Lebanese عندʿand locates something in the sphere of a person, business, institution, or landmark. From “at someone’s place” comes a central possession pattern: عندي سيارة “I have a car.” The car exists within my sphere of possession; Lebanese does not need an everyday verb equivalent to English have.
The same spatial logic connects “at the doctor’s,” “available from us,” and “I have an appointment.” All core uses here are ordinary urban Lebanese (informal). Formal لدى appears in MSA (formal), not as a more correct version of casual عند.
At a person's place or an institution
Before a person, عند often means “at that person’s home, office, shop, or professional place.” The exact site comes from shared knowledge.
أنا عند رنا، ومنرجع بعد شوي.
ana ʿand Rana, w-mnirzhaʿ baʿd shwayy.
I'm at Rana's place, and we'll come back in a little while. (informal)
بابا عند الدكتور من الصبح.
bāba ʿand ed-doktōr men eṣ-ṣobeḥ.
Dad has been at the doctor's since this morning. (informal; professional place)
منلتقي عند البنك عالخمسة.
mniltaʾe ʿand el-bank ʿal-khamse.
We'll meet at the bank at five. (informal; institution as meeting point)
With an institution or landmark, عند presents it as the relevant point or vicinity. بالبنك instead locates someone inside or engaged at the bank. Compare استناني عند البنك “wait for me at/by the bank” with أنا بالبنك “I'm in/at the bank.” The contrast is conceptual, not a fixed translation of English at.
Suffixed عند identifies the possessor
The common forms are عنديʿinde, عندكʿandak to a man and ʿindik to a woman, عندهʿindo, عندهاʿinda, عندناʿindna, عندنʿindon, and plural-address عندكنʿindkon. Frequent Lebanese speech contracts عندنا to عناʿinna, the form used in several examples below. The suffix is the possessor; an extra English-style possessive verb is unnecessary.
عندي سيارة زغيرة للشغل.
ʿinde sayyāra zghīre lash-shoghol.
I have a small car for work. (informal; general possession)
عندها أخ وأختين.
ʿinda akh w-okhtēn.
She has a brother and two sisters. (informal; kinship stated existentially)
عندن مكتب قريب من هون.
ʿindon maktab ʾrīb men hōn.
They have an office near here. (informal; possession or institutional access)
The noun after عند is normally indefinite when newly introduced: عندي سيارة “I have a car.” A definite noun can be topical: السيارة عندي “the car is with/in my possession,” where the question is who currently controls it.
Possession, access, and availability
عند covers more than legal ownership. It can mean stable possession, access to a resource, or something available in a shop or organization’s stock.
عندكن هالمقاس بالأسود؟
ʿindkon hal-maʾās bil-aswad?
Do you have this size in black? (service question; stock available to the shop)
عنا غرفة فاضية إذا بدك تبات.
ʿinna ghorfe fāḍye iza baddak tbēt.
We have an empty room if you want to stay the night. (informal; available resource)
النسخة الأصلية عند المحامي.
en-noskha l-aṣliyye ʿand el-muḥāme.
The original copy is with the lawyer. (neutral; custody, not necessarily ownership)
English have hides these distinctions. The shop does not “own” every available size in the same sense that someone owns a house, and the lawyer need not own the document. عند says that the item lies within the relevant person’s or institution’s domain.
عند versus مع
عند profiles the broader possession domain; مع profiles immediate company or current portability. Both can describe the same object at different moments.
عندي جواز سفر، بس مش معي هلق.
ʿinde zhawēz safar, bass mish maʿe hallaʾ.
I have a passport, but I don't have it with me now. (informal; general possession versus current company)
المفتاح عندي بالبيت، مش معي بالسيارة.
el-miftēḥ ʿinde bil-bēt, mish maʿe bis-sayyāra.
The key is at my place, not with me in the car. (informal; domain versus carried possession)
عندك شاحن بالبيت؟ ومعك واحد هلق؟
ʿandak shāḥen bil-bēt? w-maʿak wāḥad hallaʾ?
Do you own/have a charger at home? And do you have one with you now? (informal contrast)
The border can shift with context because possession itself is a conceptual domain, but “generally available/owned” versus “with the person now” is the reliable learner distinction. See مع and Immediate Possession.
Appointments, tasks, and situations in one's sphere
Lebanese extends عند to scheduled events, work, questions, and problems that a person has to deal with. These are not physical objects, but they belong to that person’s current domain.
عندي موعد مع الدكتور بكرا.
ʿinde mawʿed maʿ ed-doktōr bokra.
I have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow. (informal; scheduled event)
عنا شغل كتير قبل الافتتاح.
ʿinna shoghol ktīr ʾabel el-iftitēḥ.
We have a lot of work before the opening. (informal; obligation/workload)
عندي سؤال زغير عن الفاتورة.
ʿinde soʾāl zghīr ʿan el-fātūra.
I have a small question about the bill. (polite conversational opener)
These collocations are conventional and productive, but still not a universal verb have. Bodily states, age, and many weather expressions use other grammar.
Habitual location at someone's place
Because عند فلان means “at so-and-so’s place,” it naturally describes repeated social routines.
كل جمعة منتغدى عند ستي.
kill zhomʿa mnitghadda ʿand sitte.
Every Friday we have lunch at my grandmother's. (informal habitual location)
عادة منعمل الاجتماع عندن بالمكتب.
ʿāde mniʿmal el-izhtimēʿ ʿindon bil-maktab.
We usually hold the meeting at their office. (informal habitual setting)
Notice the layering: عندن selects their sphere; بالمكتب specifies the physical room or institution within it.
Negation and definite topics
Use ما عندي + indefinite noun to deny possession or availability. With a definite item already under discussion, مش عندي often denies that it is in my custody.
ما عندي وقت اليوم، منحكي بكرا.
ma ʿinde waʾet el-yōm, mniḥke bokra.
I don't have time today; we'll talk tomorrow. (informal; existential negation)
الملف مش عندي؛ تركته عند السكرتيرة.
el-malaf mish ʿinde; tarakto ʿand es-sikritēra.
I don't have the file; I left it with the secretary. (informal; definite topic and custody)
Questions keep عند with its complement
Ask عند مين؟ “at whose place / with whom?” A simple Lebanese question does not leave عند bare at the end.
عند مين الموعد، الدكتور حداد أو الدكتور نصر؟
ʿand mīn el-mawʿed, ed-doktōr Ḥaddād aw ed-doktōr Naṣer?
Who is the appointment with, Dr. Haddad or Dr. Nasr? (service clarification)
النسخة الأصلية عند مين هلق؟
en-noskha l-aṣliyye ʿand mīn hallaʾ?
Who has the original copy now? (in situ; asking about custody)
Dialogue: confirming an appointment
مرحبا، عندي موعد عند الدكتور حداد عالتلاتة.
marḥaba, ʿinde mawʿed ʿand ed-doktōr Ḥaddād ʿat-talāte.
Patient: Hello, I have an appointment with Dr. Haddad at three. (polite service context)
إي، اسمك عندي عاللايحة.
ē, ismak ʿinde ʿal-lāyḥa.
Receptionist: Yes, I have your name on the list.
في عندكن محل انطر جوا؟
fī ʿindkon maḥall onṭor zhuwwa?
Patient: Do you have somewhere inside where I can wait?
إي، عنا غرفة انتظار حد المصعد.
ē, ʿinna ghorfit intiẓār ḥadd el-miṣʿad.
Receptionist: Yes, we have a waiting room beside the elevator.
Common Mistakes
Using مع for stable property
❌ معي شقة ببيروت بس مأجرها.
Wrong for ordinary property possession — the apartment is not accompanying the speaker.
✅ عندي شقة ببيروت بس مأجرها.
ʿinde shaʾʾa b-Bayrūt bass mʾazhzhira.
I have an apartment in Beirut, but I rent it out.
Leaving the possessor suffix off
❌ أنا عند سيارة صغيرة.
Incorrect for ‘I have a small car’ — possession requires the suffixed form عندي.
✅ أنا عندي سيارة زغيرة.
ana ʿinde sayyāra zghīre.
I have a small car. (contrastive أنا is possible; عندي carries possession)
Stranding عند
❌ مين تركت الملف عند؟
Incorrect English-style stranding — عند needs its complement.
✅ عند مين تركت الملف؟
ʿand mīn taraket el-malaf?
Who did you leave the file with?
Using formal لدى in casual Lebanese
❌ لدي موعد بكرا عند الدكتور.
Register mismatch — لدي is formal/MSA-like in an otherwise everyday Lebanese sentence.
✅ عندي موعد بكرا عند الدكتور.
ʿinde mawʿed bokra ʿand ed-doktōr.
I have an appointment at the doctor's tomorrow. (informal Lebanese)
Key Takeaways
Use عند for a location anchored by a person, institution, or landmark. With suffixes, it places an item, resource, appointment, or responsibility in someone’s possession domain. Contrast broad عندي with immediate معي, and location عند البنك with interior بالبنك. Keep عند مين together in simple questions and use the spoken suffix forms rather than a separate pronoun.
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- مع: With and Having on One's PersonA1 — Use Lebanese مع for accompaniment, interaction, and things or resources presently with someone, while distinguishing it from عند and instrumental بـ.
- في: In and There IsA1 — Distinguish existential في, suffixed locative or instrumental فيـ, and modal فيـ in the Beirut system.
- Wh-in-Situ and Wh-FrontingB1 — Choose between leaving Lebanese question words in their semantic slot and moving them to the front, with attention to argument type, focus, prepositions, and prosody.
- Pronoun Suffixes after PrepositionsB1 — Use Beirut suffixed forms of مع، من، على، في، لـ, and بـ, including their irregular stems and verb-selected meanings.
- Possession with عند plus SuffixA1 — Express having, availability, relationships, and past possession with عند and its personal suffixes.
- Possession and Accompaniment with مع plus SuffixB1 — Use مع plus a pronoun suffix for what someone has with them, immediate resources, companions, and several high-frequency Lebanese idioms.