Lebanese Arabic Verbs: 25 Verbs, 3 Tenses

Quick answer Lebanese Arabic verbs have three tenses built on one set of person prefixes and endings: the past (katabt, katab, katabet… "wrote"), the present with the prefix b- (bektob, byektob, mnektob… "write") and the future with rah (rah ektob, "I will write"). Put ʿam in front for right now: ʿam bektob عم بكتب, "I'm writing". Negation is ma before the verb: ma baʿref ما بعرف, "I don't know".

How do you conjugate Lebanese Arabic verbs?

Lebanese Arabic has three tenses you need as a beginner, and all three use the same eight persons. The past adds endings to the stem; the present puts b- in front of the present stem (mn- for "we"); the future drops the b- and puts rah in front. Learn one verb all the way through and you own the pattern. Here is katab, to write, as it is said in Beirut:

Two shortcuts help. "I" and "you (m)" are identical in the past (katabt), and "you (m)" and "she" are identical in the present (btektob), so context does the work. And there is only one plural "you": entu covers any group, men or women.

What does ʿam mean in Lebanese?

ʿam is the Lebanese "-ing". The plain b- form means both "I write" and "I'm writing"; put ʿam in front and it can only mean right now: ʿam bektob, I'm writing at the moment. You will hear it all day in questions like shu ʿam taʿmel? (what are you doing?). In fast speech the b- after ʿam often disappears.

Lebanese verb chart: the 25 most useful verbs

These are the verbs the worksheet drills, picked for how often you hear them in Beirut, not for a textbook chapter. The chart gives the he form, because that is the form dictionaries list and the one the other persons are built from. Verbs marked with a dot are irregular in the past; the PDF explains each group.

How do you say no in Lebanese Arabic?

Put ma in front of the verb: ma baʿref, I don't know; ma fhemt, I didn't understand; ma rah ruh, I won't go. The verb-like words baddi (I want), fiyyi (I can) and ʿandi (I have) also take ma: ma baddi, ma fiyyi, ma ʿandi waʾt. Adjectives, nouns and places take mish instead: mish mabsut, not happy; mish hon, not here. Unlike Egyptian, Beirut speech usually has no -sh at the end of the verb.

How are Lebanese verbs different from Standard Arabic and other dialects?

Standard Arabic has no b- prefix; its plain present yaktubu is close to what Lebanese uses only after another verb or after baddi and lazem (baddi ektob, I want to write). Standard Arabic marks the future with sa- or sawfa, Lebanese with rah. The vowels change too: yaktub becomes yektob, yashrab becomes byeshrab. Syrian Arabic works the same way as Lebanese, with b-, ʿam and rah, and differs mostly in vowels (Damascus byektob or byiktob) and in a few words. Palestinian is close as well. Egyptian is the odd one out: ha- for the future, bi- without ʿam, and negation wrapped in ma…sh. For the bigger picture, read Egyptian vs Levantine Arabic or browse all Levantine Arabic worksheets.

The PDF has the full chart, a second grid to complete, the 25 verbs with example sentences, exercises on b-, ʿam, rah and negation, and a "my day" pair interview. The pronouns behind the chart are on worksheet 3; the core words and everyday expressions are on worksheet 5.

What's inside the PDF

• One full conjugation grid (katab, to write) in past, present with b- and future with rah, for all eight persons, with Arabic script
• Three short rules that carry you far: b- and ʿam for the present, rah for the future, ma in front of verbs and mish in front of everything else
• The 25 verbs table: past and present, Arabic script, a short example each, irregular verbs marked and explained, plus baddi (want) and fiyyi (can)
• Six everyday commands (ruh, taʿa, kol, eshrab, esmaʿ, ʾol) with the feminine forms, and a Beirut pronunciation box
• Five exercises: complete a grid, past-now-future, change the tense, say no, write and tell your day to a partner
• Answer key and teacher notes on a separate page you can remove before handing out

How to use it on your own

Say the katab grid out loud until the prefixes come without thinking, especially mn- for "we", then do Ex. 1 without looking back. Work through the 25 verbs five at a time and tick a verb only when you can say both forms. Finish with Ex. 5: write your five sentences, then say them to a mirror or record yourself and listen once.

How to use it in class

About 50 minutes, or two shorter lessons: tenses (A, B, Ex. 1 to 3) and negation plus speaking (Ex. 4 and 5). Drill the katab grid chorally before anyone writes, then let pairs conjugate shereb aloud. Ex. 4 is the key exercise: ma before verbs and before baddi, ʿandi, fiyyi, mish before everything else. Ex. 5 ends in a pair interview (what did you do yesterday, what will you do tomorrow) that forces real tense choices. Points fields on every exercise, answer key on the last page.

Preview

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Frequently asked questions

How do you conjugate verbs in Lebanese Arabic?

Add the person endings to the past stem: katabt, katabt, katabti, katab, katabet, katabna, katabtu, katabu. For the present, put b- in front of the present stem with its person prefix: bektob, btektob, btektbi, byektob, btektob, mnektob, btektbu, byektbu. For the future, drop the b- and put rah in front: rah ektob, I will write.

What does ʿam mean in Lebanese Arabic?

ʿam marks something happening right now, like the English -ing. ʿam bektob means I am writing at this moment, and shu ʿam taʿmel? means what are you doing? The plain b- form also covers the present, but ʿam makes it clear you mean now and not in general.

How do you say "I want" and "I can" in Lebanese?

I want is baddi and I can is fiyyi. Neither is a real verb: they take the same endings as possessives, so you get baddak (you want), baddo (he wants), fiyyik (you, f, can). The verb that follows has no b-: baddi ruh, I want to go. To say no, put ma in front: ma baddi, ma fiyyi.

Are Lebanese verbs different from Syrian and Egyptian verbs?

Lebanese and Syrian verbs are very close: both use b- for the present, ʿam for right now and rah for the future, with small vowel differences. Egyptian uses bi- for the present but ha- for the future, and negates with ma…sh around the verb. Standard Arabic has no b- prefix at all and uses sa- or sawfa for the future.

Is this worksheet free?

Yes. Download the PDF, print it and copy it as often as you like for personal use and in class. Please keep the Yallah Speak credit in the footer.