So some time ago, I wrote a post titled The Arabic Verb Is Just A Three-Letter Word in order to show a brief overview of how verbs work in the Arabic language.
But in this post, I will demonstrate how verb form I and verb form II differ using common everyday verbs found in Levantine Arabic as examples.
So yalla, let’s get started!
NOTES
The sentence examples are recorded by a Jordanian native speaker unless stated otherwise.
The verb conjugation recordings are also recorded by a Jordanian native speaker. Thus, the verb conjugation tables are reflective of the South Levantine Arabic version.
#1) To study vs To teach
Verb Form I: to study
هو) دَرَس – بُدرُس/ِبِدرُس)
هو بدرس انجليزي بالجامعة الأردنية
He studies English at the University of Jordan
لما اتخرج رح ادرس بفرنسا
When I graduate, I will study in France
هي درست هندسة بالجامعة الأردنية
She studied Engineering at the University of Jordan
روح ادرس بغرفتك
Go and study in your room
Verb Form II: to teach
هو) دَرَّس – بِدَرِّس)
هي بتدرّس أحمد شوية كلمات بالعربي
She teaches Ahmad some words in Arabic
هو درّس الأولاد كيف يرسمو فراشة
He taught the children how to draw a butterfly
متى بدك تدرّسني ؟
When are you going to teach me?
بدك تضل تدرّس السنة الجاي؟
Are you going to continue [remain] teaching next year?
#2) To understand vs To make s/one understand (to explain)
Verb Form I: to understand
هو) فِهِم – بفهَم)
هي بتقدر تفهم ايطالي بس ما بتقدر تحكيه
She can understand Italian but she can’t speak it
هو ما فهم التعليمات
He did not understand the instructions
انت فاهم كل كلمة بهاي الصفحة؟
Do you understand every word on this page?
*فاهم is the active participle of the verb
Verb Form II: to make someone understand/comprehend s/thing (i.e. to explain)
هو) فهّم – بفهّم)
هو فهّم الزباين ليش البضاعة اتأخرت
He explained to the customers why the goods were late to arrive
بالأول هي رح تفهّمنا قواعد اللعبة
First, she will explain to us the rules of the game
انا مش فاهمة شو بتحكي بتقدر تفهّمني ؟
I don’t understand what you’re saying. Can you explain it to me?
This verb form is also commonly used in the imperative/command form. The two sentences below are recorded by a native Syrian speaker.
اذا أنت دائماً مشغول بالشغل وماعندك وقت مشاني، فهمّني ليش دائماً بلاقيك أونلاين؟
If you’re indeed busy with work and have no time for me, get me to understand why I always see you online
فهمّيني ليش وافقتي على الزواج منّي وهلق بتقوليلي أنو ما بقت تحبيني
Make me understand why you (f) agreed to marry me and then now tell me that you no longer love me
#3) To mention vs To remind
Verb Form I: to mention
هو) ذَكَر – بذكُر)
هو ذكر اسمها برسالتو الماجستير
He mentioned her name in his master’s thesis
لا تنسى تذكر مشاركتها بالمشروع
Don’t forget to mention her contribution to the project
ع التلفون هي ذكرت انها مريضة
She mentioned that she was ill over the telephone
Verb Form II: to remind
هو) ذَكَّر – بذكّر)
هي ذكّرتو بموعد دكتورو الاسنان
She reminded him of his dentist’s appointment
ذكّرني اطفي الضو
Remind me to turn off the lights
هو دايما بذكّر الاولاد يغسلو ايديهم
He always reminds the children to wash their hands
#4) To go out vs To take s/thing out
Verb Form I: to go out/leave
هو) طِلِع – بِطْلَع)
Notes: The verb طلع can have different meanings depending on the contexts. In general, it can mean to go out, to go up, or to turn out to be s/thing or s/one else.
هو طِلِع ع الدرج
He climbed up the stairs
احنا طلعنا ع راس التلة وكان المنظر بجنن
We climbed up the hill and the view was gorgeous
هي بتطلع ع الشغل ع الساعة سبعة كل يوم
She leaves for work at 7 o’clock every day
مش مصدقة يلي صار انا اعتبرتو صاحبي بس هو طلع عدوي
I can’t believe it. I considered him my friend but he turns out to be my enemy
ديونها طلعت أكثر من عشر الآف دينار
Her debt came up [totaled up] to be more than 10, 000 dinars
Verb Form II: to take s/thing out
هو) طَلَّع – بِطَلِّع)
هو طلّع مصاري من جيبتو
He pulled out money from his pocket
طلّع الكيكة من الفرن
Take out the cake from the oven
انا شفتها بعيوني هي طلّعت الشنتات من السيارة
I saw with my own eyes that she took out the bags from the car
#5) To go/come down vs To get s/thing or s/one down
Verb Form I: to go/come down
هو) نِزِل – بِنزَل)
Notes: The verb نِزِل (just like طلع) can have several meanings depending on the contexts. In general, it can mean to come down, to make a trip down to a place, or to get in or off a vehicle.
هي بتنزل ع الدرج
She goes down the stairs
انزل عن الطاولة
Get down from the table
هو رح ينزل ع البحر الميت
He will make a trip down to the Dead Sea
رن علي لما تنزل من الباص
Give me a call when you get off the bus
الحرارة بتنزل اقل من صفر بالشتا
The temperature goes down below zero during the winter
سعر هدول الكمبيوترات نزل بآخر سنتين
The prices of these computers dropped in the last two years
Verb Form II: to get s/thing or s/one down from a higher place, or to download/upload
هو) نَزَّل – بِنَزِّل)
بتقدر تنزّل هداك الكتاب عن الرف؟
Can you get that book down from the top shelf?
هي نزّلت البسة عن الشجرة
She got the cat down from the tree
روح نزّلها عن الطاولة
Go and get her down from the table
This verb form can also be used to refer to downloading or uploading materials online. The preposition على or simply ع is often used after the verb to describe uploading, and من to describe downloading from a certain platform.
The audio for these sentence examples below is recorded by a Syrian native.
ما بحب نزّل (أنزّل) صور ولادي ع مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي
I don’t like to upload pictures of my children on social media
احمد نزّل صور رحلته عالفيش بعدما رجع من ايطاليا
Ahmad uploaded pictures of his trip on Facebook after he returned from Italy
اللي ساويته وعطيني رأيك appما تنسى تنزّل ال
Don’t forget to download the app that I created and give me your opinion
بتعرفوا كيف ممكن ننزّل فيديوهات من يوتوب؟
Do you (pl) know how can we download videos from Youtube?
#6) To return/come back vs To return s/thing back
Verb Form I: to return/come back
هو) رِجِع – برجَع)
Notes: In Spoken Arabic, this verb can be widely used to express more than just its literal meaning. If you want to further explore how this verb can be used in other contexts, you can check out the 101 Most Used Verbs in Spoken Arabic book by Fridrik Tiedeman or this post on the Team Maha blog.
هو بالعادة برجع ع البيت الساعة ثلاث المسا
He usually returns home at 3 pm
انت رجعت كتير متأخر مبارح بالليل
You came back very late last night
هي رجعت ع البيت عشان تشوف أهلها
She returned home in order to see her parents
Verb Form II: to return/give s/thing back
هو) رجّع – برجّع)
هو رجّعلها الكتب
He gave back the book to her
هدول مش مصاريك و لازم ترجّعهم
This is not your money and you have to return it
هي رح ترجّعلك المفاتيح بكرا
She will return the keys back to you tomorrow
#7) To defeat s/one vs To trouble s/one
Verb Form I: to defeat s/one
هو) غَلَب – بغلِب)
همه غلبو الفريق الازرق ووصلو النهائي
They defeated the Blue team and reached the finals.
هو دايما بغلبني بلعبة التنس
He always beats me at tennis
بالشهر الماضي احمد غلب علي بعشر نقاط لستة
In the last month, Ahmad defeated Ali with (a score of) ten points to six points
Verb Form II: to trouble s/one
هو) غَلَّب – بغلّب)
هي ما رح تغلّبك بس بدها تسألك شوية أسئلة
She won’t trouble you, she just wants to ask you a few questions
لا تغلّب حالك بكل هاي التفاصيل
Don’t trouble yourself with all these details
بقدر اغلّبك تفتح هداك الشباك؟
Could I trouble you to open that window?
#8) To get upset vs To upset s/one
Verb Form I: to get upset
هو) زِعِل – بزعَل)
هو زعل كتير ع ضياع جزدانو
He was really upset about losing his wallet
بابا بزعل كتير اذا ما رنينا عليه و حكينالو وين إحنا
Dad gets really upset if we don’t give him a call and tell him where we are
لا تزعلي ع الفستان رح نصلحو
Don’t be upset about the dress. We’ll fix it
Verb Form II: to make s/one upset
هو) زعّل – بزعّل)
هي زَعّلتني لما ضيعت التذاكر
She made me upset when she lost the tickets
انا اسف ما كان قصدي ازعّلك
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you
هو دايما بزعّلني ع أصغر الاشياء
He always makes me upset over the smallest things
#9) To wake up vs To wake s/one up
Verb Form I: to wake up
هو) صحي – بصحى)
Notes: Natives also use the verb فاق – بفيق to refer to waking up
هي بالعادة بتصحى ع الساعة ثمنية حتى بالعطلة
She usually wakes up at 8 o’clock, even on weekends
انت صحيت ثلاث مرات بالليل
You woke up three times last night
هو بصحى ع الساعة سبعة بس هو بحب يقرأ ويشرب قهوة بالتخت
He wakes up at 7 o’clock but he likes to read and drink coffee in bed
Verb Form II: to wake s/one up
هو) صحّى – بصحّي)
روح صحّي أخوك, احنا رح نروح كمان شوي
Go and wake up your brother. We are going off soon
هي صحّت الاولاد همه لازم يكونو بالمدرسة بكير
She woke up the children. They had to be in school early
بتقدر تصحيني ع الساعة سبعة ونص بكرا الصبح؟
Could you wake me up at 7:30 tomorrow morning?
#10) To walk vs To let it go/make s/thing work
Verb Form I: to walk
هو) مشى – بمشي)
امشي معي للمكتب اذا فاضي
Walk with me to the office if you’re free
هو بمشي مع صاحبو ع المدرسة كل يوم الصبح
He walks with his friend to school every morning
بكرا بدي اروح امشي ع الشط
I’ll be going for a walk on the beach tomorrow
Verb Form II: to make it work
هو) مشّى – بمشّي)
Notes: This verb form is often used in the contexts of “making it work”, “to let it go” or “to let it slip”. It can also be used as a plea to make a situation work by any means possible (underhand tactics included). It is also related to the idea of وسطة (relying on connections or network of powerful and influential individuals to get things done). Also, it is more common to use the imperative/command form.
ولا يهمك بعرف موظف اسمه احمد بمشّيلك معاملتكك بالبنك
Don’t worry about it. I know the employee, Ahmad, who will let your bank transaction through.
ممكن تمشّيلنا ملف الجواز بسرعة لانو رح نسافر الاسبوع الجاي
Can you help to settle the passport file quickly because we’ll be traveling next week [for example, when said to an employee who’s in charge of approving passports]
صاحبتي كتير حبابة اذا بدك حتمشّيلنا المشكلة ونخلص
My friend is very friendly and nice. If you want, she will help us to sort out the mess and we can wash our hands of the matter
مشّيها هالمرة, كلهم كم ليرة
Can you let this slip this time ’round, it’s only a few liras (dinars) [said when avoiding to pay for s/thing]
يا حبيبي مشّيلنا هالشب ابو بلوزة زرقا هو مستعجل كتير
Can you please attend to the guy in blue and get whatever he wants done. He’s in a hurry
هاي حقها عشر ليرات :A
مشّيها هالمرة بخمس ليرات المرة الجاي بندفعلك عشرة :B
A: This thing costs 10 liras [dinars]
B: Can you let us pay 5 liras first this time ’round, [make the transaction work with 5 liras], we’ll pay you 10 liras next time
#11) To sleep vs To put s/one to sleep
Verb Form I: to sleep
هو) نام – بنام)
هي نامت الساعة عشرة مبارح
She slept at 10 o’clock yesterday
هو بنام زي الملائكة
He slept like an angel
روح نام
Go to sleep
Verb Form I: to put s/one to sleep, to tuck s/one to bed
هو) نيّم – بنيّم)
هو نيّم المريض قبل العملية
He put the patient to sleep before the operation
هي بالعادة بتنيّم البيبي ع الساعة تسعة
She usually put the baby to sleep at 9 o’clock
حركة السيارة بتنيّمني
The motion of the car puts me to sleep
#12) To be afraid vs To frighten s/one
Verb Form I: to be afraid
هو) خاف – بخاف)
هو بخاف يطلع برا بالعتمة
He’s afraid of going out after dark
هي خافت لما هو صرخ عليها
She got afraid when he shouted at her
انا بخاف من العناكب
I’m afraid of spiders
Verb Form II: to frighten s/one [to make s/one afraid]
هو) خوّف – بخوّف)
هي خوّفت الاولاد بالقناع يلي لبستو
She frightened the kids with the mask that she was wearing
آسف ما كان قصدي اخوّفك
Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you
هو بخوّفها لما يسوق بسرعة كتير
He makes her afraid when he drives very quickly
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Concluding Remarks
Not all verbs in Form I exist in Form II as well but the examples provided above are some of the verbs that do.
In general, verb form II is causative in nature. In other words, it’s a verb used to demonstrate that some person or thing makes (or helps to make) something happens.
Most of the time, the meaning of the verbs in their 2nd form is obvious if you already know their meaning in the 1st form.
In some cases, like the verbs مشى and غلب, their meaning in the 2nd form may not be obvious. Thus, you just have to remember them by heart.
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Useful Levantine Arabic Expressions That Make Use of Verbs Form II
The two expressions are…
بيجنّن / بتجنّن
بيطيّر العقل / بتطيّر العقل
Both of the expressions can be used to describe anything that is very beautiful and amazing. The 2nd expression can also be used to describe something delicious.
Let’s take a look at the literal meanings in order to see the causative nature of the verbs form II in action.
If you say something (eg: a view, a picture or a dress) is بيجنّن, you’re describing it as extremely beautiful, awesome or breath-taking.
However, the word is actually a verb in its 2nd form that means to make someone crazy or to drive someone crazy. After all, the word for “crazy” in Arabic is مجنون / مجنونة / مجانين and shares the same roots as the verb.
Therefore, the idea behind the expression is that the item is gorgeous or wonderful because it possesses a level of beauty or awesomeness that can drive a person mad.
Similarly, the word بيطيّر in the 2nd expression is a verb in its 2nd form that means to make something fly or to cause something to fly.
So if you describe a dish as بتطيّر العقل, it means it’s extremely delicious because the dish causes the mind to fly!
To see more sentence examples of the 2nd expression, check this post that I wrote previously here.
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That’s it, for now! Take care and I’ll see ya in the hosh,
Lyn
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