Work and Study Collocations | Arabic (Levantine) Grammar

Work and study talk is built from collocations: recurring combinations such as حضر الصف “attend class,” غاب عن الصف “miss class,” and نجح بالامتحان “pass the exam.” The noun alone does not predict the verb or preposition. English speakers therefore learn faster by storing each combination as a frame, not by translating take, do, attend, or apply word by word.

Urban Lebanese workplaces and universities also use Arabic beside English and French terminology. A speaker may say اجتماع or meeting, موعد التسليم or deadline, depending on institution, field, audience, and moment. Code-switching is ordinary in many networks, but it is not identical across all speakers; this page gives productive Arabic frames and labels mixed alternatives rather than declaring one vocabulary set uniquely Lebanese. Review lexical preposition frames for the general system and mixed Arabic for register-sensitive code-switching.

Collocation table

Lebanese frame	Use	What to notice
حضر الصف / الاجتماع	attend class / the meeting	direct object; no equivalent of English to
غاب عن الصف	be absent from class	عن belongs to the frame
سلم الواجب / التقرير	hand in the assignment / report	direct object; recipient may take لـ
نجح / رسب بالامتحان	pass / fail the exam	بالامتحان, not a bare object
اختص بـ	specialize in	field follows بـ
قدم ع وظيفة	apply for a job	عـ introduces the opportunity
اشتغل ع مشروع	work on a project	person/company may instead follow مع or عند
عنده اجتماع / موعد تسليم	have a meeting / deadline	عند expresses a scheduled commitment

عندي محاضرة الساعة عشرة، وبعدها اجتماع مع المشرفة.

ʿinde muḥāḍara s-sēʿa ʿashra, w-baʿda zhtimēʿ maʿ el-msharrfe.

I have a lecture at ten, and after it a meeting with my supervisor.

حضرت الصف الصبح، بس غبت عن المختبر بعد الضهر.

ḥaḍaret eṣ-ṣaff eṣ-ṣoboḥ, bass ghibt ʿan el-mokhtabar baʿd eḍ-ḍohor.

I attended class in the morning, but I missed the lab in the afternoon.

حضر profiles participation; غاب عن profiles absence from an expected setting. English miss class can also mean regret not being there, so translate the event first: an absence is غاب عن, while “I miss my classmates” needs an emotion expression.

Submitting work and negotiating a deadline

سلم means “hand over/submit.” It takes the item directly, while the recipient can be introduced with لـ. For a due time, قبل + time, لـ + day, and آخر + period are common, but their exact institutional interpretation should be confirmed.

سلمت التقرير للمشرفة قبل الموعد بيومين.

sallamet et-taʾrīr lil-msharrfe ʾabl el-mawʿed b-yawmēn.

I submitted the report to my supervisor two days before the deadline.

بعدني ما خلصت الواجب، فيني سلمه بكرا الصبح؟

baʿdne ma khallaṣt el-wēzheb, fīne sallmo bokra ṣ-ṣoboḥ?

I still haven't finished the assignment; can I hand it in tomorrow morning?

An English deadline is often heard unchanged (informal, mixed Arabic). موعد التسليم is an explicit Arabic alternative useful across mixed and more Arabic-dominant settings. Do not assume that an English label makes the surrounding grammar English: speakers still say الديدلاين آخر النهار and attach Lebanese articles or prepositions.

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When the time matters legally or academically, restate it as a complete question: يعني لازم سلمه قبل الساعة خمسة؟ “So I have to submit it before five?” That repairs ambiguity more reliably than debating what “by Friday” ought to mean.

Exams: pass and fail are prepositional

For the outcome of an exam, both نجح “succeed/pass” and رسب “fail” commonly take بـ. The student is the subject; the exam is not a direct object as it is in English.

نجحت بالامتحان الأول، بس رسبت بالتاني ورح عيده.

nzhaḥt bil-imtiḥān el-awwal, bass rsibt bit-tēne w-raḥ ʿīdo.

I passed the first exam, but I failed the second and I'm going to retake it.

إذا نجحتي بالمادة، فيكي تسجلي بالمستوى التاني.

iza nzhaḥte bil-mēdde, fīke tsazhzhele bil-mostawa t-tēne.

If you pass the course, you can register for the second level. (addressing one woman)

المادة may mean a course/subject, whereas الامتحان is the assessment. Passing one is not automatically identical to passing the other, so choose the noun that matches the actual result.

Fields, projects, and applications

Use درس + field for what someone studies, but اختص بـ + field for a specialization. At work, اشتغل عـ introduces a task or project. اشتغل بـ more readily identifies a domain, activity, or place-like setting, and اشتغل عند/مع identifies an employer or colleague.

درست هندسة معلوماتية، وبعدين اختصيت بأمن الشبكات.

daraset handaset maʿlūmētiyye, w-baʿdēn khtaṣṣayt b-amn esh-shabakēt.

I studied computer engineering, then specialized in network security.

عم بشتغل ع مشروع جديد مع فريق زغير.

ʿam bshtaghel ʿa mashrūʿ zhdīd maʿ farīʾ zghīr.

I'm working on a new project with a small team.

قدمت ع وظيفة بالمختبر وبعتت السيرة الذاتية مبارح.

ʾaddamet ʿa waẓīfe bil-mokhtabar w-baʿatet es-sīra z-zētiyye mbēreḥ.

I applied for a job at the lab and sent the résumé yesterday.

Here قدم عـ is the application frame. قدم التقرير without عـ instead means “presented/submitted the report.” A small preposition separates an opportunity from an item handed over.

Meetings and mixed terminology

اجتماع، عرض، موعد التسليم are broadly understandable Arabic terms. Meeting, presentation, and deadline also occur (informal, mixed Arabic; frequency varies by workplace and speaker). The switch may index an institution's working language or simply retrieve the label used on a calendar; it does not by itself prove formality, education, or attitude.

عنا اجتماع أونلاين الساعة تلاتة، والديدلاين آخر النهار.

ʿinna zhtimēʿ ōnlāyn es-sēʿa tlēte, w-ed-dīdlāyn ēkher en-nahār.

We have an online meeting at three, and the deadline is the end of the day. (informal, mixed Arabic)

فينا نأجل العرض لنص ساعة؟ بعد الزبون ما وصل.

fīna nʾazhzhil el-ʿarḍ la-noṣṣ sēʿa? baʿd ez-zabūn ma wiṣel.

Can we postpone the presentation for half an hour? The client hasn't arrived yet.

A reusable scheduling frame

Build a compact update with:

عندي/عنا + [event] + [time]، ولازم + [bare verb] + [task] + قبل + [time].

After لازم, the verb is the bare imperfect, without the ordinary b- prefix. Person marking remains.

عنا اجتماع الخميس، ولازم نخلص النسخة الجديدة قبل الضهر.

ʿinna zhtimēʿ el-khamīs, w-lēzem nkhalleṣ en-noskha l-zhdīde ʾabl eḍ-ḍohor.

We have a meeting Thursday, and we have to finish the new version before noon.

عندي امتحان التلاتا، ولازم راجع تلات وحدات قبل الاتنين.

ʿinde mtiḥān et-tlēta, w-lēzem rēzheʿ tlēt wiḥdēt ʾabl el-itnēn.

I have an exam Tuesday, and I need to review three units before Monday.

Dialogue 1: asking about a late assignment

أستاذة، بعدني ما خلصت البحث. فيني سلمه بكرا؟

ustēze, baʿdne ma khallaṣt el-baḥs. fīne sallmo bokra?

Student: Professor, I still haven't finished the paper. Can I submit it tomorrow?

الموعد اليوم، بس إذا بتبعته قبل بكرا الضهر بقبله.

el-mawʿed el-yawm, bass iza btibʿato ʾabl bokra ḍ-ḍohor bʾablo.

Instructor: The deadline is today, but if you send it before noon tomorrow, I'll accept it.

تمام، يعني آخر مهلة بكرا الساعة تنعش.

tamēm, yaʿne ēkher mohle bokra s-sēʿa tnāʿash.

Student: Okay, so the final cutoff is tomorrow at twelve. (confirmation repair)

The student does not rely on an approximate promise; the final turn converts it into a checkable time.

Dialogue 2: a project update

وين صرنا بالمشروع؟ عنا اجتماع مع الزبون بكرا.

wēn ṣirna bil-mashrūʿ? ʿinna zhtimēʿ maʿ ez-zabūn bokra.

Manager: Where are we on the project? We have a client meeting tomorrow.

خلصنا التصميم، وبعد بدنا نجرب النسخة عالتلفون.

khallaṣna t-taṣmīm, w-baʿd badna nzharreb en-noskha ʿat-telefon.

Colleague: We finished the design, and we still need to test the version on the phone.

إذا طلع في مشكلة، خبرني قبل الاجتماع.

iza ṭiliʿ fī moshkle, khabberne ʾabl el-zhtimēʿ.

Manager: If a problem turns up, tell me before the meeting.

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A work update sounds natural when it names status, remaining action, and time: خلصنا...، وبعد بدنا...، قبل.... This pattern transfers across study and employment settings.

Common Mistakes

Copying English object structure with exam results

❌ نجحت الامتحان النهائي.

Incorrect for the Beirut frame—the exam is not a direct object of نجح.

✅ نجحت بالامتحان النهائي بعد أسبوع دراسة.

nzhaḥt bil-imtiḥān en-nihēʾe baʿd usbūʿ drēse.

I passed the final exam after a week of studying.

Using one preposition for every meaning of “work”

❌ عم اشتغل بالمشروع مع صفحة تسجيل الدخول.

Wrong frame for ‘work on’: بـ tends to identify a domain or setting here, not the task under development.

✅ عم بشتغل ع مشروع جديد، وهلق عم بعدل صفحة تسجيل الدخول.

ʿam bshtaghel ʿa mashrūʿ zhdīd, w-hallaʾ ʿam bʿaddel ṣafḥet taszhīl ed-dokhūl.

I'm working on a new project, and right now I'm modifying the login page.

Losing the application preposition

❌ قدمت وظيفة جديدة بالشركة.

This sounds as though you presented or submitted a new job, not that you applied for it.

✅ قدمت ع وظيفة جديدة بالشركة وناطر ردن.

ʾaddamet ʿa waẓīfe zhdīde bish-sherke w-nāṭer raddon.

I applied for a new job at the company and I'm waiting for their reply. (male speaker)

Keeping b- after لازم

❌ لازم بنسلم التقرير قبل الجمعة.

Incorrect neutral modal frame—لازم licenses the bare imperfect.

✅ لازم نسلم التقرير قبل الجمعة، لأنو الاجتماع الاتنين.

lēzem nsallem et-taʾrīr ʾabl el-zhomʿa, laʾanno l-zhtimēʿ el-itnēn.

We have to submit the report before Friday, because the meeting is Monday.

Key Takeaways

Store the whole frames حضر الصف، غاب عن الصف، سلم التقرير، نجح بالامتحان، اختص بـ، قدم ع وظيفة، اشتغل ع مشروع. Use عندي/عنا for scheduled commitments and confirm an ambiguous deadline with a full time. Mixed English or French labels are contextual alternatives, not replacements for Lebanese syntax: articles, prepositions, agreement, and the surrounding verb frame still do the grammatical work.

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