Lebanese Form II نزّل nazzal means “cause to go down”: bring or take something down, let a passenger off, lower a value, or put material onto a device or platform. It is the transitive partner of Form I نزل nizil “go down, get off, fall.” الولد نزل means “the boy went down”; الأب نزّل الولد means “the father took the boy down.”
The digital senses are not a separate conjugation. Lebanese conceptualizes downloading as bringing a file down onto a device, and نزّل also commonly covers posting or releasing content online. The source, destination, and platform make the intended direction clearer than an isolated English gloss does.
The one-participant counterpart has its own card under نزل “go down and get off”; keeping the two cards side by side prevents the identical ordinary spelling from hiding the contrast.
Perfect paradigm
The perfect keeps nazzal- before the person endings. The doubled z is the audible Form II signal even when ordinary writing leaves the shadda out.
| Person | Form | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| أنا | نزّلت | nazzalet |
| إنت | نزّلت | nazzalet |
| إنتي | نزّلتي | nazzalte |
| هو | نزّل | nazzal |
| هي | نزّلت | nazzalit |
| نحنا | نزّلنا | nazzalna |
| إنتو | نزّلتوا | nazzalto |
| هني | نزّلوا | nazzalo |
نزلنا الكراسي من السطح قبل المطر.
nazzalna l-karāse min es-saṭeḥ ʾabl el-maṭar.
We brought the chairs down from the roof before the rain. (neutral; object plus source)
السواق نزلني عند باب الجامعة.
es-sawwāʾ nazzalne ʿind bēb el-zhēmʿa.
The driver let me off at the university entrance. (informal; passenger object clitic)
b-imperfect and bare imperfect
The imperfect principal part is بينزّل byinazzel. The stem vowel shifts from perfect -al to imperfect -el. Use the b-series independently; after رح, لازم, and similar selectors, use the bare series.
| Person | b-imperfect | Bare imperfect |
|---|---|---|
| أنا | بنزّل bnazzel | نزّل nazzel |
| إنت | بتنزّل btnazzel | تنزّل tnazzel |
| إنتي | بتنزّلي btnazzle | تنزّلي tnazzle |
| هو | بينزّل byinazzel | ينزّل yinazzel |
| هي | بتنزّل btnazzel | تنزّل tnazzel |
| نحنا | مننزّل mnnazzel | ننزّل nnazzel |
| إنتو | بتنزّلوا btnazzlo | تنزّلوا tnazzlo |
| هني | بينزّلوا byinazzlo | ينزّلوا yinazzlo |
المحل بينزل الأسعار بآخر الموسم.
el-maḥall byinazzel el-asʿār b-ēkher el-mawsem.
The shop lowers its prices at the end of the season. (neutral; habitual causation)
لازم ننزل الصناديق عالطابق الأول.
lēzem nnazzel eṣ-ṣanādīʾ ʿaṭ-ṭābeʾ el-awwal.
We need to take the boxes down to the first floor. (neutral; bare form after لازم)
Sources usually take من: نزّل الصندوق من الرف. Destinations vary with their spatial role: عـ for a floor or device, عند for a stop or landmark, and لـ/لجوا for directional goals. English down does not require a separate Lebanese particle when the verb already supplies downward causation.
Digital downloading, posting, and release
With a file as direct object and a device as destination, نزّل الملف عالتلفون means “download the file onto the phone.” A source can be added with من. With a photo, episode, or announcement plus a public platform, the same verb often means “post/upload/release.” (informal/media) Context does the work that English assigns to opposite particles down and up.
نزلت الخريطة عالتلفون كرمال استعملها بلا إنترنت.
nazzalet el-kharīṭa ʿat-tilifōn kermēl istaʿmela bla internet.
I downloaded the map to my phone so I could use it without internet. (informal/digital)
نزلوا صور الحفلة عالصفحة الرسمية.
nazzalo ṣowar el-ḥafle ʿaṣ-ṣafḥa r-rasmiyye.
They posted the party photos on the official page. (media; platform destination)
Do not claim that نزّل alone distinguishes download from upload. من الموقع عالتلفون points toward downloading; عالصفحة points toward posting. For technical precision, speakers can also use more specialized borrowed or formal terms, but ordinary conversation strongly favours this contextual system.
Repeated action and distributed objects
Form II is historically associated with causation and sometimes intensity or repetition, but نزّل does not automatically mean “lower repeatedly.” A plural object, an iterative adverb, or a phrase such as وحدة وحدة supplies the repeated reading.
نزل الكراتين وحدة وحدة وما تكبن عالدرج.
nazzel el-karātīn waḥde waḥde w-ma tkobbon ʿad-darazh.
Bring the boxes down one at a time; don't dump them on the stairs. (informal command; explicit distributed action)
Imperative, clitics, and two participle readings
Commands are نزّل nazzel, feminine نزّلي nazzle, plural نزّلوا nazzlo. Object suffixes are نزّلني nazzalne, نزّلك nazzalak, نزّله nazzalo, نزّلها nazzala, نزّلنا nazzalna, نزّلكن nazzalkon, نزّلهن nazzalon. Context distinguishes “he brought us down” from the identical subject form “we brought down.”
نزلهن عند المحطة الجاية، لو سمحت.
nazzelhon ʿind el-maḥaṭṭa l-zhēye, law samaḥt.
Let them off at the next stop, please. (polite service request)
The written participle منزّل can represent two spoken patterns. Active مْنَزِّل mnazzel means “having downloaded/posted/lowered”; result or passive مْنَزَّل mnazzal means “downloaded/lowered.” The noun’s role disambiguates them.
أنا منزل النسخة الجديدة عالكمبيوتر.
ana mnazzel en-noskha l-zhdīde ʿal-kombyūtar.
I've downloaded the new version onto the computer. (digital; active result-relevant participle)
الملف منزل عكل الأجهزة من مبارح.
el-malaf mnazzal ʿa-kill el-azhhize min mbēreḥ.
The file has been downloaded on all the devices since yesterday. (digital; result/passive participle)
Common Mistakes
Using intransitive Form I with an object
❌ نزلني السواق عند الجامعة.
nizilne s-sawwāʾ ʿind el-zhēmʿa
Incorrect reading — causing a passenger to get off requires doubled Form II.
✅ نزلني السواق عند الجامعة.
nazzalne s-sawwāʾ ʿind el-zhēmʿa.
The driver let me off by the university.
Treating the digital direction as lexical
❌ نزلت الصورة يعني دايما حملتها عالجهاز.
Incorrect — with a public platform, نزّل can mean post; source and destination decide the direction.
✅ نزلت الصورة عالصفحة ليشوفوها الكل.
nazzalet eṣ-ṣūra ʿaṣ-ṣafḥa la-yshūfoha l-kill.
I posted the photo on the page so everyone could see it.
Assuming Form II itself means repetition
❌ نزل الصندوق يعني نزله أكتر من مرة.
Incorrect — the verb is causative; repetition needs context.
✅ نزل الصناديق وحدة وحدة.
nazzal eṣ-ṣanādīʾ waḥde waḥde.
He brought the boxes down one by one.
Keeping b- after رح
❌ رح بينزلوا الحلقة بكرا.
Incorrect — رح selects the bare imperfect.
✅ رح ينزلوا الحلقة بكرا.
raḥ ynazzlo l-ḥalaʾa bokra.
They'll release the episode tomorrow.
Key Takeaways
Learn nazzal–byinazzel–nazzel as the transitive counterpart of nizil–byinzal. Direct objects are made to descend, while من, عـ, and عند locate source and goal. Digital “download” and “post” are contextual extensions, repetition must be expressed separately, and participle vowels distinguish active mnazzel from result mnazzal.
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- Form II faʿʿalB1 — Recognize the doubled middle radical of Form II and learn its causative, intensive, denominal, and fully lexical Lebanese verbs through principal parts and frames.
- Lexical and Derived Causative PairsB2 — Learn which Lebanese Form I–II and suppletive pairs add a causer, how their participants shift, and where the mapping stops being productive.
- Derived Forms and Changes in ValencyC1 — See how Lebanese derived verbs add, suppress, or reorganize participants—and why every resulting frame must still be learned lexically.
- Participles from Weak RootsB2 — Recognize and use Lebanese weak-root participles as current activities, result states, intentions, and lexicalized adjectives.