فاق fāʾ: wake up | Arabic (Levantine) Grammar

Lebanese فاق “wake up” combines two salient sound patterns. It is hollow, so the long vowel of فاق alternates with short i in فقت and long ī in بيفيق; its written final ق is the urban Beirut glottal stop ʾ. The practical card is فاق، فقت، بيفيق، فيق، فايقfēʾ–fiʾt–byfīʾ–fīʾ–fēyeʾ. The title retains the course's broad lemma label fāʾ.

Basic Form I فاق is intransitive: the sleeper wakes up. To wake someone, Lebanese normally uses doubled Form II فيّقfayyeʾ. Because unvocalized writing does not show the shadda, the argument frame and spoken layer are essential.

Complete perfect paradigm

The long third-person stem shortens before consonant-initial suffixes. Final ق remains in Arabic spelling even though urban pronunciation realizes it as ʾ.

Person	Form	Reading
أنا	فقت	fiʾt
إنت	فقت	fiʾt
إنتي	فقتي	fiʾte
هو	فاق	fēʾ
هي	فاقت	fēʾet
نحنا	فقنا	fiʾna
إنتو	فقتوا	fiʾto
هني	فاقوا	fāʾo

فقت قبل المنبه وما قدرت إرجع نام.

fiʾt ʾabel el-mnabbeh w-ma ʾdirit irzhaʿ nēm.

I woke up before the alarm and couldn't go back to sleep. (informal; first-person short perfect stem)

فاقت مايا بكير، عملت قهوة، وبلشت شغل.

fēʾet Māya bkīr, ʿimlit ʾahwe, w-ballashet shoghol.

Maya woke up early, made coffee, and started work. (informal; continuing feminine subject)

فقتوا من صوت المطر ولا كفيتوا نوم؟

fiʾto min ṣōt el-maṭar walla kaffēto nōm?

Did you all wake up from the sound of the rain, or did you keep sleeping? (informal; plural addressee)

The cluster fiʾt is real: the weak middle has shortened and the final urban qāf is glottal. Do not add an extra full syllable or replace the written ق with hamza in Arabic script.

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Learn fēʾ–fiʾt–byfīʾ–fīʾ–fēyeʾ together. The three vowel qualities and the final urban ʾ are all part of the verified Beirut card.

Complete b-imperfect and bare imperfect

The nonpast stem has long ī. Independent habits and sleep patterns take b-; future, desire, necessity, purpose, and prohibition select a bare form.

Person	b-imperfect	Bare imperfect
أنا	بفيق bfīʾ	فيق fīʾ
إنت	بتفيق btfīʾ	تفيق tfīʾ
إنتي	بتفيقي btfīʾe	تفيقي tfīʾe
هو	بيفيق byfīʾ	يفيق yfīʾ
هي	بتفيق btfīʾ	تفيق tfīʾ
نحنا	منفيق mnfīʾ	نفيق nfīʾ
إنتو	بتفيقوا btfīʾo	تفيقوا tfīʾo
هني	بيفيقوا byfīʾo	يفيقوا yfīʾo

بفيق عالستة بلا منبه أيام الشغل.

bfīʾ ʿas-sitte bla mnabbeh ayyēm esh-shoghol.

I wake up at six without an alarm on workdays. (informal; habitual first person)

رح يفيقوا بكير ليلحقوا أول باص.

raḥ yfīʾo bkīr la-yilḥaʾo awwal bāṣ.

They'll wake up early to catch the first bus. (informal; bare plural after رح)

لازم تفيقي قبل السبعة إذا بدك توصلي عالوقت.

lāzem tfīʾe ʾabel es-sabʿa iza baddik tōṣale ʿal-waʾet.

You need to wake up before seven if you want to arrive on time. (informal; feminine bare forms)

Waking is an event with a natural boundary, so a current clause with عم بيفيق usually means someone is in the process of coming awake, not simply “is awake.” For the resulting state, use فايق.

Imperative and active participle

The imperative uses the ī stem. The active participle means awake or alert and agrees like an adjective.

Function	Masculine	Feminine	Plural
imperative	فيق fīʾ	فيقي fīʾe	فيقوا fīʾo
active participle	فايق fēyeʾ	فايقة fēyʾa	فايقين fēyʾīn

فيق، صار الوقت سبعة والباص ما بينطر.

fīʾ, ṣār el-waʾet sabʿa wil-bāṣ ma byinṭor.

Wake up; it's seven and the bus won't wait. (informal; masculine command)

فيقوا بهدوء وما تعملوا ضجة بالممر.

fīʾo b-hodūʾ w-ma taʿmlo ḍazhzhe bil-mamarr.

Wake up quietly and don't make noise in the hallway. (informal; plural command)

بعدك فايق ولا بلشت تنعس؟

baʿdak fēyeʾ walla ballasht tinʿas?

Are you still awake, or are you starting to get sleepy? (informal; masculine participial state)

كانت فايقة طول الليل مع البيبي.

kēnit fēyʾa ṭūl el-lēl maʿ el-bēbe.

She was awake all night with the baby. (informal; past state with كانت plus feminine participle)

Negate the state with مش فايق; negate a habitual waking event with ما بيفيق. The same event/state distinction appears with perfect versus participle.

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Use فاق for the event “woke up” and فايق for the state “awake.” English wake and awake already hint at the contrast, but Lebanese makes it productive across the paradigm.

Time, cause, and waking from sleep

A clock time normally takes عـ: فاق عالستة. A stimulus or cause can appear with من: فاق من صوت الجرس. The phrase فاق من النوم explicitly says “woke from sleep,” but it is unnecessary when context already supplies the sleeping situation.

فاق من صوت الجرس وطلع يشوف مين عالباب.

fēʾ min ṣōt el-zharas w-ṭiliʿ yshūf mīn ʿal-bēb.

He woke up from the sound of the bell and went to see who was at the door. (informal; stimulus with من)

فاق عالخمسة ورجع نام نص ساعة.

fēʾ ʿal-khamse w-rizhiʿ nēm noṣṣ sēʿa.

He woke at five and went back to sleep for half an hour. (informal; clock time and direct duration phrase)

Do not copy English wake up from the bed word for word. The normal source is sleep or a stimulus; getting physically out of bed is قام من التخت.

Intransitive فاق versus causative فيّق

Form I has the waking person as subject: فاق الولد “the boy woke up.” Form II adds a causer: فيّقت الأم الولد “the mother woke the boy.” The doubled consonant is audible even though ordinary unvocalized spelling can leave the two forms visually close.

Structure	Form	Meaning
Form I perfect	فاق fēʾ	he woke up
Form II perfect	فيّق fayyaʾ	he woke someone
Form I b-imperfect	بيفيق byfīʾ	he wakes up
Form II b-imperfect	بيفيّق byfayyeʾ	he wakes someone

فيقت الولد قبل ما يدق المنبه.

fayyaʾit el-walad ʾabel ma yidoʾʾ el-mnabbeh.

She woke the boy before the alarm went off. (informal; causative Form II with a direct object)

ما تفيقي البيبي؛ نام من شوي.

ma tfayyeʾe l-bēbe; nēm min shwayy.

Don't wake the baby; he fell asleep a little while ago. (informal; feminine causative prohibition)

Object clitics belong to the causative

Since basic فاق is intransitive, it has no direct-object series. Form II فيّق takes the sleeper as its direct object, and that person can appear as a suffix.

Object	Causative command	Reading
me	فيقني	fayyeʾne
you.m	فيقك	fayyeʾak
you.f	فيقك	fayyeʾik
him/it.m	فيقه	fayyeʾo
her/it.f	فيقها	fayyeʾa
us	فيقنا	fayyeʾna
you.pl	فيقكن	fayyeʾkon
them	فيقهن	fayyeʾon

فيقني عالستة ونص إذا ما فقت لحالي.

fayyeʾne ʿas-sitte w-noṣṣ iza ma fiʾt la-ḥāle.

Wake me at six thirty if I don't wake up on my own. (informal; causative command plus first-person object)

فيقوهن قبل ما يبرد الفطور.

fayyeʾūhon ʾabel ma yibrad el-fṭūr.

Wake them before breakfast gets cold. (informal; plural causers plus plural object)

This valency contrast is the same productive tendency described under derived valency, but فيّق should still be learned as an established lexical verb, not generated blindly from every Form I verb.

Awareness extension

Physical waking motivates an informal extension to awareness. فيق على حالك can mean “wake up / get real / pay attention,” and فايق can describe someone alert to what is happening. Tone matters: the command can sound caring, urgent, or sharply critical.

فيق على حالك؛ هالعرض أغلى من السعر العادي.

fīʾ ʿala ḥālak; hal-ʿareḍ aghla min es-siʿer el-ʿāde.

Wake up to what's happening; this offer is more expensive than the regular price. (informal; critical awareness extension)

هي فايقة لكل التفاصيل وما بيمرق عليها شي.

hiyye fēyʾa la-kill et-tafāṣīl w-ma byimroʾ ʿalēha shi.

She's alert to every detail; nothing gets past her. (informal; awareness extension)

Dialogue: an early appointment

فقت ولا بعدك نايم؟ موعدك بعد ساعة.

fiʾt walla baʿdak nāyem? mawʿidak baʿd sēʿa.

Nour: Are you awake, or are you still asleep? Your appointment is in an hour. (informal)

فايق، بس ما قمت من التخت بعد.

fēyeʾ, bass ma ʾimt min et-takht baʿd.

Rami: I'm awake, but I haven't gotten out of bed yet. (informal; awake state versus rising event)

طيب قوم، وإذا رجعت نمت بفيقك بالتلفون.

ṭayyeb ʾūm, w-iza rizhiʿt nimt bfayyeʾak bit-tilifōn.

Nour: Okay, get up; if you fall asleep again, I'll wake you by phone. (informal; Form I and causative Form II)

Common Mistakes

Keeping the long perfect stem before -t

❌ أنا فاقت عالسبعة.

Incorrect — first-person perfect uses short فقت fiʾt.

✅ أنا فقت عالستة بلا منبه.

ana fiʾt ʿas-sitte bla mnabbeh.

I woke up at six without an alarm.

Copying the perfect vowel into the nonpast

❌ هو بيفاق بكير كل يوم.

Incorrect — the nonpast principal part is بيفيق byfīʾ.

✅ هو بيفيق بكير حتى بالويك إند.

howwe byfīʾ bkīr ḥatta bil-weekend.

He wakes up early even on weekends. (informal)

Using intransitive Form I with a sleeper object

❌ فاقني المنبه عالخمسة.

Incorrect for ‘the alarm woke me’ — the causative needs Form II فيّق.

✅ فيقني المنبه عالخمسة وما رجعت نمت.

fayyeʾne l-mnabbeh ʿal-khamse w-ma rizhiʿt nimt.

The alarm woke me at five, and I didn't go back to sleep.

Keeping b- after رح

❌ رح بفيق بكير بكرا.

Incorrect — رح licenses bare فيق.

✅ رح فيق بكير بكرا كرمال الموعد.

raḥ fīʾ bkīr bokra kermēl el-mawʿid.

I'll wake up early tomorrow for the appointment.

Negating the awake state with verbal ما

❌ ما فايق هلق.

Incorrect in the course baseline for a present participial state — use مش.

✅ مش فايق منيح بعد؛ عطيني خمس دقايق.

mish fēyeʾ mnīḥ baʿd; ʿṭīne khames dʾāyeʾ.

I'm not properly awake yet; give me five minutes.

Key Takeaways

Store فاق–فقت–بيفيق–فيق–فايق as one hollow card and keep written ق despite its Beirut pronunciation ʾ. Form I is intransitive: a person wakes up. Doubled Form II فيّق adds the causer and takes the sleeper as a direct object. Use فايق for the state “awake/alert,” and recognize the informal awareness extension in commands such as فيق على حالك.

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