Arabic – Lebanese Dialect

Lesson – Verb Tenses

This lesson aims to teach four verb tenses in Lebanese Arabic. This lesson is dedicated to my husband, Michael. May this help clarify verb conjugations for you 🙂

 

To start learning any verbs in Arabic, we must first learn pronouns because all verbs are conjugated with respect to pronouns and/or the gender of the subject of a sentence.

 

ene انا I
enta انتَ You (masculine)
enti انتِ You (feminine)
huwe هو He
hiyye هي She
nhna نحنا We
entu انتو You (plural)
henne هني They

 

Simple Present Tense

Next, we will start with simple present tense using  اكل  (to eat). In red, I have added the conjugations of the verb.

ene bekl انا باكل I eat
enta btekl انتَ بتاكل You (m) eat
enti btekle انتِ بتاكلي You (f) eat
huwe byekl هو بياكل He eats
hiyye btekl هي بتاكل She eats
nhna mnekl نحنا مناكل We eat
entu bteklu انتو بتاكلو You (pl) eat
henne byeklu هني بياكلو They eat

Exercise 1:

Make three sentences using simple present tense. For example: انا بحب القهوة و هو بيحب الشي

 

Present Continuous Aspect

Now, let’s do present continuous aspect. In this case, you add عم before the verb in the simple present tense.

ene 3m bekl انا عم  باكل I am eating
enta 3m btekl انتَ عم بتاكل You (m) are eating
enti 3m btekle انتِ عم بتاكلي You (f) are eating
huwe 3m byekl هو عم بياكل He is eating
hiyye 3m btekl هي عم بتاكل She is eating
nhna 3m mnekl نحنا عم مناكل We are eating
entu 3m bteklu انتو عم بتاكلو You (pl) are eating
henne 3m byeklu هني عم بياكلو They are eating

Exercise 2:

Make three new sentences using Present Continuous.

For example: انا عم بكتب و هي عم بتنام

 

Simple Future Tense

For simple future, you add رح before the verb and you remove the ب or م from the beginning of the verb.

ene ra7 ekl انا رح  اكل I will eat
enta ra7 tekl انتَ رح تاكل You (m) will eat
enti ra7 tekle انتِ رح تاكلي You (f) will eat
huwe ra7 yekl هو رح ياكل He will eat
hiyye ra7 tekl هي رح تاكل She will eat
nhna ra7 nekl نحنا  رح ناكل We will eat
entu ra7 teklu انتو رح تاكلو You (pl) will eat
henne ra7 yeklu هني رح ياكلو They will eat

 

Exercise 3:

Make three new sentences using Simple Future Tense.

For example: باسبوعين نحنا رح نروح الى بيت اهلك

 

Simple Past Tense

Lastly, let us look at simple past tense. Here, we start with the verb in its root form and add new conjugations to the end.

ene eklt انا اكلت I ate
enta ekleet انتَ اكليت You (m) ate
enti ekoleetee انتِ اكليتي You (f) ate
huwe ekl هو اكل He ate
hiyye ekleet هي اكليت She ate
nhna eklna نحنا  اكلنا We ate
entu ekltu انتو اكلتو You (pl) ate
henne ekolu هني اكلو They ate

Exercise 4:

Make three new sentences using Simple Past Tense.

For example: انا نامت و هوشتغل

Practice:

Use this Quizlet Deck to test practice verb conjugations. The more you practice the faster your recall will be!

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