Lebanese قرّرʾarrar means “decide, determine, settle.” In urban Beirut pronunciation, written ق is ʾ, not q. The verb can take a direct object (قرّر الموعد “set the date”), a same-subject bare verb (قرّر يسافر “decided to travel”), an embedded question (قرّر وين يروح), or an إنو clause stating a decision.
English uses the same decide in all four frames, but Lebanese packaging changes with what is decided. A person who decides to act normally uses a bare agreeing verb. An institution that establishes a policy often uses إنو or a direct decision noun and sounds at home in professional spoken Lebanese.
The doubled-root morphology is explained further under geminate derived verbs; complement choice connects to bare verb complements.
Complete perfect paradigm
Although the root itself is geminate, Form II already contains the doubled middle consonant. Suffixed forms keep ʾarrar-: قرّرت is ʾarrart, not an invented final-weak or geminate expansion such as ʾarrarēt.
| Person | Form | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| أنا | قررت | ʾarrart |
| إنت | قررت | ʾarrart |
| إنتي | قررتي | ʾarrarte |
| هو | قرر | ʾarrar |
| هي | قررت | ʾarrarit |
| نحنا | قررنا | ʾarrarna |
| إنتو | قررتوا | ʾarrarto |
| هني | قرروا | ʾarraro |
قررنا نأجل السفرة لأن الطقس رح يسوء.
ʾarrarna nʾazzhel es-safra laʾann eṭ-ṭaʾs raḥ yisūʾ.
We decided to postpone the trip because the weather is going to worsen. (informal; same-subject bare action)
قررت اللجنة تمدد المهلة أسبوع إضافي.
ʾarrarit el-lazhnne tmadded el-mohle osbūʿ iḍāfe.
The committee decided to extend the deadline by an additional week. (professional; collective feminine subject)
Complete b-imperfect and bare imperfect
The imperfect/command stem has final e: بيقرّرbyiʾarrer. The b-series expresses repeated decision-making, policy-setting, or an independently asserted present process. رح، لازم، بدّه and higher predicates select the bare series.
| Person | b-imperfect | Bare imperfect |
|---|---|---|
| أنا | بقرر bʾarrer | قرر ʾarrer |
| إنت | بتقرر btʾarrer | تقرر tʾarrer |
| إنتي | بتقرري btʾarrre | تقرري tʾarrre |
| هو | بيقرر byiʾarrer | يقرر yiʾarrer |
| هي | بتقرر btʾarrer | تقرر tʾarrer |
| نحنا | منقرر mniʾarrer | نقرر niʾarrer |
| إنتو | بتقرروا btʾarrro | تقرروا tʾarrro |
| هني | بيقرروا byiʾarrro | يقرروا yiʾarrro |
هو دايما بيقرر بسرعة وبيرجع بيغير رأيه.
huwwe dāyma byiʾarrer b-sorʿa w-biyarzhaʿ byghayyir raʾyo.
He always decides quickly and then changes his mind. (informal habitual)
لازم نقرر اليوم مين رح يقدم العرض.
lāzem nʾarrer el-yōm mīn raḥ yʾaddem el-ʿarḍ.
We need to decide today who will give the presentation. (professional; bare form after لازم and embedded question)
The Beirut progressive is عم + b-imperfect: عم بيقرّر. It is appropriate when someone is currently weighing and settling options. A stable decision already reached is better expressed by the perfect or active participle.
بعدها عم بتقرر إذا بدها تقبل العرض أو لأ.
baʿda ʿam btʾarrer iza badda tiʾbal el-ʿarḍ aw laʾ.
She's still deciding whether to accept the offer. (neutral; ongoing deliberation)
Deciding to act: a bare verb
When the decider also performs the chosen action, قرّر directly selects an agreeing bare imperfect. Lebanese has no infinitive equivalent to English to here.
قررت اشتغل من البيت يوم الجمعة حتى خلص بهدوء.
ʾarrart ishtighel min el-bēt yōm el-zhomʿa ḥatta khalliṣ b-hodūʾ.
I decided to work from home on Friday so I could finish in peace. (professional context; first-person bare complement)
قررتي تبيعي السيارة ولا بعدك محتارة؟
ʾarrarte tbīʿe s-sayyāra walla baʿdik miḥtāra?
Have you decided to sell the car, or are you still undecided? (informal; addressed to one woman)
If the lower actor is different, use إنو or another explicit clause rather than allowing agreement to switch silently: الإدارة قررت إنو الموظفين يشتغلوا من البيت. This makes the institutional decider and the employee actors distinct.
الإدارة قررت إنو الفريق يشتغل من البيت نهارين بالأسبوع.
el-idāra ʾarrarit inno l-farīʾ yishtighel min el-bēt nhārēn bil-osbūʿ.
Management decided that the team would work from home two days a week. (professional; different-subject إنو clause)
Nouns, questions, and proposition complements
A direct noun object is natural when قرّر means “determine, settle, set”: قرّر السعر، قرّر الموعد، قرّر الخطة النهائية. Embedded questions identify an unresolved variable: وين، مين، إمتى، كيف، أي واحد. An إنو clause states a proposition adopted as the decision.
خلينا نقرر المكان بعد ما نعرف عدد الضيوف.
khallīna nʾarrer el-makēn baʿd ma niʿraf ʿadad eḍ-ḍyūf.
Let's decide the venue after we know the number of guests. (informal planning; direct object)
بعد النقاش قرروا أي تصميم أوضح للناس.
baʿd en-niʾāsh ʾarraro ayy taṣmīm awḍaḥ lin-nēs.
After the discussion, they decided which design was clearer for people. (professional; embedded question)
Object clitics attach when the decided matter is recoverable: قرّرته “I decided/settled it.m,” قرّرتها “I decided it.f,” بيقرّروهن “they decide them.” Human objects are unusual in the decision sense: English “decide him” is not a normal frame either.
الخطة النهائية قررناها سوا، مش المدير لحاله.
el-khiṭṭa n-nihēʾiyye ʾarrarnāha sawa, mish el-mdīr la-ḥālo.
We decided the final plan together, not the manager alone. (professional; topical object resumed by clitic)
Imperative and active participle
Commands are قرّرʾarrer, قرّريʾarrre, and قرّرواʾarrro. They are natural when delay itself is the issue, but can sound pressuring. خد وقتك “take your time” softens the interaction.
| Addressee | Positive | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| one man | قرر ʾarrer | ما تقرر ma tʾarrer |
| one woman | قرري ʾarrre | ما تقرري ma tʾarrre |
| a group | قرروا ʾarrro | ما تقرروا ma tʾarrro |
ما تقرر هلق، فكر فيها منيح وجاوبني بكرا.
ma tʾarrer hallaʾ, fakkir fīha mnīḥ w-zhēwibne bokra.
Don't decide now; think it over carefully and answer me tomorrow. (informal advice to one man)
Active participle مقرّرmʾarrer, feminine مقرّرة, plural مقرّرين, presents a decision as already held: أنا مقرّر سافر “I've made up my mind to travel.” It takes the same bare same-subject action. The identically spelled passive/result form can have a different vowel pattern in careful speech; current policy results are often expressed more clearly with متقرّر or تمّ القرار in formal contact.
نحنا مقررين نفتح فرع صغير بدل ما نكبر المحل الحالي.
niḥna mʾarrirīn niftaḥ farʿ zghīr badal ma nkabbir el-maḥall el-ḥāle.
We've decided to open a small branch instead of enlarging the current shop. (professional conversation; plural active-participial state)
Decision nouns and formal contact
Everyday قرارʾarār means “decision,” commonly with أخد قرار “make/take a decision.” The regular-looking Form II verbal noun تقرير has lexicalized as “report” in ordinary modern usage; it is not the everyday noun for “a decision.” In legal or administrative language, other formal senses of تقرير can occur, but learners should not replace قرار mechanically.
أخدنا قرار نهائي بعد ما قرينا التقرير كله.
akhadna ʾarār nihēʾe baʿd ma ʾrēna t-taʾrīr killo.
We made a final decision after reading the whole report. (professional; قرار ‘decision’ versus تقرير ‘report’)
Common Mistakes
Keeping b- after قرّر
❌ قررت بسافر آخر الشهر.
Incorrect in the Beirut baseline — the chosen same-subject action is bare.
✅ قررت سافر آخر الشهر بعد ما يخلص المشروع.
ʾarrart sāfer ākhir esh-shaher baʿd ma ykhalliṣ el-mashrūʿ.
I decided to travel at the end of the month after the project finishes.
Inserting purpose لـ for English “to”
❌ قرر لإترك الوظيفة.
Incorrect — قرّر directly selects the decider's bare action.
✅ قرر يترك الوظيفة ويفتح شغله الخاص.
ʾarrar yitrok el-waẓīfe w-yiftaḥ shoghlo l-khāṣṣ.
He decided to leave the job and start his own business.
Switching lower subject without a clause marker
❌ الإدارة قررت الموظفين يشتغلوا السبت.
Unclear — use إنو to separate the institutional decider from the employee actors.
✅ الإدارة قررت إنو الموظفين ما يشتغلوا السبت.
el-idāra ʾarrarit inno l-mwaẓẓafīn ma yishtighlo s-sabt.
Management decided that the employees would not work Saturday.
Calling a decision تقرير
❌ أخدنا تقرير نغير الخطة.
Incorrect lexical choice — تقرير ordinarily means ‘report’; a decision is قرار.
✅ أخدنا قرار نغير الخطة بعد ما شفنا النتايج.
akhadna ʾarār nghayyir el-khiṭṭa baʿd ma shifna n-natāyezh.
We decided to change the plan after seeing the results.
Key Takeaways
Use قرّر + bare verb when the decider performs the chosen action, إنو when stating a proposition or changing actors, a direct noun for a matter being settled, and an embedded question for an unresolved variable. Keep urban ق = ʾ, distinguish perfect ʾarrart from imperfect byiʾarrer, and use قرار, not ordinary تقرير, for “decision.”
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