فرجى farzha: show

Lebanese فرجى / بيفرجيfarzha / byfarzhe means “show”: the subject causes another person to see a theme. It is the everyday lexical causative paired semantically with شاف “see,” but speakers do not build it by mechanically modifying شاف. Learn فرجى as its own final-weak verb with its own participant frame.

The viewer and the thing shown must also be packaged correctly. With two full nouns, Lebanese permits viewer before theme—فرجى مايا الصورة “he showed Maya the picture”—as well as theme followed by لـ + viewer: فرجى الصورة لمايا. A pronominal viewer attaches directly—فرجاني الصورة “he showed me the picture”—and when both participants are pronouns, the theme normally moves to يا-: فرجاني ياها “he showed it.f to me.”

See lexical causatives for شاف–فرجى and two objects for the wider clitic system.

Complete perfect paradigm

The masculine citation form ends in -a, written ى. Before first- and second-person endings, that weak edge becomes long ē; feminine 3sg has short i, and 3pl ends in -o. These are stem alternations, not optional accents.

Complete b-imperfect and bare imperfect

The singular nonpast stem ends in -e, written ي. The plural ending replaces it with -o. The b-imperfect handles routines and independently asserted nonpast events; the bare form appears after رح، لازم، بدّي، فيني and in purpose clauses.

For a scene unfolding now, the course baseline uses عم + b-imperfect: عم بيفرجيهن الشقة “he is showing them the apartment.” The final vowel lengthens before many clitics: بيفرجي → بيفرجيهbyfarzhī.

Imperative

The singular command فرجيfarzhe is the same for one man and one woman in this final-weak paradigm. The group command is فرجواfarzho. A viewer suffix often makes the final vowel long: فرجينيfarzhīne, فرجيهاfarzhīha. Negative commands use ما + the second-person bare form.

Viewer, theme, and clitic combinations

The lexical roles are stable even when their shapes change:

The direct object nearest the verb is interpreted through the larger frame. In فرجى مايا الصورة, the full noun مايا is the viewer; in فرجاني الصورة, ـني is the viewer. In فرجاها لمايا, however, ـها is the feminine theme and لمايا identifies the viewer. When both are pronouns, يا- prevents an opaque pile of two ordinary suffixes.

“Show,” “see,” “look,” and “watch”

English uses neighboring verbs with overlapping contexts, but Lebanese keeps useful distinctions:

تفرج على resembles فرجى in writing, but it is a different verb and frame: تفرج عالفيلم means “he watched the film,” whereas فرجى الفيلم لرفقاته means “he showed the film to his friends.” Imperative شوف can attract attention—“look!”—but فرجي requests that the addressee make something visible to someone.

Active participle

The active participle مفرجيmfarzhe, feminine مفرجيةmfarzhye, plural مفرجيينmfarzhyīn can present a completed showing as relevant now (informal, limited use). It is much less central than participles such as رايح or شايف; the finite perfect is normally clearer for a past event.

Do not use the participle as an automatic translation of English progressive is showing. For an event unfolding now, use عم بيفرجيه.

Common Mistakes

Using “see” as a causative

Copying a regular perfect stem

Stacking viewer and theme suffixes

Confusing فرجى with تفرج على

Adding b- after رح

Key Takeaways

Learn final-weak فرجى–فرجيت–بيفرجي–فرجي as one paradigm. The viewer can appear after لـ as a noun or directly on the verb as a suffix; a second pronominal theme uses يا-. Keep causative فرجى “show” distinct from شاف “see,” طلع على “look at,” and تفرج على “watch.” Use مفرجي only for a relevant resulting state, not as a general progressive.