Lebanese كرهkirih covers “dislike,” “hate,” and, with suitable context, “be fed up with.” It is normally a state: the experiencer is the subject and the disliked person, thing, or activity is a direct object. Its principal parts are not predictable from the English meaning or from the written citation form, so learn كره، كرهت، بيكره as one set.
English speakers also need to separate intensity from grammar. بكره الزحمة can be an ordinary “I hate traffic,” while a serious statement about a person can sound much stronger. Softer ما بحبّ “I don't like” is often the socially safer choice. This stative behavior fits the broader system described under Lebanese state verbs.
Perfect paradigm
The citation form has the short vowels kirih. Before most consonant-initial suffixes, Lebanese reduces this to a krih- stem; the unsuffixed masculine and the vowel-initial third-person endings keep a fuller stem. These are everyday Lebanese forms, not MSA case forms.
| Person | Form | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| أنا | كرهت | kriht |
| إنت | كرهت | kriht |
| إنتي | كرهتي | krihte |
| هو | كره | kirih |
| هي | كرهت | kirhit |
| نحنا | كرهنا | krihna |
| إنتو | كرهتوا | krihto |
| هني | كرهوا | kirho |
كرهت الطريق عالشغل بعد ما بلشت الأشغال.
kriht eṭ-ṭarīʾ ʿash-shighel baʿd ma ballashet el-ashghāl.
I came to hate the commute after the roadworks started. (informal; a developed state)
هي كرهت طعمة الدوا، بس أخدته كله.
hiyye kirhit ṭaʿmet ed-dawa, bass akhadeto killo.
She hated the taste of the medicine, but she took all of it. (informal; direct noun object)
b-imperfect and bare imperfect
The b-imperfect principal part is بيكرهbyikrah. It expresses a present attitude or a recurring aversion. After رح، بدّي، لازم and similar selectors, use the bare form without b-.
| Person | b-imperfect | Bare imperfect |
|---|---|---|
| أنا | بكره bakrah | اكره akrah |
| إنت | بتكره btikrah | تكره tikrah |
| إنتي | بتكرهي btikrahe | تكرهي tikrahe |
| هو | بيكره byikrah | يكره yikrah |
| هي | بتكره btikrah | تكره tikrah |
| نحنا | منكره mnikrah | نكره nikrah |
| إنتو | بتكرهوا btikraho | تكرهوا tikraho |
| هني | بيكرهوا byikraho | يكرهوا yikraho |
بكره ضيع وقتي بزحمة ما إلها آخر.
bakrah ḍayyeʿ waʾte b-zaḥme ma ila ākhir.
I hate wasting my time in endless traffic. (informal; same-subject activity as a bare verb)
رح تكره هالمطعم إذا رحت بنهار العيد.
raḥ tikrah hal-maṭʿam iza riḥet b-nhār el-ʿīd.
You'll hate this restaurant if you go on the holiday. (informal prediction; bare form after رح)
Because كره is stative, عم بكره is unusual for a stable preference. It becomes possible when the feeling is developing: عم بكره الشغل أكتر كل يوم “I'm hating the job more every day.” The change reading comes from the context, not from a new dictionary sense.
Objects, activities, and clauses
A disliked noun is direct: بكره الضجة، بكره هاد اللون، بكرهها. No preposition equivalent to English of or about is required. Object suffixes attach directly: كرهني، كرهك، كرهه، كرهها، كرهنا، كرهكن، كرهن.
هو بيكره القهوة باردة، فدايما بيشربها بسرعة.
huwwe byikrah el-ʾahwe bārde, f-dāyma byishraba b-sorʿa.
He hates coffee cold, so he always drinks it quickly. (informal; object plus depictive adjective)
ما بكرهها، بس ما بحب اشتغل معها لحالي.
ma bakraha, bass ma bḥebb ishtighel maʿa laḥāle.
I don't hate her, but I don't like working alone with her. (informal; direct object suffix and softer contrast)
For an activity performed by the same subject, conversation often uses a bare verb: بكره قوم بكير “I hate getting up early.” A whole situation can appear after إنو or لما. إنو presents a proposition; لما highlights the recurring occasion that triggers the reaction.
بكره إنو كل قرار صغير بده ثلاث موافقات.
bakrah enno kill ʾarār zghīr baddo tlēt mwāfaʾāt.
I hate that every small decision needs three approvals. (professional conversation; إنو-clause)
بتكره لما حدا يقاطعها وهي عم تشرح.
btikrah lamma ḥada yʾāṭeʿa w-hiyye ʿam tishraḥ.
She hates it when someone interrupts her while she's explaining. (informal; recurring trigger with لما)
Imperative and active participle
The positive commands are اكرهikrah, اكرهيikrahe, and اكرهواikraho. Grammatically regular does not mean pragmatically common: people rarely order someone to feel hatred. These forms occur in challenges, dramatic speech, or contrasts such as “hate the act, not the person.” Negative ما تكره can be advice but is still stronger than ordinary ما تزعل من “don't be upset with.”
اكره التصرف إذا بدك، بس ما تكره الشخص.
ikrah et-taṣarrof iza baddak, bass ma tikrah esh-shakhṣ.
Hate the behavior if you want, but don't hate the person. (marked moral advice; masculine singular)
Active participle كارهkāreh, feminine كارهةkārhe, plural كارهينkārhīn, foregrounds a currently held attitude and often sounds emphatic: أنا كاره الوضع “I'm completely fed up with the situation.” The finite بكره is the neutral everyday preference form.
صارله شهر كاره الشغل وعم بيدور على فرصة تانية.
ṣārlo shaher kāreh esh-shighel w-ʿam bydawwer ʿala forṣe tēnye.
He's been fed up with the job for a month and is looking for another opportunity. (informal; emphatic participial state)
Register and strength
كره is ordinary (informal/neutral spoken) Lebanese, but its social force varies with the object. Hating a food, delay, or chore is routine exaggeration. Saying بكره فلان about a person expresses genuine hostility unless playful context clearly weakens it. Use ما بحبّ for polite dislike and مش كتير بحبّ for an even softer preference.
Common Mistakes
Copying the perfect vowel into the imperfect
❌ هو بيكره الانتظار.
byikrih
Incorrect reading — the imperfect principal part is byikrah, not a regularized byikrih.
✅ هو بيكره الانتظار بلا موعد واضح.
huwwe byikrah el-intiẓār bla mawʿed wāḍeḥ.
He hates waiting without a clear appointment.
Adding a preposition before the disliked thing
❌ بكره من هالصوت العالي.
Incorrect — the disliked stimulus is normally a direct object.
✅ بكره هالصوت العالي وقت كون عم بشتغل.
bakrah haṣ-ṣawt el-ʿāle waʾt kūn ʿam bashtighel.
I hate this loud noise when I'm working.
Keeping b- after رح
❌ رح بتكره المكان بالصيف.
Incorrect in the Beirut baseline — رح selects the bare imperfect.
✅ رح تكره المكان بالصيف لأن ما فيه تهوية.
raḥ tikrah el-makēn biṣ-ṣēf laʾann ma fī tehwiye.
You'll hate the place in summer because it has no ventilation.
Translating English “hate on” literally
❌ عم بيكرهوا على فكرتها بلا سبب.
Incorrect phrasal calque — criticism is انتقدوا; كره takes a direct object.
✅ عم بينتقدوا فكرتها بلا ما يعطوها فرصة تشرح.
ʿam byintaʾdo fikrita bla ma yiʿṭūha forṣe tishraḥ.
They're criticizing her idea without giving her a chance to explain.
Key Takeaways
Learn كره–كرهت–بيكره as a lexical set. Put a disliked person or thing directly after the verb; use a bare verb for many same-subject activities and إنو/لما for situations. The participle كاره is more emphatic than neutral بيكره, and polite disagreement often calls for softer ما بحبّ.
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