Lebanese عطىʿaṭa “give” is final-weak: the last part of its stem changes across عطى، عطيت، بيعطي، اعطي. It is also frequently ditransitive, linking a giver, a thing given, and a recipient. English word order alone does not tell you how Lebanese packages those participants, especially when one or both are pronouns.
This is the ordinary everyday verb (informal/neutral). Careful writing may preserve historical أعطى, but the urban Lebanese citation spelling used here is عطى. Learn its principal parts and its participant frame together.
Perfect paradigm
The unsuffixed masculine form ends in -a. Before first- and second-person endings, the stem has long ē; third-person feminine has short e, and third-person plural ends in -o.
| Person | Form | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| أنا | عطيت | ʿaṭēt |
| إنت | عطيت | ʿaṭēt |
| إنتي | عطيتي | ʿaṭēte |
| هو | عطى | ʿaṭa |
| هي | عطت | ʿaṭet |
| نحنا | عطينا | ʿaṭēna |
| إنتو | عطيتوا | ʿaṭēto |
| هني | عطوا | ʿaṭo |
عطيت الجارة مفتاح احتياط قبل ما سافر.
ʿaṭēt el-zhāra miftēḥ iḥtiyāṭ ʾabel ma sēfer.
I gave the neighbor a spare key before traveling. (informal; 1sg perfect)
عطت كل موظف نسخة، بس عطوا المدير النسخة الأصلية.
ʿaṭet kill mwaẓẓaf noskha, bass ʿaṭo l-mdīr en-noskha l-aṣliyye.
She gave each employee a copy, but they gave the manager the original. (professional context; 3sg.f versus 3pl)
b-imperfect and bare imperfect
The imperfect uses a stem ending in -e, written ي in the singular. Plural -o replaces that final vowel. The bare imperfect removes the outer habitual b-/m- marker but keeps person agreement.
| Person | b-imperfect | Bare imperfect |
|---|---|---|
| أنا | بعطي baʿṭe | اعطي aʿṭe |
| إنت | بتعطي btiʿṭe | تعطي tiʿṭe |
| إنتي | بتعطي btiʿṭe | تعطي tiʿṭe |
| هو | بيعطي byiʿṭe | يعطي yiʿṭe |
| هي | بتعطي btiʿṭe | تعطي tiʿṭe |
| نحنا | منعطي mniʿṭe | نعطي niʿṭe |
| إنتو | بتعطوا btiʿṭo | تعطوا tiʿṭo |
| هني | بيعطوا byiʿṭo | يعطوا yiʿṭo |
عادة منعطي الزبون مهلة يومين ليرد.
ʿāde mniʿṭe z-zabūn mohle yōmēn la-yrodd.
We usually give the customer two days to respond. (neutral professional habit)
رح اعطيك الجواب النهائي بعد الاجتماع.
raḥ aʿṭīk el-zhawēb en-nihēʾe baʿd el-izhtimēʿ.
I'll give you the final answer after the meeting. (neutral; bare 1sg after رح)
For a current unfolding event, the Beirut baseline keeps the b-form after عم: عم بيعطي, not عم يعطي. The masculine and feminine singular بتعطي are identical; context or an overt pronoun resolves the subject.
Commands and clitic reshaping
The positive imperative is اعطيaʿṭe to one person and اعطواaʿṭo to a group. In rapid speech, especially before a clitic, the initial supporting vowel may be very light: عطينيʿṭīne. Negative commands use ما + bare imperfect.
| Addressee | Positive | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| one man | اعطي aʿṭe | ما تعطي ma tiʿṭe |
| one woman | اعطي aʿṭe | ما تعطي ma tiʿṭe |
| a group | اعطوا aʿṭo | ما تعطوا ma tiʿṭo |
عطيني رقم الطلب وما تعطيني رقم البطاقة.
ʿṭīne raʾam eṭ-ṭalab w-ma tiʿṭīne raʾam el-biṭāʾa.
Give me the order number, but don't give me the card number. (neutral instruction; suffixed positive and negative forms)
Before ـني, a final vowel lengthens: بيعطي → بيعطينيbyiʿṭīne. The plural -o likewise becomes long before a clitic, and the silent plural alif is not retained: عطوا → عطونيʿaṭūne. See final-weak clitics.
Theme and recipient
With full nouns, Lebanese readily places the recipient before the theme: عطيت لينا الملف. The theme may also precede a recipient introduced by لـ, especially when it is already topical: عطيت الملف للينا. A human recipient does not require English to to be copied mechanically.
عطى الطبيب المريضة وصفة جديدة وشرحلا الجرعة.
ʿaṭa ṭ-ṭabīb el-marīḍa waṣfe zhdīde w-sharaḥla l-zhirʿa.
The doctor gave the patient a new prescription and explained the dose to her. (neutral professional context)
When the recipient is a clitic, it attaches to the verb: عطيتها الكتاب “I gave her the book.” When both participants are pronominal, Lebanese commonly keeps the recipient on the verb and expresses the theme with independent يا: عطيتها ياه “I gave it to her.” Another natural packaging is theme clitic plus separate recipient: عطيته إلها.
لقيت الشاحن وعطيتها ياه قبل ما تطلع.
lʾēt esh-shāḥen w-ʿaṭēta yēh ʾabel ma tiṭlaʿ.
I found the charger and gave it to her before she left. (informal; recipient clitic plus independent theme pronoun)
Participle and idiomatic extensions
The active participle معطيmiʿṭe “having given” survives from the verb's historical Form IV shape, but it is not the everyday present tense. It occurs when the subject's resulting commitment matters, and it is less frequent than finite عطى / بيعطي (neutral/careful Lebanese). Some Lebanese speakers instead use the leveled Form I participle عاطيʿāṭe; treat the two forms as speaker variants rather than two different tenses.
هو معطي كلمة إنو يخلص التصليح اليوم.
huwwe miʿṭe kilme inno ykhalliṣ et-taṣlīḥ el-yōm.
He has given his word that he'll finish the repair today. (neutral; result-relevant participle in a fixed collocation)
Many frequent uses translate something other than literal transfer. عطى خبر means “let someone know,” عطى فرصة “give a chance,” عطى معنى “convey a meaning,” and يعطيك العافية is a conventional wish to someone working or helping. These are Lebanese collocations, not invitations to translate every English phrasal verb containing give.
هاللون بيعطي الغرفة ضو أكتر، بس بده تنظيف دايم.
hal-lawn byiʿṭe l-ghorfe ḍaww aktar, bass baddo tanẓīf dēyem.
This color gives the room more light, but it needs constant cleaning. (informal; extended causative effect)
إذا تغير الوقت عطيني خبر قبلها بيوم.
iza tghayyar el-waʾet ʿṭīne khabar ʾabla b-yōm.
If the time changes, let me know a day beforehand. (informal; idiomatic عطى خبر)
Common Mistakes
Guessing a regular imperfect
❌ هو بيعطى نصايح للكل.
Incorrect — the everyday b-imperfect is بيعطي, with final ي.
✅ هو بيعطي نصايح عملية من خبرته.
huwwe byiʿṭe naṣāyeḥ ʿamaliyye min khiberto.
He gives practical advice from his experience.
Regularizing the first-person perfect
❌ أنا عطيتت الموظفة الورقة.
Incorrect — the 1sg form is already عطيت; do not add another t.
✅ أنا عطيت الموظفة الورقة عند الاستقبال.
ana ʿaṭēt el-mwaẓẓafe l-waraʾa ʿind el-istiʾbēl.
I gave the employee the paper at reception.
Copying English to as على
❌ عطيت الملف على رامي.
Incorrect recipient frame — على does not translate English ‘to’ here.
✅ عطيت رامي الملف ليراجعه.
ʿaṭēt Rāme l-malaf la-yrēzheʿo.
I gave Rami the file to review.
Translating an English phrasal verb literally
❌ عطى فوق بعد أول محاولة.
Incorrect calque of English ‘gave up’ — use استسلم or بطل يحاول, depending meaning.
✅ بطل يحاول بعد أول مرة لأن الكلفة كانت عالية.
baṭṭal yḥāwel baʿd awwal marra laʾann el-kilfe kēnit ʿālye.
He stopped trying after the first time because the cost was high.
Key Takeaways
Learn عطى–عطيت–بيعطي–اعطي as one final-weak set. Use a direct theme and a recipient noun or recipient clitic; with two pronouns, use يا or a separate لـ form rather than two stacked suffixes. The verb extends naturally into established collocations such as عطى خبر and عطى فرصة, but English phrasal verbs must be learned separately.
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- Imperatives with Object and Prepositional CliticsB1 — Attach object, recipient, and prepositional pronouns to urban Lebanese commands without losing the imperative stem or its natural syllable rhythm.
- Direct-Object Suffixes on VerbsB1 — Attach Beirut direct-object pronouns to perfect and imperfect verbs, including weak, geminate, and vowel-final hosts and topical doubling.
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