Lebanese مشي / بيمشيmishi / byimshe covers literal walking, a person's departure, and several extensions built around “going” or “working.” مشي عالبيت can mean “he walked home,” while مشي بكير can mean “he left early,” and الشغل ماشي منيح means “the work is going well.” Context and the surrounding path phrase identify the reading.
This is a final-weak verb: citation مشي does not keep one invariant ending. Its perfect exposes ē, y, or o before different endings, while its nonpast has final -e in the singular and -o in the plural. English gives no clue to those alternations, so the useful card is مشي–مشيت–بيمشي–امشي.
For the larger class, see final-ī verbs and weak participles.
Complete perfect paradigm
The masculine citation form is مشيmishi. First- and second-person forms have long ē, feminine 3sg retains an audible y, and the transparent 3pl production form used in this guide is مشيواmishyo. Contracted مشوا is also heard across the Levant (regional/individual variant); do not mix individual cells at random.
| Person | Form | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| أنا | مشيت | mshēt |
| إنت | مشيت | mshēt |
| إنتي | مشيتي | mshēte |
| هو | مشي | mishi |
| هي | مشيت | mishyit |
| نحنا | مشينا | mshēna |
| إنتو | مشيتوا | mshēto |
| هني | مشيوا | mishyo |
مشيت من الحمرا لعالبيت لأنو ما لقيت تاكسي.
mshēt min el-Ḥamra la-ʿal-bēt laʾanno ma lʾēt tākse.
I walked from Hamra home because I couldn't find a taxi. (informal; first-person perfect and route)
مشيت مايا قبل الكل لأنو كان عندها موعد.
mishyit Māya ʾabel el-kill laʾanno kēn ʿinda mawʿed.
Maya left before everyone else because she had an appointment. (informal; feminine perfect and departure sense)
Complete b-imperfect and bare imperfect
The b-imperfect is بيمشيbyimshe, not a form ending in -a like بينسى. Final-weak verbs share structural pressures, but their principal vowels remain lexical. The bare imperfect follows رح، لازم، بدّي، فيني and appears in motion and purpose chains.
| Person | b-imperfect | Bare imperfect |
|---|---|---|
| أنا | بمشي bimshe | امشي imshe |
| إنت | بتمشي btimshe | تمشي timshe |
| إنتي | بتمشي btimshe | تمشي timshe |
| هو | بيمشي byimshe | يمشي yimshe |
| هي | بتمشي btimshe | تمشي timshe |
| نحنا | منمشي mnimshe | نمشي nimshe |
| إنتو | بتمشوا btimsho | تمشوا timsho |
| هني | بيمشوا byimsho | يمشوا yimsho |
بالربيع بيمشي رامي عالشغل تلات مرات بالأسبوع.
bir-rabīʿ byimshe Rāme ʿash-shoghol tlēt marrāt bil-osbūʿ.
In spring, Rami walks to work three times a week. (informal habitual)
رح نمشي شوي عالكورنيش وبعدين نشرب قهوة.
raḥ nimshe shwayy ʿal-kornīsh w-baʿdēn nishrab ʾahwe.
We'll walk along the Corniche for a bit and then have coffee. (informal; bare first-person plural after رح)
For an event in progress, this guide uses عم + b-imperfect: عم بمشي “I'm walking.” The active participle ماشي can also describe current movement, but it presents the subject as being on the way or in a continuing state rather than zooming in on the activity.
Paths, destinations, and companions
Core مشي is intransitive. A destination takes لـ or colloquial عـ: مشي للبيت، مشي عالشغل. A route or setting can take بـ: مشي بالشارع، مشي بالطريق القديمة. A starting point takes من, and a companion takes مع.
مشينا من هون لآخر الشارع وبعدين لفينا عاليمين.
mshēna min hōn la-ēkhir esh-shāreʿ w-baʿdēn lfīna ʿal-yamīn.
We walked from here to the end of the street and then turned right. (informal directions; source and endpoint)
مشي معي بالطريق القديمة لأنو فيها ضو أكتر.
mishi maʿe biṭ-ṭarīʾ el-ʾdīme laʾanno fīha ḍaww aktar.
He walked with me along the old road because there's more light there. (informal; companion and path)
English allows a direct route object in walk the streets and a direct distance in walk five kilometers. Lebanese commonly makes the spatial relation explicit or uses the distance adverbially: مشي بالشوارع، مشي خمس كيلومترات. A person is not a direct object meaning “walk with someone”; use مع.
Departure and “leave”
In conversational Lebanese, مشي can describe someone going away or leaving a scene. The context supplies the point of departure: مشي بكير “he left early,” مشي من الحفلة “he left the party.” It does not cover every English use of leave. ترك takes an abandoned object—“leave the keys”—and فل explicitly means depart/go away (informal).
مشي من المكتب عالخمسة لأنو كان لازم يجيب الولاد.
mishi min el-maktab ʿal-khamse laʾanno kēn lāzem yzhīb el-wlād.
He left the office at five because he had to pick up the children. (informal departure sense)
تركت الشاحن عالطاولة ومشيت بلا ما انتبه.
tarakt esh-shāḥen ʿaṭ-ṭāwle w-mshēt bla ma ntibeh.
I left the charger on the table and went off without noticing. (informal; ترك with an object versus مشي as departure)
Things “going” well and workable solutions
The motion metaphor extends naturally to processes. الشغل ماشي منيح means “the work is going well,” while الخطة ماشية means the plan is proceeding. Formulaic بيمشي الحال can mean “it works,” “we'll manage,” or “it will do.” It often accepts an adequate solution without claiming that it is ideal.
هالبرنامج بيمشي الحال للشغل الخفيف، بس مش للمشاريع الكبيرة.
hal-barnēmezh byimshe l-ḥāl lash-shoghol el-khfīf, bass mish lil-mashārīʿ el-kbīre.
This program will do for light work, but not for large projects. (informal; adequacy rather than excellence)
الشغل ماشي منيح، وإذا ضل هيك منخلص الجمعة.
esh-shoghol māshe mnīḥ, w-iza ḍall hēk mnkhalliṣ el-zhomʿa.
The work is going well, and if it stays like this, we'll finish Friday. (neutral workplace context; participial state)
ما بيمشي can reject a rule, excuse, or proposal: “that doesn't work / won't pass.” With a person phrase such as معي, it can mean “that won't work on me” or “I won't accept that.” This is an extension of acceptability, not literal walking.
Imperative, active participle, and clitic boundary
The singular command is امشيimshe for either one man or one woman; the plural is امشواimsho. Negative commands use ما + the bare second-person form. A bare امشي! can sound dismissive—“go away!”—so add a route or invitation when literal walking is intended.
| Addressee | Positive | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| one person | امشي imshe | ما تمشي ma timshe |
| a group | امشوا imsho | ما تمشوا ma timsho |
امشي دغري لعند الإشارة وأنا بلحقك.
imshe doghre la-ʿind el-ishāra w-ana bilḥaʾak.
Walk straight to the traffic light, and I'll catch up with you. (informal singular command)
The active participle agrees as ماشيmāshe, ماشيةmāshye, ماشيينmāshyīn. It describes someone on the way or a process continuing. Negate it with مش: الخطة مش ماشية. A finite habit instead takes ما: هو ما بيمشي عالشغل.
Core Form I مشي has no direct object clitic because it is intransitive. Suffixes belong to a preposition: مشي معي، مشي لعندها، مشي وراهن. Transitive مشّىmashsha (Form II) “make something move / make something work” is a different verb; forms such as مشّاني therefore cannot be inserted into this Form I paradigm.
نحنا ماشيين لعندكن هلق، ما تطلبوا تاكسي.
niḥna māshyīn la-ʿindkon hallaʾ, ma ṭolbo tākse.
We're walking over to your place now; don't order a taxi. (informal; plural active participle)
Common Mistakes
Making the path a direct object
❌ مشيت الشارع القديم للبيت.
Incorrect English-shaped path frame — use بـ for the route.
✅ مشيت بالشارع القديم للبيت لأنو كان أهدى.
mshēt bish-shāreʿ el-ʾdīm lil-bēt laʾanno kēn ahda.
I walked home along the old street because it was quieter.
Guessing an a-final imperfect
❌ هو بيمشي عالشغل كل يوم.
huwwe byimsha ʿash-shoghol kill yōm
Incorrect Beirut reading — the imperfect is byimshe.
✅ هو بيمشي عالشغل كل يوم إلا وقت تشتي.
huwwe byimshe ʿash-shoghol kill yōm illa waʾt tishte.
He walks to work every day except when it rains.
Using verbal negation with a participle
❌ الخطة ما ماشية متل ما بدنا.
Incorrect in the Beirut baseline — a participial predicate takes مش.
✅ الخطة مش ماشية متل ما بدنا، ولازم نغيرها.
el-khoṭṭa mish māshye mitl ma bidna, w-lāzem nghayyera.
The plan isn't going the way we want, and we need to change it.
Translating every English leave with مشي
❌ مشيت مفاتيحي بالسيارة.
Incorrect — an object left behind requires ترك.
✅ تركت مفاتيحي بالسيارة ورجعت جيبن.
tarakt mafātīḥe bis-sayyāra w-rizheʿt zhībon.
I left my keys in the car and went back to get them.
Adding b- after رح
❌ رح بيمشوا معنا عالبحر.
Incorrect — رح selects bare يمشوا.
✅ رح يمشوا معنا عالبحر إذا خلصوا بكير.
raḥ yimsho maʿna ʿal-baḥer iza khallaṣo bkīr.
They'll walk with us by the sea if they finish early.
Key Takeaways
Learn مشي–مشيت–بيمشي–امشي as a final-weak set, not as one stem plus mechanical endings. Mark destinations with لـ/عـ, paths with بـ, sources with من, and companions with مع. The verb extends from literal walking to departure and to processes that “go” or solutions that “work.” Core Form I remains intransitive; use prepositional suffixes rather than inventing direct object clitics, and distinguish finite بيمشي from state-like ماشي.
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