Lebanese لبسlibis covers both putting clothing on and wearing it, while active participle لابسlābes describes the resulting dressed state. Its lexical card is لبس، لبست، بيلبس، البس، لابسlibis–libist–byilbas–ilbas–lābes. The perfect and imperfect have different internal vowels, so the nonpast must be learned rather than guessed.
The doubled Form II verb لبّسlabbas changes the participants: someone dresses another person. This contrast is particularly important because ordinary unvocalized spelling does not display the shadda.
Complete perfect paradigm
The perfect has a front-vowel pattern. Natural Beirut speech reduces some unstressed vowels around suffixes, especially in the third-person feminine and plural.
| Person | Form | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| أنا | لبست | libist |
| إنت | لبست | libist |
| إنتي | لبستي | libiste |
| هو | لبس | libis |
| هي | لبست | libset |
| نحنا | لبسنا | libisna |
| إنتو | لبستوا | libisto |
| هني | لبسوا | libso |
لبست جاكيتي لأنو الجو برد فجأة.
libist zhākēte laʾanno l-zhaww barad fazhʾa.
I put on my jacket because the weather suddenly got cold. (informal; first-person perfect)
لبست نادين فستان بسيط عالعشا.
libset Nadīn fustēn basīṭ ʿal-ʿasha.
Nadine wore a simple dress to dinner. (informal; feminine singular perfect)
لبستوا تياب دافية للرحلة ولا أخدتوا جاكيتات؟
libisto tyēb dēfye lar-riḥle walla ʾakhadto zhākētāt?
Did you all wear warm clothes for the trip, or did you bring jackets? (informal; plural addressee)
The same written لبست can be first person, masculine second person, or feminine third person. Spoken libset identifies “she put on/wore,” while libist gives the first/second-person reading.
Complete b-imperfect and bare imperfect
The imperfect stem has a in -ilbas. The b-imperfect handles routines and independent nonpast statements; the bare form appears after future and modal licensors.
| Person | b-imperfect | Bare imperfect |
|---|---|---|
| أنا | بلبس bilbas | البس ilbas |
| إنت | بتلبس btilbas | تلبس tilbas |
| إنتي | بتلبسي btilbase | تلبسي tilbase |
| هو | بيلبس byilbas | يلبس yilbas |
| هي | بتلبس btilbas | تلبس tilbas |
| نحنا | منلبس mnilbas | نلبس nilbas |
| إنتو | بتلبسوا btilbaso | تلبسوا tilbaso |
| هني | بيلبسوا byilbaso | يلبسوا yilbaso |
بالشغل بلبس رسمي، بس بالبيت بلبس شي مريح.
bish-shoghol bilbas rasme, bass bil-bēt bilbas shi mrīḥ.
At work I dress formally, but at home I wear something comfortable. (informal; habitual first person)
رح يلبسوا نفس اللون كرمال الصورة.
raḥ yilbaso nafs el-lōn kermēl eṣ-ṣūra.
They'll wear the same color for the picture. (informal; bare plural after رح)
لازم تلبسي كنزة إذا بدك تقعدي برا.
lāzem tilbase kinze iza baddik tiʾʿode barra.
You need to put on a sweater if you want to sit outside. (informal; feminine bare forms)
With عم, the finite verb normally profiles getting dressed or putting an item on: عم بيلبس. A person already wearing the item is more naturally لابس.
Imperative and active participle
The imperative begins with a helping vowel. The active participle agrees for gender and number and is the ordinary way to describe what someone currently has on.
| Function | Masculine | Feminine | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| imperative | البس ilbas | البسي ilbase | البسوا ilbaso |
| active participle | لابس lābes | لابسة lābse | لابسين lābsīn |
البس شي دافي لأنو بالليل بيبرد.
ilbas shi dēfe laʾanno bil-lēl byibrod.
Put on something warm because it gets cold at night. (informal; masculine command)
البسوا القفازات قبل ما تبلشوا الدهان.
ilbaso l-ʾoffēzāt ʾabel ma tballesho d-dihēn.
Put on the gloves before you start painting. (neutral; plural command)
لابسة فستان أزرق وجاكيت أسود.
lābse fustēn azraʾ w-zhākēt aswad.
She's wearing a blue dress and a black jacket. (informal; feminine participial state)
الشباب لابسين نفس القميص بالغلط.
esh-shabēb lābsīn nafs el-ʾamīṣ bil-ghalaṭ.
The guys are wearing the same shirt by accident. (informal; plural participle)
Use مش لابس for a current negative state. ما بيلبس instead denies a routine or ordinary finite event.
Clothing is a direct object
Shirts, jackets, shoes, glasses, and jewelry normally follow لبس directly. Do not insert a preposition because English has dress in or put on.
| Lebanese frame | Natural English |
|---|---|
| لبس قميص | put on / wore a shirt |
| لبس نظارات | put on / wore glasses |
| لابس أسود | dressed in black |
| لابس تياب رياضة | wearing sports clothes |
لبس نظاراته ليقرا الخط الصغير.
libis naẓẓārāto la-yiʾra l-khaṭṭ ez-zghīr.
He put on his glasses to read the small print. (informal; direct clothing/accessory object)
هلق عم بيلبس بدلته، انطره دقيقتين.
hallaʾ ʿam byilbas badlto, inṭoro dʾīʾtēn.
He's putting on his suit now; wait for him for two minutes. (informal; action in progress)
هلق لابس بدلته وناطر حد الباب.
hallaʾ lābes badlto w-nāṭer ḥadd el-bēb.
Now he's wearing his suit and waiting by the door. (informal; resulting dressed state)
Object clitics
A known clothing item can be replaced by a direct-object suffix. The antecedent's grammatical gender controls the suffix: masculine الجاكيت → ـه, feminine الكنزة → ـها, plural القفازات → ـهن.
| Environment | Form | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| perfect + it.m | لبسته | libisto | I put it on / wore it |
| perfect + it.f | لبستها | libista | I put it on / wore it |
| perfect + them | لبستهن | libiston | I put them on / wore them |
| b-imperfect + it.m | بيلبسه | byilbaso | he puts it on / wears it |
| b-imperfect + it.f | بيلبسها | byilbasa | he puts it on / wears it |
| imperative + it.f | البسها | ilbasa | put it on! |
هالكنزة بعدها نظيفة، البسها اليوم.
hal-kinze baʿda nḍīfe, ilbasa l-yōm.
This sweater is still clean; wear it today. (informal; feminine object suffix on the command)
اشتريت جاكيت مبارح ولبسته عالشغل اليوم.
ishtarēt zhākēt mbēreḥ w-libisto ʿash-shoghol el-yōm.
I bought a jacket yesterday and wore it to work today. (informal; masculine object suffix)
Form II لبّس: dress someone
Form I makes the wearer the subject: لبست البنت الجاكيتlibset el-bint el-zhākēt “the girl put on the jacket.” Doubled Form II introduces a dresser: لبّست البنت الجاكيتlabbaset el-bint el-zhākēt “I put the jacket on the girl.” The first object is the person dressed; the clothing is the second object.
لبست الأم ابنها كنزة قبل ما يطلع.
labbaset el-omm ibna kinze ʾabel ma yiṭlaʿ.
The mother put a sweater on her son before he went out. (informal; causative Form II)
عم بلبس البيبي بيجامته، وبعد شوي منكون جاهزين.
ʿam blabbes el-bēbe pyazhēmto, w-baʿd shwayy mnkūn zhēhzīn.
I'm putting the baby's pajamas on him; we'll be ready in a little while. (informal; ongoing causative)
This is an established valency contrast, not proof that every Form II verb has a fully predictable causative meaning. See derived valency.
Dialogue: getting ready to leave
شو لابس عالعشا الليلة؟
shū lābes ʿal-ʿasha l-lēle?
Maya: What are you wearing to dinner tonight? (informal; masculine participial question)
بعدني ما قررت، بس يمكن البس القميص الأزرق.
baʿdne ma ʾarrart, bass yimkin ilbas el-ʾamīṣ el-azraʾ.
Rami: I haven't decided yet, but maybe I'll wear the blue shirt. (informal; bare first person after يمكن)
البسه مع الجاكيت الرمادي؛ بيلبقوا لبعض.
ilbaso maʿ el-zhākēt er-ramāde; byilbaʾo la-baʿḍ.
Maya: Wear it with the gray jacket; they go well together. (informal; masculine object suffix)
Common Mistakes
Copying the perfect vowels into the imperfect
❌ هو بيلبس بلفظ ليبيس.
Incorrect analysis — the course's nonpast stem has -ilbas, not the perfect's libis vowels.
✅ هو بيلبس رسمي بس وقت يكون عنده اجتماع.
howwe byilbas rasme bass waʾet ykūn ʿindo zhtimēʿ.
He dresses formally only when he has a meeting.
Adding a preposition before clothing
❌ لابس في جاكيت أسود.
Incorrect — the clothing follows لابس directly.
✅ لابس جاكيت أسود وكنزة رمادية.
lābes zhākēt aswad w-kinze ramādiyye.
He's wearing a black jacket and a gray sweater.
Using the progressive for an already-worn state
❌ هلق عم بيلبس القميص الأزرق، إذا المقصود إنه عليه.
Incorrect for the intended current state — this says he is putting it on.
✅ هلق لابس القميص الأزرق.
hallaʾ lābes el-ʾamīṣ el-azraʾ.
He's wearing the blue shirt now.
Confusing the wearer with the dresser
❌ لبس الأم الولد الجاكيت، إذا المقصود إن الأم لبسته ياه.
Incorrect form for the intended causative — Form I makes the subject the wearer.
✅ لبست الأم الولد الجاكيت قبل ما يطلع.
labbaset el-omm el-walad el-zhākēt ʾabel ma yiṭlaʿ.
The mother put the jacket on the boy before he went out.
Translating English “wear out” word for word
❌ لبس حاله لبرا بعد النهار الطويل.
Incorrect calque for ‘wore himself out’ — لبس concerns clothing, not exhaustion.
✅ تعب كتير بعد النهار الطويل ونام بكير.
tiʿib ktīr baʿd en-nhār eṭ-ṭawīl w-nēm bkīr.
He got very tired after the long day and went to sleep early.
Key Takeaways
Store لبس–لبست–بيلبس–البس–لابس as one vowel-changing lexical card. Clothing is a direct object; عم بيلبس profiles the act of getting dressed, while لابس describes what someone already has on. Doubled لبّس adds a dresser and can take both the person dressed and the clothing item.
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