Lebanese Form II فوّت fawwat adds an affected participant to Form I فات fēt “enter, pass.” Its central spatial frame is “make/let someone or something enter”: فوّت الضيوف عالصالون “let the guests into the living room.” A second frequent frame is “actively let something pass,” hence فوّت الباص “miss the bus” and فوّت الفرصة “miss the opportunity.”
These meanings share a viewpoint. Form I follows the mover or passing item; Form II gives control or responsibility to an external subject. Compare الباص فاتني “the bus got past me” with أنا فوّتت الباص “I missed the bus.” The real-world event can be identical, but grammar chooses a different centre.
Perfect paradigm
The perfect keeps fawwat- before the person endings. The doubled w is part of the Form II stem, not an expressive extra.
| Person | Form | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| أنا | فوّتت | fawwatet |
| إنت | فوّتت | fawwatet |
| إنتي | فوّتتي | fawwatte |
| هو | فوّت | fawwat |
| هي | فوّتت | fawwatit |
| نحنا | فوّتنا | fawwatna |
| إنتو | فوّتتوا | fawwatto |
| هني | فوّتوا | fawwato |
The suffix keeps the two plural persons distinct: إنتو فوّتتوا into fawwatto “you let in,” but هني فوّتوا hinne fawwato “they let in.” By contrast, 1sg, 2msg, and 3f all appear as unvocalized فوّتت; the pronoun and context resolve their different spoken endings.
فوتت الضيوف عالصالون وقدمتلن قهوة.
fawwatet eḍ-ḍyūf ʿaṣ-ṣālōn w-ʾaddametlon ʾahwe.
I let the guests into the living room and served them coffee. (informal; human object plus destination)
فوت السيارة عالكراج قبل ما تبلش العاصفة.
fawwat es-sayyāra ʿal-karāzh ʾabl ma tballesh el-ʿāṣfe.
He put the car in the garage before the storm started. (neutral; vehicle as affected object)
b-imperfect and bare imperfect
The imperfect stem is -fawwet-. The b-series is independent present/habitual; future, modal, and selected environments use the bare series.
| Person | b-imperfect | Bare imperfect |
|---|---|---|
| أنا | بفوّت bfawwet | فوّت fawwet |
| إنت | بتفوّت btfawwet | تفوّت tfawwet |
| إنتي | بتفوّتي btfawwte | تفوّتي tfawwte |
| هو | بيفوّت byfawwet | يفوّت yfawwet |
| هي | بتفوّت btfawwet | تفوّت tfawwet |
| نحنا | منفوّت mnfawwet | نفوّت nfawwet |
| إنتو | بتفوّتوا btfawwto | تفوّتوا tfawwto |
| هني | بيفوّتوا byfawwto | يفوّتوا yfawwto |
الحارس بيفوت الموظفين من الباب الجانبي.
el-ḥāres byfawwet el-mwaẓẓafīn min el-bēb el-zhēnbe.
The guard lets the employees in through the side door. (neutral; habitual access control)
لازم نفوت الطاولة لجوا قبل ما تشتي.
lēzem nfawwet eṭ-ṭāwle la-zhowwa ʾabl ma tishte.
We need to bring the table inside before it rains. (informal; bare form after لازم)
For entry, the affected person or thing is direct. A destination normally takes عـ or directional لـ: فوّته عالغرفة, فوّت الطاولة لجوا. A route or opening takes من: فوّته من الباب الخلفي. English into does not map mechanically to Lebanese في.
Missing and letting an opportunity pass
With buses, appointments, turns, or opportunities, فوّت means “miss, skip, let pass.” This use is transitive: the person responsible is subject and the lost item is object.
فوتت الباص لأنو وقفت جيب قهوة.
fawwatet el-bāṣ laʾanno wiʾeft zhīb ʾahwe.
I missed the bus because I stopped to get coffee. (informal; active transitive viewpoint)
ما بدنا نفوت هالفرصة كرمال فرق زغير بالسعر.
ma badna nfawwet hal-forṣa kermēl fareʾ zghīr bis-siʿer.
We don't want to miss this opportunity over a small price difference. (neutral; opportunity as object)
Contrast the Form I construction: فاتني الباص literally organizes the event as “the bus passed me.” With Form II, فوّتت الباص, “I” controls the grammar and the bus is directly affected. Neither construction is more correct; they assign perspective differently. See the full فات reference.
Imperative, object suffixes, and participle
The commands are فوّت fawwet, feminine فوّتي fawwte, plural فوّتوا fawwto. A bare command without a destination is natural when the doorway or route is obvious.
فوتهن لعندنا، برا كتير برد.
fawweton la-ʿindna, barra ktīr bard.
Let them in to our place; it's very cold outside. (informal masculine command with plural object)
The common direct-object forms are فوّتني fawwatne, فوّتك fawwatak, فوّته fawwato, فوّتها fawwata, فوّتنا fawwatna, فوّتكن fawwatkon, فوّتهن fawwaton. With the imperfect, attach to -fawwet-: بيفوّتني byfawwetne. In the command, فوّتني is fawwetne “let me in.”
ما فوتوني عالحفلة لأنو اسمي مش عاللائحة.
ma fawwatūne ʿal-ḥafle laʾanno isme mish ʿal-lēyḥa.
They didn't let me into the party because my name wasn't on the list. (informal; first-person object clitic)
The active participle is مفوّت mfawwet, feminine مفوّتة mfawwte, plural مفوّتين mfawwtīn. It is most useful when the resulting state matters: someone has already let people through, skipped an item, or missed an opportunity. Because it is less neutral than a finite verb in some contexts, do not replace every perfect with it.
أنا مفوت موعدي كرمال هالعجقة.
ana mfawwet mawʿde kermēl hal-ʿazhʾa.
I've missed my appointment because of this traffic. (informal; result-relevant participle)
Common Mistakes
Giving Form I a direct mover object
❌ فات الضيوف عالصالون.
Wrong for ‘he let the guests in’ — Form I makes the guests themselves the subject.
✅ فوت الضيوف عالصالون.
fawwat eḍ-ḍyūf ʿaṣ-ṣālōn.
He let the guests into the living room.
Reversing the roles in the Form I alternative
❌ أنا فاتني الباص، إذا أنا فاعل فات.
Incorrect analysis — in فاتني الباص, الباص is the subject and ـني marks the affected person.
✅ أنا فوتت الباص لأنو تأخرت.
ana fawwatet el-bāṣ laʾanno tʾakhkharet.
I missed the bus because I was late.
Copying English “into” with في
❌ فوت السيارة في الكراج.
Unnatural in the ordinary Beirut directional frame — use عـ for the destination.
✅ فوت السيارة عالكراج.
fawwet es-sayyāra ʿal-karāzh.
Put the car in the garage.
Keeping b- after a modal
❌ لازم بيفوتوهن من الباب التاني.
Incorrect — لازم selects the bare imperfect.
✅ لازم يفوتوهن من الباب التاني.
lēzem yfawwtūhon min el-bēb et-tēne.
They need to let them in through the other door.
Key Takeaways
Learn fawwat–byfawwet–fawwet. A person or thing entering is the direct object, while destinations take عـ/لـ and routes take من. The same transitive viewpoint extends to missing a bus, appointment, turn, or opportunity. Form I فاتني and Form II فوّتت can describe one event while assigning subject and affected person differently.
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