel @nhaar ‘every day and every night’

There are also many expressions formed with the prepositions ‫ بـ‬and ‫عل‬. For these see the relevant
sections.
Verbs
Verbs in Shami are almost as complex as they are in fuSHa. Like other dialects the fuSHa manSuub
and majzuum and their unique triggers are gone, but in their place Shami has developed a
distinction between a normal, declarative present tense (with a b- prefix) and a new subjunctive
(lacking the prefix). The fuSHa future (sawf, sa-) is replaced by a variety of particles and prefixes (ra7,
la7, la-, 7a-). Shami also has a continuous form, completely lacking in fuSHa. Like other dialects, it
also makes much broader use of participles than MSA does.

In the first part of this section, I’ll talk about some generalities which apply to all verbs – negation
and agreement. In the second part I’ll explain how to form and use the four main ‘tense’ forms of
Shami – the past, subjunctive, b-present and imperative.i In the third section, we’ll discuss
compound tenses formed either with a combination of different verbs (the pluperfect, future
perfect, subjunctive past etc) or with the addition of particles (the continuous and future). And in the
fourth section, we’ll talk about participles and their semantics.

Verbs and pseudoverbs

Before getting into anything else, I should note that while most of this section will discuss normal
verbs of the kind you’re familiar with from fuSHa, most of what will be said also applies to another
group of words which we’ll call ‘pseudoverbs’. Pseudoverbs are words which act like verbs in spite of
the fact that they are not – etymologically or structurally – verbs. This is a small category, but one
which contains quite a lot of very important and common words:

‫ بدـ‬bédd-/badd- ‘to want’

‫فينـ‬/‫ فيـ‬fiin-/fii- ‘to be able to’
‫ فيه‬fii ‘to exist’, ‘to contain’
‫ عندـ‬3énd-, 3ind-, 3and- ‘to have’
‫ الـ‬2él-, 2il- ‘to have’
‫ معـ‬ma3- ‘to have on oneself’, ‘to have enough money to’
‫ عليـ‬3alee- ‘to have to, to be compelled to’
‫ الزمـ‬laazem-, laazm- ‘to need, be necessary’

Most of these structures are originally prepositions, and their semantics are discussed in the
prepositions section.

Unlike normal verbs, of course, pseudoverbs have no distinct tense forms (all non-present forms are
produced by adding the relevant form of ‫ كان‬kaan in the third personii). Their ‘conjugation’ for
person and number is achieved by adding personal pronouns – the same personal pronouns, more
or less, that normal verbs use to mark objects:

i
This use of ‘tense’ might make linguists see red since in the normal jargon, these are strictly not tenses per se
but combinations of tense, aspect and mood (TAM). But everybody knows what I mean by ‘tense’ here.
ii
Béddi, etymologically bi-waddi ‘[it is] in my desire [that]’, might be the most verb-like in this respect: for a lot
of speakers, both kaan béddi and ként béddi are acceptable. Some speakers also allow weird forms like 3am
béddi with the continuous.
 ‫ بدـ‬bédd- ‘want’
‘study’
ana bédd-i ‫بدي‬ ‫انا‬
inte bédd-ak ‫بدك‬ ‫انت‬
inti bédd-ek ‫بدك‬ ‫انتي‬
huwwe bédd-o ‫بدو‬ ‫هو‬
hiyye bédd-(h)a ‫بدها‬ ‫هي‬
ni7na bédd-na ‫بدنا‬ ‫نحنه‬
intu bédd-kon, bidd-kum ‫ بدكم‬,‫بدكن‬ ‫انتو‬
hinen bédd-(h)on, bidd-hum ‫ بدهم‬,‫بدهن‬ ‫هنن‬

As such, when pseudoverbs do take objects, they have to use the carrier yaa-:

‫ معك ياه؟‬ma3ak yaa? – do you have it?

‫ بدي ياها‬béddi yaaha! – I want it!

However, in other regards they act largely like other verbs. They appear in the same position as
verbs. And despite their etymology, for example, bédd- ‘want’ or fiin- ‘be able to’ cannot appear
directly in iDaafe or equivalent with a subject – they always carry a pronoun, which stands in for the
conjugation endings of a normal verb:

‫بدو احمد يح كمان‬

béddo a7mad yéji kamaan
Ahmad wants to come too

‫الزلمة ما فينو يمش‬

ézzalame maa fiino yémshi
The guy can’t walk

Pseudoverbs are also negated like verbs (i.e., usually with maa).

Agreement
Agreement in Shami is generally fairly straightforward, but works differently from the fuSHa system.
Singular masculine nouns take singular masculine agreement, singular feminine nouns singular
feminine agreement:

‫راحت البنت‬
raa7et élbén@t
The girl went

‫راح الولد‬
raa7 élwalad
The boy went
 ‫هزت االرض‬
hazzet él2arD
The earth shook

Collective nouns – even though they are sometimes translated with a plural in English – also typically
take singular agreement. Most, but not all, are masculine:

‫نزل الجراد‬
nézel léjraad
The locusts swarmed down

‫البطاطا انسلقت‬
élbaTaaTa nsal2et
The potatoes have been boiled

Shami has no distinct feminine plural formsi and no dual verbal forms. Feminine plurals and all duals
take plural agreement which looks like the fuSHa masculine:

‫راحو كل البنات‬
raa7u kéll élbanaat
All of the girls went

We’re all familiar with the fuSHa rule that inanimate plurals take feminine singular. In Shami, plurals
of all kinds can co-occur with feminine singular – including animate ones:

‫اوالد سوريا عم تموت من البرد‬

wlaad suurya 3am @tmuut mn élbard
The children of Syria are freezing to death [= dying of cold]

‫الرجال بتخلف رجال‬

lérjaal bétkhallef @rjaal
Men beget men!

With animates this typically implies a generic or collective meaning (where the subject is perceived
as a group). It is probably more common with inanimates.

Negation
Unlike in fuSHa, the simplest default verbal negation in Shami is maa, which is used for all of the four
simple tenses (past, present, subjunctive and imperative). For past, present and subjunctive, maa is
placed in front of the verb straightforwardly, without triggering a change in form (as happens in
fuSHa with ‫ لن‬+ manSuub and ‫ لم‬+ majzuum):

‫ كتبت‬katab@t ‘I wrote’ ‫ ما كتبت‬maa katab@t ‘I didn’t write’

‫ بكتب‬béktob ‘I write’ ‫ ما بكتب‬maa béktob ‘I don’t write’
‫ يكتب‬yéktob ‘that he writes’ ‫ ما يكتب‬maa yéktob ‘that he doesn’t write’

i
Some regional dialects do have distinct feminine plural forms, but these are non-standard and likely to get
laughs if used by a foreigners.
The negative imperative does use a different form – the subjunctive. This should come as no
surprise, though, since the same applies in fuSHa (where the negative imperative is formed with laa
+ majzuum):

‫ كتوب‬ktoob ‘write!’ ‫ ما تكتب‬maa téktob ‘don’t write!’

Note that pseudoverbs are also negated with ‫ما‬:

‫ بدي‬béddi ‘I want’ ‫ ما بدي‬maa béddi ‘I don’t want’

In southern Levantine, the alternatives ma-...-sh and the simple suffix -sh also exist, probably
originally from maa... shi (e.g. ‘I don’t write a thing’).i The -sh suffix, like other suffixes, triggers final
vowel lengthening or the insertion of a helping vowel where relevant:

‫ بحكي‬ba7ki ‘I speak’ ‫ مابحكيش‬maba7kiish ‘I don’t speak’

‫ شفتو‬shufto ‘I saw him’ ‫ شوفتوش‬shuftuush ‘I didn’t see him’
‫ بدك‬biddak ‘you want’ ‫ بدكاش‬biddkaash ‘you don’t want’
‫ احكي‬i7ki! ‘speak!’ ‫ ماتحكيش‬mati7kiish! ‘don’t speak!’

The only case in which maa is unacceptable is with the independent subjunctive expressing wishes
or third person imperative (see the section on the subjunctive). Here ‫ ال‬laa must be used as in fuSHa:

‫ال يكون بدو مني شي‬

laa ykuun béddo ménni shi
[I hope] he doesn’t want anything from me

Laa is also used by many Syrian speakers to negate the imperative, but maa is also acceptable. Use
of laa here is a bit of a Syrian (or even Damascene) shibboleth:

‫ كتوب‬ktoob! ‘write!’ ‫ ال تكتب‬laa téktob! ‘don’t write!’

‫ اشتري‬shtéri! ‘buy!’ ‫ ال تشتري‬laa téshtéri! ‘don’t buy!’

It can also replace maa when used in the coordinating expressions ‫ ال‬...‫ ال‬laa... laa and ‫ وال‬...‫ ال‬laa...
wala ‘neither... nor’, discussed further in the section on conjunctions:

‫ال كتبت شي وال بدي اكتب شي‬

laa katab@t shi wala béddi 2éktob shi
I’ve not written anything nor am I going to write anything

Forms with particles – ‫ رح‬,‫ عم‬etc – can be negated with the noun/adjective negative particles muu,
mésh, maani etc or with maa. This depends to some extent on regional dialect and speaker, but all
of the following forms are acceptable:

‫ رح روح‬ra7 ruu7 ‘I’m going to go’ ‫ ماني رح روح‬maani ra7 ruu7 ‘I’m not going to go’
‫ مش رح روح‬mésh ra7 ruu7
‫ ما رح روح‬maa ra7 ruu7

i
These forms also exist in some regional dialects in Syria and Lebanon: ‫ ما سمعتش‬masmé3t@sh. In some places
the form is not ma-...-sh but a-...sh:‫ افيش‬afiish ‘there isn’t’.
Participles, unlike other verbal forms, are exclusively negated with noun/adjective negators – which
makes sense, given that in many ways they are much more like adjectives than like verbs:

‫ رايحة‬raay7a ‘I’m going’ ‫ مو رايحة‬muu raay7a ‘I’m not going’

‫ ماني رايحة‬maani raay7a ‘I’m not going’

Muu, mish etc can also sometimes replace normal verbal negators with simple verb tenses. Here
they add a specific nuance which can be difficult to pin down exactly. The following example
sentences should give you some idea of the semantics of this:

‫كول صندويشتك مو متل العادة ترجعلي ياها‬

kool Sandwiishtak muu métl él3aade trajjé3li yaaha
eat your sandwich – don’t go bringing it back to me like usual!

‫انت مش حكيت بدك تختق لبعد االمتحانات؟‬

inta mish 7akeet biddak tikhtefi la-ba3d il2imti7anaat ya zalame?
Man, I thought you said you were going to disappear til after the exams? [But here you are
on Facebook!]

‫انا مو قلتلك زعالنة ال تدق علب؟‬

2ana muu 2éltéllak za3laane laa tdé22 3aleyyi?
Didn’t I tell you I’m upset, don’t call me? [= I certainly did, so why didn’t you call me and see
if I was all right!]

‫مو رحتو انت وياه؟‬

muu ré7tu inte wiyyaa?
Didn’t the two of you go? [I’m sure/thought you did?]

This can also happen when the whole sentence is being negated almost like a noun:

‫الحملة كانت انو ما تغب بفلسطي مش نمنعها تغب هون‬

él7amle kaanet 2énno maa tghanni bfilisTiin mésh némna3a tghanni hoon
The campaign was for her not to sing in Palestine, not for us to stop her singing here
Past tense

Conjugation

The suffixes used for conjugating all past tense verbs are as follows:

‫ درس‬daras
‘study’
ana daras-t ‫درست‬ ‫انا‬
inte daras-t ‫درست‬ ‫انت‬
inti daras-ti ‫درستي‬ ‫انتي‬
huwwe daras ‫درس‬ ‫هو‬
hiyye dars-et (dars-at) ‫درست‬ ‫هي‬
ni7na daras-na ‫درسنا‬ ‫نحنه‬
intu daras-tu ‫درستو‬ ‫انتو‬
hinen daras-u ‫درسو‬ ‫هنن‬

As you can see, they generally line up with fuSHa but without the final vowels, except -et. In
Palestinian and Jordanian -at and not –et is used, as in fuSHa. There are no dual forms and no
plural feminine forms, and the forms for ana and inte are identical and can only be
distinguished by context. The consonant cluster at the end of darast is often broken up with a
helping vowel: daras@t.

Usage

As in fuSHa, the past is used for single instances (i.e. not continuous or habitual action) in the
past tense, meaning it generally lines up with the English simple past (‘I went’ etc). It is also
often used in places where in English we would use the present perfect (‘I have been’):

‫ وشفت شي ميتين فيلم‬،‫هأل قريت بزماني شي سبعين تقرير‬

halla2 2areet bzamaani shi sab3iin taqriir, w shéf@t shi miiteen fil@m
now in my time I’ve read some seventy reports, and seen some two hundred films…

‫مرة رحت ع السفارة‬

marra ré7@t 3a-ssafaara
one time I went to the embassy

An important usage that is very common is with verbs of becoming. With these verbs the past
is used in a way that often lines up with the use of an adjective in English:

‫ نعست‬n3és@t – I’m sleepy (I’ve become sleepy)

‫ شبعت‬shbé3@t – I’m full (I’ve had my fill/become full)

‫ مليت‬malleet – I’m bored (I’ve become bored, got bored)

 ‫ عرفت‬3réf@t – I know (I’ve found out, I’ve worked out what you’re talking about)i

‫ حبيت‬7abbeet – I like, I’ve fallen in love with

In a few cases the past can express non-past meaning when triggered by specific particles:

‫بس فضيت خبرني‬

bass @fDiit khabbérni
As soon as you’re free [= get free], let me know

‫وبركي ما قدرت تجي؟‬

w-berki maa 2dér@t téji?
What if you can’t come?

The past tense verb also has an important secondary use in conditionals of various kinds
which we will discuss in the introduction to conditional sentences.

i
Contrast this one with ‫‘ ما كنت اعرف‬I didn’t know’.
Present tense

Conjugation

The forms are quite similar to the fuSHa subjunctive. As elsewhere, there are no dual and no
plural feminine forms. There are two main sets of prefixes used for the present tense
depending on whether the ‘stem’ (the part that remains constant between all the forms, like -
dros- or -darres-) begins with a consonant cluster or a single consonant:

‫ درس‬daras
‘study’
ana b-é-dros (b-a-dros) ‫بدرس‬ ‫انا‬
inte b-té-dros (b-ti-dros) ‫بتدرس‬ ‫انت‬
inti b-té-dros-i (b-ti-dros-i) ‫بتدرسي‬ ‫انتي‬
huwwe b-yé-dros (b-i-dros) ‫ بدرس‬,‫بيدرس‬ ‫هو‬
hiyye b-té-dros (b-ti-dros) ‫بتدرس‬ ‫هي‬
ni7na m-né-dros (b-ni-dros) ‫مندرس‬ ‫نحنه‬
intu b-té-dros-u (b-ti-dros-u) ‫بتدرسو‬ ‫انتو‬
hinnen b-yé-dros-u (b-i-dros-u) ‫بيدرسو‬ ‫هنن‬

‫ درس‬darras
‘teach, put through school’
ana b-darres (b-a-darres) ‫بدرس‬ ‫انا‬
inte b-ét-darres (b-it-darres) ‫بتدرس‬ ‫انت‬
inti b-ét-darrs-i (b-it-darrs-i) ‫بتدرسي‬ ‫انتي‬
huwwe b-i-darres ‫بدرس‬ ‫هو‬
hiyye b-ét-darres (b-it-darres) ‫بتدرس‬ ‫هي‬
ni7na m-én-darres (b-in-darres) ‫مندرس‬ ‫نحنه‬
intu bé-t-darrs-u (b-it-darrs-u) ‫بتدرسو‬ ‫انتو‬
hinnen b-i-darrs-u ‫بيدرسو‬ ‫هنن‬

There are some important things to note. Where fuSHa has a in all of its prefixes, Syrian and
Lebanese have é throughout and Jordanian and Palestinian have i throughout except in the
first person where they have a–, like fuSHa. Secondly, because Jo/Pal have a- in the first
person, this allows them to contract the third person masculine form byidros to bidros. This
can lead to confusion for the learner, because in Leb/Syr bédros is first person, whilst in
Pal/Jor it is third person masculine.

Also important to note, although not related to fuSHa, is the first person plural, where b-
changes to m- under the influence of n-. This does not happen for all speakers, however,
and bn- is common especially in Jo/Pal.
We should note one important exception to the Syrian/Lebanese selection of prefixes above.
In the very common verbs 3éref ‘know’ and 3émel ‘do’, the prefix vowel is always a in these
dialects:

‫ عمل‬3émel
‘do’
ana b-a-3mel ‫بعمل‬ ‫انا‬
inte b-ta-3mel ‫بتعمل‬ ‫انت‬
inti b-ta-3ml-i ‫بتعملي‬ ‫انتي‬
huwwe b-ya-3mel ‫بيعمل‬ ‫هو‬
hiyye b-ta-3mel ‫بتعمل‬ ‫هي‬
ni7na m-na-3mel ‫منعمل‬ ‫نحنه‬
intu b-ta-3ml-u ‫بتعملو‬ ‫انتو‬
hinnen b-ya-3ml-u ‫بيعملو‬ ‫هنن‬

This is not the case in Jor/Pal, where we get instead regular forms like bti3raf.

Usage

The present tense with b- is used to talk about generalisations, habitual action and dispositions. This
mainly lines up with its use in fuSHa or the simple present in English:

‫بحبك‬
b7ébbak
I love you

‫بدرس دكتور‬
bédros doktoor
I study medicine

‫بروح لعندو كل يوم‬

bruu7 la-3éndo kéll yoom
I go and see him every day [= go to him]

Sometimes, however, it is best translated as ‘would’. This is its ‘dispositional’ usage and often
involves a conditional, either implicitly or explicitly:

‫محل محلك ما بدفع‬

ma7alli ma7allak maa bédfa3
if I was in your shoes I wouldn’t pay

‫ما بروح عل هيك حفلة‬

maa bruu7 3ala heek 7afle
I wouldn’t go to a party like that

It can also occasionally express continuous meaning, (e.g. Jor/Pal ‫ بمزح معك‬bamza7 ma3ak ‘I’m
joking’). But this is more commonly expressed with the particle 3am which appears before either
the b- form or the b-less form of the present tense:
 ‫ما عم بفهم عليك‬
maa 3am béfham 3aleek
I’m not understanding you

‫عم يجي لعندك كتي هاإليام‬

3am yiji la-3éndak @ktiir hal-2iyyaam
he’s coming to your house a lot these days

It is also commonly used for the future:

‫اي بروح بكرا‬

ee bruu7 bukra
yeah, I’ll go tomorrow

And for polite requests/suggestions in Syr/Leb:

‫بترسب قهوة؟‬
btéshrab 2ahwe?
would you like some coffee? [= will you drink]

‫ بكون‬bikuun

The present tense form of the verb ‫ كان‬has a number of special uses. Firstly, it is commonly used
(where we might expect no verb) when describing family relationships:

‫احمد بكون ابن خال‬

a7mad bikuun ib@n khaali
Ahmad is my cousin

‫هلبنت شو بتكنلك؟‬
halbén@t shuu bétkén-lak?
what is this girl to you [= how is she related to you, she’s your what?]

It’s also used for future or for expressing conclusions:

‫بكرا الصبح بكون ع باب بيتك‬

békra éSSéb@7 bkuun 3a-baab beetak
I’ll be at your front door tomorrow morning

‫كل مخلوق ببعتلو فيديو خمس دقايق وبيضحك بعد دقيقة بكون مخلوق كذاب‬
kéll makhluu2 béb3atlo viidyo kham@s da2aaye2 w byéD7ak ba3@d da2ii2a bikuun
makhluu2 kazzaab
every person who I send a 5 minute video to who laughs [sends me a laughing emoji] after a
minute is a liar [= must be, will be a lying guy]
Subjunctive

The form in Shami that looks more like the fuSHa present tense (and the present tense in lots
of other dialects), without b-, is very similar in behaviour to subjunctives in European
languages.

Conjugation

The subjunctive conjugates almost identically to the b-present, albeit minus the b-. There are
two sets of prefixes – one for verbs whose present stem begins with a consonant cluster, and
one for verbs whose present stem begins with a single consonant:

‫ درس‬daras
‘study’
ana é-dros (a-dros) ‫ادرس‬ ‫انا‬
inte té-dros (ti-dros) ‫تدرس‬ ‫انت‬
inti té-dros-i (ti-dros-i) ‫تدرسي‬ ‫انتي‬
huwwe yé-dros (i-dros) ‫يدرس‬ ‫هو‬
hiyye té-dros (ti-dros) ‫تدرس‬ ‫هي‬
ni7na né-dros (ni-dros) ‫ندرس‬ ‫نحنه‬
intu té-dros-u (ti-dros-u) ‫تدرسو‬ ‫انتو‬
hinnen yé-dros-u (yi-dros-u) ‫يدرسو‬ ‫هنن‬

‫ درس‬darras
‘teach, put through school’
ana darres (a-darres) ‫درس‬ ‫انا‬
inte t-darres ‫تدرس‬ ‫انت‬
inti t-darrs-i ‫تدرسي‬ ‫انتي‬
huwwe y-darres ‫يدرس‬ ‫هو‬
hiyye t-darres ‫تدرس‬ ‫هي‬
ni7na n-darres ‫ندرس‬ ‫نحنه‬
intu t-darrs-u ‫تدرسو‬ ‫انتو‬
hinnen y-darrs-u ‫يدرسو‬ ‫هنن‬

One thing which is important to note is that in Syr/Leb, on verbs like darras, there is no first
person prefix. This means that the first person singular form – darres – looks identical to the
masculine singular imperative (also darres). This does not apply in Jor/Pal.
Usage

The use of the subjunctive is largely triggered by environment – that is, there is usually some
other word in the sentence you can identify as the trigger. Most of these triggers are similar to
those associated with subjunctive forms in European languages. Often, but not always, it lines
up with the English to-infinitive or bare infinitive (or if you prefer, the fuSHa use of the
maSdar and the subjunctive with 2an). It is used following expressions of desire:

‫بدي روح‬
béddi ruu7
I want to go

‫بدي ياك تروح معي‬

béddi yaak @truu7 ma3i
I want you to go with me

‫حابب امشي‬
7aabeb émshi
I’d like to leave

‫يا ريت تعرفلي وقت الموعد‬

yaa reet ta3réf-li wa2t él-moo3ed
I’d really like you to find out the time of the appointment for me

Fear, expectation and anticipation:

‫خايف تروح عليي الفرصة‬

khaayef @truu7 3aleyyi élférSa
I’m scared I’ll miss/to miss the opportunity [= that the opportunity will go, to my
detrimenti]

‫كان متوقع يصير كلشي اال هاللحظة‬

kaan métwaqqe3 ySiir kéll shi élla hal-la7Za
He had anticipated anything but this [expected everything to happen except this
moment]

‫اذا دخلت ع جهنم مين اول حدا بتتوقع تشوفو؟‬

iza dakhal@t 3a jahannam miin 2awwal 7ada btétwaqqa3 @tshuufo?
If you ended up in [= entered] hell, who’s the first person you’d expect to see [there]?

‫انا ماني مصدق ايمت يجي يوم وارجع على سوريا‬

ana maani msadde2 eemat yéji yoom w-érja3 3ala suurya
I can’t wait for the day to come when I go back to Syria [= I don’t believe when will
come the day and I go back...]

Ability and inability:

i
See the section on uses of ‫عل‬.
 ‫ماني قدران نام تعبان مابعرف شبني‬
maani 2édraan naam ta3baan maa ba3ref shébani
I can’t sleep, I’m worn out, I don’t know what’s wrong with me

‫معي وقت اتمشى شوي‬

ma3i wa2@t étmashsha shweyy
I’ve got time to walk around for a bit

‫ما عم اعرف افتح الباب‬

maa 3am a3ref éfta7 élbaab
I can’t work out [I’m not knowing] how to open the door

‫هادا شكل واحد خرج يتجوز ويفتح بيت؟‬

haada shék@l waa7ed kharaj yétjawwaz w yéfta7 beet?
Is this what someone able to get married and start a family [= open a house] looks
like? [= is this the shape of]

Compulsion, necessity:

‫الزم تنساني‬
laazem ténsaani
you have to forget me

‫اضتريت انو ارجع ع البيت‬

@DTarreet énno érja3 3albeet
I was forced to go back home

‫جبرني روح جبلو الكتب‬

jabarni ruu7 jéblo élkétob
He forced me to go and get him the books

Commands, permission etc:

‫قالتلي انسى عنك‬

2aalétli énsa 3annek
She told me to forget about youi

‫شو يلي بيمنعك تكون من أوائل الدفعة تبعتك‬

shuu yalli byémna3ak @tkuun mén 2awaa2el éddéf3a tab3etak?
What’s stopping you from being one of the top students in the class?

‫ما بسمحلك تحكيلي على شهري الجميل اللي بحبو‬

maa bésma7lak té7kiili 3ala shahri ljamiil élli b7ébbo
I won’t let you talk [that way] about my beautiful month that I love so much!

i
Although this looks like it might be an imperative – ‘she told me “forget about...”’ – it is in fact a subjunctive,
and to be an imperative we’d need ‫‘ انش عنها‬she told me ‘forget about her!’’ since otherwise the pronouns
don’t make sense.
 ‫شو هو هالموضوع الخطير اللي مخليك تأجل الصالة؟‬
shuu huwwe halmawDuu3 élkhaTer élli mhalliik@ t2ajjel éSSalaat?
What is it that’s so urgent it madei you delay your prayers? [= this urgent issue that]

Starting and stopping:

‫بلش يضيق خلقي من تمثيلك‬

ballash ydii2 khél2i mén tamsiilek
Your acting has started getting on my nerves [my temper started to narrow]

‫ما عاد اعرف مثل دور المجامله‬

maa3aad 2a3ref massel door lémjaamle
I can’t flatter people anymore [= I no longer know how to act the role of flatterer]

‫حاج تكشر‬
7aaj @tkashsher
Stop frowning

‫نص شباب الحارة تابت وقتها وبطلت تدخن من الخوف‬

néSS shabaab él7aara taabet wa2ta w baTTalet @tdakhkhen mn élkhoof
Half the kids of the neighbourhood repented that moment and stopped smoking out of
fear

Expressions of opinion about (e.g.) activities:

‫بحب اتماشى بالشوارع‬

b7ébb étmaasha bishshawaare3
I like walking around in the streetsii

‫ما بحب حدا يضحك علي‬

maa b7ébb 7ada yéD7ak 3aleyyi
I don’t like anyone taking advantage of me

It often appears after certain verbs – particularly verbs of motion – to express purpose. A
similar construction exists in fuSHa with the jussive.

‫بدي روح شوف الدكتور‬

béddi ruu7 shuuf éddoktuur
I want to go and see/to see the doctor

‫انا فايت نام‬

ana faayet naam
I’m going to bed [= going in to sleep]

‫انا جايه قللك شغلة‬

ana jaaye 2él-lak shéghle
I’ve come to tell you something

i
Although it’s definitely ‘make’ here, khalla can also express permission (‘let’). See the section on causatives.
ii
Depending on context this could also be ‘I want to walk around in the streets’.
More broadly, it is triggered by the various conjunctions expressing purpose:

‫منعني من الروحة ع بيروت مشان ما شوفك‬

mana3ni mén érroo7a 3a beeruut méshaan maa shuufak
he forbade me/stopped me from going to Beirut so I wouldn’t/couldn’t see you

‫دور عليك‬ّ ‫جاي عبالي اركض بهالشوارع ل‬

jaay 3abaali érkoD bi-hash-shawaare3 la-dawwer 3aleek
I feel like running in the streets to look for you

It is also used very commonly with expressions combining a preposition with ma and
meaning for example ‘without’, ‘instead of’, ‘before’, ‘after’, ‘until’ etc (the equivalent of
fuSHa ‫ من دون أن‬and other expressions). For more of these see the conjunctions section:

‫بال ما يفوت ع البيت‬

bala ma yfuut 3a-lbeet
without coming inside

‫بعد ما ينام‬
ba3@d ma ynaam
after he goes to sleepi

It is used with ‫ كان‬to form a past habitual, as in fuSHa:

‫كان يروح كل يوم‬

kaan yruu7 kéll yoom
he used to go every day

In a possibly related usage, it commonly appears in past narratives (without kaan) expressing
repeated action. In this sentence we could insert Saar but not kaan:

‫ كل شوي تمد ايدا وتعطيه حبة فستق‬,‫قعدت ورا الشوفر‬

2é3det wara shshoofeer, kéll @shweyy tmédd iida w ta3Tii 7abbet fésto2
She sat behind the driver – every little while, she stretched out her hand and gave
him a peanut

It is used without any triggering word commonly in prayers (‘may/let X happen’). This is the
only construction in colloquial (other than the negative imperative) which is normally
negated by laa (as in MSA) rather than maa:ii

‫يعطيك العافية‬
ya3Tiik él3aafye
[God] give you health

i
Some speakers distinguish habitual ‫ بعد ما بنام‬ba3@d ma binaam and future ‫ بعد ما ينام‬ba3@d ma ynaam – the
first would be used for example in ‘every day after he goes to sleep I read a book’ and the second in ‘after he
goes to sleep this evening, I’ll read a book’.
ii
The only exception to this is laa... laa ‘neither... nor’.
 ‫ال تكون راجع لهون‬
laa tkuun raaje3 lahoon
(I hope) you’re not coming back here

A relatively common use related to this which is not easy to directly translate is
approximately similar to the biblical English ‘let him’ (not in the sense of ‘allow’ but as a
kind of third person imperative) suggesting a course of action:

‫اذا ضاع منو المفتاح يفوت من الباب التاني‬

iza Daa3 ménno lméftaa7 yfuut mn élbaab éttaani
If he’s lost the key, he can [= let him] get in through the other door

‫ما حدا يلمسني‬

maa 7ada yélmésni
Nobody touch me!

‫انا هيك اللي عاجبو عاجبو واللي ما عاجبو ينساني‬

ana heek. élli 3aajbo 3aajbo wélli muu 3aajbo yénsaani
this is how I am – those who it pleases it pleases and those who it doesn’t please
should forget me

This form is also used for first-person action similar to English ‘shall’:

‫سمعك الغنية؟‬
samm3ak élghénniyye?
shall I play you the song?

‫بلش من اول وجديد؟‬

ballesh mén awwal w @jdiid?
Shall I start again from the beginning [= from first and new]?

In Lebanese however the b- form is used for suggestions where the question does not have a
yes or no answer but has a question word or presents answers, as in the second example
above (where Lebanese speakers would say ‫ شو بعملك‬shu ba3mél-lak).

In Pal/Jor, the subjunctive form is also used in suggestions to another person. In Syr/Leb,
the b-present is used here:

‫تشرب شاي؟‬
tishrab shaay?
Would you like to drink some tea?
Imperative

Conjugation

The formation of the imperative (‫ )فعل األمر‬is one of the major dividing lines between Jor/Pal and
Syr/Leb. However, the differences are exclusively in form 1 (‘simple’) verbs. For non-form-1 verbs,
the imperative is simply the present form with the prefix removed:

‫ تتعلم‬té-t3allam > ‫ تعلم‬t3allam ‘learn!’ (masc)

‫ تعلم‬t-3allm-i > ‫ علم‬3allmi ‘teach!’ (fem)

‫ تشتغلو‬té-shteghl-u > ‫ اشتغلو‬shtéghlu ‘work!’ (pl)

Sometimes, especially where it appears in fuSHa writing, the initial ‫ا‬may be written in forms in
Shami before consonant clusters. This does not mean it is necessarily pronounced.

For form 1 verbs, Jor/Pal work like fuSHa, prefixing i- or u- to the present form minus its prefix
depending on the stem vowel for sound and defective verbs and using the present form minus its
prefix on its own for hollow verbs:

‫ افتح‬ifta7 ‘open!’

‫ ادرس‬udros ‘study!’

‫ احك‬i7ki ‘speak!’

‫ قول‬2uul! ‘say’

Syr/Leb follow Jor/Pal in their treatment of hollow and defective verbs, but with sound verbs (with
three solid root consonants) they do not add a prefix but instead lengthen the stem vowel:

‫ فتاح‬ftaa7! ‘open!’ (< yéfta7)

‫ دروس‬droos! ‘study!’ (< yédros)

‫ مسيك‬mseek! ‘take!’ (< yémsek)

The vowel is not lengthened in the feminine and the plural, but neither is a prefix added:

‫ فتح‬fta7i ‘open!’

‫ درسو‬drésu ‘study!’

This also applies to the imperatives of akal ‘eat’, akhad ‘take’ and 2é3ed ‘sit’, which are slightly
irregular:

‫ خود خدي خدو‬khood khédi khédu ‘take!’ (you might hear the shortened kho, khi)

‫ كول كل كلو‬kool kéli kélu ‘eat!’

 ‫ عود عدي عدو‬3ood 3édi 3édu ‘sit!’ (compare with the regular Jor/Pal u23od).

‫ عىط‬3aTa ‘to give’ has an irregular imperative:

‫ عىط عىط عطو‬3aTi 3aTi 3aTu ‘give!’

‫ اج‬ija does not have a regular imperative, replaced (as in fuSHa) by the following forms:

‫ تعال تعال تعالو‬ta3aal ta3aali ta3aalu

‫ تع تع تعو‬ta3 ta3i ta3u

A few other forms are used with imperative meaning that are not full verbal paradigms (or not verbs
at all):

‫ مكانك‬makaanak (makaanik etc) – ‘stop where you are’

‫ ايدك‬iidak (iidik etc) – ‘put that down!’

And most commonly:

‫ هات هان هاتو‬haat haati haatu ‘give me, hand over’ (e.g. ‫‘ هات المصاري‬give us the money’)

Note the negative imperative:

‫كول صندويشتك مو متل العادة ترجعلي ياها‬

kool Sandwiishtak muu métl él3aade trajjé3li yaaha
eat your sandwich – don’t go bringing it back to me like usual!
Participles
Participles (‫ )اسم فاعل واسم مفعول‬are much more broadly used in Shami than in fuSHa. Often described
lazily as equivalent to the English continuous, this is only rarely the case and learning to use them
properly (and understand their meaning) is very important to understanding normal speech.

Derivation

In Shami participle derivation is mostly similar to fuSHa. With form I verbs, however, there is some
variation which is not predictable from the normal fuSHa-Shami sound correspondences. The
following table shows the masculine singular active and passive participle forms of the different
kinds of form I verbs:

Form I participles

Verb Active Participle Passive Participle

‫ كتب‬katab ‘write’ ‫ كاتب‬kaateb ‫ مكتوب‬maktuub
(sound)

‫ اخد‬2akhad ‘take’ ‫ آخد‬2aakhed, ‫ مأخود‬ma2khuud

(hamzated) ‫ ماخد‬maakhed (J/P)

‫ وصل‬wéSel ‘arrive’ ‫ واصل‬waaSel ‫ موصول‬mawSuul

(assimilating)

‫ باع‬baa3 ‘sell’ ‫ بايع‬baaye3 ‫ مبيوع‬mabyuu3

(hollow)

‫ حس‬7ass ‘feel’ ‫ حاسس‬7aases ‫ محسوس‬ma7suus

(doubled) ّ
‫حاس‬ 7aass

‫ طق‬Tafa ‘turn off’ ‫ طاف‬Taafi ‫ مطق‬méTfi

(defective) ‫ مطق‬maTfi (J/P)

‫ تعب‬té3eb ‘get tired’ ‫ تعبان‬ta3baan N/A

(sound)

‫ سكر‬séker ‘get drunk’ ‫ سكران‬sékraan N/A

(sound)

‫ غار‬ghaar ‘be jealous’ ‫ غيان‬gheeraan ‫ مغيور‬maghyuur

(hollow)

‫ جاع‬jaa3 ‘get hungry’ (hollow) ‫ جوعان‬joo3aan N/A

‫ غل‬ghéli ‘become expensive’ ‫ غليان‬ghalyaan N/A

(defective)
As you can see, as far as passive participles are concerned the differences from fuSHa are fairly
minimal and limited to two cases:

 Hollow verbs, where the pattern is regularised to fall in line with the maf3uul pattern used
elsewhere – producing mabyuu3 (rather than fuSHa ‫ مباع‬mubaa3). You might see this
regularisation in MSA, too.
 Defective verbs, where in Syrian and Lebanese the vowel in the prefix (mé-) is different from
fuSHa (ma-). Of course, all of the fuSHa complications relating to tanwiin and so on in these
forms (in fuSHa this form would be ‫ مطف‬maTfin in nominative and genitive for example) can
also safely be ignored.

With active participles, the situation is more complicated, because Shami has two basic patterns for
form I active participles – faa3el and fa3laan – rather than the one (faa3il) typically used in fuSHa.
For participles formed with faa3el the differences are again limited:

 The hamza in hollow verbs (e.g. fuSHa ‫ بائع‬baa2i3) is predictably replaced with a yaa2 (‫بايع‬
baaye3).
 Doubled verbs’ participles are (for some speakers) regularised – ‫ حاسس‬7aases rather than
ّ
fuSHa 7aass (‫)حاس‬.
 The initial hamze in the two hamzated verbs ‫ أخد‬2akhad ‘take’ and ‫ أكل‬2akal ‘eat’ is replaced
with an m- in Jordanian and Palestinian (maakhed, maakel).

However, verbs formed with fa3laan (or for some irregular verbs, like séker, fé3laan) have a
completely different pattern, albeit one with fairly predictable variations:

 Hollow verbs’ participles are either feelaan (e.g. ‫ غيان‬gheeraan) or foolaan (‫ جوعان‬joo3aan) –
depending on whether the middle letter of the root is w or y.i
 Defective verbs’ participles are formed on fa3yaan (e.g. ‫ غليان‬ghalyaan), with no variation
depending on the final underlying letter.ii

Whether a verb has a faa3el or a fa3laan participle is generally unpredictable and subject to quite a
lot of regional variation. Many verbs of becoming – ‫ تعب‬té3eb ‘get tired’, ‫ غل‬ghéli ‘get more
expensive’, ‫ جاع‬jaa3 ‘get hungry’ – have fa3laan participles everywhere, and it is mostly intransitive
verbs that have fa3laan participles across the Levantine area. But in Syria in particular, fa3laan forms
have extended much further. Participles like ‫ وصالن‬waSlaan, ‫ شبان‬sharbaan and ‫ حكيان‬7akyaan are
characteristic of Syria.

Outside form I active and passive participles are formed straightforwardly along the same lines as
fuSHa, with two exceptions:

 The prefix, rather than the fuSHa mu-, is either m- (before a single consonant) or mé- (before
a consonant cluster): ‫ ميجم‬mtarjem, ‫ متعلم‬mét3allem.
 As with form I, defective active participles pose none of the tanwiin problems they pose in
fuSHa: the participle of ‫ خل‬khalla is always ‫ مخل‬mkhalli (not mukhallin etc).

For a comprehensive list of forms see the conjugation tables at the end of this PDF.

i
Note though that different speakers might consider the root to be different. The forms ‫ جوعان‬joo3aan and
‫ جيعان‬jee3aan both exist in different regions, for example.
ii
This lines up with the swallowing-up of final-u defective verbs (e.g. ‫ )يغلو‬into the final-i and final-a categories.
Feminine and plural forms

Like adjectives, participles have feminine and plural forms. Unlike some adjectives, participles’
feminines and plurals are formed exclusively with taa2 marbuuTa (-a/e) and ‫ ـين‬-iin. The variety of
different shapes of form I participles mean they require some special treatment, but they are
basically predictable. Have a look at the forms of the active participles we’ve already seen above:

Form I Active Participles

Verb Masculine Feminine Plural

‫ كتب‬katab ‘write’ ‫ كاتب‬kaateb ‫ كاتبة‬kaatbe ‫ كاتبي‬kaatbiin
(sound)

‫ اخد‬2akhad ‘take’ ‫ آخد‬2aakhed ‫ آخدة‬2aakhde ‫ آخدين‬2aakhdiin

(hamzated) ‫ ماخد‬maakhed (J/P) ‫ ماخدة‬maakhde (J/P) ‫ ماخدين‬maakhdiin (J/P)

‫ وصل‬wéSel ‘arrive’ ‫ واصل‬waaSel ‫ واصلة‬waaSle ‫ واصلي‬waaSliin

(assimilating)

‫ باع‬baa3 ‘sell’ ‫ بايع‬baaye3 ‫ بايعة‬baay3a ‫ بايعي‬baay3iin

(hollow)

‫ طق‬Tafa ‘turn off’ ‫ طاف‬Taafi ‫ طافية‬Taafye ‫ طافيي‬Taafyiin

(defective)

‫ حس‬7ass ‘feel’ ‫ حاسس‬7aases ‫ حاسة‬7aasse ‫ حاسي‬7aassiin

(doubled) ‫ حاس‬7aass

‫ تعب‬té3eb ‘get tired’ ‫ تعبان‬ta3baan ‫ تعبانة‬ta3baane ‫ تعبيني‬ta3baaniin

(sound)

‫ سكر‬séker ‘get drunk’ ‫ سكران‬sékraan ‫ سكرانة‬skraane ‫ سكراني‬sékraaniin

(sound)

‫ غار‬ghaar ‘be jealous’ ‫ غيان‬gheeraan ‫ غيانة‬gheeraane ‫ غياني‬gheeraaniin

(hollow)

‫ جاع‬jaa3 ‘get hungry’ ‫ جوعان‬joo3aan ‫ جوعانة‬joo3aane ‫ جوعاني‬joo3aaniin

(hollow)

‫ غل‬ghéli ‘become ‫ غليان‬ghalyaan ‫ غليانة‬ghalyaane ‫ غلياني‬ghalyaaniin

expensive’
(defective)

The fa3laan forms are entirely stable and present no problems at all. The faa3el forms are slightly
more complicated, but predictably so – they have the normal dropping of the short unstressed e
vowel when the suffix is added. Note the common (and fuSHa-like) spelling change in doubled verbs,
and the transformation of -i into -ye and -yiin in defective verbs.
Passive participles are even more straightforward. Since all participles have the same shape
(maf3uul) except defective verbs, we’ll restrict ourselves to three examples:

Form I Passive Participles

Verb Masculine Feminine Plural

‫ كتب‬katab ‘write’ ‫ مكتوب‬maktuub ‫ مكتوبة‬maktuube ‫ مكتوبي‬maktuubiin
(sound)

‫ باع‬baa3 ‘sell’ ‫ مبيوع‬mabyuu3 ‫ مبيوعة‬mabyuu3a ‫ مبيوعي‬mabyuu3iin

(hollow)

‫ طق‬Tafa ‘turn off’ ‫ مطق‬méTfi ‫ مطفية‬méTfiyye ‫ مطفيي‬méTfiyyiin

(defective) maTfi (J/P) maTfiyye (J/P) maTfiyyiin (J/P)

As you can see, in the maf3uul forms suffixation is very straightforward. The only oddity here is that
the -i in defective forms, rather than becoming -ye, becomes -iyye as if it was a nisbe adjective.

Sound verbs of other forms show similar behaviour to the form Is, dropping short unstressed e when
suffixes are added – although not short unstressed a, which keeps the passive and active participles
distinct in pronunciation even if they’re written the same.

Sound Participles (Forms II-X)

Verb Masculine Feminine Plural

‫ علم‬3allam ‘teach’ ‫ معلم‬m3allem ‫ معلمة‬m3allme ‫ معلمي‬m3allmiin
(II, sound) ‫ معلم‬m3allam ‫ معلمة‬m3allame ‫ معلمي‬m3allamiin

‫ وافق‬waafa2 ‘agree’ ‫ موافق‬mwaafe2 ‫ موافقة‬mwaaf2a ‫ موافقي‬mwaaf2iin

(III, sound) ‫ موافق‬mwaafa2 ‫ موافقة‬mwaafa2a ‫ موافقي‬mwaafa2iin

‫ تعلم‬t3allam ‘learn’ ‫ متعلم‬mét3allem ‫ متعلم‬mét3allme ‫ متعلم‬mét3allmiin

(V, sound)

‫ توافق‬twaafa2 ‘agree’ ‫ متوافق‬métwaafe2 ‫ متوافقة‬métwaaf2a ‫ متوافقي‬métwaaf2iin

(VI, sound)

‫ انضب‬nDarab ‘be hit’ ‫ محمر‬mé7mérr ‫ محمرة‬mé7mérra ‫ محمرين‬mé7mérriin

(VII, sound)

‫ افيض‬ftaraD ‘assume’ ‫ مفيض‬méftéreD ‫ مفيضة‬méftérDa ‫ مفيضي‬méftérDiin

(VIII, sound) ‫ مفيض‬méftéraD ‫ مفيضة‬méftéraDa ‫ مفيضي‬méftéraDiin

ّ
‫احمر‬ 7marr ‘turn red’ ‫ محمر‬mé7mérr ‫ محمرة‬mé7mérra ‫ محمرين‬mé7mérriin
(IX, sound)

‫ استغرب‬staghrab ‘find ‫ مستغرب‬méstéghreb ‫ مستغربة‬méstégh@rbe ‫ مستغربي‬méstégh@rbiin

strange’ (X, sound) ‫ مستغرب‬méstéghrab ‫ مستغربة‬méstéghrabe ‫ مستغربة‬méstéghrabiin

Defective participles are also slightly more complicated, but follow the same basic principle:
 Defective participles (Forms II-X)

Verb Masculine Feminine Plural

‫ خب‬khabba ‘hide’ ‫ مخب‬mkhabbi ‫ مخبية‬mkhabbye ‫ مخبيي‬mkhabbyiin
(II, defective) ‫ مخب‬mkhabba ‫ مخباية‬mkhabbaaye ‫ مخبايي‬mkhabbaayiin

‫ حاك‬7aaka ‘speak to’ (III, ‫ محاك‬m7aaki ‫ محاكية‬m7aakye ‫ محاكيي‬m7aakyiin

defective) ‫ محاكا‬m7aaka ‫ محاكاية‬m7aakaaye ‫ محاكايي‬m7aakaayiin

‫ تخب‬tkhabba ‘be hidden’ ‫ متخب‬métkhabbi ‫ متخبية‬métkhabbye ‫ متخبيي‬métkhabbyiin

(V, defective)

‫ تحاك‬t7aaka ‘speak to’ ‫ متحاك‬mét7aaki ‫ متحاكية‬mét7aakye ‫ متحاكية‬mét7aakyiin

(VI, defective)

‫ انشى‬nshara ‘be bought’ ‫ منشي‬ménshéri ‫ منشية‬ménshérye ‫ منشيي‬ménshéryiin

(VII, defective)

‫ استوى‬stawa ‘be done’ ‫ مستوي‬méstéwi ‫ مستوي‬méstéwye ‫ مستويي‬méstéwyiin

(VIII, defective)

‫ اسيج‬starja ‘dare’ ‫ مسيج‬méstarji ‫ مسيجية‬méstarjye ‫ مسيجيي‬méstarjyiin

(X, defective)

The active participles all end in -i, which becomes -ye and -yiin when the feminine and plural suffixes
are added – just like the form I pattern faa3i. The passives, meanwhile, end with -a as we would
expect from fuSHa. However, when suffixes are added to the feminine forms, a -y- is inserted (rather
than dropping the -a as would happen in fuSHa).
Object pronouns

Paticiples can take object and indirect object pronouns just like other verbal forms. For masculine
and plural forms, direct object pronouns trigger the expected vowel and stress changes
straightforwardly (depending on whether the pronoun begins with a consonant or a vowel):

‫ كاتب‬kaateb ‫ كاتبو‬kaatb-o ‫ كاتبها‬kaatéb-ha

‫ كاتبي‬kaatbiin ‫ كاتبينو‬kaatbiin-o ‫ كاتبينها‬kaatbiin-ha
‫ مساوي‬msaawi ‫ مساويه‬msaawii-(h) ‫ مساويــها‬msaawii-ha

Indirect object pronouns (-l- pronouns) similarly have the expected effects, including the shortening
of long vowels (which normal object pronouns do not do).

‫ مسموح‬masmuu7 ‫ مسمحلو‬masmé7-lo ‫ مسموحلنا‬masmuu7-élna

‫ ضاربي‬Daarbiin ‫ ضاربينلك‬Daarbén-lak ‫ ضاربينلنا‬Daarbiin-élna

The feminine forms are slightly more complicated. For many speakers, the dropping of the e in
sound active participles (e.g. kaateb > kaatbe, m3allem > m3allme) is reversed when pronouns
beginning with vowels are added. Other speakers deal with the awkwardness of reversing sound
change by lengthening and stressing the vowel of the taa2 marbuuTa. A final group of speakers –
mainly southern Levantine – resolve the entire problem by replacing the taa marbuuTa with a final
long -aa-. The following examples show the three strategies:

‫ كاتبة‬kaatbe 1) ‫ كاتبتو‬kaatébt-o ‫ كاتبتها‬kaatbét-ha

2) ‫ كاتبيتو‬kaatbiit-o ‫ كاتبتها‬kaatbét-ha
3) ‫ كاتباه‬kaatbaa-(h) ‫ كاتباها‬kaatbaa-ha

‫ معلمة‬m3allme 1) ‫ معلمتو‬m3allémt-o ‫ معلمتها‬m3allmét-ha

2) ‫ معلميتو‬m3allmiit-o ‫ معلمتها‬m3allmét-ha
3) ‫ معلماه‬m3allmaa-(h) ‫ معلماها‬m3allmaa-ha

‫ مساوية‬msaawye 1) ‫ مساويتو‬msaawiit-o ‫ مساويتها‬msaaw(y)ét-ha

2) ‫ مساويتو‬msaawiit-o ‫ مساويتها‬msaaw(y)ét-ha
3) ‫ مساوياه‬msaawyaa-(h) ‫ مساوياها‬msaaw(y)aa-ha

The most common solution in Syrian is (1), but the other two are also both common throughout the
Levantine area and you will probably hear all three.

Feminine participles with object pronouns also – unlike in fuSHa, and unlike any other participle
form – distinguish person. The forms given above as examples work for a non-second person
subject. However, when the subject of a participle is second person singular feminine inti, a long -ii-
is inserted between the -t of the taa marbuuTa and the pronoun:

‫ كاتبة‬kaatbe ‫ كاتبتيه‬kaatébtii-h ‫ كاتبتيها‬kaatébtii-ha

‫ عرفانة‬3arfaane ‫ عرفانتيه‬3arfaantii-h ‫ عرفانتيها‬3arfaantii-ha
‫ معلمة‬m3allme ‫ معلمتيه‬m3allémtii-h ‫ معلمتيها‬m3allémtii-ha

‫ليش عاملة حالك مو عرفانتيني؟‬

leesh 3aamle 7aalek muu 3arfaantiini?
Why are you pretending you [= feminine singular] don’t know me?
Usage

Active participles especially are very common in colloquial. The use you’ve probably encountered if
you have any familiarity with any dialect at all is with certain verbs of motion. For these, the
participle is often used in a continuous meaning:

‫وين رايح؟‬
ween raaye7?
Where are you going?

‫ي‬
‫ماشيي‬
maashyiin
we’re leaving

This can of course be used in a future sense similar to the English continuous:

‫نازل هون؟‬
naazel hoon?
are you getting off [the bus] here?

This continuous sense also appears with a limited number of other verbs, primarily verbs of
sensation, thought etc:

‫يلي شجع منتخب النظام خالل المباريات األخيرة معتبر انو السياسة مالها عالقة بالرياضة‬
yalli shajja3 muntakhab énniZaam khilaal élmubaarayaat él2akhiira mé3taber énno
ssiyaase maala 3alaa2a bi-rriyaaDa
The people [= the one who] who supported the regime’s team in the last few matches
believe that politics has nothing to do with sport

‫حاسس حالي مرضان شوي‬

7aases 7aali marDaan @shweyy
I feel [= am feeling myself] a bit ill

‫مالي سمعانة‬
maali sam3aane
I can’t hear [you]i

‫ناطر تليفونك اه؟‬

naaTér telefoonak aah?
I’ll be [= I’m] waiting for you to call [= your phone call], OK?

‫مستنيك‬
méstanniik
I’m waiting for you

With most verbs, however, the participle has the sense of completion of an action often lining up
with the English present perfect. This is easiest to show with verbs of becoming. You probably
already know ‫ تعب‬té3eb ‘get tired’ and its participle ‫ تعبان‬ta3baan ‘tired’. Another good example

i
Though as you can see from the examples below, we could also see this as a participle of completion/result.
is ‫ طول‬Téwel ‘get long, tall’ and its causative equivalent Tawwal ‘lengthen, let grow longer’, whose
participles contrast with simple ‫‘ طويل‬long, tall’:

‫دقنك طوالن‬
da2nak Toolaan
your beard has got longer/is longer

‫مطول دقنك‬
mTawwel da2nak
you’ve grown your beard out/let it grow longer

There are some verbs which typically have a ‘becoming’ sense in colloquial which are not necessarily
used in the same way in fuSHa. ‫ لبس‬lébes for example in colloquial means ‘get dressed’ or with an
object ‘put on’. ‫ بلبس‬bélbes means ‘I get dressed’ or ‘I put on’ or ‘I wear’ in a habitual sense. It
doesn’t mean ‘I’m wearing’ – for that you need laabes. Contrast the two forms below:

‫ملون وبعاشورا بتالقيه البس أسود‬

ّ ‫متل للي كل السنة بيلبس‬
métl élli kéll ésséne byélbes @mlawwan w b3aashuura bétlaa2ii laabes 2aswad
Like someone who wears/puts on coloured [clothes] the whole year then in Ashoura
you’ll find him wearing/having put on black

The same applies to ‫ نام‬naam, which usually means ‘go to sleep’ (thus ‫ نايم‬is sleeping and ‫ بنام‬means ‘I
go to sleep’ and not ‘I’m sleeping’), ‫ سكن‬sakan, which usually means ‘take up residence’ (thus ‫ ساكن‬is
‘living’), and many others.

The sense of completion, however, is not restricted to verbs of becoming or intransitive verbs. Do
not mistake forms like ‫ دارس‬,‫ كاتب‬etc for ‘writing’, ‘studying’. This will confuse your understanding
and, if you use them that way, the meaning you’re trying to put across! Most verbs have a participle
expressing completed action, the result of the action expressed by the equivalent verb, which in
many cases can be most idiomatically translated with the English present perfect:

‫سمعت انو فاتح محام‬

smé3@t énno faate7 mu7aami
I heard he’s opened a lawyer[‘s practice]

‫كاتبلك كل س ع الورقة‬
kaatéblak kéll shi 3a-lwara2a
I’ve written everything down for you on the paper

‫ماحدا بيعرف بعدين شو رح يصي اكيد هللا كاتبلك س احسن وافضل‬

maa 7ada bya3ref ba3deen shuu ra7 ySiir akiid aLLa kaatéblak shi a7san w afDal
Nobody knows what’s going to happen, God’s definitely got something better planned for
you [= has written for you]

‫يل هللا ر يازقه صوت حلو بيقدر يغب ويعي عن نفسه من خالله‬
yalli aLLa raaz2o Soot 7élw byé2der yghanni w y3abber 3an nafso mén khilaalo
[People] who God has blessed with nice voices can sing and express themselves with them...

‫اهداء لكل شخص فاقد شخص‬

ihdaa2 lakull shakh@S faa2ed shakh@S
Dedicated [= a dedication] to everybody who’s lost somebody
 ‫ضلو خمس سني موقف شغل بالمشوع مشان الناس تمل وتبيع‬
Sallo khams @sniin @mwa22ef shégh@l bilmashruu3
It’s been five years since he stopped work on the project [= he’s been in a state of having
stopped work on the project for five years]i

‫انب ليش مكية القصة؟‬

inti leesh @mkabbra l2éSSa?
Why’re you making this into a big thing [= why have you made the story big?]

With some verbs of sense there are cases which are debatable one way or the other – does
‫ عرفان‬3arfaan represent a continuous equivalent to ‫‘ بعرف‬I know’, or does it express the result
of ‫‘ عرفت‬I found out’? Either way, it expresses a state of knowing. In cases like the one
below, these verbs have a definite completed action:

‫االستاذ يظهر مو سمعان بهاد الحديث‬

él2éstaaz yaZhorii muu sam3aan b-haad él7adiis
It seems that sir has not heard of this hadith

Confusingly, even verbs of motion can have this sense. We saw ‫ رايح‬above in a continuous meaning,
but it can also mean ‘have been’, depending on the context:

‫رايح س عل المانيا؟‬
raaye7 shi 3ala 2almaanya?
have you ever been to Germany?

‫قديش صارلكون طالعيي من الحارة‬

2addeesh Sallkon Taal3iin mn él7aara?
how long has it been since you left the neighbourhood [= how long has it become for you
having left the neighbourhood?]

Participles can also be used in an emphatic future sense stressing the certainty (or impossibility) of
an action:

‫اي من هلق موقع عليه‬

ee mén halla2 mwaqqe3 3alee
consider it signed [from now I’ve signed it]

‫مان باعتة حدا لعندك‬

maani baa3te 7ada la3éndak
I’m not sending anyone to your house! (depending on context this could also be ‘I haven’t
sent…’)

‫مش حاكي عن الموضوع خلص‬

mish 7aaki 3an élmawDuu3 khalaS!
I’m not talking about it [= the issue], forget it!

i
‫ صارلو‬and its other pronominal forms is usually used for ‘he’s been... for Y years’ and is often combined with
an adjective but the combination of this and a participle (which carries the force of ‘having stopped’) makes it
awkward to translate this even halfway literally into English.
ii
‫ يظهر‬is a fixed fuSHa form used in colloquial in a way syntactically identical to ‫ شكلو‬sheklo ‘it seems that'.
 ‫انا فشخة برات هالبيت مان فاشخة‬
2ana fashkha barraat halbeet maani faashkha
I’m not taking a single step [= a step I’m not stepping] outside this house!

Participles and nouns-from-participles

Some participles proper (i.e. parts of the verbal paradigm) are also nouns with a distinct meaning –
‫ كاتب‬kaateb and ‫ طالب‬Taaleb can either be participles ‘having written’ and ‘asked for’ or nouns
meaning ‘writer’ or ‘student’. These are obviously etymologically derived from the participles, but
they’re distinct in meaning and often have their own broken plurals (kéttaab and Téllaab in these
cases) which do not work for the plurals of the participles. They also form iDaafe with their objects
rather than taking direct objects normally:

‫ه كاتبة لكتاب‬
hiyye kaatbet léktaab
she’s the author of the book

Participles, on the other hand, do not form an iDaafe with their objects:

‫انا كاتبة رسالة‬

ana kaatbe risaale
I’ve written a letter

There are a number of cases with non-form I verbs where rather than using the colloquial participle,
the noun equivalent is taken from fuSHa and has mu- instead (although in Arabic script they are
indistinguishable):

‫ مدرب‬mudarreb coach, mdarreb having trained (someone)

‫ مفوض‬mufawwaD commissioner / mfawwaD (having been) commissioned

These are distinct. To use mdarreb for ‘coach’ (or, for that matter, mudarreb for ‘having trained’) is
incorrect.
Compound tense structures

Future

There are various ways to express the future. One is by using the simple present with b- on its own:

‫بروح معك‬
bruu7 ma3ak
I’ll go with you

One is by using bédd- (literally ‘want’):

‫بدي امرق لعندو بكرا‬

béddi émro2 la-3éndo bukra
I’m going to go to his house tomorrow

Another common way is with the particle ‫ رح‬ra7(a)- or the prefix ‫ حـ‬7a- (also ‫ لح لـ‬in some parts of
Syria and sometimes ‫)رايح‬:

‫رح روح‬
ra7 ruu7
I’ll go

‫حشوفك بكرا‬
7a-shuufak bukra
I’ll see you tomorrow

There are differences in nuance between these different forms and the use of the bare present, as
there are between ‘going to’, ‘will’ and the present continuous in English, but these differences are
difficult to pin down. Native speakers have an intuition about what sounds right and wrong in
different sentences, and the only way to gain that sort of intuition as a non-native speaker is from
practice.

Continuous

The continuous is formed with 3am which can be combined with the subjunctive or b-present. It
typically lines up with the English continuous form in that it suggests repetitive action over a specific
period of time:

‫عميادرس‬
3am édros
I’m studying

‫ضس ما عميينوملي الليل‬

Dérsi maa 3am ynawwémni élleel
my tooth is stopping me from sleeping at night [= is not letting me sleep]

One small difference in usage is that 3am can be used with many verbs that in English do not permit
a continuous:
 ‫ما عميبقدريافتح الباب‬
maa 3am bé2der éfta7 élbaab
I can’t get the door open [= I’m not being able to…]

The continuous is often best translated with the English perfect continuous:

‫عم اقرى كتير هااليام‬

3am é2ra ktiir hal2éyyaam
I’ve been reading a lot these days [= I’m reading...]

Combinations of kaan and other verb forms

‫ كان‬can be used with other verb forms to make compound tenses, as in fuSHa. With the
subjunctive past kaan can be used to form a past habitual:

‫ كان يدرس‬kaan yédros – he used to study

With the continuous it can be used to form a past continuous:

‫ كنت عم ادرس‬ként 3am édros – I was studying

With the future the past form of kaan can be used to form a future-in-past:

‫كان رح يشب‬
kaan ra7 yshatti
it was going to rain

‫كنت رح انجلط‬
ként ra7 énjaleT
I almost had a heart attack!

‫كان بدو يفوت‬

kaan béddo yfuut
he was about to go in (or ‘he wanted to go in’)

With the past or participle, it can form a pluperfect:

‫كان راح‬
kaan raa7
he’d gone

‫كان جايب كوال‬

kaan jaayeb koola
he’d brought some coke

The present form bikuun can also be used with past, continuous and future in a similar way to
express either assumptions or to centre the action on the future:

‫بكون عم يدرس‬
bikuun 3am yédros
he must be studying, he’ll be studying
 ‫بكون خلص‬
bikuun khallaS
he’ll have finished, he must have finished

‫بكون بدو يفوت‬

bikuun béddo yfuut
he’ll be about to go in

The b-less form can be used similarly where it is triggered by something:

‫خايف يكون فات من الباب التان‬

khaayef ykuun faat mn élbaab éttaani
I’m afraid he might have come in through the other door
Possession
iDaafe
As we all know from fuSHa, two or more nouns can be put into a possessive structure by simply
sticking them alongside one another in iDaafe (‫)اضافة‬, literally ‘addition’ and fiddling about with the
case and tanwiin suffixes. The absence of case suffixes and tanwiin makes this much simpler in
Shami. Nouns that do not end with the suffix ‫ ـة‬do not typically change at all when placed into iDaafe
with another noun, other than predictable addition of helping vowels:

‫ مكتب احمد‬maktab a7mad ‘Ahmed’s office’

‫ اسم حبيبب‬is@m 7abiibti ‘my lover’s name’

The ending ‫ ـة‬-a/e always turns into -et on the first term of iDaafe (rather than –at- as in fuSHa). In
line with the normal rules of vowel dropping, this can sometimes contract to simply -t before vowels:

‫ قطة اخب‬2aTTet ékhti ‘my sister’s cat’

‫ مدرسة احمد‬madras(e)t a7mad ‘Ahmad’s school’

As in fuSHa, the iDaafe can express all sorts of different relationships alongside possession:

‫ كيس النايلون‬kiis énnaaylon ‘the plastic bag’

‫ كاسة م‬kaaset moyy ‘a glass of water’

‫ بيت المخدة‬beet lémkhadde ‘the pillowcase’

‫ رخصة سواقة‬rékhSet @swaa2a ‘driving licence’

As in fuSHa, only the final term of iDaafe can take a definite article. But in Syrian, the contracted
‘this/that’ hal-, which is clearly derived from the definite article, can appear at the beginning of
an iDaafe as well:

‫ هلكاسة الم‬halkaast élmoyy ‘this glass of water’

Taba3
Apart from the iDaafe the main way of expressing possession is the particle ‫ تبع‬taba3 (or ‫ تع‬ta3). This
appears between the noun and its possessor. As with the iDaafe it can express various different
types of relationship.

‫حط الستاتوس تبع الواتس بكومنت‬

7étt lé-staatus taba3 élwat@s bkooment
Put [your] Whatsapp status in a comment
 ‫اللون تبع جراباتك اللي انت البسو حاليا هو لون قلبك‬
élloon taba3 jraabaatak élli inte laabso 7aaliyyan huwwe loon 2albak
The colour of the socks you’re wearing now is the colour of your heart

‫بيقولك راح ناس تبع جمعيات خيرية يشوفو الالجئين‬

bi2éllak raa7 naas taba3 jam3iyyaat kheeriyye yshuufu llaaji2iin...
They say that people from/belonging to charity organisations went to see the refugees...

What triggers use of ‫ تبع‬as opposed to the iDaafe is not always clear. It’s common with compounds
and with loanwords (like the first example here). But it is also often used in contexts where the
iDaafe would also be fine.

For some speakers ‫ تبع‬agrees with the possessed noun. In Syrian this is optional, but in Palestinian
for example it is compulsory. The feminine is ‫ تبعت‬taba3et. The plural has various different forms,
including ‫ تبعون‬tab3uun and ‫ تبعوت‬tab3uut.

Taba3 differs from the iDaafe in that it can be used independently, providing the only easy way to
translate expressions like ‘Ahmad’s’ or ‘mine’ where the possessed noun is dropped. As with its
normal use, taba3 here can express all sorts of relationships (the only difference is it stands in for
the noun it would normally follow):

‫كسرت تبعتو‬
kassar@t tab@3to
I broke his [one]

‫بدكن اليف متل تبع امبارح‬

béddkon laayv mét@l taba3 @mbaare7?
You want a Live [video] like yesterday’s?

‫بس تبع اللون االخضر وبنات العمارة شغلة‬

bass taba3 élloon él2akhDar, wbanaat él3emaara shéghle
Only the green one, [because] the architecture girls are something elsei

‫طلع تبع الضابط‬

Téle3 taba3 éDDaabeT
It turned out to belong to the officer/be the officer’s!

‫هو مو تبع هيك حركات‬

huwwe muu taba3 heek 7arakaat
He’s not the sort of person to do that sort of thing [= he’s not taba3 such movements]

‫وينهم تبعون اإلنجلش؟‬

weenhom tab3uun élinglish?
Where are the English crew? [= the ones who study ‘Inglish’]

You have to be careful with this usage, however, because ‫ تبع‬can sometimes be a euphemism for
genitalia.

i
This is in response to a question about which cafeteria students at Damascus University prefer.
Open conditionals
As in fuSHa, iza is used for ‘open conditionals’ like ‘if it rains, we can go’ or ‘if he’s not happy, let him
come and see me’. Unlike fuSHa, any tense form can appear in the conditional clause:

‫اذا بتشوفو بكرا خين‬

iza bétshuufo bukra khabbérni
if you see him tomorrow tell me

‫اذا بدك فيب احك معو‬

iza béddak fiini é7ki ma3o
if you want I can talk to him

The past can be used with future meaning in the conditional clause as in fuSHa. For some people at
least this implies a less certain emphasis on likelihood (allowing for more politeness – ‘if you happen
to be free [but no pressure]’):

‫اذا فضيت خين‬

iza fDiit khabbérni
if you’re free (= become free) then tell me

It can also be used with actual past meaning, as in the following sentence. Note that usually ‘if he
left’ in English is actually hypothetical, and does not have a past but a non-factual meaning (‘if he left
now he’d...’), which would be translated typically with ‫ لو‬and not ‫اذا‬.i However, on some rare
occasions it expresses an open conditional (i.e. whose fulfilment is possible) where the action
fulfilling the condition must have happened in the past:

‫اذا طلع امبارح بوصل بكرا‬

iza Téle3 @mbaare7 biwaSSel élyoom
if he left yesterday, he’ll get there today

In the literal opposite of fuSHa, the result clause cannot (typically) be in the past directly. As in
English – where we have to say ‘if he left yesterday, he’ll have arrived today’ (and ‘if he left
yesterday he arrived today’ is a bit odd) we have to use a construction with ‫ بكون‬to express an
assumption:

‫اذا طلع امبارح بكون يوصل اليوم‬

iza Téle3 @mbaare7 bikuun waSSal élyoom
if he left yesterday he’ll’ve got there today

Sometimes iza is dropped:

‫دفعت هلق شو بصير؟‬

dafa3@t halla2, shu biSiir?
(if) I paid now, what would happen?

i
This distinction is made in one place in formal English using different verb forms – ‘if he were at the party I’d
say hi to him’ vs ‘if he was at the party, it must have been him I saw ’. But even this distinction is lost for a lot
of us in speech, unfortunately for those trying to get their heads around Arabic forms.
Hypothetical and counterfactual conditionals
As in fuSHa, ‫ لو‬is used for counterfactuals.iCounterfactual sentences refer to hypothetical situations
that would/could be the case now (present counterfactuals) or would/could have been the case in the
past (past counterfactuals) if a given condition were fulfilled/had been fulfilled. In both cases, it is
assumed that the condition is unlikely or impossible to be fulfilled or has not been fulfilled.
In Levantine Arabic, this is the most basic use of law – similar to MSA (though iza is also sometimes
used like this). These sorts of sentences, and the exact syntax of law, are subject to quite a lot of
dialectal variation, but the basic principles stay the same.

The if-clause
In English, both parts of the conditional sentence – the if-clause and the result clause – both change
for tense. This is not the case in Syrian and Lebanese, where the if-clause typically takes the simple
past tense whatever, with tense being indicated by the result clause:
‫لو درس بينجح‬
law daras - byénja7
If he studied, he’d do well.
‫لو درس كان نجح‬
law daras - kaan néje7
If he had studied, he’d have done well.
A nominal (‘to be’) sentence can take kaan in a similar way – which depending on dialect may or may
not be conjugated. In most situations, though, it’s more common to drop it. Some speakers reject the
presence of kaan as ungrammatical or awkward, depending on their region.
‫لو (كان) آينشتاين لبناني كان هاجر على غير بلد‬
law (kaan) aynshtaayn lébnaani kaan haajar 3ala gheer balad
If Einstein had been Lebanese he’d’ve emigrated to another country
‫لو (كنت) محلك ببقى بالبيت‬
law (ként) ma7allak béb2a bi-lbeet
If I were you I’d stay at home
The same applies to quasi-verbal expressions like ma3i, béddi, 3éndi and participles:
‫لو معي بعطيك‬
law ma3i ba3Tiik
If I had [money] on me I’d give you [some]
‫لو (كان) كاتبين تالت او رابع واحد كان رح يكون حلو‬
law (kaan) kaatbiin taalet aw raabe3 waa7ed kaan ra7 ykuun 7élw
If they’d written the third or fourth one it would’ve been nice
A similar case concerns ‘stative’ verbs, like sentences which discuss ability or possibility, where an
implied (dropped) kaan may result in a present tense verb with b- following law.

i
Some Syrians use iza synonymously with law and with the same syntax for counterfactuals, but this is non-
standard:
‫إذا بدو يفور دمو كان فار من زمان‬
iza béddo yfuur dammo kaan faar mén zamaan
If he was going to go crazy [= if his blood was going to boil over], it would have happened a long time ago.
 ‫لو بحبو بعض كانو تجوزو من زمان‬
law bi7ébbu ba3D kaanu tjawwazu mén zamaan
If they loved one another they’d have got married a long time ago
‫لو بعرف ما كنت اشتريتلك ياه‬
law ba3ref maa ként @shtareetéllak yaa
If I’d known, I wouldn’t have bought it for you
‫لو بيدرس بينجح‬
law byédros byénja7
If he was a studious sort/the type that studied, he’d succeed (contrasting with law daras ‘if
he studied’)
‫ع قد مية عام‬
َ ‫ يعني انا نعساان‬.. ‫لو كانت الغفوات تنقاس باأليام‬
law kaanet élghafawaat tén2aas bi-l2iyyaam… ya3ni 2ana na3saan 3a 2add miit 3aam
If naps were measured in days, then I’d be 100 years worth of sleepy.i
‫لو بيحكو الحيوانات شو بقولو؟‬
law byé7ku l7eewaanaat shuu bi2uulu?
If animals could talk what would they say?
This has a different meaning from the same sentence with a past verb:
‫لو حكو الحيوانات شو بقولو؟‬
law 7aku l7eewaanaat shuu bi2uulu?
If the animals were to talk [on a specific occasion], what would they say?
law can be followed by énno ‘that’, with no significant change in meaning. énno can take suffixed
pronouns:
‫لو اني رجعتون ما كان صار اللي صار‬
law énni rajja3ton maa kaan Saar élli Saar
If I’d taken them back what happened wouldn’t have happened!
As in fuSHa, a variant lawla exists meaning ‘if not for’, which can only be followed by a noun or a
suffixed pronoun (which causes lengthening of the final vowel to lawlaa-):
‫روحي أنتا مدفيها و لوالك بتبقى بردانة‬
ruu7i inta mdaffiiha / w lawlaak btib2a bardaane
You’ve warmed up my soul / and if not for you it would stay cold
‫لوال هالبني آدم ما منتأهل‬
lawla halbani 2aadam maa mnét2ahhal
If it wasn’t for this guy we wouldn’t qualify
It is possible to follow law with a subjunctive verb in a hypothetical conditional.ii This is linked to the
meaning ‘if only’ discussed below. Unlike law jiit, which can be either past (‘if you had come’) or
present/future (‘if you came’), law téji can only have future reference (‘if you came/if you were to
come’) and implies unlikeliness.

i
This is an unusual example of this kaan triggering subjunctive. Normally it appears with a b-present.
ii
You might hear some speakers using subjunctives with stative verbs too, like law a3ref ‘if I knew’. This is,
however, just a variation on the law ba3ref above.
 ‫لو تجي على تركيا بتستفاد كتير‬
law téji 3ala turkiyya btéstafaad @ktiir
If you’d only come to Turkey, you’d benefit a lot

The result clause

The result clause varies much more than the if-clause in possible structure.

Present counterfactuals
The simplest kind of present counterfactual has a b-prefixed present tense verb in the result clause,
with an optional kaan in front of it:
‫لو كنت محلك ببقى بالبيت‬
law (ként) ma7allak béb2a bi-lbeet
If I were you I’d stay at home
‫لو كان المناخ انشف بشوي بكون احسن بكتير‬
law (kaan) élmanaakh anshaf bi-shweyy bikuun a7san bi-ktiir
If the climate was a bit drier, it would be much better
‫لو كنتي مشتاقتيلي كنتي بتيجي لعننا‬
law (kénti) méshtaa2tii-li kénti btiiji la-3éndi
If you really missed me you’d come to our house
The future can also be used in the result clause, again with optional kaan:
‫!لو راحت ع الشام رح اعرف كل شي‬
law raa7et 3a shshaam, ra7-a3ref kéll shi!
If she’d gone to Damascus, I’d [lit. have been going to] find out everything [but she went to
Homs, so I don’t].
‫لو ما كنت عم غني كنت رح كون بالجيش‬
law maa ként 3am ghanni, ként ra7 kuun bi-jjeesh
If I wasn’t singing, I would have been in the army.

Past counterfactuals
Generally speaking, past counterfactuals have kaan plus a past verb in the result clause:
‫لو اني رجعتون ما كان صار اللي صار‬
law énni rajja3ton maa kaan Saar élli Saar
If I’d taken them back what happened wouldn’t have happened!
‫لو طلعت امبارحة كانت وصلت اليوم‬
law Tél3et @mbaar7a kaanet wéSlet élyoom
If she’d left yesterday she would have got here today.
‫لو كنت بعرف انو هيك رح يصير ال كنت جبتك وال كنت وعدتك انو بدي رجعك‬
law ként ba3ref 2énno heek ra7 ySiir laa ként jébtek wala ként wa3adtek 2énno béddi rajj3ek
If I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t have brought you nor would I have promised
you that I’d take you back.
‫لو معي كنت عطيتك‬
law ma3i ként 3aTeetak
If I’d had [money] on me I’d have given you [some].
 ‫لو بعرف ما رح تقليلي عيب كنت قلتلك بشو بحس لما اطلع على هاي الصورة‬
law ba3ref maa ra7 t2élii-li 3eeb, ként 2élt-éllek b-shuu b7éss lamma éTTalle3 3ala haay
eSSuura
If I was sure [lit. knew] you wouldn’t tell me it was wrong (to feel this way), I would have
told you how I feel when I look at this picture…

Other uses of law

Wlaw ‘even if’
Wlaw (walaw)i, 7atta law, 7atta wlaw and sometimes just law can all mean ‘even if’. They generally
have similar structure to normal hypotheticals:

‫ولو ما درس بينجح‬

w-law maa daras byénja7
Even if he didn’t study he’d (still) do well

Unlike normal sentences with law, however, the ‘even if’ meaning is not restricted to hypotheticals
and counterfactuals:

‫ولو الحّيت عليي ماني رح ايجي‬

w-law ala77eet 3aliyyi maani ra7 iiji
Even if you insist, I’m not coming!

‫صامدين لو بدنا نموت بالجوع‬

Saamdiin law béddna nmuut bi-jjoo3
We’re staying here, even if [that means] we’re going to starve

Some speakers accept present tense verbs here, presumably in a non-counterfactual meaning:

‫لو بيضربني ما بقبل‬

law byédrébni maa bé2bal
Even if he hits me I won’t agree to it

‘If only’
Law can be used with the subjunctive or the b-present in a meaning similar to ‘I wish’ or ‘if only’:ii

‫!لو تعرف قديش بحبك‬

law ta3ref 2addeesh b7ébbak!
If you only knew how much I love you!

i
Walaw with an a in the first syllable has a number of other meanings that can be confused with this meaning,
including ‘really?’ (walaw éstaaz?), ‘no problem’ and (confusingly) ‘of course’: walaw b2uula 2ana ‘of course I
say [that word]!’
ii
Some Lebanese speakers use law + subjunctive, confusingly enough, in the meaning of iza – for example in
the Nancy Ajram couplet:
‫صدفة لو عل هالطريق يسلم علب س رفيق‬
Sédfi law 3ala ha-TTarii2 ysallem 3aliyyi shi rfii2
And if by chance on the street a friend should say hello to me...
 ‫لو منقدر نوصل للناس الي بقلب الصور‬
law mné2der nuuSal la-nnaas élli b-2alb eSSuwar
If only we could reach the people in pictures..

These can also have result clauses:

‫لو يحكيلو كلمة واحدة بتنحل المشكلة‬

law yé7kii-lo kélme waa7de btén7all élmésh@kle!
If only he’d say something for once the problem would be solved

‫لو بس بتقللي شو في ممكن ساعدك‬

law bass @t2él-li shuu fii mémken saa3dak!
If you’d just say what’s wrong I might be able to help you.

In a similar sense, law often appears in combination with other expressions of hope:

‫في أغاني بتمنى لو صوتي حلو عشان غنيها للشخص اللي بحبو‬
fii 2aghaani bétmanna law Sooti 7élw 3ashaan ghanniiha la-shshakhS élli b7ébbo
There are some songs that [make me] wish that my voice was nice so I could sing them to the
person I love.

‫يا ريت لو طلعت على برطانيا‬

yaa reet law @Tlé3@t 3ala breTaanya
I wish I’d gone to Britain…

‫ألوس يا ريت لو فيي إجي لبنان واحضرك بكرا‬

alluus yaa reet law fiyyi iiji lébnaan w é7Darek bukra
Alissa my love,i I wish I could come to Lebanon and watch you tomorrow

،‫الكبار بالعمر إذا حبوكي بيقولولك يا ريت لو عنا ابن بعمرك لنزوجك ياه‬
lékbaar bi-l3ém@r iza 7abbuuki bi2uuluu-lek yaa reet law 3énna ib@n b-3émrak la-
nzawwjek yaah
Old people if they like you, they say I wish we had a son your age so we could marry him off
to you

Other conditional expressions

Conditions with no ‘if’

As in English there are a few constructions that can take the place of a normal ‘condition’ clause:

‫محلي محلك ببقى بالبيت‬

ma7alli ma7allak béb2a bi-lbeet
If I were in your place [= my place were your place], I’d stay at home
‫عجبك وال ما عجبك رح سويا‬
3éjbak wélla maa 3éjbak ra7 sawwiyya
Like it or not, I’m doing it

i
Alluus is a pet name for Alissa, the famous singer.
 ‫ولك حرف ال ي مكسور واال كنت كسرتو من زمان عقد ما بيكتبو االسم غلط‬
wlek 7arf élyaa2 maksuur wélla ként kasarto mén zamaan 3a2add ma byék@tbu l2és@m
ghalaT
The yaa2 has a kasra on it – or else I’d’ve put a kasra on it a long time ago because of how
much people write the name wrong
‫كلو بسببك وال ما كتت طلقت امك‬
kéllo bsababak! Wélla maa ként Talla2@t émmak
It’s all because of you! Otherwise I wouldn’t have divorced your mother...
-ever expressions
‘Whatever’, ‘whoever’, ‘however’, ‘however’ are all formed by adding –ma or –man to the end of
question words. They can take either present or past verbs without tense implications:

‫شو من كان‬
shu man kaan
whatever it may be

‫مين ما اجى‬
miin ma éja
whoever comes/came

The equivalent for ‫ قديش‬is irregular ‫قد ما‬2add ma ‘however (much)’:

‫الزلمة قد ما كان قلبو طيب بضل اهبل‬

ézzalame 2add ma kaan 2albo Tayyeb béDéll 2ahbal
The guy’s still an idiot, no matter how good a heart he has

In Syrian at least law can appear before these expressions. Here it has no additional meaning and can
be deleted:

‫ ما هيك؟‬..‫بتوظف لو شو ما كنت دارس‬

bétwaZZaf )law( shu ma ként daares… maa heek?
I can get a job no matter what I’ve studied… Right?

The more, the more

The expression used for ‘the more... the more’ (a kind of conditional expression) is ‫ كل ما‬...‫ كل ما‬kéll
ma... kéll ma..., either with two presents or two pasts:
‫السيارة كل ما بتكون اغلى كل ما بتكون احسن‬
ésséyyaara kéll ma bétkuun 2aghla kéll ma bétkuun 2a7san
the more expensive a car is, the better it is
‫كل ما درسنا كل ما حسيت حالي اجدب‬
kell ma darasna kéll ma 7asseet 7aali 2ajdab
the more we study/studied, the more I felt/feel like an idiot
‫ طالما‬Taalama ‘as long as’
Taalama can also introduce conditional clauses which may have past verbs:
‫طالما راضيتني ما بتطلع من عندي اال رضيان‬
Taalama raaDeetni maa btéTla3 mén 3éndi 2élla réDyaan
As long as you keep me happy, I’ll keep you happy [= you won’t leave me except happy]
Relative clauses
Definites
As in fuSHa, relative clauses require a relativising particle when attached to a definite noun and no
particle if attached to an indefinite noun. Unlike fuSHa – where this particle declines for case,
gender, and number – in colloquial it is invariable, either élli/illi or yalli (depending on speaker and
region):

‫الرجال اللي بعرفو‬

érréjjaal élli ba3rfo
the man (that) I know

‫البنت يلي شفتها فايت عالبناية‬

élbén@t yalli shéfta faayte 3a-lbinaaye
the girl (that) you saw going into the building

‫اليوم من اإليام اللي ما بقدر احك فيها‬

élyoom mn él2éyyaam élli maa bé2der é7ki fiyya
today is one of those days (that) I can’t even talk about

élli/illi‘s initial vowel drops when preceded by a vowel, as if it was the definite article:

‫انا اسفة عاللي صار امبارح‬

ana 2aasfe 3a-lli Saar @mbaare7
I’m sorry for what happened yesterday

Note that just like in fuSHa, a pronoun has to appear in the relative clause in the place of the noun
you’ve ‘extracted’ unless it is the subject of the relative clause (I saw the girl who I know her), either
as a direct object or attached to a pronoun.

élli/illi is sometimes shortened to él-/il-. In this case it looks the same as the definite article, but does
not assimilate to sun letters:

‫شو الفكرة الآخدينا عن السوريي؟‬

shu élfékra él-2aakhdiina 3an éssuuriyyiin?
what do you know about Syrians? [= what’s the idea that you’ve taken…]

élli is also used where man and maa are used in fuSHa as relative pronouns for ‘the one who’ and
‘the thing that’/’what’ (‫)ما الموصولة‬. Whilst in fuSHa a direct object pronoun in the relative clause here
is optional, with élli it is compulsory:

‫انا اسفة عاللي صار امبارح‬

ana 2aasfe 3a-lli Saar @mbaare7
I’m sorry for what happened yesterday

‫اللي بدك ياه‬

élli béddak yaa
what you want
 ‫اللي صايرة بالبلد‬
élli Saayre bi-lbalad
what’s happened in the country

Note that in line with the general rule that definite singulars are often used to talk about generics,
‫ الل‬very commonly translates idiomatically as ‘people who’ or ‘someone who’:

‫متل اللي ميتلو اخ‬

métl élli mayyétlo akh
Like someone who’s lost a brother

‫انا هيكياللي عاجبو عاجبو واللي ما عاجبو ينسانيا‬

ana heek. élli 3aajbo 3aajbo wélli muu 3aajbo yénsaani
this is how I am – those who it pleases it pleases and those who it doesn’t please
should forget me

Relative clauses are often used for emphasis, lining up with English ‘it’s... who...’ or ‘it’s... that...’:

‫شو اللي بدك ياه بالذات‬

shuu lli béddak yaa bizzaat
What exactly is it that you want

‫انا الل عطلت االصنونصي‬

ana lli 3aTTalt él2asonSeer
It was me who broke the lift/I’m the one who broke the lift

Indefinites
Indefinite nouns require no particle, as in fuSHa:

‫واحد اسمو جان‬

waa7ed ésmo jaan
a guy whose name is Jaan

‫واحد بيعرف انجليي‬

waa7ed bya3ref ingliizi
a guy who knows English

When the indefinite noun in question is not only grammatically indefinite but also does not refer to
a specific thing, the relative clause has the b-less verb form:

‫مان رايحة لمطرح ما يكون فيه والدي حوالب‬

maani raay7a la-maTra7 maa ykuun fii wlaadi 7awaaleyyi
I’m not going anywhere where my children won’t be around me

‫بدي بنت تعرف انجليي‬

béddi bén@t ta3ref ingliizi
I want a girl who knows English
This contrasts with a sentence like ‫عم دور عل بنت بتحك انجليي‬, which would also translate as ‘I’m
looking for a girl who speaks English’ – but in this case the speaker has a specific girl in mind they are
looking for. This distinction is basically identical to one found in French and explained at length here.
The use of these sorts of relative clauses often lines up with ‘an X to Y’ structures in English:

‫شباك اهرب منو‬

shébbaak éhrob ménno
a window to escape from

‫مفتاح افتح فيه هالباب‬

méftaa7 éfta7 fii ha-lbaab
a key to open/with which I can open this door

Structures with ma
The particle ‫ ما‬ma can be attached to a number of nouns, producing constructions that translate as
English relative clauses even though they are not strictly speaking relative clauses in Arabic. These
structures have no equivalent in fuSHa:

‫ لحظة ما‬la7Zet ma – the moment that

‫ وقت ما‬wa2@t ma – the time that (when)

‫ يوم ما‬yoom ma – the day that (when)

‫ ساعة ما‬saa3et ma – the hour that (when)

‫ قرنة ما‬,‫ محل ما‬ma7all ma, 2érnet ma/2urnet ma – the place that

Most productively this appears with superlatives:

‫ أحسن ما يمكن‬a7san ma yémken – as good as/the best possible

‫ اقرب ما يكون‬a2rab ma ykuun – as close as/the closest there is

Agreement
When a pronoun is used before a relative clause, the verb in the clause usually agrees with that
pronoun (unlike in modern English, which usually puts the relative clause in the third person
whatever):

‫انا يل عطلت االسونسي‬

ana yalli 3aTTalt él2asoonseer
I’m the one who broke the lift

‫انا ال بعرف‬
ana lli ba3ref!
of course I know (I’m the one who knows!)
With certain expressions like X mén noo3 él-… élli (X is the type of… who’), you sometimes see odd
agreement patterns with the subject rather than with the noun the relative clause is actually
attached to:

‫سوسن من نوع البنات يل بيتغب عنها‬

sawsan mén noo3 élbanaat yalli byétghanna 3anha
Sawsan is the type of girl that you hear about in songs (= that is sung about her)
Other ‘That’-clauses
Anybody who has studied fuSHa will probably have torn at least a little bit of hair out over the uses
ّ ّ
and abuses of ‫ أن إن‬and ‫أن‬. You’ll be happy to know that in colloquial there is only one ‘that’,
ّ
‫ إنو‬énno/inno, which is used in place of all of these. ‫ إنو‬can take other pronoun suffixes in place of
the -o, like fuSHa anna, but the form with -o can stand in for other pronouns as well.

Statements of fact
For normal statements of fact or assertions, all tenses can appear in that-clauses:

‫مش متأكد بس بعتقد انو هيدا المحليبيجيحمود‬

mish mét2akked bass bé3ta2ed énno heeda lma7all @bbérj 7ammuud
I’m not sure but I think this shop is in Burj Hammoud

‫بدي قللك انو بحبك‬

béddi 2él-lak énno b7ébbak
I want to tell you that I love you

‫مي قللك انو راح؟‬

miin 2él-lak énno raa7?
who told you that he’s gone?

Unlike English, spoken Arabic does not usually have ‘backshifting‘ or sequence of tenses where the
tense in a that-clause changes depending on the tense of the main clause – ‘he says he’ll come’ but
‘he told me he would come’. In the following examples, for example, the that-clause has present
marking but is translated with past because of the tense of the main verb:

‫قال انو مرضان‬

2aal énno marDaan
he said he was ill

‫حلمت انو عمينظم و نظف غرفة نوم جدن‬

7lém@t 2énno 3am naZZem w naZZef ghérfet noom jéddti
I dreamt I was tidying and cleaning my grandma’s bedroom

A future verb is then interpreted as future-in-past:

‫قلل رحييجي بعد ساعة‬

2él-li ra7 yéji ba3@d saa3a
he told me he‘d come after an hour

A past verb is typically interpreted as pluperfect, although occasionally it lines up with English:

‫قلتلك ان رجعت‬
2éltéllak énni rjé3@t
I told you I had come back
 ‫حلمت ان كنت بالجنة‬
7lém@t énni ként bijjanne
I dreamt I was in heaven [this one has tense-shifting]

Subjunctives
There are quite a lot of cases where énno comes before an expression of a wish or a hope or
something similarly subjunctive-y and is thus followed by the subjunctive:

‫بتمب انو يعجبكم‬

batmanna inno yi3jebkom
I hope you like it

‫ال حابب انو يتعلم بيت بوكس يحك مع‬

illi 7aabeb inno yit3allam biit boks yi7ki ma3i
those (anyone) who want to learn to beatbox should speak to me

‫عبوده خايف انو ناكلو‬

3abbuude khaayef énno naaklo!
Abboudeh is worried we’re going to eat him!

‘For X to…’
‫ انو‬plus a b-less verb is also used very commonly in a construction which is similar in usage to fuSHa’s
‫ أن‬an + subjunctive. This structure replaces a maSdar and can be used with adjectives:

‫بس انكيتفوت ع البيت بال ما اعرف‬

bass énnak @tfuut 3albeet bala ma a3ref ...
but for you to come into the house without me knowing…

‫ يسقط من عيننا فجأة‬..‫كتي صعب إنو حدا منحبو كتي‬

ktiir Sa3b énno 7ada mén7ébbo ktiir yés2oT mén 3eenna faj2a
it’s very difficult for someone we really love to suddenly [do something to] lose our respect
[fall from our eye]

Obviously this same structure is not always best translated with English ‘for X to’. Sometimes there
are more elegant ways of doing it, especially when the adjective comes first:

‫ي‬
‫انكيتج‬ ‫مستحيلي‬
musta7iil énnak téji
it’s impossible that you’ll come

Generally the énno can be dropped when comes after the adjective:

‫ما اصعبها نهاية غرامك تكتبها بايدك‬

ma2aS3aba nihaayet gharaamak téktéba b2iidak
how difficult it is to write your love’s end with your own hand

In expressions with comparatives, énno is used with a b-less verb to compare sentences (in English
we have to use a gerund for this):
 ‫احسن منيانويتدفعيالمبلغ كلو دفشة واحدة‬
a7san mén énno tédfa3 élmablagh kéllo dafshe waa7de
better than paying the whole thing all in one go

When comparing two actions, however, the form ‫ منما‬ménma is used instead:

‫بحك احسن منما بفهم‬

bé7ki a7san ménma béfham
I speak better than I understand

Exceptions with élli

Although élli is usually a relative pronoun, with a few adjectives expressing feelings it can be used
instead of ‫إنو‬:

‫منيح اللي ذكرتب‬

mnii7 élli zakkartni
it’s good (that) you reminded me

‫مبسوط اللي جيت‬

mabsuuT élli jiit
I’m happy (that) you came
MaSdars and nouns of instance
MaSdars (‫ )مصادر‬or verbal nouns are very common in fuSHa. Cursory treatments of 3aamiyye
(usually the same ones that claim that all 3aamiyye sentences are subject-verb-object or that the
grammar is ‘very simplified fuSHa’) usually claim that the maSdar simply isn’t used in colloquial.
There is an element of truth to this in that certain very common uses of the maSdar in fuSHa are
usually or always replaced by structures with conjugated verbs:

‫ – قبل ما يوصل > قبل وصوله‬before he gets here

‫ – بحب اقرى > احب القراءة‬I like reading

However, this doesn’t mean that the maSdar isn’t used at all (or the ‫مرة‬ ّ ‫ اسم‬or noun of instance
which we’ll also deal with here). This post will deal with the places that they are common.

Formation of maSdars
As in fuSHa, maSdars are unpredictably formed. This goes especially for form I verbs, where they can
take any number of shapes (‫ نش‬,‫كتابة‬, ‫ )عصيان‬although there are a few very common
patterns (particularly fa3l). A number of verbs which also exist in fuSHa have different (often regular)
common maSdars in 3aamiyye: ‫ نش‬nési is usually ‫ نش‬nasy ‘forgetfulness’, for example (and not e.g.
‫ نسيان‬which is instead the participle).

‫ ضرب‬Dar@b ‘hitting’

‫ نسي‬nasy ‘forgetting’

‫ عزف‬3azaf ‘playing’

‫ جنان‬jnaan ‘going crazy. madness’

It also applies, as in fuSHa (think takallama > kalaam) to some verbs in other forms as well:

‫ دور عل‬dawwar 3ala ‘look for’ > ‫ دوارة‬dwaara ‘looking for’

The form III pattern mufaa3ala has a fully Shami equivalent in mfaa3ale:

‫ شارك‬shaarak ‘go into partnership with’ > ‫ مشاركة‬mshaarake ‘going into partnership’

‫ ساعد‬saa3ad ‘help’ > ‫ مساعدة‬msaa3ade ‘help’

There are also a few regular forms (in 3aamiyye) which nonetheless do not line up with their
equivalent forms in fuSHa. Form II defective verbs for example have maSdars in téf3aaye (or in
Pal/Jor, tif3aay):

ّ 3abba ‘to fill’ > té3baaye ‘filling’

‫عب‬
ّ
‫ سل‬salla ‘to entertain’ > ‫ تسالية‬téslaaye ‘entertainment’
The regular form for all quadriliteral verbs with the t- prefix is fa3lane:

‫ تولدن‬twaldan ‘act childish’ > ‫ ولدنة‬waldane ‘acting childish’

‫ تحيون‬t7eewan ‘act like a moron’ > 7eewane ‘acting like a moron’.

Finally, some verbs have both colloquial and fuSHa maSdars used in different contexts:

‫ قرى‬2ara ‘read’ > ‫قراءة‬, ‫ قراية‬qiraa2a, 2raaye ‘reading’

MaSdars are best learnt individually with each verb.

Formation of the ‫اسم مرة‬

The formation of the noun of instance is simple and identical to fuSHa. All nouns of instance take the
form fa3le (or fa3we, foo3a etc for defective and hollow verbs). These nouns express the meaning of
a single instance of the verb:

‫ ضبة‬Darbe ‘a blow’, ‘a hit’, ‘a strike’ etc (contrast with ‫ ضب‬Darb ‘hitting’)

‫ خطوة‬khaTwe ‘a step’, ‘a single act of stepping’ (contrast with ‫ خطو‬khaTw ‘stepping’)

Most nouns of instance are derived from form I verbs. Generally the maSdar can be used in the
sense of a noun of instance for non-form I verbs.

Normal gerund uses

Although as discussed above there are some fuSHa contexts where the maSdar is not much used –
particularly where in fuSHa it stands in for a normal sentence (e.g. ‫ – )بعد وصوله للمطار‬it is quite
commonly used as a gerund that lines up with the English usage:

‫بحب القراءة‬
b7ébb élqiraa2a
I like reading (equivalent to ‫)بحب اقرى‬

‫القراءة صعبة‬
élqiraa2a Sa3be
reading is hard

‫المشي مفيد للضغط‬

élmashy mufiid la-DDagh@T
walking is good [= useful] for blood pressure

The noun of instance is used (intuitively) in expressions like the following:

‫اج منتبه انو فوتاتي ع المحل كيانة‬

akhi méntabeh énno footaati 3a-lma7all kétraane
my brother has noticed that I’m coming here a lot [= that my comings in to the shop have
become more]
 ‫هلحك بالروحة وال بالرجعة؟‬
ha-l7aki bé-rroo7a wélla bé-rraj3a?
was this on the way there or on the way back? [= is this talk in the going or the returning?]

‫قديش بتدفع روحة رجعة؟‬

2addeesh btédfa3 roo7a raj3a?
how much do you pay there and back?

As mentioned with normal nouns, some verbs always take indefinite direct objects. This includes
maSdars, which appear with verbs like the following in a construction quite similar to the English:

‫ كمل حك‬kammel 7aki – keep on talking

‫ وقف اكل‬wa22ef ak@l – stop eating

‫ خلصت قراية‬khallaSt @2raaye – I’ve finished reading

Cognate accusative
More interesting is its usage in the ‫( مفعول مطلق‬cognate accusative) structure, whose existence
in 3aamiyye is usually denied wholesale. In fact it is quite common, especially with accompanying
adjectives (very commonly ‫ مرتب‬mrattab, literally ‘tidy’) and especially especially when telling
stories colourfully. Of course, these nouns do not take accusative case marking since cases do not
exist in 3aamiyye:

‫ضبتو ضب مرتب‬
Darabto Dar@b mrattab
I gave him a real beating [= beat him a tidy beating]

‫عم تدور عل مشاكل دوارة‬

3am @tdawwer 3ala mashaakel @dwaara
you’re looking really hard for problems [= searching a searching]

‫حكيت حكي ما بينحك‬

7akeet 7aki maa byén7aka
I said things that shouldn’t be said [= talked talking that is not talked]

‫مسكون مسك اليد‬

méskuuni mask élyad
they caught me red-handed [= the catching of the hand]

The noun of instance can also be used here (when it exists), giving a slightly different meaning of a
single instance:

‫هلق روح نملك احل نومة‬

halla2 ruu7 némlak a7la noome
now go and have a lovely sleep [= the nicest sleeping]

‫هاد اكيد بكون ابوه هابشلو س هبشة مرتبه واشيالو السيارة‬

haad akiid bikuun abuu haabéshlo shi habshe mrattabe w-@shtaraalo éssiyyaara
 no, this guy’s dad must have got himself a nice little kickback and bought him the car [= will
have got a tidy getting]

These can be counted:

‫ضبب تلت ضبات‬

Darabni tlét Darbaat
he hit me three times (= three hittings)

Some maSdars can be used in the same construction as the maf3uul muTlaq but with a different
verb from the one they are derived from. The most common of these refer to motion. Note that
whilst the idiomatic and the literal translations could have ‘-ing’, the English ‘-ing’ of the literal
translation is the -ing of the gerund (‘running is good for you’) and not of the participle (‘I’m
running’) – that is, the English forms are identical but the Arabic words here are maSdars, not
participles:

‫نروح مشي؟‬
nruu7 mashy?
shall we walk there? [= go a walking]

‫جينا ركيد‬
jiina rgiid
we ran here [= we came a running]

‫مو جايبتيب لهون شحط مشان تقليل هيك حك‬

muu jaayebtiini lahoon shaH@T mishaan t2éliili heek 7aki?
surely you haven’t dragged me here just to tell me this nonsense? [= you haven’t brought
me here a dragging to tell me this sort of speech?]
Passive
ُ
The fuSHa internal passive (e.g. ‫ )د ِرس‬is not productive in Shami, although it exists in a number of
commonly used set expressions and classicisms and may be used when someone is speaking in
elevated language, fuSHa-style. This may seem like good news, but in fact it is not; the passive in
Shami is actually much less regular than fuSHa as a result and not all verbs have a passive form.

Conjugation
Generally, although not exclusively, form I verbs correspond to an equivalent passive on form VII
(nfa3al) or less commonly form VIII (fta3al):

‫ قرى انقرى‬2ara n2ara ‘read, to be read’

‫ مسك انمسك‬mések nmasak ‘catch, to be caught’

‫ نش انتش‬nési ntasa ‘‘forget, be forgotten’

Form II and form III verbs usually correspond to a passive on forms V and VI:

ّ ‫غي‬
‫تغي‬ ّ ghayyar tghayyar ‘change, be changed’

‫ صاحب تصاحب‬Saa7ab tSaa7ab ‘date, be dated’

Form X verbs, and form V and VI verbs with a non-passive meaning, do not usually have a passive,
although there are some exceptions:

‫ انحملتحمل‬t7ammal n7amal ‘bear, be borne’

As in fuSHa, the passive equivalent of an active verb usually has as its subject the direct object of a
verb. If the verb normally takes an object with a preposition, the preposition is retained and the verb
remains in the masculine singular:

‫ما بينهرب من هالسجن‬

maa byénhareb mén has-séj@n
you can’t escape from this prison [= is not escaped from]

If the subject does not follow the preposition directly a pronoun stands in for it:

‫ما بينمش معها‬

maa byénmasha ma3a
she’s impossible to get along with

‫بدي تخت يننام فيه‬

béddi takh@t yénnaam fii(h)
I want a bed that can be slept in [= is slept in it]

Usage
The passive is often used in a way that lines up with English:
 ‫لو انمسكت ما بعرف شو كان صار فيب‬
law @nmasak@t maa ba3ref shu kaan Saar fiini
if I’d been caught I don’t know what would have happened to me

Its more idiomatic use which is very common in colloquial is to express things that should or should
not be/can or cannot be done:

‫شغالت ما بتنحك‬
shéghlaat maa btén7aka
things that should not be said

‫الزلمة ما بيتقاوى عليه‬

ézzalame maa byét2aawa 3alee
the guy can’t be overpowered

‫وهلل خطك ما بينقرى‬

waLLah khaTTak maa byén2ara
I swear to God, your handwriting is illegible [ = is not read]

‫ما ف وال بنت تتصاحب‬

maa fii wala bént tétSaa7ab
there’s not a single girl worth getting together with

With many expressions it can be used in a way that distances an agent from an action, similar to
English ‘I can’t get X to…’

‫ما عم ينفتح مع‬

maa 3am yénfate7 ma3i
I can’t get it to open [ = it’s not being opened with me]
Reflexives
The reflexive pronoun
In English we have the reflexive pronouns formed with possessives and ‘self’, and in fuSHa we have
basically the same system with ‫‘ نفس‬spirit’ plus possessive pronouns. Whilst there are contexts in
which you might hear ‫ نفس‬with reflexive meaning in colloquial, far and away the most common
reflexive pronoun in Shami is not formed with ‫ نفس‬but with ‫ حالـ‬plus possessive pronouns:

‫احك عن حالك‬
é7ki 3an 7aalak
speak for yourself!

‫ليش عم تجاكر حالك؟‬

leesh 3am @tjaaker 7aalak?
why are you spiting yourself?

‫مفكر حالو س خرية كبية‬

mfakker 7aalo shi kharye kbiire
he thinks he’s the shit [thinks himself some big shit]

With plural pronouns 7aal remains the same and does not pluralise like English ‘self’:

‫شايفي حالون‬
shaayfiin 7aalon
they’re arrogant [they’ve seen themselves]

The same word is used in ‫ لحالـ‬la7aal- ‘on X’s own’:

‫فتح لحالو‬
fata7 la7aalo
it opened on its own

‫قاعد لحالك‬
2aa3ed la7aalo
sitting on your own

And in the expression ‫ خليه بحالو‬khallii b7aalo ‘leave him alone’.

Reflexives without 7aal

In some limited situations normal pronouns are used with a reflexive meaning:

‫ غصي عنك‬ghaSbin 3annak – in spite of yourself

Reflexive-style verbs

There are some verbs which in and of themselves are often best translated as reflexive despite the
absence of a reflexive pronoun:
 ‫ احيقت‬7tara2@t – I burnt myself

‫ انتحر‬nta7ar – he killed himself (‫‘ نحر‬to slaughter)

Reciprocals
These are expressions like ‘they hit one another’ where the action is being carried out by two parties
on one another at the same time.

The reciprocal pronoun

Lining up with English ‘one another’ or ‘each other’, fuSHa has various expressions formed with ‫بعض‬,
ُ
probably originally in the sense of ‘some’ (like the long fuSHa structure, ‫ضب بعضهم البعض‬, which
probably originally meant ‘some of them hit some [others]’ or ‘one of them hit the [other]’). In
Syrian the most common way of phrasing it is just to use ‫بعض‬ba3@D on its own as a catchall ‘one
another’ or ‘each other’:

‫ ضبو بعض‬Darabu ba3@D – they hit one another

‫ متل بعض‬mét@l ba3@D – like one another, similar

‫ نفس بعض‬naf@s ba3@D – the same thing, the same as one another

‫ طلعو ببعض‬TTalla3u bba3@D – they looked at one another

Reciprocal verbs
As in fuSHa, some verbs are inherently reciprocal, typically form V or form VI:

‫ تصالحو‬tSaala7u – they made up (with one another – compare ‫ صالحو‬Saala7o ‘he made up
with him’)

‫ تحاكو‬t7aaku – they spoke (with one another compare ‫‘ حاكاه‬he spoke to him’)

When they are really reciprocal the subject is usually plural. However, there are lots of cases where
these reciprocals actually may appear with a singular subject and an object expressed with ‫مع‬. Here,
of course, ‘one another’ is not an appropriate translation.

‫ تصالحت معو‬tSaala7@t ma3o – I made up with him (functionally a synonym of ‫)صالحتو‬

Causatives
You’ve probably already encountered the idea of the causative (make someone do something) in
fuSHa with reference to forms II (fa33ala) and IV (2af3ala) of the verb. In many ways causatives
work similarly in fuSHa and in colloquial, but the structures are a bit different and causatives are
perhaps more common in dialect.

Unlike English, which distinguishes compulsorily between ‘make’ and ‘let’ (both kinds of causative),
ّ
Arabic combines the two under one basic causative. The causative can be formed with ‫ خل‬khalla
plus a verb or with an independent verb form – both can mean either ‘let X do’ or ‘make X do’, or
related meanings.

‫ خلى‬khalla
Khalla ykhalli is probably derived from the fuSHa for ‘to empty’, but it is used in the sense of ‘allow’
or ‘make’. It is combined with an object and a verb conjugated in the b-less present, quite simply:

‫ خليتو يفوت‬khalleeto yfuut ‘I made him go in’, ‘I let him go in’.

‫ خالن اقرا‬khallaani é2ra ‘he made me read’, ‘he let me read’

‫ خلون روح‬khalluuni ruu7 ‘let me go!’

It can also be used in a way that is not a command but expresses a suggestion, similar to English
‘let’s’:

‫ خلينا نجرب‬khalliina njarreb ‘let’s give it a go’

It can also mean ‘leave’ or ‘keep’:

‫ خليا معك‬khalliyya ma3ak ‘keep it with you’

Relatedly, it can mean ‘stay’, ‘keep on’ etc, in which case the singular masculine imperative is
combined with pronouns indicating the subject:

‫ خليك دغري‬khalliik déghri – (you) keep going straight on

‫ خليكون هون‬khalliikon hoon – (all of you) stay here

Other verbs
There are a few other similar constructions which distinguish between ‘making’ and ‘letting’ or have
other implications. Their syntax is generally the same:

‫ تركو يمش‬tréko yémshi ‘let him go’ (= leave him to go)

‫ جين ايح‬jabarni iiji ‘he forced me to come’

Derived verbal forms
In fuSHa you might expect most causatives to be produced from form I verbs using form IV (af3al),
although you are probably also familiar with some form II verbs with causative meanings. In Shami
form IV is almost nonexistent, except with some recent fuSHa reborrowings, and causatives are
formed almost exclusively on form II (although not all form IIs are causative by any means – see the
section on form IIs for details).

Causatives often have a bewildering number of possible idiomatic English translations. Most have an
underlying/equivalent non-causative verb. Often these are form I:

ّ fawwat
‫فوت‬ ‘let X in(side)’ < ‫ فات‬faat ‘go in, enter’
‘put X in(side)’
‘take/bring X in(side)’

ّ sammak
‫سمك‬ ‘make X thicker, thicken X’ < ‫ سمك‬sémek ‘get thicker’
‘make X wider’
ّ ّ khaff ‘get lighter’
‫ خفف‬khaffaf ‘lighten X, make X lighter’ < ‫خف‬
‘reduce [the burden of] X’
‘go light(er) on X’
ّ
‫ مش‬mashsha ‘walk [a dog]’ < ‫ مش‬méshi ‘walk, move’
‘make X to walk, let X walk’
‘get X moving’
‘let X go’

ّ fayya2
‫فيق‬ ‘wake X up, awaken X’ < ‫ فاق‬faa2 ‘wake up’

In some cases the usual equivalent is not form I but form V. Since this is often used for passives of
form II, the relationship here is a bit more ambiguous, but we don’t need to worry too much about
which one is derived from the other here:

ّ ghayyar
‫غي‬ ‘change X’ ّ tghayyar ‘change’i
< ‫تغي‬

ّ jawwaz
‫جوز‬ ‘marry X off’ii < ‫ تجوز‬tjawwaz ‘marry, get married’

There are a few form IIs which can be both causatives and synonyms of an underlying verb:
ّ
‫ وقف‬wa22af ‘stand, stop’ < ‫ وقف‬wé2ef ‘stand’
‘cause X to stand, stop’

‫ وصل‬waSSal ‘arrive’ < ‫ وصل‬wéSel ‘arrive’

‘deliver X, cause X to arrive’
‘give a lift to X’

i
This one can also have a passive meaning ‘be changed/be changeable’, as in ‫بيتغي‬ّ ‫‘ التيكيت ما‬the ticket can’t be
changed’.
ii
This can also mean ‘marry’ in the sense of ‘be the presiding official at the marriage ceremony of’, as in the
uncomfortably ambiguous ‘his father, despite being a minister, refused to marry him and his wife’.
Syntax

Syntax of derived causatives is pretty predictable. The subject of the underlying verb becomes its
object, and the object of the underlying verb – if there is one – stays as a second object, making the
verb into a double-object verb.

ّ
‫سمعتو الغنية‬ < ‫سمع الغنية‬
samma3to lghénniyye séme3 élghénniyye
I played him the song He listened to the song

‫غيلت المي‬ < ‫غلت المي‬

ghalleet élmoyy ghalet élmoyy
I boiled the water The water boiled

As with other double object verbs, when both objects are pronouns the carrier yaa- is used:

ّ
‫سمعتو ياها‬
samma3to yaaha
I played it [= the song] to him

If the underlying verb takes a preposition, this almost invariably stays:

‫ّفهمنا خالد عليها‬ < ‫فهم عليها خالد‬

fahhamna khaaled 3aleeha féhem 3aleeha khaaled
We made Khaaled understand her Khaaled understood her

ّ
‫فوتوه عيالمكتب‬ < ‫فات عيالمكتب‬
fawwatuu 3almaktab faat 3almaktab
They took him into the office He went into the office

Causatives in context
Here are a few example sentences showing off causatives in actual context.

With khalla:

‫شو الل مخليك تعمل هيك؟‬

shu lli mkhalliik ta3mel heek?
What made you do/act like that?

‫المعلم يا بخليك تحب مادة لألبد يا بخليك تكره مادة لأللد‬

lém3allem yaa bikhalliik @t7ébb maadde lal2abad yaa bikhalliik tékrah maadde lal2abad
Teachers either make you love a subject forever or make you hate a subject forever

‫بخليك تسرد وتشرح وباالخير برد عليك باوك طيب معليش‬

bikhalliik tésrod w téshra7 w bil2akhiir birédd 3aleek b-“2ooke, Tayyeb, ma3leesh”
He lets you go on [= narrate] and explain and in the end he responds with ‘OK, well,
nevermind’
Some straightforward examples with derived verbs:

‫اذا بدك تطول دقنك‬...

iza béddak @TTawwel da2nak...
If you’re going to grow your beard out...

‫هنه قطر ما بفوتوك بدون فيزا‬

hénne qaTar maa bifawwtuuk biduun viiza
Qatar won’t let you in without a visa

‫ مستوحى من قصة حقيقية‬: ‫أكتر شي بخوف بفيلم الرعب هي هاي الجملة‬

2aktar shi bikhawwef @bfilm érra3@b hiyye haay éjjémle: méstaw7a mén qéSSa 7aqiiqiyye
The scariest thing [= most thing that makes you fear] in any horror film is this sentence:
‘based on a true story’

‫تشربني؟‬
ّ ‫شو بدك‬
shu béddak @tsharrébni?
What are you going to give me to drink?

‫ضرسي ما عم ينومني الليل‬

Dérsi maa 3am ynawwémni lleel
I can’t sleep at night because of my tooth [= my tooth is not letting me sleep at night]

‫رجعنا على محل ما طلعنا‬

rajjé3na 3ala ma7all ma Tlé3na
Take us back [= make us return] to the place you picked us up

‫طلعني لبرة‬
Talla3ni labarrai
He sent/kicked me out

Some examples which are perhaps a bit more metaphorical:

‫سمك تيابك مشان ما تبرد‬

sammek @tyaabak méshaan maa tébrod
Put a few layers on [= thicken your clothes] so you don’t get cold

‫ال تكتر فحم ع الراس‬

laa tkatter fa7@m 3a rraas
Don’t put too much [= overdo the] charcoal on the head [of the shisha pipe]

‫كلمة عانس رح تموتني‬

kélmet 3aanes ra7 @tmawwétni
The word ‘spinster’ will be the death of me [= will make me die]

i
This one, uniquely, can also be Taala3 or Teela3 in Lebanese – i.e. the causative can be form III not form II.
Tamyiiz
You are probably familiar with the fun (or not-so-fun) phenomenon of so-called tamyiiz (‫تمييز‬,
sometimes translated into English as ‘specification’). In fuSHa, tamyiiz is one of the many
uses of the accusative – you take a noun, stick it in the accusative, and it turns into something
that can be (often clunkily) translated as ‘in terms of’ or ‘by way of’. This handy PDF gives
some nice examples: ‫‘ يزداد ايمانًا‬increase in belief’, ‫علوا‬
ً ‫‘ يختلف‬differ in height’, ‫اجمل اسلوبًا‬
‘more pleasant with regard to style’. You’re probably most familiar with it from the last
usage, with superlatives and comparatives.

Some arguable examples of the fuSHa forms are occasionally used in speech too ( ً‫كتابة‬
kitaabatan ‘in writing’ for example) especially in higher registers, but productively tamyiiz
constructions are formed in 3aammiyye without any case ending. This makes them more
difficult to spot, but lots of examples of similar constructions do occur – and it’s important to
understanding that you can recognise them.

Modifying verbs:

Tamyiiz constructions often appear modifying verbs in an adverbial sense. They can
frequently but not always be translated with English ‘as’:

‫بشتغل مهندس‬
béshtéghel muhandes
I work as an engineer (‫ كـ‬here sounds funny and is a common non-native mistake)

‫جيت لجوء‬
jiit lujuu2
I came as a refugee [= I came refuge]

‫المصاري بجو شيكات‬

élmaSaari biju sheekaat
the money comes in/as cheques

Sometimes they modify not the verb itself, but the object:

‫عطاني ياه هدية‬

3aTaani yaa hdiyye
he gave me it as a present

‫انت زودت الطين بلة اه‬

inte zawwadt éTTiin bille aah
you’ve made the situation worse [increased the clay in terms of wetness]

They can modify participles, too – as in the following:

‫الكاس مليان مي‬

élkaas mélyaan moyy
the glass is full of water
 ‫مبلول مي‬
mabluul moyy
wet (with water)

compare:

‫عبيتو مي‬
3abbeeto moyy
I filled it with water

‫انبليت مي‬
nballeet moyy
I got wet (with water)

They can also modify the subject:

‫انقسمو قسمين‬
n2asamu 2ésmeen
they were divided (into) two groups

I’m not sure my divisions into modifying the subject, object and verb are particularly
scientific, but hopefully these examples give a decent impression of the breadth of possible
semantics.

With question words

With questions with 2addeesh (‘how much’) and shu (‘what’), there is often a tamyiiz which
narrows the specification of the question word. Unlike in English (‘what houses’, ‘how much
change’), the tamyiiz typically appears later on:

‫قديش معك فراطة؟‬

2addeesh ma3ak @fraaTa?
how much change do you have? [how much do you have (by way of) change?]

‫شو عندك افكار لتطوير البلد‬

shu 3éndak 2afkaar la-taTwiir élbalad?
what ideas do you have [have (in the way of ideas)] for developing the country?

They don’t necessarily have to be actual questions, either:

‫هللا وحدو بيعلم شو ممكن تجيني أحاسيس و مشاعير‬

aLLa wa7do bya3lem shu mémken tijiini a7aasiis w mashaa3iir
only God knows what feelings I might have [= what can come to me (by way of)
feelings and feelings]

These are of course a subset of the versions above with subjects and objects.

Other uses in fuSHa

In fuSHa tamyiiz is also used for expressions of quantity (‘a glass of water’, ‘a kilo of sugar’)
and for superlatives/comparatives where an afDal noun cannot be readily used (‫اكثر تعقيدًا‬
‘more complicated’ for example). In 3aammiyye the former is usually expressed with an
iDaafe (kaasét moyy, kaast élmoyy) and the latter with a combination of a normal adjective
and an afDal ( ‫ معقد اكتر‬mu3aqqad 2aktar).
Numbers
In fuSHa numbers are famously terrible and impossible to master. In Shami, they are much
better.

One

The number one has two forms: ‫ واحد‬waa7ed (in Jor/Pal waa7ad) and ‫ واحدة‬waa7de/wa7de. As
in fuSHa, this typically follows the singular noun as an adjective to emphasise ‘one’:

‫في شلغة واحدة بس‬

fii shéghle waa7de bass
there’s just one thing

With certain collective nouns (like foods and currencies) it can be placed before as a counter:

‫ واحدة بيتزا‬waa7de biitza ‘one pizza’

Or it can stand alone, of course:

‫كام شخص معك؟ واحد‬

kam shakh@S ma3ak? waa7ed.
how many people do you have with you? one.

‫ واحد‬and ‫ واحدة‬are very commonly used to mean ‘somebody’ or ‘some guy/some woman’:

‫معي واحد بتعرفو‬

ma3i waa7ed bta3rfo
I’ve got a guy here you know

‫ واحدة تانية‬waa7de taanye ‘someone else’, ‘another woman’

‫قديش ع الواحد؟‬
2addeesh 3a lwaa7ed?
how much per person?

It can also appear with (animate) nouns as a kind of indefinite article:

‫انت عن جد واحد اهبل‬

inte 3an jadd waa7ed 2ahbal
you really are an idiot

As in fuSHa, the ordinal form (‘first’) is ‫ أول‬awwal. This can either appear before the noun
like a superlative (‫ أول واحد‬awwal waa7ed ‘the first one’) or after it as in fuSHa, in which case
it has a feminine form ‫ اولى‬uula.

Two
‘Two’ has two forms: ‫ اتنين‬tneen and its feminine equivalent ‫ تنتين‬ténteen/tinteen. It can be
used to emphasise a dual:

‫ شغلتين تنتين‬shégh@lteen ténteen ‘two things’

‫ تنين‬can also be used, unlike in fuSHa, before a plural noun (in which it does not have a
feminine):

‫ تنين اشخاس‬tneen ashkhaaS ‘two people’

In front of certain collective nouns (like foodstuffs, currencies, and collective plurals) it can
be used to count:

‫ تنين بيتزا‬tneen biitza ‘two pizzas’

Its ordinal form is ‫ تاني‬taani, fem. ‫ تانية‬taanye, which can be placed before the noun like a
superlative (in which case it has no feminine) or after it as in fuSHa. This doubles up as the
normal word for ‘other’:

‫ تاني واحد‬taani waa7ed ‘the second one’

3-10

Each number from 3-10 has two forms, one used before nouns and one used independently.
Although with 3-10 these forms resemble the fuSHa feminine and masculine, they have
nothing to do with gender in Shami:

‫ تالتة تلت‬tlaate tlétt

‫ اربعة اربع‬arba3a arba3

‫ خمسة خمس‬khamse kham@s

‫ ستة ست‬sétte sétt

‫ سبعة سبع‬sab3a sab@3

‫ تماني تمن‬tmaani (tamaanye in Jor/Pal) tmén

‫ تسعة تسع‬tés3a tés@3

‫ عشرة عشر‬3ashara 3ashar

The counting forms are followed as in fuSHa by plural nouns:

‫ تمن اشخاص‬tmén ashkhaaS ‘eight people’

A few common words (yoom, shahr, alf) have special plurals (téyyaam, téshor, taalaaf) when
counted in this fashion:
 ‫ سبع تاالف‬sab@3 taalaaf ‘seven thousand’

‫ اربع تيام‬arba3 téyyaam ‘four days’

A few sort-of-collective nouns like names of foods, currencies and a few irregular plurals
like 3arab are counted with the full forms:

‫ تالته بيرة‬tlaate biira ‘three beers’

‫ خمسة بوند‬khamse boond ‘five pounds’

The ordinal versions are as expected: ‫ تالت رابع خامس سادس سابع تامن تاسع عاشر‬taalet raabe3
khaames saades saabe3 taamen taase3 3aasher, with the predictable feminines. They are
commonly put before a noun with no definite article, like superlatives:

‫ تامن واحد‬taamen waa7ed ‘the eighth one’

11-19
Like 3-9 11-19 have independent and counting forms, but they are usually followed by
singular nouns. In this case the counting forms, counterintuitively, are longer (with the -ar
suffix):

‫ احدعش احدعشر‬é7da3sh é7da3shar

‫ انتعش اتنعشر‬étna3sh étna3shar

‫ تلتعش تلتعشر‬tléTTa3sh tléTTa3shar

‫ اربعتش اربعتشر‬arba3Ta3sh arba3Ta3shar

‫ خمستعش خمستعشر‬kham@STa3sh kham@sTa3shar

‫ ستتعش ستتعشر‬séTTa3sh séTTa3shar

‫ سبعتعش سبعتعشر‬sab@3Ta3sh sab@3Ta3shar

‫ تمنتعش تمنتعشر‬tménTa3sh tménTa3shar

‫ تسعتعش تسعتعشر‬tés3aTa3sh tés3aTa3shar

Many Syrian speakers use the first form even in front of nouns:

‫ تمنتعش واحد‬tménTa3sh waa7ed ‘eighteen guys’

The most common way to turn these into ordinals is just to place them after the noun:

‫ الدرس الخمستعش‬éddars élkham@sTa3sh ‘the fifteenth lesson’

20-90
The round numbers are basically as expected. They have only one form each, independently
or with nouns. They are followed by the singular, as in fuSHa, and have no distinct ordinals,
again as in fuSHa.

‫ عشرين‬3éshriin

‫ تالتين‬tlaatiin

‫ اربعين‬arba3iin

‫ خمسين‬khamsiin

‫ ستين‬séttiin

‫ سبعين‬sab3iin

‫ تمانين‬tmaaniin

‫ تسعين‬tés3iin

The compound forms with units are formed, invariably for gender, as follows:

‫ واحدة وعشرين‬wa7daa w3éshriin

‫ تنين وعشرين‬tneen w3éshriin

‫ تالتة وعشرين‬tlaataa w3éshriin

‫ اربعة وعشرين‬arba3aa w3éshriin

‫ خمسة وعشرين‬khamsaa w3éshriin

‫ ستة وعشرين‬sittaa w3éshriin

‫ سبعة وعشرين‬sab3aa w3éshriin

‫ تماني وعشرين‬tmaani w3éshriin

‫ تسعة وعشرين‬tis3a w3éshriin

100, 1,000, 1,000,000, 1,000,000,000

The words here are ‫ مية الف مليون مليار‬miyye alf milyoon milyaar. All are followed by singulars:

‫ الف شخص‬alf shakh@S ‘a thousand people’

‫ مليون دوالر‬milyoon dolaar ‘a million dollars’

Miyye has a special form, miit, used when it is followed by a noun:

‫ ميت واحد‬miit waa7ed ‘a hundred guys’

To say for example ‘150’, ‘50’ is attached to larger numbers with w- ‘and’:

‫ مية وخمسين واحد‬miyye w-khamsiin – 150

‫ مية وستة وستين‬miyye w-sittaa w-sittiin – 166

All of these numbers have dual forms: ‫ ميتين الفين مليونين مليارين‬miiteen alfeen milyooneen
milyaareen:

‫ ميتين دوالر‬miiteen doolar ‘two hundred dollars’

They can also be counted themselves, as in English:

‫ تلت ميت واحد‬tlét miit waa7ed ‘three hundred people’ (miyye does not have a plural)

‫ خمس تاالف سوري‬kham@s taalaaf suuri ‘500 Syrians’

Fractions
Fractions up to ten, like fuSHa, are formed on fé3l (‘half’ and ‘sixth’ are irregular):

‫نص تلت ربع خمس سدس سبع تمن تسع عشر‬

néSS tél@t réb@3 khém@s séd@s séb@3 tém@n tés@3 3ésh@r

These have plurals formed on af3aal:

‫بانصاص الليل‬
b2anSaas élleel
In the middle [= the halves] of the night

‫عم يضربو اخماس باسداس‬

3am yéD@rbu 2akhmaas b2asdaas
they’re putting two ant two together [multiplying 5ths by 6ths]

‫تلت ارباعون‬
tlétt arbaa3on
three quarters of them

(Basic) maths
Addition is expressed either with w- ‘and’ or ‫ زائد‬zaa2ed ‘plus’ (the verb is ‫ جمع‬jama3):

‫ واحد زائد تنين بساوي تالتة‬waa7ed zaa2ed @tneen bisaawi tlaate – 1 + 2 = 3

‫ واحد وتنين بساوي تالتة‬waa7ed w@tneen bisaawi tlaate – 1 + 2 = 3

Subtraction is expressed with ‫ ناقص‬naaqeS (the verb is ‫ طرح‬Tara7):

‫ تالتة ناقص واحد‬tlaate naaqeS waa7ed – 3 - 2

Multiplication is expressed by ‫ضب‬Dar@b or ‫ بـ‬b- (the verb is ‫ضب‬Darab):

‫ تالتة ضرب تالتة‬tlaate Darb @tlaate – 3 x 3

‫ تالتة بتالتة‬tlaate b@tlaate – 3 x 3

Division is expressed by ‫ مقسوم على‬maqsuum 3ala or simply ‫على‬3ala (the verb is ‫ قسم‬qasam):

‫ تالتة على تالتة‬tlaate 3ala tlaate – 3/3

Expressing possibility, obligation, etc
Possibility

‫ ممكن‬mumken/mémken

This one literally means ‘is possible’ and is usually best translated as ‘can’, ‘could’ or ‘might’
depending on context. As an auxiliary, it is followed by a subjunctive verb:

‫ممكن تروح معنا اذا بدك‬

mémken @truu7 ma3na iza béddak
you can go with us if you want

‫بتعرف انه الواحد احيانا ممكن يطلع خلقه‬

bta3ref énno ilwaa7ed a7yaanan mumken yéTla3 khél2o
you know that sometimes, a person can lose their temper… [= that one sometimes their
temper can rise]

‫هللا وحدو بيعلم شو ممكن تجيب أحاسيس و مشاعي‬

aLLa wa7do bya3lem shu mémken tijiini a7aasiis w mashaa3iir
only God knows what feelings I might have [= what feelings and feelings might come to me]

For the past, we have to use ‫ كان‬as an auxiliary. This gives a counterfactual meaning (could have, but
didn’t).

‫كان ممكن يعمل فتنة بيب وبي ام‬

kaan mémken ya3mel fitne beeni wbeen émmi
it could’ve caused real trouble between me and my mum

‫كان ممكن يعمل اي س بدو ياه‬

kaan mumken ya3mel 2eyy shi béddo yaa
he could have done anything he wanted

It can also be used with subjunctive kaan plus a past verb:

‫ممكن يكون راح يجيب بيكيت دخان‬

mémken ykuun raa7 yjiib baakeet dékhkhaan
he might have gone to get a packet of cigarettes

It can be used in requests as well, like English ‘could’:

‫لو سمحت ممكن تسكر الشباك؟‬

law sama7@t mumken tsakker éshshébbaak?
excuse me, could you close the window?

In this sense it can appear without a verb:

‫ممكن قلم؟‬
mumken 2alam?
could I have a pen?
It appears on its own as well:

‫!وال ممكن‬
wala mumken!
it’s just not possible (anymore!)

‫اي ممكن‬
ee mumken
yeah, possibly (or yes, I can/could, yes it can/could etc)

‫كل س ممكن‬
kéll shi mémken
anything’s possible

‫اذا ممكن‬
iza mumken
if that’s possible (if you can, etc etc)

‫ يمكن‬yémken

Yémken is a frozen verbal form without a b- prefix. It is an adverbial form and often means ‘perhaps’
or ‘possibly’. In this sense it is much freer in terms of where it can go in the sentence than mémken
is:

‫…يمكن اكييت المشاكل الل بتصي بالحياة سببها انو‬

yémken aktariit élmashaakel élli bétSiir bi-l7ayaat sababa énno…
perhaps the reason for most of the problems that happen in life is…

‫لحتا تترجمها بدك يمكن تكتب هامش صفحتين شرح اللها حتا يفهمها القارئ‬
la7atta ttarjémha béddak yémken téktob haamesh Séf@7teen shar@7 la2élha 7atta
yéfhamha lqaare2
in order to translate it you’d need to write maybe a two-page long footnote explaining it for
the reader to understand…

‫مو مكتوبة بصيغة صح يمكن‬

muu maktuube bSiigha Sa77 yémken
it might not be written right

‫يمكن عمر بن الخطاب كان ناجح نوعا ما‬

yémken 3omar bin al-khaTTaab kaan naaje7 naw3an ma
I guess/maybe (the TV series) Umar bin al-Khattab was sort of good

You can use it with the past too:

‫يمكن راح يمكن ما راح‬

yémken raa7 yémken maa raa7
maybe he went, maybe he didn’t

It is also used like mémken as an auxiliary with a subjunctive:

 ‫يمكن ما يتوفر مع‬
yémken maa yétwaffar 3éndi
I might not be able to get it (= the money) [= it might not become available with me]

It occasionally acts like a proper verb meaning ‘be possible’:

‫اكي ما يمكن‬
2aktar ma yémken
as much as possible

‫ بصير‬biSiir

This is typically an auxiliary and means approximately ‘is it possible/acceptable?’ It appears with
subjunctive verbs:

‫ما بصي تحك هيك قدام الضيوف‬

maa biSiir té7ki heek 2éddaam léDyuuf
it’s not right for you to talk like that in front of the guests!

‫بصير احكيلك اشتقتلك وال الجديدة للي عندك بتغار؟‬

biSiir 2é7kiilak @shta2téllak wélla léjdiide lli 3éndak bétghaar?
am I allowed to tell you I miss you or is your new (girlfriend) the jealous type?

‫بصي احول خىط من اجتماع لخط زين الجديد؟‬

biSiir 2a7awwel khaTTi min ijtimaa3i la-khaTT zeen lijdiid?
is it possible to change my (phone) contract from ‘sociable’ to Zain‘s new contract?
[‘sociable’ was the name of one of Zain’s phone contracts]

Like mémken it can be used with nouns too:

‫بصي سؤال صغي؟‬

biSiir su2aal @zghiir?
can I just ask one question? [= a small question]

Generally this form is invariable (and should not be confused with other uses of Saar like ‘become’
and ‘happen’ which conjugate normally) but some Syrians accept the plural form with nouns like in
the following sentence:

‫التني بصيو‬
létneen biSiiru
both are possible, both work

‫ كنا‬kénna...

This is strictly speaking an extension of the past law conditional:

‫ليش ما اخدتنا معك ع فرنسا كنا تغدينا مع الرئيس‬

leesh maa 2akhadtna ma3ak 3a faransa kénna tghaddeena ma3 érra2iis
why didn’t you take us to France? We could have eaten lunch with the President!
 ‫!كان كش‬
kaan kasar!
You could have broken it!

‫ بجوز‬bijuuz

‫ بجوز‬is another frozen verbal form used similar to ‫يمكن‬, meaning ‘possibly’ or ‘might’:

‫ف مي بجوز اصلن من السويدا‬

fii ménnon bijuuz aSlon mn éssweeda
there are some of them who might be originally from Sweida [= that their origin might be
from Sweida]

‫بجوز قلون رح يشتك عليون‬

bijuuz 2éllon ra7 yéshtéki 3aleyyon
maybe he told them he was going to make a complaint about them

It can appear with normal b-presents like this – if the verb refers to something general or actually
present (as opposed to future):

‫بجوز بيمز لش او لشخص‬

bijuuz byérmoz la-shi aw la-shakh@S
it might be a reference to a thing or a person

It can also appear in counterfactuals meaning ‘might have’ or ‘perhaps’ (depending on context):

‫لو هربو بجوز كانو نفدو‬

law hérbu bijuuz kaanu nafadu
if they’d run away perhaps they’d have escaped/they might have escaped

Or it can act like mémken with future reference:

‫كمان ف كلمة بجوز تفكرها مشابهة‬

kamaan fii kélme bijuuz tfakkérha mushaabiha
there’s another word you might think is similar…

‫بجوز احتاج مساعدتك‬

bijuuz é7taaj musaa3adtak
I might need your help

‫ بلكي‬,‫ بركي‬bérki, belki

This one is a loanword from Turkish belki. In Damascus bérki (a corruption) is more common but you
will hear both. Belki is the normal form in Jordan and Palestine, I think. It is used almost exclusively
with future reference, most commonly with b-present verbs:

‫برك جبلك كل يوم بييا‬

bérki jéblek kéll yoom biitza
maybe I’ll bring you pizza every day
 ‫برك منشوفك عن قريب‬
bérki ménshuufak 3an 2ariib
maybe (hopefully) we’ll see you sometime soon

It is sometimes used with a past tense verb, but this also has future reference and carries a very
specific meaning which is something like ‘but what if…’:

‫برك انمسكت؟‬
bérki nmasak@t?
what if you get caught?!

‫وبرك ما قدرت ترجع؟‬

w-bérki maa 2dér@t térja3
and what if you can’t come back?!

It is also used to connect two clauses with a sense that is sort of difficult to translate concisely into
English. Usually the format is like this: ‘do X, bérki you’ll do Y’ and it means something like ‘so that
you might’ in archaic English:

‫احكيلو برك بزورنا‬

2é7kiilo bérki bizuurna
talk to him and maybe he’ll visit us

This joke illustrates this use well even if it doesn’t say much about marital life:

‫ قلها زوجها ؛ كمل نومك برك بتعمل حادث‬، ‫ حلمت انك علمتب السواقة و جبتل سيارة كمان‬: ‫وحدة قالت لزوجها‬
‫وهللا بياخدك‬
wa7de 2aalet la-zoojha: 7alam@t énnak 3allamtni léswaa2a w-jébtélli siyyaara kamaan!
2éllha zoojha kammli noomek bérki bta3mli 7aades w-aLLa yaakhdik!
a woman said to her husband: ‘I dreamt you’d bought me a car and taught me to drive too!’
Her husband said: ‘go back to sleep and maybe (hopefully) you’ll have an accident!’ [= that
you might have an accident, and God take you!]

‫ مستحيل‬musta7iil

‘Impossible’, ‘it’s impossible’. Used with a subjunctive verb:

‫مستحيل انساك‬
musta7iil énsaaki
it would be impossible for me to forget you

The passive

The passive is often used to express general possibility/ability:

‫الزلمة ما بينمش معو‬

ézzalame maa byénmasha ma3o
you can’t get along with the guy [= he is not walked with]
‫ما بينهرب من هالسجن‬
maa byénhareb mén has-séj@n
you can’t escape from this prison
Likelihood

‫ اكيد‬akiid, ‫ ع االكيد‬3al2akiid

Certainly, definitely, surely.

‫انب اكيد مالك مقتنعة بيل عم تقوليه‬

2inti 2akiid maalek méqtan3a byalli 3am t2uulii
you definitely/surely don’t believe what you’re saying

‫بيح ع االكيد خالل اسبوع‬

byiji 3al2akiid khilaal ésbuu3
it’ll definitely come within a week

‫ع االغلب‬3al2aghlab

Probably, most likely.

‫ع االغلب ما ف دوام الول الشهر‬

3al2aghlab maa fii dawaam la-2awwal éshshah@r
most likely there’ll be no work ’til the beginning of next month

‫ بكون‬bikuun

Bikuun is often used to express judgements about likelihood in a way similar to ‘must be’.

‫ بدو يكون‬béddo ykuun

This construction is used to express judgements about likelihood in a way similar to ‘he must be’:

‫هلق بدو يكون مش‬

halla2 béddo ykuun méshi
by now he’ll have left

‫ اجباري‬ijbaari

Literally ‘compulsory’, but used to mean ‘certainly’, ‘definitely’.

Ability

‫ بيقدر‬/ ‫قدر‬2éder/byé2der

This is the normal equivalent to ‘can’, but typically expresses ability of a person rather than
possibility. It uses subjunctive:

‫بتقدر تقول مثال بطلت من الشغل‬

bté2der @t2uul masalan baTTal@t mn éshshégh@l
you can say for example ‘I stopped working…’

It can be used in the past to mean ‘couldn’t’, if it refers to one specific time:
 ‫بس وهلل ما قدرت اعمل س‬
bass waLLa maa 2dér@t a3mel shi
but I swear, I couldn’t do anything

It can also be used in participle form (2édraan) referring to a specific time-delimited period:

‫متل الل تعبان ومو قدران يمش‬

mét@l élli ta3baan w-muu 2édraan yémshi
like someone who’s worn out and can’t walk (normally)

With the preposition ‫ عل‬it can also be used with nouns and pronouns:

‫الل بتقدر عليه‬

élli bté2der 3alee
what you can do, what you’re capable of

‫ احسن بيحسن‬a7san byé7sen

Sometimes 7asan instead of a7san. In fuSHa this means ‘to do well’ or ‘do properly’ but in Syrian it’s
used for simple ‘be able to’ or ‘can’ as a slightly less common synonym of 2éder:

‫ ما احسنت نام‬maa a7san@t naam – I couldn’t sleep

Its participle is ‫ حسنان‬7asnaan:

‫مو حسنان نام‬

muu 7asnaan naam
I can’t sleep

‫ بيعرف‬/ ‫ عرف‬3éref bya3ref

Literally ‘to know’. Used with a subjunctive verb to indicate ‘know how to’:

‫انا بعرف سوق‬

ana ba3ref suu2
I know how to drive

Its semantics however often cover things we use ‘can’ for in English:

‫ما عم اعرف افتح الباب‬

maa 3am a3ref éfta7 élbaab
I can’t work out how to open the door

‫لو سمحت وط صوتك شوي! خليب اعرف كمل شغل‬

law sama7@t waTTi Sootak shweyy, khalliini a3ref kammel shéghli
please lower your voice and let me do my job [= know how to finish my work]

‫ فيـ‬fii-
The pronominal forms of the preposition b- or a slightly different variation with an n added (fiini,
fiik/fiinak, fiiki/fiinek, fii/fiino, fiyya/fiina, fiina, fiikon, fiyyon/fiinon) can be used with a subjunctive
verb to express ability:

‫فينك تقول انو‬

fiinak @t2uul énno
you could say that…

‫ما فيب امش‬

maa fiini émshi
I can’t walk

For the past, it requires kaan:

‫ما كان فيب اعمل س‬

maa kaan fiini a3mel shi
I wasn’t able to do anything

Obligation

‫ الزم‬laazem

‘Must’, ‘have to’, ‘should’. Used with a subjunctive verb:

‫الزم تروح‬
laazem @truu7
you have to go, you should go

With a negative (either muu or maa works, though maa is more common) it usually means ‘you
shouldn’t/mustn’t’ etc and not ‘you don’t have to’:

‫ما الزم تروح‬

maa laazem @truu7
you shouldn’t go

It can be used in the past, but then its meaning is almost always counterfactual ‘should have (but
didn’t)’. In order to say ‘I had to’ or ‘I was forced to’ you have to make use of other verbs (e.g.
njabar@t). Laazem can either be placed into the past with ‫ كان‬or have a past verb used directly after
it:

‫كان الزم تروح‬

kaan laazem @truu7
you should have gone

‫الزم رحت‬
laazem ré7@t
you should have gone

‫ الزم‬can also be used as a normal adjective meaning ‘necessary’:

 ‫ه الورقة مو الزمة‬
hayy élwara2a muu laazme
this one’s not necessary

In this sense it can take a direct pronominal object:

‫المصاري الزمينب‬
élmaSaari laazmiinni
I need the money [note maSaari is plural]

Often laazem + object suffix is used almost like a verb meaning ‘to need’ which then takes direct
objects normally and uses yaa- with pronoun objects:

‫الزمب ياهون‬
laazémni yaahon
I need it (the money) [= I need them]

‫ ضروري‬Daruuri

Usually ‘urgent’ or ‘absolutely necessary’, used with a subjunctive verb:

‫ضوري تضوج هيك دغري؟‬

Daruuri TDuuj heek déghri?
do you have to get upset like that straight away??

‫ اضطر مضطر‬DTarr méDTarr

Generally stronger than laazem and can be used to express obligation in the past (unlike laazem,
which if used in the past gives a counterfactual reading). Often appears with ‫انو‬:

‫اضطريت ان اشيي واحد جديد‬

DTarreet énni éshtéri waa7ed @jdiid
I had to buy a new one

It can take a noun object with ‫عل‬:

‫مان مضطر عليون‬

maani méDTarr 3aleyyon
I don’t need them urgently

‫ انجبر مجبور‬majbuur njabar

‘Obligated’, ‘forced’. Majbuur is the participle, ‫ انجي‬is the verb.

‫مجبور سافر‬
majbuur saafer
I have to/I’m obliged to go abroad

‫كانت الطريق مسدودة فانجيت ارجع‬

kaant éTTarii2a masduude fa-njabar@t érja3
the road was blocked so I had to come back
Simple prepositions
‫ ب‬b- or bé-

b- perhaps most commonly expresses static location and lines up with English ‘in’, ‘at’ or
fuSHa ‫في‬.

‫ بالبيت‬bi-lbeet – at home

‫ بالسيارة‬bi-ssiyyaara – in the car

It is also used to express the instrument or means by which something is done (one of the
uses of English ‘with’):

‫ عملتو بايدي‬3mélto b-2iidi – I made it myself [= with my hand]

‫ بسرعة‬b-sér3a – quickly [= with speed]

It is also commonly used with the meaning ‘about’:

‫اليوم ما بقدر احكي فيه‬

élyoom maa bé2der é7ki fii
I can’t talk about today

It is also idiomatically used in names of food, etc to mean ‘with’:

‫ رز بعدس‬rézz b-3adas – rice and lentils (i.e. Jordanian-style mjaddara)

You probably know constructions in fuSHa like ‫‘ جاء بـ‬bring’ (literally ‘came with’).
Although in colloquial jaab/yjiib is a verb of its own distinct from éja/yéji ‘come’, b-
occasionally does appear with verbs in this meaning in colloquial too:

‫اللي حيسوق فيكون لفوق‬

élli 7a-ysuu2 fiikon lafoo2
The one who’s going to drive you up there [= drive with you up]

It is often used with pronouns in the meaning ‘among’ or ‘of’ as in the following sentence:

‫ما حدا فينا منيح‬

maa 7ada fiina mnii7
None of us is all right

‫بحبك اكتر واحد فيكون‬

bi7ébbek 2aktar waa7ed fiikon
He loves you the most of all of you

It is also used idiomatically replacing normal direct objects in a way that adds a nuance of
long, continuous action (like the colloquial English use of ‘on’):
 ‫عم يضرب فيني‬
3am yéDrob fiini
he’s beating on me

With a number of verbs of emotion, b- takes on a very specific use which basically expresses
the source of the emotion in question.

‫بستحي فيك انك ابي‬

bésté7i fiik 2énnak 2abi
I’m ashamed that you’re my father, you make me ashamed [= I’m ashamed in you...]

‫بخجل فيك‬
békhjol fiik
I feel shy around you

‫بموت فيك‬
bmuut fiik
I love you so much [= I die in you]

As with other prepositions it is also used commonly with verbs in senses that seem relatively
unconnected to its independent use:

‫ اتطلع بـ‬TTalla3 b- ‘look at’

‫ التقى بـ‬lta2a b- ‘meet with’

Most speakers do not have ‫ في‬as an independent preposition, but when pronoun suffixes are
added to b- it becomes ‫فيـ‬. In Syrian the pronoun forms are ‫ فيني فيك فيكي فيه فيا فينا فيكون فيون‬fiini
fiik fiiki fii fiyya fiina fiikon fiyyon (occasionally fiiha, fiihon) – ‫ فيني‬is irregular. The regular
form fiyyi is found in other dialects. In Pal/Jor fiyyo (for fii), fiikom and fiihom are used.

In Syrian and Lebanese, fii- is also very commonly used as a pseudoverb with subjunctive
constructions, expressing ability:

‫ما فيني احكي هلق‬

maa fiini é7ki halla2
I can’t talk now [in Lebanese, maa fiyye/fiyyi…]

‫ مع‬ma3
‫ مع‬as a preposition almost always means ‘with’:

‫ مع اختي‬ma3 ékhti – with my sister

There are occasions when it is idiomatically translated using another preposition in English,
but its basic meaning is the same:

‫ما عم ينفتح معي‬

maa 3am yénfate7 ma3i
I can’t get it to open [= it’s not opening with me]
 ‫شو صار معك‬
shu Saar ma3ak
what happened to you [= what’s happened with you?]

‫كيفني معك؟‬
kiifni ma3ak?
what do you think of me? [= how am I with you?]

It is also used as a pseudoverb meaning ‘to have on you’, ‘to have with you’:

‫اي معي المصاري‬

ee ma3i lmaSaari
I’ve got the money with me, yeah

In Jor/Pal, some speakers use the Egyptian-style form ma3aa- with suffix (‫ معاي‬ma3aay)
rather than the expected form ma3- (ma3i).

‫ عند‬3énd

3énd (or sometimes in Syr/Leb 3and) expresses location near something or in the vicinity of
something:

‫عند المدخل‬
3énd élmadkhal
by the entrance

‫انا عند الكازية‬

ana 3énd élkaaziyye
I’m by the petrol station

It is commonly used in ways which are tricky to translate into English directly but preserve
this meaning intuitively (often it can be translated with French chez):

‫كنت عند خالد‬

ként 3énd khaaled
I was at Khaled’s

‫المشكلة عندك‬
élmésh@kle 3éndak
the problem’s at your end

‫وقف عندك‬
wa22ef 3éndak
stop where you are

It is frequently used as a pseudoverb meaning ‘have’, as in fuSHa:

‫عندي تلت اخوات‬

3éndi tlett ékhwaat
I have three brothers
Its pronoun forms are regular, except the 1pl form: ‫ عنا‬3énna ‘we have’/’by us’.

‫ عن‬3an
3an commonly expresses distance or movement away from something:

‫قديش بتبعد عن البيت؟‬

2addeesh btéb3od 3an élbeet?
how far away is it from the house?

‫اذا نفصل راسو عن جسمو نهائيا‬

2iza nfaSal raaso 3an jésmo nihaa2iyyan…
if his head was totally separated from his body…

It also commonly means ‘about’:

‫اللي قلتلك عنو‬

2élli 2éltéllak 3anno
the one I told you about

It means ‘for’ in the sense of ‘instead of’, as in these examples:

‫شيل عنك؟‬
shiil 3annak?
should I carry [it] for you [= instead of you]?

‫بدفع عنك‬
bédfa3 3annak
I’ll pay for you

It also expresses, occasionally, duration (e.g. of a contract):

‫العقد عن سنة‬
él3aq@d 3an séne
the contract is for a year

With pronouns it acquires an extra n: ‫ عنو‬3anno ‘about him’, for example.

‫ من‬mén
Mén (sometimes reduced to mn before vowels) is most commonly translatable as ‘from’,
expressing movement away from something:

‫جاية من بيروت‬
jaaye mén beeruut
I’m coming from Beirut

‫انا من برطانيا‬
ana mén briTaanya
I’m from Britain
In this sense, it can be combined with other prepositions:

‫هات من عندك‬
haat mén 3éndak
give me some of yours [= from by you]

‫من ع النيت‬
mén 3a-nneet
off the internet

It also frequently means ‘by way of’ or ‘via’ or ‘through’:

‫من هون؟‬
mén hoon?
is it this way? (this is the root of the common arabophone English mistake ‘from
here?’)

‫فات من الباب التاني‬

faat mn élbaab éttaani
he came in through the other door

‫القطار بيمرق من هون‬

élqiTaar byémro2 mén hoon
the train comes through here

‫من تحت الجسر‬

mén ta7t éjjés@r
(go) underneath the bridge

It also very commonly expresses cause:

‫من غير شي متدايق‬

mén gheer shi métdaaye2
I’m annoyed because of something else

As a time expression, it means ‘since’ or ‘ago’ (equivalent to fuSHa mundhu):

‫من تلت سنين‬

mén tlétt @sniin
three years ago

Like ‫ عن‬it gains an extra n when pronouns are attached: ‫ منو‬ménno ‘from him’.

‫ لـ‬la-

la- generally lines up with fuSHa li-. It typically means ‘for’:

‫هدية لمرتي‬
hdiyye la-marti
a present for my wife
It is also used, as in fuSHa, to express belonging outside the iDaafe construction:

‫لمين الشنطة؟‬
la-miin éshshanTa?
whose is the bag?

‫غنية لفيروز‬
ghanniyye la-feeruuz
a song by Feyrouz, a song of Feyrouz’s (thus the common Arabophone mistake ‘a
song for Feyrouz’, which means something else in English)

In some other limited contexts (mainly with function words) it expresses motion to or reason:

‫لوين؟‬
laween?
where to?

‫لعندك‬
la3éndak
to your house

‫لهيك‬
laheek
because of that, as a result

It also means ‘until’:

‫لهلق سهرانين؟‬
lahalla2 sahraaniin?
you’re still up? [= until now staying up?]

‫سهرانين للصبح‬
sahraaniin la-SSéb@7
we’re staying up until morning!

It is also commonly associated with verbs:

ّ da22 la- ‘ring up, phone’

‫دق لـ‬

‫ حكى لـ‬7aka la– ‘speak to’

In particular, many loaned verbs take la-:

‫ تلفن لـ‬talfan la- ‘telephone’

‫ فرمت لـ‬farmat la- ‘format’ (a computer)

It is also often combined with a normal object or possessive pronoun and a following noun
for emphasis or, sometimes, for unclear reasons:
 ‫ رفيقو البوي‬rfii2o la-2abuuy – my father’s friend

‫ سألو إللو‬s2alo la-2élo – ask him [not me]

la- has two sets of pronominal forms, one independent and one which commonly attaches to
verbs (and occasionally other parts of speech). We have discussed the attaching set already in
the object pronoun section. The independent set are formed by attaching pronouns not to la-
but to él-: ‫ الك الو‬élak élo etc. These sometimes come with an additional la- prefixed to them:
‫ إللك‬la2élak:

‫ الشنطة إللك؟‬ésh-shanTa la-2élak? – is the bag yours?

These independent forms are sometimes used as a pseudoverb expressing possession, as in

fuSHa:

‫ الك اخوات؟‬élak ékhwaat? – do you have any brothers and sisters?

‫ كـ‬ka-
Ka- is comparatively rarely used in colloquial. It is usually used in the sense of ‘as’ you see
in the following sentence:

‫ما بقدر انكر اصلي كعربي‬

maa béd2der énkor 2aSli ka-3arabi
I can’t deny my origins as an Arab (or ‘as an Arab, I can’t…’ depending on pause)

In a related usage you may occasionally hear it in a difficult-to-translate sense meaning

something like English -wise:

‫هلق انا كوضعي المالي تمام‬

halla2 2ana ka-waD3i lmaali tamaam
now I’m, money-wise, fine

‫ على‬3ala

This is by far the most complicated and multi-meaning preposition in both colloquial and
probably fuSHa as well. It has two forms: ‫ على‬and simple ‫ عـ‬3a-. The contracted form is
always used before the definite article (3a-lbeet) and optionally used elsewhere too (3a raasi
‘on my head’).

It often means ‘on’ or ‘onto’, as in fuSHa:

‫ علقو ع الحيط‬3all2o 3al7eeT – hang it on the wall

‫ ع التخت‬3a-ttakh@t – on the bed

It also often translates English ‘at’ in the sense of alongside, by:

‫ ع الشباك‬3a-shshébbaak – at the window

 ‫ ع الشارة‬3a-shshaara – at the (traffic) lights

It has a similar translation (‘at’) with a few other verbs:

‫ قوص عليي‬2awwaS 3aleyyi – he shot at me

‫ تطلع على‬TTalla3 3ala – look at (or ‫)تطلع بـ‬

In colloquial it is also the most common way of expressing movement towards or into
something, replacing ‫ إلى‬in fuSHa (which does not exist):

‫رايحين ع الجامعة‬
raay7iin 3a-jjaam3a
we’re going to university

‫فات ع الغرفة‬
faat 3a-lghérfe
he came into the room

In this meaning, it can appear alongside other expressions of location, particularly ‫لعندو‬:

‫رحت لعندو ع البيت‬

ré7@t la3éndo 3a-lbeet
I went [to see him] at his house

It can also express metaphorical movement:

‫انا بدي قدم على هلمنصب‬

2ana béddi 2addem 3ala hal-manSeb
I want to apply for this job [= go forward, put forward for]

It is translated by ‘for/to’ in expressions like the following:

‫ عزيز عليي‬3aziiz 3aleyyi – dear to me

‫ صغير عليك‬zghiir 3aleek – it’s (too) small for you

It often means something along the lines of ‘according to’:

‫ ع الدور‬3a-ddoor – take it in turns/you have to wait your turn [= (it works) according to
(a system of) turns]

‫ ماشي ع النظام‬maashi 3a-nniZaam – operating according to a system, in an orderly

fashion

‫ على كيفك‬3ala keefak~kiifak – up to you, right up your street [= according to your

mood]

‫ على زوقك‬3ala zoo2ak – what you think is best, ‘surprise me’ [= according to your
taste]
 ‫ ناس على أصول‬naas 3ala 2Suul – people of principle

It can express a meaning of being in a particular state, as in the following expression:

‫قديش صارلو على هالحالة؟‬

2addeesh Sallo 3ala hal7aale?
how long’s he been in this state?

It is used in a large number of adverbial and adjectival expressions in a related sense:

‫ على انفراد‬3ala infiraad – in private

‫ على رواق‬3ala rawaa2 – in peace and quiet

‫ على مهلو‬3ala mahl-o – slowly, taking his time (with pronoun agreement)

‫ ع القديم‬3a-l2adiim – old-fashioned

‫ ع السريع‬3a-ssarii3 – quickly

‫ ع البطيء‬3a-lbaTii2 – slowly

‫ ع المظبوط‬3a-lmaZbuuT – precisely

‫ ع المضمون‬3a-lmaDmuun – guaranteed

‫ ع االغلب‬3a-l2aghlab – most likely

‫ ع الماشي‬3a-lmaashi – in passing

‫ على مراقي‬3ala maraa2i – to my taste, to my liking, my type

‫ على لبناني‬3ala lébnaani – Lebanese style

‫ ع الساكت‬3a-ssaaket ‘hush-hush, quietly’

It also often expresses that its object is negatively affected by a verb, as in the following
expressions:

‫تجوز عليي‬
tjawwaz 3aleyyi
he married [a second wife, to my detriment] (this expression means ‘he married a
second wife whilst I was still married to him’ and is difficult to translate pithily into
English for obvious reasons)

‫طلّع عليي إشاعات‬

Talla3 3aleyyi 2ishaa3aat
he started rumours about me
 ‫عم اطفي الشوفاج ع االوالد بالليل‬
3am éTfi shshoofaaj 3a-l@wlaad billeel
I’ve been turning the heating off on the kids at night [i.e. to the kids’ detriment]

‫دقيت عليه الباب‬

da22eet 3alee lbaab
I knocked on the door [of the room he was in]

‫راح عليك الباص‬

raa7 3aleek élbaaS
you missed the bus [the bus went, to your detriment]

As in the second example, it can mean ‘about’, often in a negative context: ‫ حكى على‬and ‫حكى‬
‫ عن‬are supposedly distinct, with the first meaning ‘talk negatively about’ and the second a
more neutral ‘talk about’. In reality it seems that ‫ على‬is increasingly becoming a neutral
‘about’ in some expressions:

‫اللي قلتلك عليه‬

élli 2éltéllak 3alee
what I told you about

It can express ‘in spite of’:

‫انت معك حق على حيونتك‬

inte ma3ak 7a22 3ala 7eewantak
even though you’re a moron, you’re right

‫انت ولد ازعر وصرصري بس بحبك على عيبك‬

inte walad az3ar w SarSari bass @b7ébbak 3ala 3eebak
you’re a petty thug, but I like you in spite of your flaws

Finally, it can express (like English ‘on’) that someone will pay for something or is
responsible for something:

‫العرس عليي‬
él3ar@s 3aleyyi
the (cost of) the wedding’s on me!

‫على حساب مين؟‬

3ala 7saab miin?
who’s paying? [= on whose account?]

‫خلي الباقي عليي‬

khalli lbaa2i 3aleyyi
leave the rest to me [= on me]

In a related sense, it can be used as a pseudoverb with a subjunctive verb following it in the
meaning ‘must’ (also found in fuSHa):
 ‫عليكون تدفعو‬
3aleekon tédfa3u
you must pay

The pronominal forms are attached to the root 3alee-: ‫ عليي‬3aleyyi etc.
Complex prepositions
‫ قدام‬2éddaam

Literally ‘in front of’:

‫ قدام البيت‬2éddaam élbeet – in front of the house

‫ال تفضحونا قدام االجانب‬

laa téfDa7uuna 2éddaam él2ajaaneb
don’t make us look bad in front of the foreigners!

Can be used with la- indicating motion:

‫لقدام شوي‬
la2éddaam shwayy
a bit further on (keep going)

Can be used independently meaning approximately ‘in front’:

‫انا قاعد قدام وهي قاعدة ورا‬

ana 2aa3ed 2éddaam w-hiyye 2aa3de wara
I’m sitting in the front and she’s sitting in the back [of a car]

‫ قد‬2add
2add essentially means ‘the size of’ or ‘the extent of’, and has a number of idiomatic uses:

‫مين بحبك قدي؟‬

miin bi7ébbak 2addi?
who loves you as much as me?

‫ما في كرسي قدي‬

maa fii kérsi 2addi
there’s no chair big enough for me

‫انت قدها؟‬
énte 2addha?
are you up to the task?

‫انا قد كالمي‬
ana 2add kalaami
I keep my word

‫بحبك قد الدنيا‬
b7ébbak 2add éddinye
I love you to the moon and back [= as much as the world]

‫ على قد‬or ‫ ع قد‬has its own idiomatic uses:

 ‫الكراسي على قدنا؟‬
élkaraasi 3ala 2addna
there are enough chairs for us [the chairs are on our number]

‫احالمنا على قدنا‬

a7laamna 3ala 2addna
our dreams are appropriate to our standing

‫بيت صغير على قدي وقدك‬

beet @zghiir 3ala 2addi w-2addek
a little house just right for me and you

‫نشفت على قد ما سحبو مني دم‬

nashshaf@t 3ala 2add ma sa7abu minni dam
I’ve dried up they’ve taken that much blood from me

‫ قبل‬2ab@l ‘before’
‫ قبل الحرب‬2abl él7arb – before the war

Can be used independently in the meaning ‘the time before’:

‫كل هادا كان قبل‬

kéll haada kaan 2ab@l
all that was before

With constructions like ‘two days before the war’, there are two possible structures:

‫قبل الحرب بسنتين‬

2abl él7arb bsénteen
Two years before the war

‫قبل سنتين من الحرب‬

2ab@l sénteen mn él7arb
Two years before the war

‫ برا‬barra

‫ برا البيت‬barra lbeet – outside the house

barra has an iDaafe form, barraat, which is used with pronouns and optionally with nouns:

‫ برات البيت‬barraat élbeet – not at home [= outside the house]

It can be used with la- indicating motion:

‫!طالع لبرا‬
Tlaa3 la-barra!
get out!
It can be used independently meaning ‘outside’:

‫القعدة احلى برا‬

él2a3de 2a7la barra
the atmosphere’s nicer outside [= the sitting]

‫ بقلب‬b2alb ‘inside’

Generally used for confined spaces:

‫ بقلب الظرف‬b2alb éZZar@f – in the envelope

Literally ‘in the heart of’, and sometimes can translate that way in English too:

‫نحنا بقلب السفارة هلق‬

né7na b2alb éssafaara halla2
we’re in the heart of the embassy now! (or perhaps, ‘we’re well inside the embassy!’)

‫ بعد‬ba3@d ‘after’

‫ بعد الحادث‬ba3d él7aades – after the accident

With constructions like ‘two days after the accent’, there are two possible constructions:

‫بعد الحادث بيومين‬

ba3d él7aades byoomeen
Two days after the accident

‫بعد يومين من الحادث‬

ba3d yoomeen mn él7aades

‫ بين‬been ‘among, between’

‫ بين البيوت‬been lébyuut – among the houses, between the houses

When pronouns are added, been usually takes the form beenaat:

‫وهلل يا معلم انا بيناتون‬

waLLa yaa m3allem 2ana beenaaton
and I swear, boss, I’m one of them! [= among them]

‫ بنص‬bnéSS ‘in the middle of’

Perhaps not really worth analysing as a preposition per se since néSS in itself means ‘middle’
(‫ ركز بالنص‬rakkez bé-nnéSS ‘concentrate on the middle’) but worth considering for
completeness’ sake:

‫ بنص الطريق‬bnéSS éTTarii2 – in the middle of the road

Has an independent form ‫ بالنص‬bé-nnéSS ‘in the middle’:

‫ انا بالنص‬ana bé-nnéSS – I’m [the one] in the middle (of the picture)

‫ داير‬daayer

Used in the sense of ‘around the border of’ and also ‘around’ a defined mass (a pole, tree
etc):

‫بنو حيط داير لجنينة‬

banu 7eeT daayer léjneene
they built a wall around the garden

‫ربطو داير حوالي الشجرة‬

rabaTu 7ab@l daayer shshajara
they tied a rope around the tree

‫رح تشوف اضاءة مشعشعة ع داير مندارك ليل نهار‬

ra7 @tshuuf 2iDaa2a msha3@sh3a 3a-daayer méndaarak leel @nhaar
you’ll see shining lights all around you day and night

These two forms of ‘around’ are used markedly less than their English equivalent however
since the sense is often included in the meaning of specific verbs:

‫لف الدوار‬
léff édduwaar
go around the roundabout

‫لفو الحبل على رقبتو‬

laffu l7abel 3ala ra2ebto
they put the rope around his neck

‫ ضد‬Dédd ‘against’

‫انا اكيد ضد هالفكرة‬

2ana 2akiid Dédd hal-fukra
of course, I’m against this idea

‫ فوق‬foo2 ‘above’

Usually means above, but can also mean ‘up in’ or ‘on top of’:

‫اللي ساكن فوقنا‬

2élli saaken foo2na
the guy living above us

‫الطناجر معلقة فوق الشجرة‬

éTTanaajer m3alla2a foo2 éshshajara
the pots are hanging up in the tree
 ‫ال تستحي حط المعلقة فوق السكر‬
laa tésté7i 7étt élma3la2a foo2 éssékkar
don’t worry, leave the spoon in the sugar [after using it to put sugar in your tea]

Can be used with la- to indicate motion:

‫طلع لفوق‬
Talle3 la-foo2
look up

Can be used independently, usually meaning ‘upstairs’ (or ‘further up’, ‘above’ etc depending
on context):

‫االستاذ فوق‬
él2éstaaz foo2
the gentleman is upstairs

‫ جنب‬janb, jamb ‘next to’

‫تعال عود جنبي‬

ta3aal 3ood jambi
come and sit next to me

‫ جوا‬juwwa ‘inside’
‫ جوا البيت‬juwwa lbeet – inside the house

juwwa has an iDaafe form, juwwaat, which is used with pronouns and optionally with nouns:

‫ جوات البلد‬juwwaat élbalad – inside the country

‫ جواتو‬juwwaato – inside it

Can be used with la- indicating motion:

‫فوت لجوا‬
fuut la-juwwa
go inwards, further in

Can be used independently meaning ‘inside’:

‫مرتي جوا‬
marti juwwa
my wife’s inside
‫ مواجيه‬,‫ مواجه‬mwaajeh, mwaajiih ‘opposite’
These are synonymous variants and mean ‘opposite’:

‫ساكن مواجيه بيتون بنفس الحارة‬

saaken mwaajiih beeton bnafs él7aara
he lived opposite their house in the same neighbourhood

‫ قفا‬2afa

2afa is literally the back side of something (e.g. a card, a book...) and can appear in the
meaning ‘behind’ or ‘after’:i

‫بشرب حبتين قفا بعضون‬

béshrab 7abbteen 2afa ba3Don
I drink two pills one after the other

‫ تحت‬ta7@t

Usually means ‘below’ or ‘underneath’:

‫ تحت الطاولة‬ta7t éTTaawle – under the table

Can be used with la- to indicate motion:

‫ نزيل لتحت‬nzeel la-ta7@t – go downstairs

Can be used independently, usually meaning ‘downstairs’ (but also ‘further down’ etc
depending on context):

‫ انا تحت‬ana ta7@t – I’m downstairs

‫ طول‬Tool
Clearly derived from ‘length’, this is used for both physical description in the meaning of
‘along the length of, all along’ and time in the meaning of ‘throughout, all… long’.

‫وضلوا يلحقوني طول الليل‬

w-Dallu yél7a2uuni Tool élleel
they kept chasing me all night long

It often appears with 3ala:

‫قاعد يفلح فينا على طول الجمعة‬

2aa3ed yéfla7 fiina 3ala Tool éjjém3a
they sit there going on at us, all week long [= sitting ploughing in us]

i
There’s also the more sweary ‫ بطي‬bTiiz ‘in the arse of’ used in a similar meaning.
 ‫ في غيرها على طول الشارع‬.‫مش بس هاي الرسمة‬
mish bass haay irrasme. fii gheerha 3ala Tool ishshaare3
not just this painting, there are others all along the street

With ‫ على‬as you are probably aware it has an adverbial meaning ‘straight on’:

‫ روح على طول‬ruu7 3ala Tool – go straight on

‫ وسط‬wasT ‫ بوسط‬bwasT ‘in the middle of’

‫ بوسط البلد‬bwasT élbalad – downtown [= in the city centre]

‫ وسط هالتخاذل كلو‬wasT ha-ttakhaazul kéllo – in the midst of all this disappointment

‫ ورا‬wara
Literally ‘behind’ or ‘beyond’:

‫ ورا البيت‬wara lbeet – behind, beyond the house

Can be used with la- to indicate motion:

‫ رجاع لورا‬rjaa3 la-wara – go backwards, back

Can be used independently with the approximate meaning ‘behind’:

‫انا قاعد قدام وهي قاعدة ورا‬

ana 2aa3ed 2éddaam w-hiyye 2aa3de wara
I’m sitting in the front and she’s sitting in the back [of a car]

‫ حوالي‬7awaali, 7awaalee- ‘around’

Used in all the senses of English ‘around’ and the fuSHa sense of ‘approximately [a
number]’:

‫صرت شوف كل يلي حواليي بوضوح وعلى حقيقتهم‬

Sér@t shuuf kéll yalli 7awaaleyyi b-wuDuu7 w-3ala 7aqiiqathum
I started to see all those around me clearly and as they were [= on their truth]

‫بنو حيط حوالي لجنينة‬

banu 7eeT 7awaali léjneene
they built a wall around the garden

‫ربطو حبل حوالي الشجرة‬

rabaTu 7ab@l 7awaali shshajara
they tied a rope around the tree

The fuSHa form ‫ حول‬7awl is occasionally used in the sense of ‘on the subject of’ (e.g. ktaab
7awl élmawDuu3).
Conjunctions
‫ أصبح‬aSba7

Syrian. Means ‘in that case’, ‘then’ (and NOT ‘became’ as in fuSHa):

‫أصبح بكرا بشوفك‬

aSba7 bukra bshuufak
then I’ll see you tomorrow

‫ او‬aw

‘Or’, as in fuSHa. However in colloquial aw almost never coordinates nouns, only sentences:

‫او فينك تحكي معها انت اذا بدك‬

2aw fiinak té7ki ma3ha inte éza béddak
or you can talk to her yourself if you want

‫ بقى‬ba2a
Syr/Leb. Generally means ‘then, in that case’:

‫بقى شو بدنا نعمل؟‬

ba2a shu béddna na3mel
so, what are we going to do?

It can also be attached after imperatives and similar expressions. In this context it has no
direct English translation but adds force to the imperative (maybe it’s equivalent to American
‘already’?):

‫لك خلصني بقى‬

lak khalleSni ba2a
stop it already! [= save me already]

‫ بعدين‬ba3deen

Literally ‘afterwards’ or ‘later’ and often used in this meaning:

‫بعدين بتعرف‬
ba3deen @bta3ref
I’ll tell you know [= you’ll find out later]

‫طب ممكن تطلع من قبرك تاخدني بحضنك وترجع بعدين؟‬

Tabb mémken téTla3 mén 2abrak taakhédni b-7aDnak w-térja3 ba3deen?
OK, can you please come back from the grave and just hug me and go back later?

Also commonly expresses ‘then’, ‘in that case’, and ‘anyway’:

 ‫بعدين انا شو ذنبي؟‬
ba3deen 2ana shu zanbi?
in any case, what have I done? [= what’s my sin?]

‫وبعدين؟‬
w-ba3deen?
yeah, and what then? / so what?

‫ بس‬bass
The normal word for ‘but’ or ‘just’, much more common than classicising ‫لكن‬:

‫بس ما بحبو‬
bass maa b7ébbo!
but I don’t love him!

‫هدول بس‬
hadool bass
just these

It also commonly mean ‘as soon as’, ‘when’. In this case it is usually followed by a
subjunctive or a past:

‫امي بس تمرض ما بتركها‬

émmi bass témroD ma bétrékha
when my mother gets ill I don’t abandon her

‫بس بدك تيجي لعندي اتصل فيني‬

bass béddak tiiji la-3éndi ttaSel fiini
when you want to come here tell me

‫بس فضيت خبرني‬

bass @fDiit khabbérni
as soon as you’re free [= get free] tell me

‫ ف‬fa-
Used commonly for ‘so’. Can trail off at the end like English ‘so…’:

‫ فـــــ‬,‫بعدين ما شفتو‬
ba3deen maa shéfto, faaaaaaa ~
anyway, I didn’t see him, so…

‫ كإنو‬ka2énno
Means ‘as if’:
 ‫كإنو مبارح تركنا‬
ka2énno mbaare7 tarakna
[it’s] as if we broke up yesterday

Like la2énno it can be shifted to the end of the sentence:

‫ما حنشوفو اليوم كإنو‬

maa 7a-nshuufo élyoom ka2énno
seems like we’re not going to see him today

It can be used on its own or with a sentence to mean something like ‘looks like…’, ‘looks
that way’.

‫اي كإنو‬
ee ka2énno
yeah, it looks that way

‫ لحتى‬,‫ لـ‬la-, la7atta

Both of these mean ‘until’ and ‘in order to’. The latter is distinctively Syrian:

‫نستنى لييجي‬
néstanna la-yéji
let’s wait ’til he comes back

‫نكشت البيت لحتى جبتها‬

nakasht élbeet la7atta jébta!
I had to turn the house upside down to get it [= I rifled through the house until I got
it]

It can be combined with leesh to mean ‘why would’, ‘why should’:

‫ليش لحتى لحكي معو؟‬

leesh la7atta é7ki ma3o?
why should I speak to him?

It is used in the following two constructions with expressions of time:

‫لالسبوع الجاية لشوفو‬

la-l2ésbuu3 éjjaaye la-shuufo
I won’t see him until next week [= until next week for me to see him]

‫بالصدفة لشوفو‬
béSSédfe la-shuufo
I only see him rarely [= by chance for me to see him]

La- is also sometimes affixed to first person subjunctives meaning ‘let’s’ or ‘let me’:
 ‫لشوف واحد تاني‬
lashuuf waa7ed taani
let’s speak to [= see] someone else

It also often appears in oaths after ‫ وهلل‬waLLa ‘I swear to God’:

‫وهلل الكسرلك رجليك‬

waLLa la-2éskérlak réjleek
I swear to God, I’ll break your legs

‫ ال ال‬laa… laa

The structure laa… laa or ‫ ال وال‬laa.. wala means ‘neither… nor’:

‫ال شاي وال قهوة‬

laa shaay wala 2ahwe
neither tea nor coffee

‫ال رحت وال حروح‬

laa ré7@t wala 7a-ruu7
I didn’t go, nor will I

‫ إلنو‬la2énn(o)

The equivalent to fuSHa li2anna and the normal word for ‘because’ in Syrian. Unlike in
fuSHa it can be shifted to the end of the sentence as a kind of afterthought:

‫كل هاد إلنو قلال انو شعرا مو مظبط‬

kéll haad la2énno 2élla énno sha3ra muu mZabbaT
all that because he told her her hair didn’t look good!

‫ما رح شوفو اليوم إلنو‬

maa ra7 shuufo lyoom la2enno
because I’m not going to see him today

‫ مادام‬maadaam

‘Since’ or ‘while’. Takes pronoun suffixes:

‫مبسوط مدامك معي موجود‬

mabsuuT maadaamak ma3i mawjuud
I’m happy as long as you’re with me

‫مادامك بالبيت‬
maadaamak bilbeet
since you’re at home

‫ ما عاد‬maa3aad, ‫ مابقى‬maaba2a
‘No longer’, ‘not anymore’. Clearly etymologically ‘he did not return’ and ‘he did not
remain’. These typically trigger subjunctive. For some people they conjugate, especially with
third person feminine, though they are often invariable:

‫ماعاد اعرف شو بدي احكي‬

maa3aad a3ref shu béddi é7ki
I don’t know what to say anymore/I no longer know what to say

They can also mean ‘never again’, including in negative imperatives:

‫ما بقى تحكي معي‬

maaba2a té7ki ma3i
never talk to me again/stop talking to me

‫معقول ما بقى نرجع؟‬

ma32uul maaba2a nérja3?
can it be we’ll never go back? [= is it reasonable we’ll no longer return?]

‫ مشان منشان عشان‬méshaan ménshaan 3ashaan

Méshaan, ménshaan, 3ashaan all mean ‘in order to’:

‫منشان تروح معو‬

ménshaan @truu7 ma3o
so you (can) go with him

They are also prepositions which can be used with nouns to mean ‘because of’ or ‘for the
benefit of’:

‫ مشان هيك‬méshaan heek – for that reason

‫ منشان هللا‬ménshaan aLLah – for God’s sake

In Jor/Pal (like Egyptian) these words can be used in the sense of ‘because’ (i.e. equivalent to
‫)إلنو‬. This is not found in Syria.

‫ كرمال‬kurmaal/kérmaal

Probably originally derived from the fuSHa kurma(tan) la- ‘in X’s honour’ this is a less
common alternative to ménshaan meaning ‘in order to’, ‘for the sake of’, ‘because of’ etc.
Like ménshaan it is mainly a preposition but is worth mentioning here because like ménshaan
it can be used with subjunctive verbs to mean ‘in order to’.

‫ شي‬,‫ شي‬shi… shi

This means approximately ‘sometimes like… and sometimes…’ or ‘some… and some…’
Effectively it expresses two exclusive, alternative, but related situations:
 ‫ شي عندو دكتوراه‬,‫ شي عندو شهادة‬,‫عندون اعلى مؤهالت‬
3éndon 2a3la mu2ahhilaat, shi 3éndo shahaade, shi 3éndo doktuuraa
they had the highest qualifications – some of them have degrees, some of them
doctorates…

‫هلق كتير مهم وسائل التواصل االجتماعي النو كل واحد صار بمكان شي بالشام شي بحلب‬
halla2 ktiir mohumm wasaa2el éttawaaSul él2ijtimaa3i la2énno kéll waa7ed Saar b-
makaan, shi bi-shshaam, shi b-7alab…
nowadays social media is very important because everybody’s in a different place,
some in Damascus, some in Aleppo…

‫ شي بالشام‬,‫ انا شي باسطنبول‬,‫ماني عايش هون طول حياتي‬

maani 3aayesh hoon Tool 7ayaati. 2ana shi b-isTanbuul shi bi-shshaam
I haven’t lived here all my life – sometimes in Istanbul, sometimes in Damascus

‫ و‬w-

Used as ‘and’ to coordinate sentences, nouns etc:

‫خبز وملح‬
khébz w-mél@7
bread and salt

As in fuSHa, it can be used to form 7aal sentences with present tense sentences, including
verbs and participles. In this case it must be followed by a noun:

‫بغني وانا سايق‬

bghanni w-2ana saaye2
I sing when I’m driving

‫وهو ماشي سمع صوت‬

w-huwwe maashi séme3 Soot
as he was walking along he heard a sound

Occasionally in Syrian/Lebanese w- can precede the predicate:

‫انا وصغير كنت اقرى كتير‬

ana w-@zghiir ként é2ra ktiir
when I was young I used to read a lot

It can also be used with all tenses in a very specific meaning of ‘when’, ‘given that’, when the
first clause is a a rhetorical question:

‫كيف بدي ادفع عنك وراتبي خلص من يومين؟‬

kiif béddi 2édfa3 3annak w-raatbi khéleS mén yoomeen?
how am I supposed to pay for you when I used up my salary [= my salary finished]
two days ago?

‫ وال‬wala
A difficult one to translate directly into English. We could awkwardly sum its meaning up as ‘as long
as X doesn’t’. It is followed by a subjunctive, and often occurs with kéll shi ‘anything’:

‫زقوني وال تنسوني‬

zé22uuni wala ténsuuni
Leave me out/exclude me, just don’t forget about me

‫كل شي وال هادا‬

kéll shi wala haada
Anything but that!

‫كل شي وال عطلك عن شغلك‬

kéll shi wala 3aTTlak 3an shéghlak!
[I’d rather do] anything than distract you from your work! [sarcastically]

A different wala appears in double negatives:

‫ما شفت وال شي‬

maa shéf@t wala shi
I didn’t see anything

‫ وال‬wélla, willa
‘Or’. Used to offer two contradictory options:

‫بدك شاي وال قهوة؟‬

béddak shaay wélla 2ahwe?
do you want tea or coffee?

Also used to mean ‘or else’, sometimes triggering the past:

‫سكوت وال بضربك‬

skoot wélla beD@rbak
shut up or [else] I’ll hit you

‫ يا‬yaa, ‫ يإما‬ya2émma

Yaa/ya2émma means ‘or’, and offers two contradictory options. It is most commonly used in
the structure ‫ يا… يا‬yaa… yaa ‘either… or’:

‫ يا بتضل هون‬,‫يا بتروح معي‬

yaa bétruu7 ma3i, yaa bétDéll hoon
either you go with me or you stay here

Forms with -ma

‫ ما‬ma
On its own, ma is used to link together two sentences with a kind of causal relationship (this
should not be mistaken for the occasional use of maa, with a long vowel, in various negative
meanings).

‫ ما هنن ما نامو من امبارح‬.‫ناميين فوق‬

naaymiin foo2 – ma hénnen maa naamu mén @mbaare7
they’re asleep upstairs. I mean, they haven’t slept since yesterday

Here ma adds the nuance that the listener and the speaker both understand the obvious
intuitive causal connection between what was said before and the sentence prefixed with ma.
The same applies in the following sentence although here it can be translated with ‘but’:

‫مو صايم؟ ما الدنيا رمضان‬

muu Saayem? ma ddénye ramaDaan
you’re not fasting? but it’s Ramadan!

‫ احسن ما‬a7san ma ‘lest’

Means ‘in case’ or more precisely ‘lest’ (but obviously English stylistic concerns prevent us
from translating it that way):

‫ما تضحك على حدا احسن ما تصير متلو‬

maa téD7ak 3ala 7ada a7san ma tSiir métlo
don’t laugh at/trick anyone lest you become like them

For some Syrian speakers it can also be used in a way synonymous with ‫‘ احسن من انو‬better
than…’ with a following sentence.

‫ اال ما‬élla ma ‘certainly’, ‘it is always the case that’

‫المجرم اال ما يرجع ع مسرح الجريمة‬

élmujrem élla ma yérja3 3a masra7 éljariime
the criminal always returns to the scene of the crime

‫ ياما‬yaama ‘how much!’

‫ياما في ناس هيك‬

yaama fii naas heek
there are so many people like that

Nouns + ma

‫ مكان ما‬makaan ma, ‫ محل ما‬ma7all ma, ‫ مطرح ما‬maTra7 ma, ‫ قرنة ما‬2érnet ma ‘(in, from etc) the
place that’

‫ لحظة ما‬la7Zet ma ‘the moment that’

‫ مجرد ما‬mjarrad ma ‘as soon as’, ‘the very moment that’

‫ وقت ما‬wa2@t ma ‘(at) the time when’, ‘when’

‫ ساعة ما‬saa2et ma ‘(at) the time when’, ‘when’

‫ يوم ما‬yoom ma ‘(on) the day when’, ‘when’

Prepositions + ma

‫ بدال ما‬badaal ma, ‫ عواض ما‬3awaaD ma ‘instead of’

‫بدال ما تعمل مظاهرات وتوقف بالشوارع … روح وقف ع باب دار النائب الي انتخبته وخليه يمثلك‬
badaal ma ta3mel muZaaharaat w-@twa22ef bé-shshaare3… ruu7 wa22ef 3a baab
daar énnaa2eb élli ntakhabto w khallii ymasslak
instead of demonstrating and standing around in the street, go and stand at the door of
the MP you elected and make him represent you

‫ بال ما‬bala ma, ‫ بدون ما‬biduun ma, ‫ من دون ما‬mén duun ma ‘without’

‫مسموح يأرغل بس بال ما يطلع دخان بالغرفة‬

masmuu7 y2argel bass bala ma yéTla3 dékhkhaan bé-lghérfe
he’s allowed to smoke shisha but [only] without smoke filling up the room

‫واحدة نزلتو بالصفحة من دون ما تتأكد من مصدر الخبر‬

waa7de nazzaléto béSSéf7a mén duun ma tét2akkad mén maSdar élkhabar
someone uploaded it to the page without making sure of its source

‫ بعد ما‬ba3@d ma ‘after’

‫بعد ما تقرأ عن هللا‬

ba3@d ma téqra2 3an aLLah
after you read about God

‫ فوق ما‬foo2 ma ‘on top of’

‫فوق ماني كذاب‬

foo2 maani kazzaab
on top of me being a liar

‫ لبين ما‬labeen ma ‘until’ or ‘by the time’

‫لبين ما ييجي منكون خلصنا‬

labeen ma yiiji ménkuun khallaSna
by the time he gets here we’ll be finished

‫ لما‬lamma ‘when’

‫لما شفتو استغربت‬

lamma shéfto staghrab@t
when I saw him I was surprised

‫ لحد ما‬la7add ma ‘until’

 ‫لحد ما تموت من الضحك‬
la7add ma tmuut mn éDDa7@k
until you die of laughing

‫ متل ما‬mét@l ma ‘like, as’ (in Jor/Pal ‫ زي ما‬zayy ma)

‫متل ما بدك‬
mét@l ma béddak
as you like

‫متل مانك عرفان‬

mét@l maanak 3arfaan
as you know

‫زي ما قلت‬
zayy ma 2ult
as I said

‫ طول ما‬Tool ma ‘as long as, while’

‫طول مانك عم تتنفس عندك فرصة لواقع افضل‬

Tool maanak 3am tétnaffas 3éndak férSa la-waaqe3 afDal
as long as you’re breathing you have the opportunity for a better reality

‫ قبل ما‬2ab@l ma ‘before’

This is usually followed by a subjunctive, even when the meaning is past:

‫قبل ما يوصل‬
2ab@l ma yuuSal
before he arrived/arrives

‫ قد ما‬2add ma ‘however much’, ‘as much as’, ‘as long as’

‫قد ما احكي عن لاير مدريد ما بوفي حقك‬

2add ma 2é7ki 3an reyaal madriid maa bwaffi 7aqqak
however much I talk about RM I won’t be doing you justice

‫ حسب ما‬7asab ma ‘according to how’, ‘depending on’, ‘as’

‫بس حسب ما شفت‬

bass 7asab ma shéf@t
but as far as I know [= as I’ve seen]

Question words with -ma

Question forms can be combined with -ma to create words meaning ‘ever’. These are
typically combined with a past form or a subjunctive. Note that 2addeesh has no direct -ma
form – its equivalent is formed from the the preposition 2add. From some speakers you may
hear man instead of ma in these expressions.
‫ ايمتى ما‬eemta ma, eemat ma ‘whenever’

‫كنا ايمتى ما فتحنا الراديو الصبح نالقيهن حاطين فيروز عكل القنوات‬
kénna 2eemta ma fata7na rraadyo éSSéb@7 nlaa2iyyon 7aaTTiin feeruuz 3a-kéll
élqanawaat
whenever we turned on the radio in the morning we’d find they’d put Feyrouz on all
the channels

‫ وين ما‬ween ma ‘wherever’

‫وين ما كنتوا يا سوريين هللا يسعد صباحكن‬

aLLa yis3ed Sabaa7kon ween ma kéntu tkuunu yaa suuriyyiin
God make your morning happy wherever you might be, o Syrians!

‫ شو ما‬shu ma ‫ ايش ما‬eesh ma ‘whatever’

‫شو ما صار عليكي انا حدك موجود‬

shu ma Saar 3aleeki 2ana 7addek mawjuud
whatever happens to you, I’ll be there

Note also that as in fuSHa, you will sometimes here the irregular ‫ مهما‬mahma:

‫مهما كان سببو‬...

mahma kaan sababo...
Whatever his reason was...

‫ شلون ما‬shloon ma, ‫كيف ما‬kiif ma 'however'

Superlatives + ma

Af3al superlatives can be combined with ma in the meaning of ‘the Xest...’:

‫احسن ما يمكن‬
a7san ma yémken
As good as possible

Combinations with énno

‫ بما انو‬bima 2énno ‘since, given that’

‫ بسبب إنو‬bésabab énno ‘because’

‫ مع إنو‬ma3 énno ‘although’

‫ لدرجة انو‬la-darjet énno ‘to the extent that’

‫ طالما‬Taalama ‘as long as’

Verb tables
Form I
Form I verbs are not associated with any one particular meaning and have a range of possible
vowellings. For ‘sound verbs’ (no semivowels in their root) there are several alternative past (fa3al,
fé3el) and present (yéf3él, yéf3ol, yéf3al) vowellings. Fé3el-yéf3al and fa3al-yéf3ol/yéf3el are the
most common combinations, but all combinations occur. All possible present and past vowellings
(though not all possible combinations) are shown by these three examples:

‫ كتب‬katab
‘to write’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ كاتب‬kaateb ‫ مكتوب‬maktuub
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ كتابة‬kitaabe N/A
Imperative:
‫كتوب كتبي كتبو‬
ktoob ktébi ktébu
Present Past
Ana éktob béktob ‫اكتب بكتب‬ katab@t ‫كتبت‬
Inte téktob btéktob ‫تكتب بتكتب‬ katab@t ‫كتبت‬
Inti ték@tbi bték@tbi ‫تكتبي بتكتبي‬ katabti ‫كتبتي‬
Huwwe yéktob byéktob ‫يكتب بيكتب‬ katab ‫كتب‬
Hiyye téktob btéktob ‫بتكتب‬ ‫تكتب‬ katbet ‫كتبت‬
Né7na néktob mnéktob ‫نكتب منكتب‬ katabna ‫كتبنا‬
Intu ték@tbu bték@tbu ‫تكتبو بتكتبو‬ katabtu ‫كتبتو‬
Hénnen yék@tbu byék@tbu ‫يكتبو بيكتبو‬ katabu ‫كتبو‬

‫ مسك‬mések
‘to hold, catch’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ ماسك‬maasek ‫ ممسوك‬mamsuuk
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ مسك‬mas@k ‫ مسكة‬maske
Imperative:
‫مسيك مسكي مسكو‬
mseek mséki mséku
Present Past
Ana émsek bémsek ‫امسك بمسك‬ msék@t ‫مسكت‬
Inte témsek btémsek ‫تمسك بتمسك‬ msék@t ‫مسكت‬
Inti tém@ski btém@ski ‫ تمسكي بتمسكي‬msékti ‫مسكتي‬
Huwwe yémsek byémsek ‫يمسك بيمسك‬ mések ‫مسك‬
Hiyye témsek btémsek ‫تمسك بتمسك‬ mésket ‫مسكت‬
Né7na némsek mnémsek ‫نمسك منمسك‬ msékna ‫مسكنا‬
Intu tém@sku btém@sku ‫تمسكو بتمسكو‬ mséktu ‫مسكتو‬
Hénnen yém@sku byém@sku ‫يمسكو بيمسكو‬ mésku ‫مسكو‬
 ‫ تعب‬té3eb
‘get tired’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ تعبان‬ta3baan -
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ تعب‬ta3@b N/A
Imperative:
‫تعاب تعبي تعبو‬
t3aab t3abi t3abu
Present Past
Ana ét3ab bét3ab ‫اتعب بتعب‬ t3éb@t ‫تعبت‬
Inte tét3ab btét3ab ‫تتعب بتتعب‬ t3éb@t ‫تعبت‬
Inti tét3abi btét3abi ‫تتعبي بتتعبي‬ t3ébti ‫تعبتي‬
Huwwe yét3ab byét3ab ‫يتعب بيتعب‬ t3éb@t ‫تعب‬
Hiyye tét3ab btét3ab ‫تتعب بتتعب‬ té3bet ‫تعبت‬
Né7na nét3ab mnét3ab ‫نتعب منتعب‬ t3ébna ‫تعبنا‬
Intu tét3abu btét3abu ‫تتعبو بتتعبو‬ t3ébtu ‫تعبتو‬
Hénnen yét3abu byét3abu ‫يتعبو بيتعبو‬ té3bu ‫تعبو‬

So-called ‘assimilating verbs’ (those with a semi-vowel as their initial root consonant) do not
necessarily assimilate in colloquial. In fact, generally – other than the assimilation of -éw- to -uu- –
they are effectively regular. These are the forms given in the chart below. Some speakers, however,
have a fuSHa-icised set of ‘assimilated’ forms where the w is dropped. Note however that some
speakers have an alternative set of fuSHa-like present forms where the w is dropped and the
prefixes are (b)a-Sal, (b)té-Sal, (b)té-Sali, and so on. These prefixes occur practically compulsorily
with fuSHa verbs like ‫ بثق بـ‬baséq b- ‘I trust’.i

‫ وصل‬wéSel
‘arrive’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ واصل وصالن‬waaSel waSlaan N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ وصول‬wSuul ‫ وصلة‬waSle
Imperative:
‫وصال وصلي وصلو‬
wSaal wSali wSalu
Present Past
Ana uuSel buuSel ‫اوصل بوصل‬ wSél@t ‫وصلت‬
Inte tuuSel btuuSel ‫توصل بتوصل‬ wSél@t ‫وصلت‬
Inti tuuSli btuuSli ‫ توصلي بتوصلي‬wSélti ‫وصلتي‬
Huwwe yuuSel byuuSel ‫يوصل بيوصل‬ wéSel ‫وصل‬
Hiyye tuuSel btuuSel ‫توصل بتوصل‬ wéSlet ‫وصلنا‬
Né7na nuuSel mnuuSel ‫نوصل منوصل‬ wSélna ‫وصلنا‬
Intu tuuSel btuuSli ‫ توصلو بتوصلو‬wSéltu ‫وصلتو‬
Hénnen yuuSlu byuuSlu ‫ يوصلو بيوصلو‬wéSlu ‫وصلو‬

i
Note the a- prefix, fuSHa-style.
Two verbs with initial hamze, ‫ اكل‬akal ‘eat’ and ‫ اخد‬akhad ‘take’, have a similar set of forms (the past
basically regular, the present replaces -é2- with -aa-.

‫ اخد‬akhad
‘to take’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ آخد‬2aakhed ‫ مأخود‬ma2khuud
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ اخد‬2akh@d ‫ اخدة‬2akhde
Imperative:
‫ خود خدي خدو‬khood khédi khédu
Present Past
Ana aakhod baakhod ‫آخد باخد‬ 2akhad@t ‫اخدت‬
Inte taakhod btaakhod ‫تاخد بتاخد‬ 2akhad@t ‫اخدت‬
Inti taakhdi btaakhdi ‫تاخدي بتاخدي‬ 2akhatti ‫اخدتي‬
Huwwe yaakhod byaakhod ‫ياخد بياخد‬ 2akhad ‫اخد‬
Hiyye taakhod btaakhod ‫تاخد بتاخد‬ 2akhdet ‫اخدت‬
Né7na naakhod mnaakhod ‫ناخد مناخد‬ 2akhadna ‫اخدنا‬
Intu taakhdu btaakhdu ‫تاخدو بتاخدو‬ 2akhattu ‫اخدتو‬
Hénnen yaakhdu byaakhdu ‫ياخدو بياخدو‬ 2akhadu ‫اخدو‬

Form I hollow verbs (verbs with a semivowel for their middle root consonant) have almost as many
possible forms. As in fuSHa, three possible present vowellings exist: yfiil, yfuul, yfaal. In Syr/Leb,
where short u and i merge to é in stressed syllables, there is only one possible past vowelling: faal
(fél@t). In Jor/Pal, where the merger is not made, two options (faal-fulet and faal-filet) exist.

‫ جاب‬jaab
‘to bring’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ جايب‬jaayeb ‫ مجيوب‬majyuub
MaSdar Noun of Instance
N/A N/A
Imperative:
‫جيب جيبي جيبو‬
jiib jiibi jiibu
Present Past
Ana jiib bjiib ‫جيب بجيب‬ jéb@t ‫جبت‬
Inte tjiib bétjiib ‫تجيب بتجيب‬ jéb@t ‫جبت‬
Inti tjiibi bétjiibi ‫تجيبي بتجيبي‬ jébti ‫جبتي‬
Huwwe yjiib bijiib ‫يجيب بجيب‬ jaab ‫جاب‬
Hiyye tjiib bétjiib ‫تجيب بتجيب‬ jaabet ‫جابت‬
Né7na njiib ménjiib ‫نجيب منجيب‬ jébna ‫جبنا‬
Intu tjiibu bétjiibu ‫تجيبو بتجيبو‬ jébtu ‫جبتو‬
Hénnen yjiibu bijiibu ‫يجيبو بجيبو‬ jaabu ‫جابو‬
 ‫ داق‬daa2
‘to taste’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ دايق‬daaye2 ‫ مديوق‬madyuu2
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ دوق‬doo2 N/A
Imperative:
‫دوق دوقي دوقو‬
duu2 duu2i duu2u
Present Past
Ana duu2 bduu2 ‫دوق بدوق‬ dé2@t ‫دقت‬
Inte tduu2 bétduu2 ‫تدوق بتدوق‬ dé2@t ‫دقت‬
Inti tduu2i bétduu2i ‫تدوقي بتدوقي‬ dé2ti ‫دقتي‬
Huwwe yduu2 biduu2 ‫يدوق بدوق‬ daa2 ‫داق‬
Hiyye tduu2 bétduu2 ‫تدوق بتدوق‬ daa2et ‫داقت‬
Né7na nduu2 ménduu2 ‫ندوق مندوق‬ dé2na ‫دقنا‬
Intu tduu2u bétduu2u ‫تدوقو بتدوقو‬ dé2tu ‫دقتو‬
Hénnen yduu2u biduu2u ‫يدوقو بدوقو‬ daa2u ‫داقو‬

‫ نام‬naam
‘to sleep’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ نايم‬naayem N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ نوم‬noom ‫ نومة‬noome
Imperative:
‫نام نامي نامو‬
naam naami naamu
Present Past
Ana naam bnaam ‫نام بنام‬ ném@t ‫نمت‬
Inte tnaam bétnaam ‫تنام بتنام‬ ném@t ‫نمت‬
Inti tnaami bétnaami ‫تنامي بتنامي‬ némti ‫نمتي‬
Huwwe ynaam binaam ‫ينام بنام‬ naam ‫نام‬
Hiyye tnaam bétnaam ‫تنام بتنام‬ naamet ‫نامت‬
Né7na nnaam bénnaam ‫ننام مننام‬ némna ‫نمنا‬
Intu tnaamu bétnaamu ‫تنامو بتنامو‬ némtu ‫نمتو‬
Hénnen ynaamu binaamu ‫ينامو بنامو‬ naamu ‫نامو‬
Weak verbs (those with a final semivowel root consonant) have two possible present vowellings
(yéf3a, yéf3i) and two past vowellings (fa3a fé3i). By far the most common combinations are fa3a-
yéf3i, fé3i-yéf3a, but there are some common exceptions (béki-yébki ‘cry’, méshi yémshi ‘walk’).

‫ نسي‬nési
‘forget’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ نسيان‬nésyaan ‫ منسي‬ménsi
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ نسي‬nasy N/A
Imperative:
‫انسى انسي انسو‬
énsa énsi énsu
Present Past
Ana énsa bénsa ‫انسى بنسى‬ nsiit ‫نسيت‬
Inte ténsa bténsa ‫تنسى بتنسى‬ nsiit ‫نسيت‬
Inti ténsi bténsi ‫تنسي بنتسي‬ nsiiti ‫نسيتي‬
Huwwe yénsa byénsa ‫ينسى بينسى‬ nési ‫نسي‬
Hiyye ténsa bténsa ‫تنسى بتنسى‬ nésyet ‫نسيت‬
Né7na nénsa mnénsa ‫ننسى مننسى‬ nsiina ‫نسينا‬
Intu ténsu bténsu ‫تنسو بتنسو‬ nsiitu ‫نسيتو‬
Hénnen yénsu byénsu ‫ينسو بينسو‬ nésyu ‫نسيو‬

‫ طفى‬Tafa
‘turn off’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ طافي‬Taafi ‫ مطفي‬méTfi
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ طفي‬Tafy N/A
Imperative:
‫اطفي اطفي اطفو‬
éTfi éTfi éTfu
Present Past
Ana éTfi béTfi ‫اطفي بطفي‬ Tafeet ‫طفيت‬
Inte téTfi btéTfi ‫تطفي بتطفي‬ Tafeet ‫طفيت‬
Inti téTfi btéTfi ‫تطفي بتطفي‬ Tafeeti ‫طفيتي‬
Huwwe yéTfi ‫يطفي بيطفي‬ Tafa ‫طفى‬
Hiyye téTfi btéTfi ‫تطفي بتطفي‬ Tafet ‫طفت‬
Né7na néTfi mnéTfi ‫نطفي منطفي‬ Tafeena ‫طفينا‬
Intu téTfu btéTfu ‫تطفو بتطفو‬ Tafeetu ‫طفيتو‬
Hénnen yéTfu byéTfu ‫يطفو بيطفو‬ Tafu ‫طفو‬
Doubled verbs (those with identical second and third root consonants) only have one possible set of
vowellings, fa33-yfé33. In dialects without the merger of e and o to é, there are two possible present
vowellings (yfe33, yfo33). In both cases, doubled verbs are more straightforward than in fuSHa.

‫ دق‬da22
‘hit, tap’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ داقق‬daa2e2 (or daa22) ‫ مدقوق‬mad2uu2
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ دق‬da22 ‫ دقة‬da22a
Imperative:
‫دق دقي دقو‬
dé22 dé22i dé22u
Present Past
Ana dé22 bdé22 ‫دق بدق‬ da22eet ‫دقيت‬
Inte tdé22 bétdé22 ‫تدق بتدق‬ da22eet ‫دقيت‬
Inti tdé22i bétde22i ‫تدقي بتدقي‬ da22eeti ‫دقيتي‬
Huwwe ydé22 bidé22 ‫يدق بدق‬ da22 ‫دق‬
Hiyye tdé22 bétdé22 ‫تدق بتدق‬ da22et ‫دقت‬
Né7na ndé22 méndé22 ‫ندق مندق‬ da22eena ‫دقينا‬
Intu tdé22u bétdé22u ‫تدقو بتدقو‬ da22eetu ‫دقيتو‬
Hénnen ydé22 ydé22u ‫يدقو بدقو‬ da22u ‫دقو‬

3aTa ‘give’ is regular in the past, but has an irregular imperative (3aTi). The present is formed with a
in all of the prefixes, which it shares with 3émel (ya3mel) and 3éref (ya3ref).

‫ عطى‬3aTa
‘give’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ عاطي‬3aaTi ‫ معطي‬mé3Ti
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ عطي‬3aTi N/A
Imperative:
‫عطي عطي عطو‬
3aTi 3aTi 3aTu
Present Past
Ana a3Ti ba3Ti ‫اعطي بعطي‬ 3aTeet ‫عطيت‬
Inte ta3Ti bta3Ti ‫تعطي بتعطي‬ 3aTeet ‫عطيت‬
Inti ta3Ti bta3Ti ‫تعطي بتعطي‬ 3aTeeti ‫عطيتي‬
Huwwe ya3Ti bya3Ti ‫يعطي بيعطي‬ 3aTa ‫عطى‬
Hiyye ta3Ti bta3Ti ‫تعطي بتعطي‬ 3aTet ‫عطت‬
Né7na na3Ti mna3Ti ‫نعطي منعطي‬ 3aTeena ‫عطينا‬
Intu ta3Tu bta3Tu ‫تعطو بتعطو‬ 3aTeetu ‫عطيتو‬
Hénnen ya3Tu bya3Tu ‫يعطو بيعطو‬ 3aTu ‫عطو‬
Éja ‘come’ is very irregular. In the past it has two sets of forms, one with the prefix é- one without it.
The active participle is jaaye (which is used for the masculine and the feminine). There is no actual
imperative: forms based on ta3aal- or ta3- stand in. For some speakers the prefixes have a long
vowel (iiji, tiiji) or, more standardly, are as below:

‫ اجى‬éja
‘to come’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ جاية‬jaaye, ‫ جايين‬jaayiin N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
N/A ‫ جيّة‬jayye
Imperative:
‫ تعال تعالي تعالو‬ta3aal ta3aali ta3aalu
Present Past
Ana éji béji ‫ايجي بيجي‬ jiit éjiit ‫جيت اجيت‬
Inte téji btéji ‫تيجي بتيجي‬ jiit éjiit ‫جيت اجيت‬
Inti téji btéji ‫تيجي بتيجي‬ jiiti éjiiti ‫جيتي اجيتي‬
Huwwe yéji byéji ‫ييجي بيجي‬ éja ‫اجى‬
Hiyye téji btéji ‫تيجي بتيجي‬ éjet ‫اجت‬
Né7na néji mnéji ‫نيجي منيجي‬ jiina éjiina ‫جينا اجينا‬
Intu téju btéju ‫تيجو بتيجو‬ jiitu éjiitu ‫جيتو اجيتو‬
Hénnen yéju béju ‫ييجو بيجو‬ éju ‫اجو‬

La2a ‘to find’ is slightly irregular – the past is a normal form I fa3a verb, the present conjugates like a
form 3 faa3a-yfaa3i.

‫ لقى‬la2a
‘to find’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ مالقي‬mlaa2i N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
N/A N/A
Imperative:
‫ القي القي القو‬laa2i laa2i laa2u
Present Past
Ana laa2i blaa2i ‫القي بالقي‬ la2eet ‫لقيت‬
Inte tlaa2i bétlaa2i ‫تالقي بتالقي‬ la2eet ‫لقيت‬
Inti tlaa2i bétlaa2i ‫تالقي بتالقي‬ la2eeti ‫لقيتي‬
Huwwe ylaa2i bilaa2i ‫يالقي بالقي‬ la2a ‫لقى‬
Hiyye tlaa2i bétlaa2i ‫تالقي بتالقي‬ la2et ‫لقت‬
Né7na nlaa2i ménlaa2i ‫نالقي منالقي‬ la2eena ‫لقينا‬
Intu tlaa2u bétlaa2u ‫تالقو بتالقو‬ la2eetu ‫لقيتو‬
Hénnen ylaa2u bilaa2u ‫يالقو بالقو‬ la2u ‫لقو‬
Form II
There are only two types of form IIs – defective roots and all other types of roots. Form II is one of
the most common patterns. Its most well-known and perhaps common use, of course, is for
causatives or transitive equivalents of form I verbs or form V verbs:
ّ darras
‫درس‬ ‘teach’ (daras ‘study’)

‫خرب‬
ّ kharrab ‘mess up, break’ (khéreb ‘be broken’)
ّ fawwat
‫فوت‬ ‘take in, bring in, put in, let/make enter’ (faat ‘enter’)

‫ علّم‬3allam ‘teach, show how to do’ (t3allam ‘learn’)

A second common use also recognised by classical grammar is ‘intensive’, i.e. expressing an intense
version of the action of the underlying verb (and sometimes implies repetitive action):

‫ كبّس‬kabbas ‘press hard and repeatedly’ (kabas ‘press’)

‫ قتّل‬2attal ‘slaughter’ (2atal ‘kill’)

ّ 2aTTa3
‫قطع‬ ‘chop up [into multiple pieces]’ (2aTa3 ‘cut’)

It is also used to derive verbs from e.g. materials meaning ‘put X on’ or ‘add X to’ or ‘apply X’ (etc):

‫ جبّص‬jabbaS ‘put plaster on’ (jabSuun ‘plaster’)

ّ
‫ ملح‬malla7 ‘salt’ (mél@7 ‘salt’)
ّ
‫ سكر‬sakkar ‘add sugar to’, ‘sweeten’ (sékkar ‘sugar’)

A very small number of form II verbs mean ‘consider somebody to be X’:

‫ صدق‬sadda2 ‘believe’ (Saadi2 ‘honest’)

‫ كذب‬kazzab ‘disbelieve, think a liar’ (kazzaab ‘liar’)

ّ
‫ كفر‬kaffar ‘consider to be a non-Muslim’ (kaafir ‘unbeliever’)

And another small number mean ‘to say X’, where X is a specific (usually religious) expression:
ّ kabbar
‫كي‬ ‘say aLLaahu 2akbar’
ّ sammal
‫سمل‬ ‘say bismillaah’ (the fuSHa equivalent is ‫ بسمل‬basmal)
ّ
‫ سلم‬sallam ‘say hi to, greet’ (originally ‘say salaam’)

A few form IIs mean ‘spend [a specific time]’:

ّ massa
‫مش‬ ‘spend an evening’

ّ Sayyaf
‫صيف‬ ‘to summer’
Quite a few form II verbs are actually verbs of becoming:
ّ shawwab ‘get hot’ (shoob ‘hot’)
‫شوب‬
ّ
‫ رشح‬rashsha7 ‘develop a cold, catch a cold’ (rash@7 ‘a cold’)
ّ
‫ عطل‬3aTTal ‘take the day off’ (3éTle ‘holiday’)

Quite a lot of form IIs are basically causative but have (sometimes additional) meanings which are
not quite predictable from a basic combination of underlying verb + causative meaning:
ّ darras
‫درس‬ ‘teach’
‘put through school, send to school’
ّ
‫ رقص‬ra22aS ‘dance with’

‫ ّلعب‬la33ab ‘play with’ [e.g. a child]

Many form IIs actually have several different meanings depending on context, derived from different
underlying words or from different meanings of the same underlying word:
ّ
‫ سكر‬sakkar ‘get/make someone drunk’ (< séker ‘get drunk’)
‘add sugar to’ (< sékkaar ‘sugar’)
‘close’ (transitive or intransitive)
ّ
‫ عطل‬3aTTal ‘break down’ [of a mechanical thing] (< 3aaTel ‘not functioning’)
‘break, cause to break down’ (causative of above)
‘have a day off’ (< 3éTle ‘holiday’)
‘distract, take away from’ [work]
ّ
‫ قطع‬2aTTa3 ‘chop into pieces, chop up’ (< 2aTa3 ‘cut’)
‘allow, let, make cross’ (< 2aTa3 ‘cross’)

A number of form II verbs, including some of those above, can be either intransitive (often
synonymously with a form I verb where one exists) or transitive/causative equivalents of that verb:

‫ وقف‬wa22af ‘stop, stand’ (synonym of rare/regional wé2ef)

‘stop, make stop, make stand’

‫ وصل‬waSSal ‘arrive’ (synonym of wéSel)

‘deliver, make arrive’
ّ
‫ فكر‬fakkar ‘think about’ (no form I synonym)
‘cause to think about’

Finally, in a few unusual cases, form IIs have very similar semantics to form Is but are used in
different contexts:

‫ غ ّسل‬ghassal ‘wash [a body part]’ (ghasal ‘wash’)

Fa33al, yfa33el

‫ ز ّبط‬zabbaT
‘sort out’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ مزبط‬mzabbeT ‫ مزبط‬mzabbaT
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ تزبيط‬tazbiiT N/A
Imperative:
‫زبط زبطي زبطو‬
zabbeT zabbTi zabbTu
Present Past
Ana zabbeT bzabbeT ‫زبط بزبط‬ zabbaT@t ‫زبطت‬
Inte tzabbeT bétzabbeT ‫تزبط بتزبط‬ zabbaT@t ‫زبطت‬
Inti tzabbTi bétzabbTi ‫تزبطي بتزبطي‬ zabbaTTi ‫زبطتي‬
Huwwe yzabbeT bizabbeT ‫يزبط بزبط‬ zabbaT ‫زبط‬
Hiyye tzabbeT bétzabbeT ‫تزبط بتزبط‬ zabbaTet ‫زبطت‬
Né7na nzabbeT ménzabbeT ‫نزبط منزبط‬ zabbaTna ‫زبطنا‬
Intu tzabbTu bétzabbTu ‫تزبطو بتزبطو‬ zabbaTTu ‫زبطنا‬
Hénnen yzabbTu bizabbTu ‫يزبطو بزبطو‬ zabbaTu ‫زبطو‬

Fa33a, yfa33i

‫ عبّى‬3abba
‘fill’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ معبي‬m3abbi ‫ معبى‬m3abba
‫ معباية‬m3abbaaye (f)
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ تعباية‬té3baaye N/A
Imperative:
‫عبي عبي عبو‬
3abbi 3abbi 3abbu
Present Past
Ana 3abbi b3abbi ‫عبي بعبي‬ 3abbeet ‫عبيت‬
Inte t3abbi bét3abbi ‫تعبي بتعبي‬ 3abbeet ‫عبيت‬
Inti t3abbi bét3abbi ‫تعبي بتعبي‬ 3abbeeti ‫عبيتي‬
Huwwe y3abbi bi3abbi ‫يعبو بعبو‬ 3abba ‫عبى‬
Hiyye t3abbi bét3abbi ‫تعبي بتعبي‬ 3abbet ‫عبت‬
Né7na n3abbi mén3abbi ‫نعبي منعبي‬ 3abbeena ‫عبينا‬
Intu t3abbu bét3abbu ‫تعبو بتعبو‬ 3abbeetu ‫عبيتو‬
Hénnen y3abbu bi3abbu ‫يعبو بعبو‬ 3abbu ‫عبو‬
Form III
Form III (faa3al) verbs can be a variety of different things. Although they’re not the most common
pattern, there are still quite a lot of them. In their conjugation they’re pretty similar to fuSHa, with
the normal exceptions of mu- being replaced by m- (including in most maSdars, although some verbs
typically have fuSHa-style maSdars instead).

A lot of form IIIs are transitive verbs with direct objects equivalent to a form I verb plus a
preposition:

‫ حاك‬7aaka ‘talk to’ < ‫ مع حكى‬7aka ma3

‫ كاتب‬kaatab ‘write to’ < ‫ كتب لـ‬katab la-

‫ طالب‬Taalab ‘demand from’ < ‫ طلب‬Talab mén

Some of them have a strange relationship with form I verbs from the same root where the form III
expresses something like ‘try to X’ or ‘seek to X’. Most of the examples of this though are kind of
metaphorical and it’s probably not worth getting too bound up in the exact derivational meaning of
form III:

‫ خانق مع‬khaana2 ma3 ‘fight, argue with’ < ‫ خنق‬khana2 ‘strangle’

‫ سابق مع‬saaba2 ma3 ‘race with’ < ‫ سبق‬sébe2 ‘come ahead of, precede’

‫ قاتل مع‬2aatal ma3 ‘fight with’ < ‫ قتل‬2atal ‘kill’

‫ شارك مع‬shaarak ma3 ‘go into partnership with’ < ‫ شيك‬shariik ‘partner’

A small number are causatives, usually alternatives to form IIs:

ّ
‫ طالع‬Taala3 ‘take, bring up’ (causative of ‫‘ طلع‬go up’), alternative to ‫ طلع‬Talla3

Finally, lots of them have no obvious relationship with other verbs:

‫ عانى من‬3aana mén ‘suffer from’

‫ جاكر‬jaakar ‘tease, spite’

Faa3al, yfaa3el

‫ جاكر‬jaakar
‘tease’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ مجاكر‬mjaaker ‫ مجاكر‬mjaakar
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ مجاكرة‬mjaakara N/A
Imperative:
‫جاكر جاكري جاكرو‬
jaaker jaakri jaakru
Present Past
Ana jaaker bjaaker ‫جاكر بجاكر‬ jaakar@t ‫جاكرت‬
Inte tjaaker bétjaaker ‫تجاكر بتجاكر‬ jaakar@t ‫جاكرت‬
Inti tjaakri bétjaakri ‫ تجاكري بتجاكري‬jaakarti ‫جاكرتي‬
Huwwe yjaaker bijaaker ‫يجاكر بجاكر‬ jaakar ‫جاكر‬
Hiyye tjaaker bétjaaker ‫تجاكر بتجاكر‬ jaakaret ‫جاكرت‬
Né7na njaaker ménjaaker ‫نجاكر منجاكر‬ jaakarna ‫جاكرنا‬
Intu tjaakru bétjaakru ‫تجاكرو بتجاكرو‬ jaakartu ‫جاكرتو‬
Hénnen yjaakru bijaakru ‫يجاكرو بجاكرو‬ jaakaru ‫جاكرو‬

Faa3a yfaa3i

‫ حاكى‬7aaka
‘talk to’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ محاكي‬m7aaki ‫ محاكى‬m7aaka
MaSdar Noun of Instance
N/A N/A
Imperative:
‫حاكي حاكي حاكو‬
7aaki 7aaki 7aaku
Present Past
Ana 7aaki b7aaki ‫حاكي بحاكي‬ 7aakeet ‫حاكيت‬
Inte t7aaki bét7aaki ‫تحاكي بتحاكي‬ 7aakeet ‫حاكيت‬
Inti t7aaki bét7aaki ‫تحاكي بتحاكي‬ 7aakeeti ‫حاكيتي‬
Huwwe y7aaki bi7aaki ‫يحاكي بحاكي‬ 7aaka ‫حاكى‬
Hiyye t7aaki bét7aaki ‫تحاكي بتحاكي‬ 7aaket ‫حاكت‬
Né7na n7aaki mén7aaki ‫نحاكي منحاكي‬ 7aakeena ‫حاكينا‬
Intu t7aaku bét7aaku ‫تحاكو بتحاكو‬ 7aakeetu ‫حاكيتو‬
Hénnen y7aaku bi7aaku ‫يحاكي بحاكو‬ 7aaku ‫حاكو‬
Form V
Form V (tfa33al) verbs are very common, one of the most common patterns. They are similar to
fuSHa except that the fuSHa ta- prefix is t- instead. They have fuSHa-style maSdars on the shape
tafa33ul/tafa33i, but these are very commonly replaced in practice by the maSdars of their form II
equivalents (‫ تعلم‬t3allam for example often uses ‫ تعليم‬ta3liim as its maSdar in practice despite the
existence of ‫ تعلم‬ta3allum).

Form V is particularly productive as a passive/reciprocal/etc counterpart to form II (fa33al) verbs:

‫ تغي‬tghayyar ‘be changeable, changed’ < ‫ غي‬ghayyar ‘change’

‫ تصور‬tSawwar ‘be photographed’ < ‫ صور‬Sawwar ‘photograph’

‫ تلون‬tlawwan ‘be coloured’ < ‫ لون‬lawwan ‘to colour’

Related (possibly even the same category) but with a slightly different translation in English are the
intransitive equivalents to form II transitive verbs:

‫ تغي‬tghayyar ‘change’ (intransitive)

‫ تسرب‬tsarrab ‘leak’ (intransitive)

Some are verbs expressing ‘act like’ or ‘act...’ (although these are more common on pattern VI or as
quadriliteral verbs):

‫ تمنن‬tmannan ‘ungraciously remind someone of a favour you did them to make them do
favours for you’ (< ‫ منية‬ménniyye)

‫ تبنت‬tbannat ‘act girly’

‫ تفنن‬tfannan ‘be artistic, do skillfully’

‫ تكفل بـ‬tkaffal b- ‘take responsibility for’ (be a ‫ كفيل‬for)

Some are synonyms of underlying form II or form I verbs (or both, in some cases):

‫ تضحك‬tDa77ak ‘laugh’ (‫ ضحك‬Da7ak, Da77ak)

‫ تركز‬trakkaz ‘concentrate’ (‫ ركز‬rakkaz)

Some are verbs of becoming:

‫ تحسن‬t7assan ‘improve’

Lots of form Vs have no clear underlying verb:

‫ تفضل‬tfaDDal ‘go ahead and...’

Tfa33al yétfa33al

‫ تعلم‬t3allam
‘learn’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ متعلم‬mét3allem ‫ متعلم‬mét3allam
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ تعلم‬ta3allum N/A
Imperative:
‫تعلم تعلمي تعلمو‬
t3allam t3allami t3allamu
Present Past
Ana ét3allam bét3allam ‫اتعلم بتعلم‬ t3allam@t ‫تعلمت‬
Inte tét3allam btét3allam ‫تتعلم بتتعلم‬ t3allam@t ‫تعلمت‬
Inti tét3allami btét3allami ‫تتعلمي بتتعلمي‬ t3allamti ‫تعلمتي‬
Huwwe yét3allam byét3allam ‫يتعلم بيتعلم‬ t3allam ‫تعلم‬
Hiyye tét3allam btét3allam ‫تتعلم بتتعلم‬ t3allamet ‫تعلمت‬
Né7na nét3allam mnét3allam ‫نتعلم منتعلم‬ t3allamna ‫تعلمنا‬
Intu tét3allamu btét3allamu ‫تتعلمو بتتعلمو‬ t3allamtu ‫تعلمتو‬
Hénnen yét3allamu byét3allamu ‫يتعلمو بيتعلمو‬ t3allamu ‫تعلمو‬

Tfa33a yétfa33a

‫ تخبى‬tkhabba
‘hide, be hidden’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ متخبي‬métkhabbi N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ تخبي‬takhabbi N/A
Imperative:
‫تخبى تخبي تخبو‬
tkhabba tkhabbi tkhabbu
Present Past
Ana étkhabba bétkhabba ‫اتخبى بتخبى‬ tkhabbeet ‫تخبيت‬
Inte tétkhabba btétkhabba ‫بتتخبى‬ ‫تتخبى‬ tkhabbeet ‫تخبيت‬
Inti tétkhabbi btétkhabbi ‫تتخبي بتتخبي‬ tkhabbeeti ‫تخبيتي‬
Huwwe yétkhabba byétkhabba ‫يتخبى بيتخبى‬ tkhabba ‫تخبى‬
Hiyye tétkhabba btétkhabba ‫تتخبى بتتخبى‬ tkhabbet ‫تخبت‬
Né7na nétkhabba mnétkhabba ‫نتخبى منتخبى‬ tkhabbeena ‫تخبينا‬
Intu tétkhabbu btétkhabbu ‫تتخبو بتتخبو‬ tkhabbeetu ‫تخبيتو‬
Hénnen yétkhabbu byétkhabbu ‫يتخبو بيتخبو‬ tkhabbu ‫تخبو‬
Form VI
Form VI (tfaa3al) verbs are very common, one of the most common patterns. They are similar to
fuSHa except that the fuSHa ta- prefix is t- instead.

Form VI is particularly productive as a passive/reciprocal/etc counterpart to form III (faa3al) verbs:

‫ تحاكى مع‬t7aaka ma3 ‘talk with, be spoken to’

‫ تخانق مع‬tkhaana2 ma3 ‘argue with, be argued with’

‫ تسابق مع‬tsaaba2 ma3 ‘race with, be raced with’

‫ توافق مع‬twaafa2 ma3 ‘agree with, be agreed with’

Some of them are verbs expressing ‘act like’:

‫ تغاشم‬tghaasham ‘be naive’ (< ‫ غشيم‬ghashiim)

‫ تناس‬tnaasa ‘pretend to have forgotten’

‫ تمايع‬tmaaya3 ‘act rudely, naughtily’ (< ‫ مايع‬maaye3)

‫ تبالد‬tbaalad ‘act slowly, irritatingly’ (< ‫ بليد‬baliid)

Some senses don’t seem to have obvious underlying verbs:

‫ تجاوب مع‬tjaawab ma3 ‘respond positively to’

Tfaa3al yétfaa3al

‫ تجاوب‬tjaawab
‘respond’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ متجاوب‬métjaaweb N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ تجاوب‬tajaawub N/A
Imperative:
‫تجاوب تجاوبي تجاوبو‬
tjaawab tjaawabi tjaawabu
Present Past
Ana étjaawab bétjaawab ‫ اتجاوب بتجاوب‬tjaawab@t ‫تجاوبت‬
Inte tétjaawab btétjaawab ‫ تتجاوب بتتجاوب‬tjaawab@t ‫تجاوبت‬
Inti tétjaawabi ‫تتجاوبي‬ tjaawabti ‫تجاوبتي‬
btétjaawabi ‫بتتجاوبي‬
Huwwe yétjaawab ‫ يتجاوب بيتجاوب‬tjaawab ‫تجاوب‬
byétjaawab
Hiyye tétjaawab btétjaawab ‫ تتجاوب بتتجاوب‬tjaawabet ‫تجاوبت‬
Né7na nétjaawab ‫نتجاوب‬ tjaawabna ‫تجاوبنا‬
mnétjaawab ‫منتجاوب‬
Intu tétjaawabu ‫ تتجاوبو بتتجاوبو‬tjaawabtu ‫تجاوبتو‬
btétjaawabu
Hénnen yétjaawabu ‫ يتجاوبو بيتجاوبو‬tjaawabu ‫تجاوبو‬
byétjaawabu

Tfaa3a yétfaa3a

‫ تحاكى‬t7aaka
‘be spoken to’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ متحاكي‬mét7aaki N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ تحاكي‬ta7aaki N/A
Imperative:
‫تحاكى تحاكي تحاكو‬
t7aaka t7aaki t7aaku
Present Past
Ana ét7aaka bét7aaka ‫اتحاكى بتحاكى‬ t7aakeet ‫تحاكيت‬
Inte tét7aaka btét7aaka ‫ تتحاكى بتتحاكى‬t7aakeet ‫تحاكيت‬
Inti tét7aaki btét7aaki ‫ تتحاكي بتتحاكي‬t7aakeeti ‫تحاكيتي‬
Huwwe yét7aaka byét7aaka ‫ يتحاكى بيتحاكى‬t7aaka ‫تحاكى‬
Hiyye tét7aaka btét7aaka ‫ تتحاكى بتتحاكى‬t7aaket ‫تحاكت‬
Né7na nét7aaka mnét7aaka ‫ نتحاكى منتحاكى‬t7aakeena ‫تحاكينا‬
Intu tét7aaku btét7aaku ‫تتحاكو بتتحاكو‬ t7aakeetu ‫تحاكيتو‬
Hénnen yét7aaku byét7aaku ‫يتحاكو بيتحاكو‬ t7aaku ‫تحاكو‬
Form VII
Form VII is exclusively a passive of form I:

‫ انضرب‬nDarab ‘be hit’

‫ انقرى‬n2ara ‘be read’

Nfa3al/yénfa3al

‫ انمسك‬nmasak
‘be held, caught’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ منمسك‬ménmasek N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
N/A N/A
Imperative:
‫انمسك انمسكي انمسكو‬
nmasek nmaski nmasku
Present Past
Ana énmasek bénmasek ‫انمسك بنمسك‬ nmasak@t ‫انمسكت‬
Inte ténmasek bténmasek ‫تنمسك بتنمسك‬ nmasak@t ‫انمسكت‬
Inti ténmaski bténmaski ‫ تنمسكي بتنمسكي‬nmasakti ‫انمسكتي‬
Huwwe yénmasek byénmasek ‫ينمسك بينمسك‬ nmasak ‫انمسك‬
Hiyye ténmasek bténmasek ‫تنمسك بتنمسك‬ nmasket ‫انمسكت‬
Né7na nénmasek mnénmasek ‫ننمسك مننمسك‬ nmasakna ‫انمسكنا‬
Intu ténmasku bténmasku ‫ تنمسكو بتنمسكو‬nmasaktu ‫انمسكتو‬
Hénnen yénmasku byénmasku ‫ ينمسكو بينمسكو‬nmasaku ‫انمسكو‬

Nfaal/yénfaal

‫ انشاف‬nshaaf
‘be seen
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ منشاف‬ménshaaf N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
N/A N/A
Imperative:
‫انشاف انشافي انشافو‬
nshaaf nshaafi nshaafu
Present Past
Ana énshaaf bénshaaf ‫انشاف بنشاف‬ nshéf@t ‫انشفت‬
Inte ténshaaf bténshaaf ‫تنشاف بتنشاف‬ nshéf@t ‫انشفت‬
Inti ténshaafi bténshaafi ‫تنشافي بنتشافي‬ nshéfti ‫انشفتي‬
Huwwe yénshaaf byénshaaf ‫ينشاف بينشاف‬ nshaaf ‫انشاف‬
Hiyye ténshaaf bténshaaf ‫تنشاف بتنشاف‬ nshaafet ‫انشافت‬
Né7na nénshaaf mnénshaaf ‫ننشاف مننشاف‬ nshéfna ‫انشفنا‬
Intu ténshaafu bténshaafu ‫تنشافو بتنشافو‬ nshéftu ‫انشفتو‬
Hénnen yénshaafu byénshaafu ‫ينشافو بينشافو‬ nshaafu ‫انشافو‬
Nfa3a/yénfa3a

‫ انعطى‬n3aTa
‘be given’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ منعطي‬mén3aTi N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
N/A N/A
Imperative:
‫انعطى انعطي انعطو‬
n3aTa n3aTi n3aTu
Present Past
Ana én3aTa bén3aTa ‫انعطى بنعطى‬ n3aTeet ‫انعطيت‬
Inte tén3aTa btén3aTa ‫تنعطى بتنعطى‬ n3aTeet ‫انعطيت‬
Inti tén3aTi btén3aTi ‫تنعطي بتنعطي‬ n3aTeeti ‫انعطيتي‬
Huwwe yén3aTa byén3aTa ‫ينعطى بينعطى‬ n3aTa ‫انعطى‬
Hiyye tén3aTa btén3aTa ‫تنعطى بتنعطى‬ n3aTet ‫انعطت‬
Né7na nén3aTa mnén3aTa ‫ننعطى مننعطى‬ n3aTeena ‫انعطنا‬
Intu tén3aTu btén3aTu ‫تنعطو بتنعطو‬ n3aTeetu ‫انعطيتو‬
Hénnen yén3aTu byén3aTu ‫ينعطو بينعطو‬ n3aTu ‫انعطو‬

Nfa33/yénfa33

‫ انكب‬nkabb
‘be thrown away’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ منكب‬ménkabb N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
N/A N/A
Imperative:
‫انكب انكبي انكبو‬
nkabb nkabbi nkabbu
Present Past
Ana énkabb bénkabb ‫انكب بنكب‬ nkabbeet ‫انكبيت‬
Inte ténkabb bténkabb ‫تنكب بتنكب‬ nkabbeet ‫انكبيت‬
Inti ténkabbi bténkabbi ‫تنكبي بتنكبي‬ nkabbeeti ‫انكبيتي‬
Huwwe yénkabb byénkabb ‫ينكب بينكب‬ nkabb ‫انكب‬
Hiyye ténkabb bténkabb ‫تنكب بتنكب‬ nkabbet ‫انكبت‬
Né7na nénkabb mnénkabb ‫ننكب مننكب‬ nkabbeena ‫انكبينا‬
Intu ténkabbu bténkabbu ‫تنكبو بتنكبو‬ nkabbeetu ‫انكبيتو‬
Hénnen yénkabbu byénkabbu ‫ينكبو بينكبو‬ nkabbu ‫انكبو‬
Form VIII
The meaning of form VIII is famously difficult to pin down, and its formation is also quite difficult. In
terms of vowelling it is basically identical to form VII, but it’s formed (in colloquial as in fuSHa) by the
insertion of a -t- after the first root consonant. As in fuSHa this t undergoes and causes some strange
assimilations, which it’s important to be aware of, but these are explained elsewhere and since
you’re unlikely to need to derive form VIII verbs it’s more important to be familiar with the shapes:i

‫ اتكل‬ttakal (< *wtakal < wakkal) ‘depend’

‫ اضطر‬DTarr (< *Dtarr < Daruura) ‘be obligated to’

‫ اتخذ‬ttakhaz (< 2akhaz) ‘take (a decision)’

Many form VIIIs are reflexive/reciprocal /etc versions of form I (or occasionally non-form I) verbs:

‫ ارتبط بـ‬rtabaT b- ‘connect, link together with’ < ‫ ربط‬rabaT ‘tie’

‫ استوى‬stawa ‘be cooked, finish cooking’

‫ التق‬lta2a ‘meet (one another)’

‫ ازدهر‬zdahar ‘flower’

Many are passive, sometimes alternatives of form VIIs:

‫ اقتنع بـ‬qtana3 b- ‘be convinced of’ < ‫ قنع‬qana3

‫ انتسى‬ntasa ‘be forgotten’ < ‫ نسي‬nési

ّ
‫ استلم‬stalam ‘receive’ < ‫ سلم‬sallam ‘give to’

Some are more specific/abstract versions of form I verbs:

‫ افتتح‬ftata7 ‘open (a meeting, a shopping centre)

‫ اتخذ‬ttakhaz ‘take on, adopt’ < ‫ اخذ‬akhazii

i
Lots of the assimilations reflected in spelling in form VIII verbs actually occur naturally in terms of how the
language is actually pronounced.
ii
Though this one maybe doesn’t count since it presumably exists in fuSHa instead and akhaz is not a common
verb in 3aamiyye.
Fta3al/yéfta3al

‫ اشتغل‬shtaghal
‘work’
Active Participle Passive Participle
N/A N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ شغل‬shégh@l N/A
Imperative:
‫اشتغل اشتغلي اشتغلو‬
sht@ghel shtéghli sht@ghlu
Present Past
Ana éshtéghel béshtéghel ‫اشتغل بشتغل‬ shtaghal@t ‫اشتغلت‬
Inte téshtéghel btéshtéghel ‫تشتغل بتشتغل‬ shtaghal@t ‫اشتغلت‬
Inti téshtéghli btéshtéghli ‫ تشتغلي بتشتغلي‬shtaghalti ‫اشتغلتي‬
Huwwe yéshtéghel byéshtéghel ‫يشتغل بيشتغل‬ shtaghal ‫اشتغل‬
Hiyye téshtéghel btéshtéghel ‫تشتغل بتشتغل‬ shtaghlet ‫اشتغلت‬
Né7na néshtéghel mnéshtéghel ‫نشتغل منشتغل‬ shtaghalna ‫اشتغلنا‬
Intu téshtéghlu btéshtéghlu ‫تشتغلو بتشتغلو‬ shtaghaltu ‫اشتغلتو‬
Hénnen yéshtéghlu byéshtéghlu ‫يشتغلو بيشتغلو‬ shtaghalu ‫اشتغلو‬

Ftaal/yéftaal

‫ ارتاح‬rtaa7
‘rest’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ مرتاح‬mértaa7 N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ ارتياح‬irtiyaa7 N/A
Imperative:
‫ارتاح ارتاحي ارتاحو‬
rtaa7 rtaa7i rtaa7u
Present Past
Ana értaa7 bértaa7 ‫ارتاح برتاح‬ rté7@t ‫ارتحت‬
Inte tértaa7 btértaa7 ‫ترتاح بترتاح‬ rté7@t ‫ارتحت‬
Inti tértaa7i btértaa7i ‫ ترتاحي بترتاحي‬rté7ti ‫ارتحتي‬
Huwwe yértaa7 byértaa7 ‫يرتاح بيرتاح‬ rtaa7 ‫ارتاح‬
Hiyye tértaa7 btértaa7 ‫ترتاح بترتاح‬ rtaa7et ‫ارتاحت‬
Né7na nértaa7 mnértaa7 ‫نرتاح منرتاح‬ rté7na ‫ارتحنا‬
Intu tértaa7u btértaa7u ‫ترتاحو بترتاحو‬ rté7tu ‫ارتحتو‬
Hénnen yértaa7u byértaa7u ‫يرتاحو بيرتاحو‬ rtaa7u ‫ارتاحو‬
Fta3a/yéfta3i

‫ التقى‬lta2a
‘meet’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ ملتقي‬mélta2i N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ التقاء‬iltiqaa2 N/A
Imperative:
‫التقي التقي التقو‬
lta2i lta2i lta2u
Present Past
Ana élta2i bélta2i ‫التقي بلتقي‬ lta2eet ‫التقيت‬
Inte télta2i btélta2i ‫تلتقي بتلتقي‬ lta2eet ‫التقيت‬
Inti télta2i btélta2i ‫تلتقي بتلتقي‬ lta2eeti ‫التقيتي‬
Huwwe yélta2i byélta2i ‫يلتقي بيلتقي‬ lta2a ‫التقى‬
Hiyye télta2i btélta2i ‫تلتقي بتلتقي‬ lta2et ‫التقت‬
Né7na nélta2i mnélta2i ‫نلتقي منلتقي‬ lta2eena ‫التقينا‬
Intu télta2u btélta2u ‫تلتقو بتلتقو‬ lta2eetu ‫التقيتو‬
Hénnen yélta2u byélta2u ‫يلتقو بيلتقو‬ lta2u ‫التقو‬

Ftall/yéftall

‫ اضطر‬DTarr
‘be obliged to’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ مضطر‬méDTarr N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
N/A N/A
Imperative:
‫اضطر اضطري اضطرو‬
DTarr DTarri DTarru
Present Past
Ana éDTarr béDTarr ‫اضطر بضطر‬ DTarreet ‫اضطريت‬
Inte téDTarr btéDTarr ‫تضطر بتضطر‬ DTarreet ‫اضطريت‬
Inti téDTarr btéDTarr ‫تضطر بتضطر‬ DTarreeti ‫اضطريتي‬
Huwwe yéDTarr byéDTarr ‫يضطر بيضطر‬ DTarr ‫اضطر‬
Hiyye téDTarr btéDTarr ‫تضطر بتضطر‬ DTarret ‫اضطرت‬
Né7na néDTarr mnéDTarr ‫نضطر منضطر‬ DTarreena ‫اضطرينا‬
Intu btéDTarru btéDTarru ‫ تضطرو بتضطرو‬DTarreetu ‫اضطريتو‬
Hénnen yéDTarru byéDTarru ‫ يضطرو بيضطرو‬DTarru ‫اضطرو‬
Form IX
Form IX verbs are quite rare, and only a few of them exist. In fuSHa all if3alla verbs are by their
nature doubled verbs in terms of conjugation, and the same applies in colloquial, but like other
doubled verbs the conjugation strategy used for form IXs is formed by analogy with finally-
weak/defective verbs and avoids breaking up the cluster: 7marr-eet for example.

All (almost all?) form IX verbs are associated with an af3al adjective of colour or defect and are verbs
of becoming:
ّ
‫ اسود‬swadd ‘turn black’ < ‫ اسود‬aswad ‘black’
ّ
‫احمر‬ 7marr ‘turn red’ < ‫ احمر‬a7mar ‘red’

‫اسمر‬
ّ smarr ‘turn brown-skinned, tan’ < ‫ اسمر‬asmar ‘tanned, brown-skinned’

F3all/yéf3all

‫ اسود‬swadd
‘turn black’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ مسود‬méswadd N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
N/A N/A
Imperative:
‫اسود اسودي اسودو‬
swadd swaddi swaddu
Present Past
Ana éSwadd béSwadd ‫اسود بسود‬ swaddeet ‫اسوديت‬
Inte téSwadd btéSwadd ‫بتسود‬ ‫تسود‬ swaddeet ‫اسوديت‬
Inti téSwadd btéSwadd ‫تسود بتسود‬ swaddeeti ‫اسوديتي‬
Huwwe yéSwadd byéSwadd ‫يسود بيسود‬ swadd ‫اسود‬
Hiyye téSwadd btéSwadd ‫تسود بتسود‬ swaddet ‫اسودت‬
Né7na néSwadd mnéSwadd ‫نسود منسود‬ swaddeena ‫اسودينا‬
Intu btéSwaddu btéSwaddu ‫تسودو بتسودو‬ swaddeetu ‫اسوديتو‬
Hénnen yéSwaddu byéSwaddu ‫يسودو بيسودو‬ swaddu ‫اسودو‬
Form X
Form X (staf3al) verbs are formed relatively simply and in a way similar to fuSHa. In fuSHa teaching
some bright spark hit on the idea of explaining them in terms of ‘seek to do X’, which is actually a
reasonably good approximation of the meaning of quite a lot of form Xs assuming you don’t get too
excited and literally go about translating them that way instead of using it as a handy guide to guess
the meaning. If we want to approach it more accurately, however, staf3al verbs have quite a few
different meanings.

Many common form Xs are derived from adjectives and express ‘consider something X’:

‫ استغرب‬staghrab ‘find strange’

‫ استحسن‬sta7san ‘consider good, better’

‫ استهبل على‬stahbal 3ala ‘treat like an idiot’

Some are verbs of becoming (-anise):

‫ استعرب‬sta3rab ‘become Arab’, ‘act like an Arab’

‫ استغرب‬staghrab ‘become Westernised’, ‘act westernised’

Some (including these two in some contexts) are verbs of action:

‫ اسيجل‬starjal ‘act masculine (of a woman)’

The pattern is also used in a few cases to translate the –ist of English e.g. ‘Orientalist’, with
accompanying (though rare) verbs:

‫ مستشرق‬mustashreq ‘Orientalist’

Some (and these are the ones that most fit ‘seek’) are derived from (typically but not exclusively
form I) verbs with a meaning like ‘seek for X to do Y’ where Y is the underlying verb:

‫ استعان‬sta3aan ‘ask for someone’s help’ < ‫‘ عان‬help’

‫ استقال‬staqaal ‘resign’ < ‫‘ اقال‬release from a job’

Many seem to straightforwardly fit with ‘seek to’ plus underlying verb (without any of the strange
additional actor stuff going on above’):

‫ استول‬stawla ‘take control of’

‫ استوطن‬stawTan ‘settle, colonise’

staf3al; yéstaf3el

‫ استغرب‬staghrab
‘find strange, be surprised’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ مستغرب‬méstaghreb N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ استغراب‬istighraab N/A
Imperative:
‫استغرب استغربي استغربو‬
staghreb staghrbi staghrbu
Present Past
Ana éStaghreb béStaghreb ‫استغرب بستغرب‬ staghrab@t ‫استغربت‬
Inte téStaghreb btéStaghreb ‫ تستغرب بتستغرب‬staghrab@t ‫استغربت‬
Inti téStagh@rbi btéStagh@rbi ‫ تستغرب بتستغرب‬staghrabti ‫استغربتي‬
Huwwe yéStaghreb byéStaghreb ‫ يستغرب بيستغرب‬staghrab ‫استغرب‬
Hiyye téStaghreb btéStaghreb ‫ تستغرب بتستغرب‬staghrabet ‫استغربت‬
Né7na néStaghreb mnéStaghreb ‫ نستغرب منستغرب‬staghrabna ‫استغربنا‬
Intu btéStagh@rbu btéStagh@rbu ‫ تستغربو بتستغربو‬staghrabtu ‫استغربتو‬
Hénnen yéStagh@rbu byéStagh@rbu ‫ يستغربو بيستغربو‬staghrabu ‫استغربو‬

Stafaal; yéstafiil

‫ استقال‬staqaal
‘resign’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ مستقيل‬méstaqiil N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ استقالة‬istiqaale N/A
Imperative:
‫استقيل استقيلي استقيلو‬
staqiil staqiili staqiilu
Present Past
Ana éStaqiiil béStaqiiil ‫استقيل بستقيل‬ staqélt ‫استقلت‬
Inte téStaqiiil btéStaqiiil ‫تستقيل بتستقيل‬ staqélt ‫استقلت‬
Inti téStaqiiil btéStaqiiil ‫تستقيل بتستقيل‬ staqélti ‫استقلتي‬
Huwwe yéStaqiiil byéStaqiiil ‫يستقيل بيستقيل‬ staqaal ‫استقال‬
Hiyye téStaqiiil btéStaqiiil ‫تستقيل بتستقيل‬ staqaalet ‫استقالت‬
Né7na néStaqiiil mnéStaqiiil ‫نستقيل منستقيل‬ staqélna ‫استقلنا‬
Intu btéStaqiiilu btéStaqiiilu ‫تستقيلو بتستقيلو‬ staqéltu ‫اضطريتو‬
Hénnen yéStaqiiilu byéStaqiiilu ‫يستقيلو بيستقيلو‬ staqaalu ‫اضطرو‬
stawla; yéstawli

‫ استولى‬stawla
‘take over’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ مستولي‬méstawli N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ استيالء‬istiilaa2 N/A
Imperative:
‫استولي استولي استلولو‬
stawli stawli stawlu
Present Past
Ana éstawli béstawli ‫استولي بستولي‬ stawleet ‫استوليت‬
Inte téstawli btéstawli ‫ تستولي بتستولي‬stawleet ‫استوليت‬
Inti téstawli btéstawli ‫تستولييبتستولي‬ stawleeti ‫استوليتي‬
Huwwe yéstawli byéstawli ‫ يستولي بيستولي‬stawla ‫استولى‬
Hiyye téstawli btéstawli ‫ تستولي بتستولي‬stawlet ‫استولت‬
Né7na néstawli mnéstawli ‫ نستولي منستولي‬stawleena ‫استولينا‬
Intu téstawlu btéstawlu ‫تستولو بتستولو‬ stawleetu ‫استوليتو‬
Hénnen yéstawlu byéstawlu ‫يستولو بيستولو‬ stawlu ‫استولو‬

staghall; yéstaghell

‫ استغل‬staghall
‘exploit’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ مستغل‬méstaghéll N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ استغالل‬istighlaal N/A
Imperative:
‫استغل استغلي استغلو‬
staghéll staghéllu staghéllu
Present Past
Ana éstaghéll béstaghéll ‫استغل بستغل‬ staghalleet ‫استغليت‬
Inte téstaghéll btéstaghéll ‫تستغل بتستغل‬ staghalleet ‫استغليت‬
Inti téstaghélli btéstaghélli ‫ تستغلي بتستغلي‬staghalleeti ‫استغليتي‬
Huwwe yéstaghéll byéstaghéll ‫يستغل بيستغل‬ staghall ‫استغل‬
Hiyye téstaghéll btéstaghéll ‫تستغل بتستغل‬ staghallet ‫استغلت‬
Né7na néstaghéll mnéstaghéll ‫نستغل منستغل‬ staghalleena ‫استغلينا‬
Intu téstaghéllu btéstaghéllu ‫تستغلو بتستغلو‬ staghalleetu ‫استغليتو‬
Hénnen yéstaghéllu byéstaghéllu ‫يستغلو بيستغلو‬ staghallu ‫استغلو‬
Quadriliteral verbs
Unlike the other patterns given here, quadriliteral verbs are not a derivational pattern in themselves
– ‘quadriliteral’ simply describes any verb with four letters in its root instead of three. Although they
are not unified by meaning, however, they do conveniently conjugate on the same four patterns.

According to an Arabic teacher I had once, quadriliterals are all supposedly either loanwords (albeit
sometimes very old ones) or onomatopoeia. And in fact, many of them are foreign loans:

‫ سشور‬sashwar ‘blow-dry’ < ‫ سشوار‬seshwaar ‘hairdrier’ (French séchoir)

‫ تلفن‬talfan ‘phone up’ < ‫ تليفون‬telefoon

‫ تشنكل‬shangal ‘link arms with’ < ‫ شنكال‬shangaal ‘hook’ < Turkish çengel

‫ تشنطط‬tshanTaT ‘be tossed from place to place’ < ‫ شنطة‬shanTa ‘bag’ < Turkish çanta

‫ برمج‬barmaj ‘programme’ < ‫ برنامج‬barnaamaj ‘programme’ < Persian ‫برنامه‬i

Many, however, are derived from other native words, and in any case lots of these borrowings are
very solidly nativised to the extent speakers no longer recognise that they’re foreign.

‫ خوزق‬khooza2 ‘screw over’ < ‫ خازوق‬khaazuu2 ‘impaling stake’

‫ بسبس‬basbas ‘keep giving reasons not to do something’ < ‫ بس‬bass ‘but’

Many onomatopoeias are also quadriliteral:

‫ زقزق‬za2za2 ‘squeak’

‫ طقطق‬Ta2Ta2 ‘pop, crack’

Some are derived from other derived words whilst maintaining one of the added consonants:

‫ تمركز‬tmarkaz ‘be centred on’< ‫ مركز‬markaz ‘centre’

Many verbs analysed as quadriliteral in fact have an identifiable underlying three-letter root and are
actually derivations on one of a large number of less common derivational patterns not usually
treated in fuSHa (although some of them exist there too). These patterns have various different
meanings – many are verbs of becoming or action:

‫ تولدن‬twaldan ‘act childishly’ < ‫ ولد‬walad ‘boy’

‫ صفرن‬Safran ‘turn yellow’ < ‫ اصفر‬aSfar ‘yellow’

‫ بورد‬boorad ‘cool down’ < ‫ برد‬bar@d ‘cold’

i
This one is old enough that the Persian word has lost the final –g borrowed into Arabic as –j.
Many have a meaning which is similar to their underlying verb but expresses drawn out action.
These are probably the most common derivations which can be done on the fly, and are similar to
the English transformation of verbs using adverbs like ‘around’:

‫ تنطوط‬tnaTwaT ‘jump around’ < ‫ نط‬naTT ‘jump’ (tfa3wal)

‫ ترقوص‬tra2waS ‘dance around’ < ‫ رقص‬ra2aS ‘dance’

‫ بكبك‬bakbak ‘sniffle, cry all the time’ < ‫ بكي‬béki ‘cry’

‫ نكوش‬nakwash ‘root around in’ < ‫ نكش‬nakash ‘root through’ (fa3wal)

‫ لحوس‬la7was ‘lick at’ < ‫ لجس‬la7as ‘lick’

‫ طزطز‬TazTaz ‘fart repeatedly, make a pooting noise’ < ‫ طز‬Tazz ‘fart’

‫ طرطق‬TarTa2 ‘tap repeatedly’ < ‫ طرق‬Tara2 ‘hit’

‫ بصبص‬baSbaS ‘look around, peek around’ < ‫ بص‬baSS ‘look’i

Conjugation-wise, there are four major variations: sound (fa3lal etc), second-letter weak (foo3al,
fee3al) and their final-weak equivalents (fa3la, foo3a/fee3a). These are modelled on form II and
form IV. Each of these simple patterns also has an equivalent with the t- prefix (tfa3lal,
tfoo3al/tfee3al, tfa3la, tfoo3a/tfee3a) modelled on form V and form VI. The uses of the t- forms
generally line up with other t- forms. The passives of quadriliteral verbs for example is formed this
way:

‫ تيمج‬tbarmaj ‘be programmed’ < ‫ برمج‬barmaj ‘programme’

‫ تخوزق‬tkhooza2 ‘get screwed over’ < ‫ خوزق‬khooza2 ‘screw over’

‫ تشنطط‬tshanTaT ‘be tossed from place to place’ < ‫ شنطط‬shanTaT ‘toss from place to place’

Likewise, some t- verbs are the recriprocal (etc) equivalent of an underlying verb:

‫ تشنكل‬tshangal ‘link arms with one another’ < ‫ شنكل‬shangal ‘link arms with’

Generally verbs of action in particular are formed on the t- patterns.

‫ تفهمن‬tfahman ‘patronise, be a know-it-all’ < ‫ فهم‬féhemii ‘understand’

‫ تفلسف‬tfalsaf ‘philosophise, act like aphilosopher’ < ‫ فلسفة‬falsafe ‘philosophy’

‫ تفصحن‬tfaSHan ‘use big words in an attempt to sound educated’ < ‫ فصح‬fuSHa

i
The underlying verb here isn’t really used in Syrian.
ii
This might also be a case of retaining a consonant from a different derived form, i.e. ‘make yourself out to be
‫ فهمان‬fahmaan, wise or knowledgeable’.
Fa3fa3, yfa3fe3

‫ زقزق‬za2za2
‘squeak’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ مزقزق‬mza2ze2 N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ زقزقة‬za2za2a N/A
Imperative:
‫زقزق زقزقي زقزقو‬
za2ze2 za2@z2i za2@z2u
Present Past
Ana za2ze2 bza2ze2 ‫زقزق بزقزق‬ za2za2@t ‫زقزقت‬
Inte tza2ze2 bétza2ze2 ‫تزقزق بتزقزق‬ za2za2@t ‫زقزقت‬
Inti tza2@z2i bétza2@z2i ‫ تزقزقي بتزقزقي‬za2za2Ti ‫زقزقتي‬
Huwwe yza2ze2 biza2ze2 ‫يزقزق بزقزق‬ za2za2 ‫زقزق‬
Hiyye tza2ze2 bétza2ze2 ‫تزقزق بتزقزق‬ za2za2et ‫زقزقت‬
Né7na nza2ze2 ménza2ze2 ‫نزقزق منزقزق‬ za2za2na ‫زقزقنا‬
Intu tza2@z2u bétza2@z2u ‫ تزقزقو بتزقزقو‬za2za2Tu ‫زقزقنا‬
Hénnen yza2@z2u biza2@z2u ‫يزقزقو بزقزقو‬ za2za2u ‫زقزقو‬

Tfa3lal yétfa3lal

‫ تدحرج‬tda7raj
‘roll’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ متدحرج‬métda7rej N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ دحرجة‬da7raje N/A
Imperative:
‫تدحرج تدحرجي تدحرجو‬
tda7raj tda7raji tda7raju
Present Past
Ana étda7raj bétda7raj ‫تدحرج بتدحرج‬ tda7raj@t ‫تدحرجت‬
Inte tétda7raj btétda7raj ‫تتدحرج بتتدحرج‬ tda7raj@t ‫تدحرجت‬
Inti tétda7raji btétda7raji ‫ تتدحرجي بتتدحرجي‬tda7rajTi ‫تدحرجتي‬
Huwwe yétda7raj byétda7raj ‫يتدحرج بتدحرج‬ tda7raj ‫تدحرج‬
Hiyye tétda7raj btétda7raj ‫تتدحرج بتتدحرج‬ tda7rajet ‫تدحرجت‬
Né7na nétda7raj mnétda7raj ‫نتدحرج منتدحرج‬ tda7rajna ‫تدحرجنا‬
Intu tétda7raju btétda7raju ‫ تتدحرجو بتتدحرجو‬tda7rajTu ‫تدحرجنا‬
Hénnen yétda7raju byétda7raju ‫يتدحرجو بتدحرجو‬ tda7raju ‫تدحرجو‬
Fa3la, yfa3li

‫ طعمى‬Ta3ma
‘feed’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ مطعمي‬mTa3mi ‫ مطعمى‬mTa3ma
MaSdar Noun of Instance
N/A N/A
Imperative:
‫طعمي طعمي طعمو‬
Ta3mi Ta3mi Ta3mu
Present Past
Ana Ta3mi bTa3mi ‫طعمي بطعمي‬ Ta3meet ‫طعميت‬
Inte tTa3mi bétTa3mi ‫تطعمي بتطعمي‬ Ta3meet ‫طعميت‬
Inti tTa3mi bétTa3mi ‫تطعمي بتطعمي‬ Ta3meeti ‫طعميتي‬
Huwwe yTa3mi biTa3mi ‫يطعمي بطعمي‬ Ta3ma ‫طعمى‬
Hiyye tTa3mi bétTa3mi ‫تطعمي بتطعمي‬ Ta3met ‫طعمت‬
Né7na nTa3mi ménTa3mi ‫نطعمي منطعمي‬ Ta3meena ‫طعمينا‬
Intu tTa3mu bétTa3mu ‫تطعمو بتطعمو‬ Ta3meetu ‫طعميتو‬
Hénnen yTa3mu biTa3mu ‫يطعمو بطعمو‬ Ta3mu ‫طعمو‬

Tfa3la yétfa3la

‫ تفرشى‬tfarsha
‘be brushed’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ متفرشي‬métfarshi N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
N/A N/A
Imperative:
‫تفرشى تفرشي تفرشو‬
tfarsha tfarshi tfarshu
Present Past
Ana étfarsha bétfarsha ‫اتفرشى بتفرشى‬ tfarsheet ‫تفرشيت‬
Inte tétfarsha btétfarsha ‫تتفرشى بتتفرشى‬ tfarsheet ‫تفرشيت‬
Inti tétfarshi btétfarshi ‫تتفرشي بتتفرشي‬ tfarsheeti ‫تفرشيتي‬
Huwwe yétfarsha byétfarsha ‫يتفرشى بيتفرشى‬ tfarsha ‫تفرشى‬
Hiyye tétfarsha btétfarsha ‫تتفرشى بتتفرشى‬ tfarshet ‫تفرشت‬
Né7na nétfarsha mnétfarsha ‫نتفرشى منتفرشى‬ tfarsheena ‫تفرشينا‬
Intu tétfarshu btétfarshu ‫تتفرشو بتتفرشو‬ tfarsheetu ‫تفرشيتو‬
Hénnen yétfarshu byétfarshu ‫يتفرشو بيتفرشو‬ tfarshu ‫تفرشو‬
Foo3an, yfoo3en

‫ دوزن‬doozan
‘tune’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ مدوزن‬mdoozen N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ دوزنة‬doozane N/A
Imperative:
‫دوزن دوزني دوزنو‬
doozen doozni dooznu
Present Past
Ana doozen bdoozen ‫دوزن بدوزن‬ doozan@t ‫دوزنت‬
Inte tdoozen bétdoozen ‫تدوزن بتدوزن‬ doozan@t ‫دوزنت‬
Inti tdoozni bétdoozni ‫تدوزني بتدوزني‬ doozanti ‫دوزنتي‬
Huwwe ydoozen bidoozen ‫يدوزن بدوزن‬ doozan ‫دوزن‬
Hiyye tdoozen bétdoozen ‫تدوزن بتدوزن‬ doozanet ‫دوزنت‬
Né7na ndoozen méndoozen ‫ندوزن مندوزن‬ doozanna ‫دوزننا‬
Intu tdooznu bétdooznu ‫تدوزنو بتدوزنو‬ doozantu ‫دوزننا‬
Hénnen ydooznu bidooznu ‫يدوزنو بدوزنو‬ doozanu ‫دوزنو‬

Tfoo3an, yétfoo3an

‫ تدوزن‬tdoozan
‘be tuned’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ متدوزن‬métdoozen N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
‫ دوزنة‬doozane N/A
Imperative:
‫تدوزن تدوزني تدوزنو‬
tdoozan tdoozani tdoozanu
Present Past
Ana étdoozan bétdoozan ‫تدوزن بتدوزن‬ tdoozan@t ‫تدوزنت‬
Inte tétdoozan btétdoozan ‫تتدوزن بتتدوزن‬ tdoozan@t ‫تدوزنت‬
Inti tétdoozani btétdoozani ‫تتدوزني بتتدوزني‬ tdoozanti ‫تدوزنتي‬
Huwwe yétdoozan byétdoozan ‫يتدوزن بتدوزن‬ tdoozan ‫تدوزن‬
Hiyye tétdoozan btétdoozan ‫تتدوزن بتتدوزن‬ tdoozanet ‫تدوزنت‬
Né7na nétdoozan mnétdoozan ‫نتدوزن منتدوزن‬ tdoozanna ‫تدوزننا‬
Intu tétdoozanu btétdoozanu ‫تتدوزنو بتتدوزنو‬ tdoozantu ‫تدوزننا‬
Hénnen yétdoozanu byétdoozanu ‫يتدوزنو بتدوزنو‬ tdoozanu ‫تدوزنو‬
Foo3a, yfoo3i

‫ بويى‬booya
‘polish’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ مبويي‬mbooyi ‫ مبويى‬mbooya
MaSdar Noun of Instance
N/A N/A
Imperative:
‫بويي بويي بويو‬
booyi booyi booyu
Present Past
Ana booyi bbooyi ‫بويي ببويي‬ booyeet ‫بوييت‬
Inte tbooyi bétbooyi ‫تبويي بتبويي‬ booyeet ‫بوييت‬
Inti tbooyi bétbooyi ‫تبويي بتبويي‬ booyeeti ‫بوييتي‬
Huwwe ybooyi bibooyi ‫يبوي ببوي‬ booya ‫بويى‬
Hiyye tbooyi bétbooyi ‫تبويي بتبويي‬ booyet ‫بويت‬
Né7na nbooyi ménbooyi ‫نبويي منبويي‬ booyeena ‫بويينا‬
Intu tbooyu bétbooyu ‫تبويو بتبويو‬ booyeetu ‫بوييتو‬
Hénnen ybooyu bibooyu ‫يبويو ببويو‬ booyu ‫بويو‬

tfoo3a, yétfoo3i

‫ تبويى‬tbooya
‘be polished’
Active Participle Passive Participle
‫ متبويي‬métbooyi N/A
MaSdar Noun of Instance
N/A N/A
Imperative:
‫تبويى تبويي تبويو‬
tbooya tbooyi tbooyu
Present Past
Ana étbooya bétbooya ‫اتبويى بتبويى‬ tbooyeet ‫تبوييت‬
Inte tétbooya btétbooya ‫تتبويى بتتبويى‬ tbooyeet ‫تبوييت‬
Inti tétbooyi btétbooyi ‫بتتبويي‬ ‫تتبويي‬ tbooyeeti ‫تبوييتي‬
Huwwe yétbooya byétbooya ‫يتبويى بيتبويى‬ tbooya ‫تبويى‬
Hiyye tétbooya btétbooya ‫تتبويى بتتبويى‬ tbooyet ‫تبويت‬
Né7na nétbooya mnétbooya ‫نتبويى منتبويى‬ tbooyeena ‫تبويينا‬
Intu tétbooyu btétbooyu ‫تتبويو بتتبويو‬ tbooyeetu ‫تبوييتو‬
Hénnen yétbooyu byétbooyu ‫يتبويو بيتبويو‬ tbooyu ‫تبويو‬