Lebanese passive participles foreground an affected state: الطلب محضّر “the order is prepared,” الباب مكسور “the door is broken.” Most naturally, the agent is omitted because the result—not the doer—is the point. When another participant matters, Lebanese does not use one universal equivalent of English by.
Choose the phrase according to its semantic role: a responsible human, an instrument, a physical cause, a source, or a complement inherited from the verb. If the human agent is central, an active finite clause is often more conversational than a heavy participle-plus-agent construction. See Lebanese Passive Strategies for the wider system.
Derivation map: identify the participle before adding a phrase
The agent or cause phrase does not create the passive reading. It attaches to an already established passive/result participle, whose shape depends on the verb family.
| Family | Verb | Passive/result participle | Typical affected entity |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | دفع dafaʿ “pay” | مدفوع madfūʿ | a bill or amount |
| II | حضّر ḥaḍḍar “prepare” | محضّر mḥaḍḍar | an order or document |
| II | رمّم rammam “restore” | مرمّم mrammam | a building or object |
| III | راجع rāzhaʿ “review” | مراجع mrāzhaʿ | a plan or report |
Relation map: do not translate “by” first
The following choices are tendencies, not interchangeable decorations.
| Relation | Common packaging | Example | Register |
|---|---|---|---|
| agent omitted | participle alone | الطلب محضر | all registers |
| responsible agent | من / من قبل | محضر من الفريق | من neutral-professional; من قبل formal |
| maker/achievement | على إيد | مرمم على إيد حرفيين | neutral to formal |
| instrument/means | بـ | مربوط بحبل | all registers |
| physical source/cause | من | مبلول من المطر | everyday |
| explicit cause | بسبب / كرمال | مأجل بسبب الطقس | neutral/formal; informal |
الطلبات محضرة، بس بعدها مش موزعة.
eṭ-ṭalabāt mḥaḍḍare, bass baʿda mish mwazzaʿa.
The orders are prepared, but they haven't been distributed yet. (professional; agents naturally omitted)
الحبال مربوطة منيح، فينا نبلش نحمل.
el-ḥbēl marbūṭa mnīḥ, fīna nballesh niḥmol.
The ropes are tied securely; we can start carrying. (informal; result matters, not who tied them)
Omit the agent when the result answers the question
In service, household, and workplace talk, speakers frequently ask whether something is ready, open, paid, arranged, or damaged. A passive participle answers directly; naming who caused the state may be irrelevant.
الحساب مدفوع، ما في داعي تطلع محفظتك.
el-ḥisēb madfūʿ, ma fī dēʿe tṭalleʿ miḥfaẓtak.
The bill is paid; there's no need to take out your wallet. (informal; result with omitted payer)
هيدي الطاولة محجوزة للساعة تمانية.
hayde ṭ-ṭāwle maḥzhūze lis-sēʿa tmēnye.
This table is reserved for eight o'clock. (service context; recipient/time purpose with لـ)
The second example's لـ is not an agent. It marks the reservation's intended time. Always label the relation before choosing a preposition.
Naming a responsible human: من and formal من قبل
Plain من can introduce a source or responsible producer in professional spoken Lebanese, especially with prepared, approved, or supplied material. من قبل is more explicit and formal, common in documents, announcements, and careful institutional speech. Neither is a neutral word-for-word replacement for English by in every sentence.
الخطة مراجعة من مستشار مستقل.
el-khiṭṭa mrāzhaʿa min mostashār mostaʾill.
The plan has been reviewed by an independent consultant. (professional spoken Lebanese)
القرار صادر من قبل الإدارة ومطبق عالكل.
el-ʾarār ṣāder min ʾibal el-idāra w-mṭabbaʾ ʿal-kill.
The decision was issued by management and applies to everyone. (formal institutional contact)
In casual conversation, prefer an active clause when the person is newsworthy: المستشار راجع الخطة is lighter than an English-shaped passive with a long agent phrase.
رنا حضرت الطلبات قبل ما يوصل السايق.
Rana ḥaḍḍarit eṭ-ṭalabāt ʾabel ma yōṣal es-sēyeʾ.
Rana prepared the orders before the driver arrived. (neutral; active finite clause because Rana matters)
على إيد for maker, restorer, or human achievement
على إيد “at the hands of” highlights human creation, restoration, training, or achievement. It is common in cultural, craft, historical, and promotional contexts. It sounds marked if used for every routine action.
البيت مرمم على إيد حرفيين من المنطقة.
el-bēt mrammam ʿala īd ḥirafiyyīn min el-minṭaʾa.
The house was restored by craftspeople from the area. (neutral/cultural; human workmanship)
هالمجموعة مدربة على إيد خبيرة بالإسعافات الأولية.
hal-mazhmūʿa mdarrabe ʿala īd khabīra bil-isʿāfāt el-awwaliyye.
This group was trained by a first-aid specialist. (professional; expertise foregrounded)
For “the email was sent by Maya,” ordinary speech normally says مايا بعتت الإيميل. مبعوت على إيد مايا would overdramatize a routine sender.
بـ for instrument, means, material, and manner
Instrumental بـ answers “with what / by what means?” It does not identify an intentional agent. The same preposition can mark material or manner, so interpret the noun semantically.
الكرتونة مربوطة بحبل سميك.
el-kartōne marbūṭa b-ḥabel smīk.
The box is tied with a thick rope. (informal; instrument/material)
الاسم مكتوب بقلم رصاص ومبين بصعوبة.
el-isim maktūb b-ʾalam rṣāṣ w-mbayyen b-ṣoʿūbe.
The name is written in pencil and is hard to make out. (neutral; writing instrument)
الصورة مأخوذة بكاميرا قديمة، مش بالتلفون.
eṣ-ṣūra maʾkhūde b-kāmīra ʾdīme, mish bit-tilifōn.
The photo was taken with an old camera, not a phone. (informal; means/instrument contrast)
English by phone and with a phone both use بالتلفون in relevant contexts; the semantic role comes from the participle and situation.
من for physical source; بسبب for explicit cause
Plain من is natural with rain, heat, impact, pressure, or another source that produces a visible state. بسبب makes causal reasoning explicit and works well in neutral/professional speech. كرمال can introduce reason in informal Lebanese, but with participles a finite clause often sounds lighter.
تيابي مبلولة من المطر، بدي غيرهن.
tyēbe mablūle min el-maṭar, badde ghayyirhon.
My clothes are wet from the rain; I want to change them. (informal; physical source)
الرحلة مأجلة بسبب العاصفة البحرية.
er-riḥle mʾazhzhale b-sabab el-ʿāṣfe l-baḥriyye.
The trip is postponed because of the sea storm. (neutral announcement; explicit cause)
طرف الطاولة مكسور من الضربة، مش من الرطوبة.
ṭaraf eṭ-ṭāwle maksūr min eḍ-ḍarbe, mish min er-roṭūbe.
The edge of the table is broken from the impact, not from dampness. (informal; competing physical causes)
Preserve complements inherited from the lexical family
Not every phrase after a participle is an agent or cause. Some participles retain a preposition selected by their lexical family: معروف بـ “known for,” محجوز لـ “reserved for,” متفق على “agreed on,” مشغول بـ “busy with.” Translating English by or with mechanically can erase this distinction.
هالمحل معروف بالمناقيش ومحبوب من أهل الحي.
hal-maḥall maʿrūf bil-manāʾīsh w-maḥbūb min ahl el-ḥayy.
This shop is known for its manakish and loved by neighborhood residents. (informal; property complement versus experiencer group)
Finite event versus state with cause
الهوا فتح الباب فجأة.
el-hawa fataḥ el-bēb fazhʾa.
The wind opened the door suddenly. (informal; finite causal event)
الباب مفتوح من الهوا وبعده عم بيخبط.
el-bēb maftūḥ min el-hawa w-baʿdo ʿam byikhboṭ.
The door is open from the wind and is still banging. (informal; resulting state plus cause)
The finite clause narrates what happened; the participle reports the current outcome. The cause phrase does not turn the participle into a finite passive tense.
Dialogue: who prepared the file?
الملف محضر ولا بعده ناقص؟
el-malaf mḥaḍḍar walla baʿdo nāʾeṣ?
Manager: Is the file prepared, or is it still incomplete? (professional dialogue; agent omitted)
محضر من رنا ومراجع من المستشار القانوني.
mḥaḍḍar min Rana w-mrāzhaʿ min el-mostashār el-ʾānūne.
Employee: It was prepared by Rana and reviewed by the legal adviser. (professional dialogue; responsible humans relevant)
Contrast with MSA passive clauses
Formal MSA can use an inflected passive verb and may add مِن قِبَل in contemporary institutional prose. Ordinary Beirut speech more often chooses a result participle, an intransitive/middle verb, or an active clause. Do not insert MSA passive vowels or case endings into Lebanese examples.
For a named human, the most natural choice is often:
- result important: الخطة مراجعة “the plan is reviewed”;
- agent important: المستشار راجع الخطة “the consultant reviewed the plan”;
- institutional formal contact: الخطة مراجعة من قبل المستشار.
Common Mistakes
Translating every English “by” with من قبل
❌ الباب مفتوح من قبل الهوا.
Incorrect relation/register — wind is a physical cause, not an institutional agent introduced by formal من قبل.
✅ الباب مفتوح من الهوا، سكره لو سمحت.
el-bēb maftūḥ min el-hawa, sakkaro law samaḥt.
The door blew open in the wind; close it, please.
Using an instrument phrase as a human agent
❌ التقرير محضر بقسم المحاسبة.
Ambiguous for intended human responsibility — بـ suggests location/means rather than clearly naming the preparer.
✅ قسم المحاسبة حضر التقرير قبل نهاية الشهر.
ʾisem el-moḥāsabe ḥaḍḍar et-taʾrīr ʾabel nihēyet esh-shaher.
The accounting department prepared the report before the end of the month.
Naming an irrelevant agent
❌ الحساب مدفوع من قبل الشخص يلي دفعه.
Grammatically interpretable but pragmatically empty — the agent phrase merely repeats ‘the person who paid it.’
✅ الحساب مدفوع، خلينا نمشي.
el-ḥisēb madfūʿ, khallīna nimshe.
The bill is paid; let's go.
Ignoring participle agreement
❌ الرحلة مأجل بسبب الطقس.
Incorrect — feminine الرحلة requires مأجلة.
✅ الرحلة مأجلة، وبعتولنا موعد جديد.
er-riḥle mʾazhzhale, w-baʿatūlna mawʿed zhdīd.
The trip is postponed, and they sent us a new date.
Key Takeaways
Omit the agent when the affected result is what matters. Use an active finite clause when a human doer is central. In professional or formal-contact speech, من / من قبل can name responsibility; على إيد highlights human making or achievement; بـ marks instrument or means; من often marks physical source; and بسبب makes cause explicit. Lexically selected prepositions remain a separate relation.
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- Passive Participles of Derived FormsB1 — Recognize and use Lebanese passive participles from derived verbs, including hidden vowel contrasts, agreement, lexical gaps, and register differences.
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- من: From, Of, and ThanA1 — Use من for sources, materials, partitives, causes, and comparisons, with natural connected pronunciation and suffix forms.