Syrian Arabic Verbs: 25 Verbs, 3 Tenses

Quick answer Syrian Arabic verbs have three tenses built on one set of endings: the past (katabt, katab, katbet… "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 (عم بكتب, ʿam bektob, "I'm writing") and ma for no: ما بعرف, ma baʿref, "I don't know". The full chart and the 25 most useful verbs are below; the PDF has grids to complete.

How do you conjugate Syrian Arabic verbs?

Syrian Arabic, as spoken in Damascus, builds every tense from two stems and a few small words. The past adds endings to the past stem; the present puts b- in front of the present stem (mn- for "we"); the future puts rah in front of the form without b-. On top of that, ʿam marks what is happening right now. Learn one verb all the way through and you own the pattern. Here is katab, to write:

Two things to notice. "I" and "you (m)" are identical in the past (katabt), and "you (m)" and "she" are identical in the present (btektob); context does the rest. And there is one plural "you", ento, for any group of men, women or both.

What does ʿam mean in Syrian Arabic?

ʿam turns a habit into something happening now. beshrab ʾahwe kell yom is "I drink coffee every day"; ʿam beshrab ʾahwe is "I'm drinking coffee (right now)". The question you hear most in Damascus is shu ʿam btaʿmel?, what are you doing? (to a woman: shu ʿam btaʿmli?).

The 25 most useful Syrian Arabic verbs

These are the verbs the worksheet drills, chosen for everyday use in Damascus. The chart gives the he-form, the form dictionaries list. Verbs marked with a dot are irregular in the past; the PDF explains each group.

How do you say no with a Syrian verb?

Put ma in front of the verb, whatever the tense: ma baʿref, I don't know; ma fhemt, I didn't understand; ma rah ruh, I won't go. Words that are not verbs take mu: mu mnih, not good; mu hon, not here. baddi (I want) and ʿandi (I have) behave like verbs: ma baddi, ma ʿandi.

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

Standard Arabic has no b- prefix and no ʿam; its plain present yaktubu survives in Damascus only after words like baddi and lazem (baddi ektob, I want to write). It marks the future with sa- or sawfa, where Damascus says rah, and it has dual and feminine-plural forms that the dialect does not use, so the Syrian chart has eight forms instead of thirteen. Within the Levant the differences are small: Lebanese works almost the same way (often lah for the future), while Palestinian and Jordanian speakers say bn- for "we" (bnektob) where Damascus says mnektob. Egyptian is further away: bi- and ha-, no ʿam, and negatives with ma… -sh.

The PDF has the full chart, a second grid to complete, the 25 verbs with examples, a short dialogue set in Damascus, six exercises and an answer key. The pronouns used in the chart are on worksheet 3, and the next step is worksheet 5 with 100 core words and everyday Syrian expressions. For the other Levantine dialects, see all Levantine Arabic worksheets; for the big picture, read Egyptian vs Levantine Arabic.

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: b- for habits and ʿam for right now, rah for the future, and negation with ma before verbs and mu before everything else
• The 25 verbs table: past and present, Arabic script, a short example each, irregular verbs marked and explained
• Six everyday commands (ruh, taʿa, kol, eshrab, smaʿ, ʾul) with feminine and plural forms, plus la truh for "don't go"
• A six-line dialogue set in Damascus and six exercises: complete a grid, past-now-future, change the tense, say no, find the tense, 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, 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. Read the dialogue aloud in both roles, then finish with Ex. 6: write your five sentences and say them to a mirror or record yourself once.

How to use it in class

About 50 minutes, or two shorter lessons: tenses (A, B, Ex. 1 to 3) and negation, dialogue and speaking (Ex. 4 to 6). Drill the katab grid chorally, then add ʿam by calling out "hallaʾ!" (now). Ex. 4 targets the error learners from Egyptian bring in, the -sh ending, and the ma versus mu choice. Ex. 6 ends in a pair interview about yesterday and tomorrow. 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 Syrian Arabic?

Take the past stem and add the person endings: katabt, katabt, katabti, katab, katbet, katabna, katabtu, katabu (wrote). For the present, put b- in front of the present form: bektob, btektob, btektbi, byektob, btektob, mnektob, btektbu, byektbu. For the future, put rah in front of the form without b-: rah ektob, I will write. The chart on this page shows all eight persons.

What does ʿam mean in Syrian Arabic?

ʿam marks an action happening right now, like the English -ing form. bektob means I write (in general), ʿam bektob means I am writing at the moment. You will hear it constantly in questions like shu ʿam btaʿmel?, what are you doing? Lebanese uses ʿam the same way; Egyptian and Standard Arabic do not have it.

How do you say "I will" in Syrian Arabic?

With rah in front of the verb without b-: rah ruh (I will go), rah eshrab (I will drink), rah edfaʿ (I will pay). In fast speech rah often sounds like ra or ha. The negative is ma rah: ma rah ruh, I won't go.

How do you make a verb negative in Syrian Arabic?

Put ma in front of the verb, in any tense: ma baʿref (I don't know), ma fhemt (I didn't understand), ma rah ruh (I won't go). Words that are not verbs, such as adjectives and participles, take mu instead: mu mnih (not good), mu saken hon (not living here). Unlike Cairo, Damascus adds no -sh at the end.

Are Syrian and Lebanese verbs the same?

Almost. Both use b- for the present, mn- for "we", ʿam for right now and ma for negation, so this chart works in Beirut too. The differences are small: Lebanese often says lah instead of rah for the future and has slightly different vowels. Palestinian and Jordanian speakers say bn- instead of mn- for "we".

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.