Lebanese تحتtaḥt locates something below a landmark, while فوقfōʾ locates it above. They can describe a static scene, form part of a path such as من تحت الجسر “from under the bridge,” or stand alone as directional adverbs: اطلع لفوق “go up.”
Vertical space also supports abstract meanings. Someone can work “under” a manager, a cost can be “over” a limit, and a task can be “above” one’s capacity. These extensions are ordinary Lebanese, but each has its own construction; translating every English over or under mechanically will fail.
Static vertical location
Put تحت or فوق before the landmark that establishes the vertical axis.
الشنطة تحت الكرسي حد الباب.
esh-shanṭa taḥt el-kerse ḥadd el-bēb.
The bag is under the chair beside the door. (informal; static location)
حطيت المفتاح فوق الخزانة.
ḥaṭṭēt el-miftēḥ fōʾ el-khzēne.
I put the key on top of the cabinet. (informal; upper location)
في تمديدات تحت الأرض بهالشارع.
fī tamdīdāt taḥt el-areḍ b-hal-shēreʿ.
There are utility lines underground on this street. (neutral)
Neither word itself guarantees contact. فوق الخزانة may mean resting on its top or spatially above it; the object and context decide. When support/contact is central, على is more precise.
فوق versus على
English on and above invite a useful minimal pair. على profiles contact or support by a surface. فوق profiles the vertical relation and can include a gap.
الكتاب عالطاولة، واللمبة فوق الطاولة.
el-ktēb ʿaṭ-ṭāwle, wil-lamba fōʾ eṭ-ṭāwle.
The book is on the table, and the lamp is above the table. (support versus vertical position)
الصندوق فوق الخزانة ومسنود عالحيط.
eṣ-ṣondūʾ fōʾ el-khzēne w-masnūd ʿal-ḥēṭ.
The box is on top of the cabinet and leaning against the wall. (vertical region plus support relation)
الصورة معلقة فوق الكنباية، مش عليها.
eṣ-ṣūra mʿallaʾa fōʾ el-kanabēye, mish ʿalēha.
The picture is hanging above the sofa, not on it. (explicit non-contact contrast)
Paths: from under, from above, upward, and downward
Other prepositions can frame تحت and فوق as route regions. من تحت marks a source or route from underneath; من فوق marks one from above; لتحت and لفوق give downward and upward direction.
مرقنا من تحت الجسر لأن الطريق التاني مسكر.
mriʾna men taḥt el-zhiser laʾann eṭ-ṭarīʾ et-tēne msakkar.
We went under the bridge because the other road was closed. (informal route)
نزل الصندوق من فوق الرف شوي شوي.
nazzal eṣ-ṣondūʾ men fōʾ er-raff shwayy shwayy.
He lowered the box from the top of the shelf slowly. (source from above)
اطلع لفوق وخد أول باب عاليمين.
ṭlaʿ la-fōʾ w-khod awwal bēb ʿal-yamīn.
Go upstairs and take the first door on the right. (informal directions)
الموقف لتحت، طابقين تحت الأرض.
el-mawʾef la-taḥt, ṭābʾēn taḥt el-areḍ.
The parking garage is downstairs, two floors underground. (informal directions)
In the last two examples, لفوق and لتحت act as directional adverbs with no following landmark. Once a noun landmark follows, use the relational form: فوق المطعم “above the restaurant,” تحت المكتب “below the office.”
Pronoun suffixes
Both words take ordinary prepositional suffixes: فوقي “above me,” فوقك “above you,” فوقه “above it/him,” and correspondingly تحتي، تحتك، تحته. In urban speech, third-person plural forms include فوقنfōʾon and تحتنtaḥton.
ساكنين فوقنا وعندن ولدين زغار.
sāknīn fōʾna w-ʿindon waladēn zghār.
They live above us and have two young children. (informal)
المخزن تحتنا مباشرة.
el-makhzan taḥtna mobāshara.
The storage room is directly below us. (neutral)
دير بالك، في رف واطي فوقك.
dīr bēlak, fī raff wāṭe fōʾak.
Watch out; there's a low shelf above you. (informal warning to one man)
The suffix replaces the full complement. Do not say a suffixed form and then repeat an independent pronoun unless you are adding a genuine contrast. The broader inventory appears in Prepositions with Pronoun Suffixes.
Hierarchy and control
Vertical space metaphorically organizes authority. تحت إدارة means “under the management of,” while من فوق can refer to a higher level of an organization (informal workplace metaphor).
هالفريق تحت إدارة نادين من أول السنة.
hal-farīʾ taḥt idārit Nādīn men awwal es-sane.
This team has been under Nadine's management since the start of the year. (professional spoken)
القرار إجا من فوق، مش من مدير الفرع.
el-ʾarār izha men fōʾ, mish men mdīr el-fareʿ.
The decision came from higher up, not from the branch manager. (informal workplace metaphor)
اشتغلنا تحت ضغط كبير لنخلص بوقتها.
ishtaghalna taḥt ḍagheṭ kbīr linkhalleṣ b-waʾta.
We worked under a lot of pressure to finish it on time. (professional spoken metaphor)
These phrases are established metaphors. They do not imply literal vertical location, and another English phrase with under may select different Lebanese wording.
Thresholds and capacity with فوق
فوق can mean “more than” a numerical threshold or “beyond” a capacity. This resembles English over, but it is specifically a scale relation.
كان في فوق المية شخص بالقاعة.
kēn fī fōʾ el-miyye shakhṣ bil-ʾāʿa.
There were over a hundred people in the hall. (neutral threshold)
التصليح رح يكلف فوق الألف دولار.
et-taṣlīḥ raḥ ykallef fōʾ el-alef dōlār.
The repair will cost over a thousand dollars. (informal estimate)
هالمهمة فوق طاقتي لحالي.
hal-mohimme fōʾ ṭāʾte la-ḥāle.
This task is beyond my capacity on my own. (informal metaphor)
أكتر من also means “more than” and is broadly available. فوق makes the threshold image particularly vivid: the value crosses an upper line.
Dialogue: finding an office
لو سمحت، مكتب المحامي فوق البنك أو تحته؟
law samaḥt, maktab el-muḥāme fōʾ el-bank aw taḥto?
Visitor: Excuse me, is the lawyer's office above the bank or below it? (polite route question)
فوق البنك بطابق واحد.
fōʾ el-bank b-ṭābeʾ wāḥad.
Local: One floor above the bank.
بطلع بهالدرج؟
biṭlaʿ b-had-darazh?
Visitor: Do I go up these stairs?
إي، اطلع لفوق، والمكتب فوقك دغري.
ē, ṭlaʿ la-fōʾ, wil-maktab fōʾak doghre.
Local: Yes, go upstairs, and the office will be directly above you.
Common Mistakes
Using على for a non-contact relation
❌ اللمبة عالطاولة.
Wrong for the intended ‘lamp hanging above the table’ — على normally suggests contact/support.
✅ اللمبة فوق الطاولة.
el-lamba fōʾ eṭ-ṭāwle.
The lamp is above the table.
Adding من after threshold فوق
❌ حضر فوق من خمسين شخص.
Incorrect double comparison — threshold فوق directly takes the number phrase.
✅ حضر فوق خمسين شخص.
ḥaḍar fōʾ khamsīn shakhṣ.
More than fifty people attended.
Stranding the relation word
❌ أي طاولة الصورة فوق؟
Incorrect English-style stranding — فوق needs its landmark or a suffix.
✅ فوق أي طاولة معلقة الصورة؟
fōʾ ayya ṭāwle mʿallaʾa ṣ-ṣūra?
Above which table is the picture hanging?
Repeating a pronoun after the suffix
❌ المكتب فوق نحنا مباشرة.
Incorrect — a pronoun complement is expressed by suffixed فوقنا, not bare فوق plus نحنا.
✅ المكتب فوقنا مباشرة.
el-maktab fōʾna mobāshara.
The office is directly above us.
Key Takeaways
Use تحت and فوق for vertical regions, with على reserved when surface support matters. Build paths with من تحت، من فوق، لتحت، لفوق. Attach pronoun suffixes directly for “below/above me, you, them.” Abstract uses extend the same vertical image to hierarchy, pressure, numerical thresholds, and capacity, but they must be learned as real Lebanese frames rather than translated one English preposition at a time.
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