The navigation label maraḍ reflects the familiar root shape, but the everyday Beirut perfect is مرضmiriḍ “got sick,” paired with بيمرضbyimroḍ. The verb marks a change into illness. The adjective مريضmrīḍ describes the resulting state “sick” and, as a noun, a patient.
English was sick can describe either onset or condition. Lebanese normally chooses: مرض مبارح “he got sick yesterday,” but كان مريض مبارح “he was sick yesterday.” This event–state distinction belongs to the wider contrast described under Lebanese state verbs.
Perfect paradigm
The citation form has two short vowels. Before several consonant-initial endings, Lebanese reduces the first vowel, just as in other strong Form I i-a verbs.
| Person | Form | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| أنا | مرضت | mriḍt |
| إنت | مرضت | mriḍt |
| إنتي | مرضتي | mriḍte |
| هو | مرض | miriḍ |
| هي | مرضت | miriḍit |
| نحنا | مرضنا | mriḍna |
| إنتو | مرضتوا | mriḍto |
| هني | مرضوا | mirḍo |
مرضت بنص السفرة واضطريت ارجع عالبيت.
mriḍt b-noṣṣ es-safra wiḍṭarrayt irzhaʿ ʿal-bēt.
I got sick halfway through the trip and had to return home. (informal; onset event)
مرضت البنت بعد أول أسبوع بالحضانة.
miriḍit el-bint baʿd awwal osbūʿ bil-ḥaḍāne.
The girl got sick after her first week at daycare. (informal; feminine completed onset)
b-imperfect and bare imperfect
The imperfect principal part is بيمرضbyimroḍ. The b-series expresses a tendency or recurring onset; a specific predicted onset normally follows رح in the bare series.
| Person | b-imperfect | Bare imperfect |
|---|---|---|
| أنا | بمرض bamroḍ | امرض amroḍ |
| إنت | بتمرض btimroḍ | تمرض timroḍ |
| إنتي | بتمرضي btimroḍe | تمرضي timroḍe |
| هو | بيمرض byimroḍ | يمرض yimroḍ |
| هي | بتمرض btimroḍ | تمرض timroḍ |
| نحنا | منمرض mnimroḍ | نمرض nimroḍ |
| إنتو | بتمرضوا btimroḍo | تمرضوا timroḍo |
| هني | بيمرضوا byimroḍo | يمرضوا yimroḍo |
كل شتوية بيمرض من أول موجة برد.
kill shitwiyye byimroḍ min awwal mawzhet bared.
Every winter he gets sick with the first cold spell. (informal; recurring tendency)
إذا ضليت بلا جاكيت تحت المطر، رح تمرض.
iza ḍallēt bla zhākēt taḥt el-maṭar, raḥ timroḍ.
If you stay in the rain without a jacket, you'll get sick. (informal warning; bare form after رح)
The progressive عم بيمرض is natural when illness is developing or when a repeated pattern is unfolding, not as the default translation of “is sick.” Current illness is مريض.
Being sick: مريض and duration
مريض، مريضة، مرضى describe an ill person. With صارله or إله, the adjective gives the duration of the present condition. A direct duration after the event verb can sound as though the onset lasted that long, so state expressions are usually clearer.
صارله تلات أيام مريض وما عم بيقدر ياكل.
ṣārlo tlēt ayyēm mrīḍ w-ma ʿam byiʾdar yēkol.
He's been sick for three days and can't eat. (informal; duration of an ongoing state)
كانت مريضة أسبوع، وبعدين رجعت عالشغل.
kēnit mrīḍa osbūʿ, w-baʿdēn rizhʿit ʿash-shighel.
She was sick for a week, then returned to work. (neutral; bounded past state)
The same written word مريض can be adjective “sick” or noun “patient.” Context and syntax decide: الولد مريض “the boy is sick,” but الدكتور مع مريض “the doctor is with a patient.”
Illness, causes, and body symptoms
Lebanese can say مرض بالإنفلونزا for the illness contracted and مرض من الأكل for an attributed cause. In ordinary symptom reports, however, speakers often name the symptom directly: عندي حرارة، معي رشح، راسي عم بيوجعني. English “my stomach is sick” should not be mapped word for word.
مرض بالإنفلونزا بعد ما رجع من السفر.
miriḍ bil-influwanza baʿd ma rizhiʿ min es-safar.
He came down with the flu after returning from the trip. (neutral; illness with بـ)
معي رشح وحرارة، بس بعدني عم بشرب مي منيح.
maʿe rashḥ w-ḥarāra, bass baʿdne ʿam bashrab mayy mnīḥ.
I have a cold and a fever, but I'm still drinking plenty of water. (informal; natural symptom possession)
Imperative, affected-person dative, and causative
Positive امرض، امرضي، امرضوا is grammatically possible but pragmatically bizarre or hostile: becoming ill is not normally commanded. The useful forms are prohibitives such as ما تمرض and the affectionate/exasperated ما تمرضلي “don't go getting sick on me.”
دير بالك عحالك وما تمرضلي قبل العرس.
dīr bālak ʿa-ḥālak w-ma timroḍle ʾabl el-ʿores.
Take care of yourself and don't get sick on me before the wedding. (warm informal; ethical dative)
Basic مرض is intransitive and has no direct-object suffixes. In تمرضلي, ـلي is a dative marking an affected speaker, not an object meaning “sicken me.” To say “make someone sick,” use Form II مرّض: مرّضني، مرّضك، مرّضه، مرّضها.
الأكل المكشوف مرض نص الضيوف.
el-akel el-makshūf marraḍ noṣṣ eḍ-ḍyūf.
The uncovered food made half the guests sick. (neutral; causative Form II)
ريحة الدهان مرضتني، ففتحت كل الشبابيك.
rīḥet ed-dihēn marraḍitne, f-fataḥt kill esh-shabēbīk.
The smell of paint made me sick, so I opened all the windows. (informal; causative object clitic)
There is no productive everyday active participle meaning “currently getting sick.” Use عم بيمرض for the developing event and adjective مريض for the state. This division is more useful than forcing مريض into the label “active participle.”
Common Mistakes
Using the event verb for a continuing state
❌ صارله يومين بيمرض.
Incorrect for a continuous two-day illness — this suggests repeated onsets or an unfolding change.
✅ صارله يومين مريض ونايم بالبيت.
ṣārlo yōmēn mrīḍ w-nāyem bil-bēt.
He's been sick and resting at home for two days.
Guessing the perfect from the imperfect
❌ هو مرض مبارح.
maraḍ
Incorrect everyday reading of the verb — the Beirut perfect is miriḍ.
✅ هو مرض مبارح بعد الضهر.
huwwe miriḍ mbēreḥ baʿd eḍ-ḍohor.
He got sick yesterday afternoon.
Treating a body part as what gets sick
❌ بطني مريض من الصبح.
Unnatural calque for stomach pain — name the symptom or say that the stomach hurts.
✅ بطني عم بيوجعني من الصبح.
baṭne ʿam byōzhaʿne min eṣ-ṣoboḥ.
My stomach has been hurting since this morning.
Confusing the dative with a causative object
❌ مرضلي يعني مرضني.
Incorrect — ـلي marks an affected speaker; causative ‘made me sick’ uses مرّضني.
✅ هالأكل مرضني، مش بس تعبني شوي.
hal-akel marraḍne, mish bass taʿʿabne shwayy.
This food made me sick; it didn't just make me feel a little tired.
Key Takeaways
Learn مرض–مرضت–بيمرض as miriḍ–mriḍt–byimroḍ. The verb marks getting sick; مريض marks being sick. Name many symptoms with معي، عندي, or a body-part verb. Basic مرض is intransitive, affected ـلي is a dative, and causative مرّض takes the sickened person as its object.
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- Health and Bodily-State ExpressionsA2 — Describe pain, symptoms, duration, affected people, pharmacy needs, advice, and recovery wishes in careful everyday Lebanese.