Pronoun Suffixes after Prepositions | Arabic (Levantine) Grammar

When a pronoun is the complement of a Lebanese preposition, it attaches to that preposition: معك “with you,” عليه “on him/it,” فيها “in her/it.” The result is one written word and often an irregular spoken stem. You cannot reliably take the free preposition and paste the same ending onto it unchanged.

The preposition itself is selected by Lebanese meaning and verb pattern. English may say call someone with no preposition, while Lebanese says اتصل فيه—literally with a suffixed في. Learn the frame and the suffix together; The Lebanese Suffix-Pronoun Inventory shows how the same person endings behave on nouns and verbs.

The core paradigms

This table gives the urban Lebanese/Beirut baseline (informal and neutral spoken). The لـ column shows the independent suffixed series إلي، إلك..., used for “for/to/belonging to.” After a verb, recipient لـ often joins the verb directly.

Person	مع “with”	من “from”	على “on/to”	في “in/by”	لـ “for/to”
1st singular	معي maʿe	مني minne	عليي ʿalayye	فيي fiyye	إلي ile
2nd masculine singular	معك maʿak	منك minnak	عليك ʿalēk	فيك fīk	إلك ilak
2nd feminine singular	معك maʿik	منك minnik	عليكي ʿalēke	فيكي fīke	إلك ilik
3rd masculine singular	معه maʿo	منه minno	عليه ʿalē	فيه fī	إله ilo
3rd feminine singular	معها maʿa	منها minna	عليها ʿalēya	فيها fiyya	إلها ila
1st plural	معنا maʿna	منا minna	علينا ʿalēna	فينا fīna	إلنا ilna
2nd plural	معكن maʿkon	منكن minkon	عليكن ʿalēkon	فيكن fīkon	إلكن ilkon
3rd plural	معن maʿon	منهن minnon	عليهن ʿalēyon	فيهن fīyon	إلهن ilon

The romanizations give a common Beirut production model in which written third-person ه is not pronounced and a glide may appear after a long vowel: فيها fiyya, عليهن ʿalēyon. Some Lebanese speakers preserve a more audible h, especially in careful speech, so fīha and ʿalēha are legitimate recognition variants. Neighboring Levantine systems also use -kom/-hom or other vowels (regional: Syria, Palestine, Jordan); do not mix those systems into the Beirut paradigm.

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Memorize each preposition as a small paradigm, especially its first-person form: معي، مني، عليي، فيي، إلي. Those five forms reveal the stem changes that English cannot predict.

مع: accompaniment and having something on you

مع expresses accompaniment and, with a pronoun, often possession of something currently carried or available.

المفتاح معي، بس الأوراق معها.

el-miftēḥ maʿe, bass el-awrāʾ maʿa.

I have the key with me, but she has the papers. (informal; current possession through مع)

بدك تجي معنا عالقهوة؟

baddak tizhe maʿna ʿal-ʾahwe?

Do you want to come with us to the café? (informal; accompaniment)

This is not the same as permanent ownership. تلفوني معي means “I have my phone with me”; تلفوني itself marks that the phone is mine.

من: source, separation, and comparison

Before several singular suffixes, من has a doubled n: مني minne, منك minnak/minnik, منه minno. The spelling normally keeps one written ن and uses pronunciation to show gemination.

أخدت العنوان منه، مش منها.

akhadt el-ʿonwēn minno, mish minna.

I got the address from him, not from her. (informal; source contrast)

هاد الطريق أقصر من طريقنا.

hād eṭ-ṭarīʾ aʾṣar min ṭarīʾna.

This road is shorter than our route. (informal; من before a noun phrase rather than a pronoun)

The second example keeps free من because its complement is the full noun طريقنا. Only a pronoun complement fuses into مني، منك، منه....

على: a different stem before suffixes

Before a noun, colloquial على often contracts to عـ: عالطاولة “on the table.” Before a suffix, the stem is عليـ: عليه، عليها، عليكن. Forms such as an invented عك do not belong to the Beirut paradigm.

حطيت الكتاب عالطاولة، وحطيت القلم عليه.

ḥaṭṭēt el-ktēb ʿaṭ-ṭāwle, w-ḥaṭṭēt el-ʾalam ʿalē.

I put the book on the table and put the pen on it. (informal; noun complement then pronoun complement)

سلمت عليهن قبل ما فل.

sallamt ʿalēyon ʾabl ma fill.

I said goodbye to them before I left. (informal; verb-selected على plus plural suffix)

The meaning of على is broader than physical “on.” Verbs such as سلّم على “greet/say goodbye to,” رد على “reply to,” and دور على “look for” select it lexically.

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Store prepositional verbs as frames: رد عليه، دور عليها، سلم عليهن. Translating the English preposition after the fact produces the wrong Lebanese complement.

في and the everyday replacement of بـ before pronouns

Before a noun, everyday Lebanese strongly favors attached بـ for location or means: بالبيت “at home,” بالتلفون “by phone.” Before a pronoun, the ordinary Beirut series is generally built on في: فيه fī, فيها fiyya, فيكن fīkon. This is a host alternation, not a change from “in” to an unrelated word.

حكيت معه بالتلفون واتصلت فيه مرة تانية.

ḥkēt maʿo bit-telefōn w-ittaṣalt fī marra tēnye.

I spoke with him by phone and called him again. (informal; بـ before a noun, في before a pronoun)

هاي الغرفة فيها ضو، وفينا نشتغل فيها.

hay el-ghorfe fiyya ḍaww, w-fīna nishtaghel fiyya.

This room has light, and we can work in it. (informal; containment, ability, and location from the في series)

Forms with بـ + suffix occur in formal Arabic and in careful or lexicalized uses (formal/mixed). For active Beirut production, use بالبيت with a noun but فيه with “in it.”

لـ: beneficiary, recipient, and belonging

The independent suffixed series begins with إلـ: إلي، إلك، إله، إلنا. It can express “for,” “to,” suitability, or belonging. An extra لـ may introduce it in phrases such as لإلك “for you,” especially when the relation is explicitly predicative.

هاد الكرسي إلك، وهاد لإلي.

hād el-kerse ilak, w-hād la-ile.

This chair is yours, and this one is mine. (informal; belonging and contrast)

After a verb, recipient لـ normally joins the verb: بعتتلك “I sent you,” جبتلها “I brought her.” These are not direct-object suffixes; the l remains part of the recipient expression.

بعتتلك الصورة وجبتلها نسخة مطبوعة.

baʿatetlak eṣ-ṣūra w-zhebtela noskha maṭbūʿa.

I sent you the picture and brought her a printed copy. (informal; two recipient suffixes)

With and without an independent subject

حكيت معه مبارح.

ḥkēt maʿo mbēreḥ.

I spoke with him yesterday. (neutral; subject recovered from the verb)

أنا حكيت معه مبارح، مش رامي.

ana ḥkēt maʿo mbēreḥ, mish Rāme.

I spoke with him yesterday, not Rami. (overt contrastive subject)

The suffix on معه identifies the conversational partner. Independent أنا marks who did the speaking; it is optional only according to discourse, not a substitute for the suffixed preposition.

A two-turn dialogue with three preposition stems

الملف معك ولا مع مايا؟

el-malaf maʿik walla maʿ Māya?

Rami: Do you have the file, or does Maya? (informal; addressed to one woman; suffixed and free مع)

معي. بعتت إلها نسخة، وبعدها ردت عليي.

maʿe. baʿatet ila noskha, w-baʿda raddet ʿalayye.

Nadine: I have it. I sent her a copy, and then she replied to me. (informal; مع، لـ، and على with suffixes)

Common Mistakes

Detaching the suffix

❌ حكيت مع ك.

Incorrect — the second-person suffix joins مع.

✅ حكيت معك.

ḥkēt maʿak.

I spoke with you. (addressed to one man; attached prepositional suffix)

Using an independent subject form after a preposition

❌ رحت مع هو عالمكتب.

Incorrect — هو is a subject pronoun; after مع use the attached form ـه.

✅ رحت معه عالمكتب.

riḥt maʿo ʿal-maktab.

I went with him to the office. (prepositional suffix)

Making a direct object where Lebanese selects a preposition

❌ اتصلتك الصبح.

Incorrect — اتصل selects في for the person called.

✅ اتصلت فيك الصبح.

ittaṣalt fīk ṣ-ṣoboḥ.

I called you this morning. (verb-selected في plus suffix)

Keeping the short noun form of على before a suffix

❌ رديت عك مبارح.

Incorrect in the Beirut baseline — suffixed على uses the عليـ stem.

✅ رديت عليك مبارح.

raddēt ʿalēk mbēreḥ.

I replied to you yesterday. (addressed to one man)

Dropping recipient l because English has no overt preposition

❌ بعتته الملف.

Incorrect for ‘I sent him the file’ — the human recipient requires لـ.

✅ بعتتله الملف.

baʿatetlo l-malaf.

I sent him the file. (recipient l plus masculine suffix)

Key Takeaways

Preposition suffixes form one word with their host, but each preposition has its own stem behavior. مع and من adjust vowels and consonant strength; على becomes عليـ; لـ has independent إلـ forms and verb-attached recipient forms; noun-taking بـ usually corresponds to the فيـ suffix series in everyday Beirut speech. Choose the preposition from Lebanese usage, then select person, gender, and number.

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