بلّش ballash: begin | Arabic (Levantine) Grammar

Lebanese بلّشballash means “begin, start.” It works intransitively—الاجتماع بلّش “the meeting started”—and transitively—بلّشنا الاجتماع “we started the meeting.” Before another action by the same subject, it selects an agreeing bare imperfect: بلّشت اكتب، بلّشت تكتب، بلّشوا يكتبوا.

The doubled l identifies a Form II shape, but the pattern does not predict every meaning or complement. Learn the actual frames بلّش شي, بلّش بشي, and بلّش + bare verb rather than translating English start one word at a time. The broader phase system appears under begin, continue, and stop.

Perfect paradigm

The perfect uses the stable stem ballash-. In compact speech, first- and second-person بلّشت are commonly ballasht; the 3fs has an audible short vowel ballashit.

Person	Form	Reading
أنا	بلشت	ballasht
إنت	بلشت	ballasht
إنتي	بلشتي	ballashte
هو	بلش	ballash
هي	بلشت	ballashit
نحنا	بلشنا	ballashna
إنتو	بلشتوا	ballashto
هني	بلشوا	ballasho

بلشنا الاجتماع عالوقت لأن الكل كان حاضر.

ballashna l-izhtimēʿ ʿal-waʾt laʾann el-kill kēn ḥāḍer.

We started the meeting on time because everyone was present. (professional; transitive noun object)

بلشت العطلة، بس بعد عندي يومين شغل.

ballashit el-ʿoṭle, bass baʿd ʿinde yōmēn shoghol.

The vacation has started, but I still have two days of work. (informal; intransitive event subject)

💡

Transitivity changes the participant structure, not the verb form: الحفلة بلّشت “the party started,” but بلّشنا الحفلة “we started the party.” Word order and agreement identify the roles.

b-imperfect and bare imperfect

The imperfect principal part is بيبلّشbyiballesh. Its final vowel shifts from perfect -ash to imperfect -esh. The b-series covers schedules and habitual onsets; رح، بدّه، لازم and higher verbs select the bare series.

Person	b-imperfect	Bare imperfect
أنا	ببلش bballesh	بلش ballesh
إنت	بتبلش btballesh	تبلش tballesh
إنتي	بتبلشي btballshe	تبلشي tballshe
هو	بيبلش byiballesh	يبلش yballesh
هي	بتبلش btballesh	تبلش tballesh
نحنا	منبلش mnballesh	نبلش nballesh
إنتو	بتبلشوا btballsho	تبلشوا tballsho
هني	بيبلشوا byiballsho	يبلشوا yballsho

الصف بيبلش عالسبعة ونص كل تلاتا.

eṣ-ṣaff byiballesh ʿas-sabʿa w-noṣṣ kill tlēta.

The class starts at seven thirty every Tuesday. (neutral; recurring schedule)

رح نبلش بالنسخة السهلة وبعدين نجرب الأصعب.

raḥ nballesh bin-noskha s-sahle w-baʿdēn nzharreb el-aṣʿab.

We'll start with the easy version, then try the harder one. (neutral; bare form after رح and بـ starting point)

An onset can itself unfold over a short interval, so عم + b-imperfect is possible: عم بيبلّش الاجتماع “the meeting is starting.” For a punctual timetable, plain بيبلّش is more natural.

Noun objects and intransitive event subjects

With a causer or organizer as subject, the thing initiated can be direct: بلّش المشروع، بلّش النقاش، بلّش الأغنية. Object suffixes attach normally: بلّشني، بلّشك، بلّشه، بلّشها، بلّشنا، بلّشكن، بلّشهن. Because بلّشنا can mean “we started” or “he started us,” context and subject position matter.

المدربة بلشتنا بتمرين خفيف قبل الركض.

el-modarrbe ballashitna b-tamrīn khafīf ʾabl er-rakeḍ.

The coach started us off with a light exercise before the run. (neutral; human object plus بـ starting material)

بلشها بأغنية هادية وختمها بأسرع أغنية.

ballasha b-oghniye hēdye w-khatama b-asraʿ oghniye.

He started it with a calm song and ended it with the fastest one. (informal; feminine event object clitic)

When the event itself is subject, no causer is asserted: المطر بلّش، الفيلم بلّش، الوجع بلّش. English uses the same verb in both patterns, but Lebanese agreement still reveals which noun is subject.

بلش المطر ونحنا بعدنا بنص الطريق.

ballash el-maṭar w-niḥna baʿdna b-noṣṣ eṭ-ṭarīʾ.

It started raining while we were still halfway there. (informal; المطر as event subject)

Starting with a noun: direct versus بـ

Direct بلّش الشغل means “started the work” and treats the work as the initiated event or project. بلّش بالشغل can mean “started with the work / began by doing the work,” selecting it as the first item in a sequence. With a project one is beginning to work on, بلّش يشتغل عالمشروع is often clearest.

بلشت بالتقرير لأنو أهم شي عاللائحة.

ballasht bit-taʾrīr laʾanno ahamm shi ʿal-lēyḥa.

I started with the report because it was the most important item on the list. (professional; first item with بـ)

بلشت التقرير مبارح وخلصت أول صفحتين.

ballasht et-taʾrīr mbēreḥ w-khallaṣt awwal ṣafḥtēn.

I started the report yesterday and finished the first two pages. (professional; report as direct initiated object)

This is not a free preposition swap. بـ contributes a starting point, means, or selected first item; the direct object is the event or entity initiated.

Starting another action: bare imperfect

When the same subject starts doing something, the second verb is bare and agrees with that subject: بلّشت اكتب، بلّش يكتب، بلّشت تكتب، بلّشوا يكتبوا. Do not add b- to the lower verb.

بلشت اتعلم سواقة لما صار عمري تمنتعش.

ballasht itʿallam swāʾa lamma ṣār ʿomre tmantaʿash.

I started learning to drive when I turned eighteen. (informal; same-subject bare complement)

الولد بلش يفهم الفرق بين المزح والإهانة.

el-walad ballash yifham el-fareʾ bēn el-mazeḥ wil-ihēne.

The boy began to understand the difference between joking and insulting. (neutral; onset of a gradual state)

In longer chains, only the outer independent predicate normally carries b-: بيقدر يبلّش يشتغل “he can start working.” Future رح removes it from the outer finite verb too: رح يقدر يبلّش يشتغل. See verb chains.

بعد التدريب بيقدر يبلش يشتغل بلا مراقبة.

baʿd et-tadrīb byiʾdar yballesh yishtighel bla mrāʾabe.

After the training, he can start working without supervision. (professional; b- only on the outer ability verb)

💡

Read a chain from left to right: each selecting predicate licenses a bare verb below it. بيقدر [يبلّش [يشتغل]] has one independent b-marked predicate and two selected bare complements.

Imperative and active participle

Commands are بلّشballesh, بلّشيballshe, and بلّشواballsho. Negative commands use ما تبلّش. With no object, “start!” is complete when the activity is recoverable from context.

بلشوا بدوني إذا تأخرت أكتر من عشر دقايق.

ballsho bdūne iza tʾakhkhart aktar min ʿashar dʾāyeʾ.

Start without me if I'm more than ten minutes late. (informal plural instruction)

Active participle مبلّشmballesh, feminine مبلّشة, plural مبلّشين, presents something as already initiated or someone as having embarked on an activity. It is useful for a result relevant now; ongoing action itself is usually expressed by the lower lexical verb.

أنا مبلش بالمشروع من الأسبوع الماضي، بس بعدني بأول مرحلة.

ana mballesh bil-mashrūʿ min el-osbūʿ el-māḍe, bass baʿdne b-awwal marḥale.

I've already started the project, but I'm still in the first phase. (professional; result-relevant participle)

Formal بدأ “begin” belongs to MSA and formal mixed registers. Ordinary Beirut conversation strongly favors بلّش; replacing it everywhere with بدأ does not make a colloquial sentence more correct.

Common Mistakes

Keeping b- on the lower activity

❌ بلشت بكتب التقرير مبارح.

Incorrect in the Beirut baseline — بلشت selects a bare agreeing verb.

✅ بلشت اكتب التقرير مبارح بعد الاجتماع.

ballasht iktob et-taʾrīr mbēreḥ baʿd el-izhtimēʿ.

I started writing the report yesterday after the meeting.

Failing to repeat agreement

❌ هي بلشت يشتغل من البيت.

Incorrect — the lower verb must agree with the same feminine subject.

✅ هي بلشت تشتغل من البيت يومين بالأسبوع.

hiyye ballashit tishtighel min el-bēt yōmēn bil-osbūʿ.

She started working from home two days a week.

Treating direct object and بـ as identical

❌ بلشت بالمشروع، إذا المقصود إني أطلقت المشروع كله.

Potentially misleading — بـ more readily selects the project as a starting point or work domain.

✅ بلشت المشروع رسميا بأول الشهر.

ballasht el-mashrūʿ rasmiyyan b-awwal esh-shaher.

I officially launched the project at the beginning of the month.

Translating English “start up” literally

❌ بلش لفوق الكمبيوتر.

Incorrect phrasal calque — a computer starts with اشتغل or is turned on with شغّل.

✅ شغل الكمبيوتر وانطر ليفتح البرنامج.

shaghghel el-kombyūtar winṭor la-yiftaḥ el-barnēmezh.

Turn on the computer and wait for the program to open.

Key Takeaways

Learn بلّش–بيبلّش–بلّش with its real frames. An event can start intransitively; an organizer can start it as a direct object; بـ selects a first item or work domain; and a same-subject activity appears as an agreeing bare imperfect. In longer aspectual chains, b-marking belongs only where the outer syntax licenses it.

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