Lebanese راحrāḥ “go” is a high-frequency hollow verb with three stem vowels: راح “he went,” رحت “I went,” and بيروح “he goes.” Its command is روح. Learn those principal parts together rather than trying to build one from another.
There is also an invariant future marker رحraḥ. The spelling, vowel length, and syntax distinguish them: راح يشتري “he went to buy,” but رح يشتري “he will buy.” This page is a lexical reference for both uses.
Perfect paradigm: long rāḥ- and short riḥ-
The perfect has long ā throughout the third person and short i before first- and second-person consonantal endings.
| Person | Form | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| أنا | رحت | riḥt |
| إنت | رحت | riḥt |
| إنتي | رحتي | riḥte |
| هو | راح | rāḥ |
| هي | راحت | rāḥet |
| نحنا | رحنا | riḥna |
| إنتو | رحتوا | riḥto |
| هني | راحوا | rāḥo |
رحنا عالسوق بكير، بس معظم المحلات كانوا بعدن مسكرين.
riḥna ʿas-sūʾ bkīr, bass moʿẓam el-maḥallāt kēno baʿdon msakkarīn.
We went to the market early, but most shops were still closed. (informal; 1pl perfect)
ريم راحت عالجامعة، والشباب راحوا عالمكتبة.
Rīm rāḥet ʿal-zhēmʿa, w-esh-shabēb rāḥo ʿal-maktabe.
Reem went to the university, and the guys went to the library. (neutral; 3sg.f and 3pl)
b-imperfect and bare imperfect
The nonpast stem has long ū. The b-imperfect gives habits, routes, and ordinary present predication. The bare imperfect follows رح, modals, and purpose-chain environments.
| Person | b-imperfect | Bare imperfect |
|---|---|---|
| أنا | بروح brūḥ | روح rūḥ |
| إنت | بتروح btrūḥ | تروح trūḥ |
| إنتي | بتروحي btrūḥe | تروحي trūḥe |
| هو | بيروح byrūḥ | يروح yrūḥ |
| هي | بتروح btrūḥ | تروح trūḥ |
| نحنا | منروح mnrūḥ | نروح nrūḥ |
| إنتو | بتروحوا btrūḥo | تروحوا trūḥo |
| هني | بيروحوا byrūḥo | يروحوا yrūḥo |
كل خميس منروح عهالقهوة بعد الدوام.
kill khamīs mnrūḥ ʿa-hal-ʾahwe baʿd ed-dawēm.
Every Thursday we go to this café after work. (informal habitual)
هلأ عم بتروح عالبيت ولا بعدك بالمكتب؟
hallaʾ ʿam btrūḥ ʿal-bēt walla baʿdak bil-maktab?
Are you heading home now, or are you still at the office? (informal Beirut progressive)
لازم تروحي عالدكتور إذا الوجع ضل هيك.
lāzem trūḥe ʿad-doktōr iza l-wazhaʿ ḍall hēk.
You need to go to the doctor if the pain stays like this. (informal; feminine bare form after لازم)
Imperative and motion participle
The positive commands are روحrūḥ, روحيrūḥe, and روحواrūḥo. A negative command returns to ما + bare imperfect: ما تروح. The active participle agrees as رايح، رايحة، رايحين and presents someone as headed somewhere or committed to an arranged trip.
| Function | Masculine | Feminine | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| imperative | روح rūḥ | روحي rūḥe | روحوا rūḥo |
| active participle | رايح rāyeḥ | رايحة rāyḥa | رايحين rāyḥīn |
روحي من الطريق الداخلية، الأوتوستراد واقف.
rūḥe min eṭ-ṭarīʾ ed-dēkhliyye, l-otostrād wāʾef.
Take the inner road; the highway is at a standstill. (informal command to one woman)
نحنا رايحين عالضيعة الجمعة الجاية.
niḥna rāyḥīn ʿaḍ-ḍayʿa l-zhomʿa l-zhēye.
We're going to the village next Friday. (informal; arranged motion with participle)
Finite ما منروح negates a habitual trip; participial مش رايحين negates the current orientation or arrangement. They are not interchangeable tense endings.
Destination, source, and accompanying person
راح is intransitive. A destination commonly takes عـ / على: راح عالبيت. A person or institution as destination often takes لعند: رحت لعند الطبيب. A source takes من, and accompaniment takes مع.
رحت لعند خالتي من الشغل، وبعدين رجعت معها عالبيت.
riḥt la-ʿind khālte min esh-shoghol, w-baʿdēn rzhiʿt maʿha ʿal-bēt.
I went to my aunt's from work, and then I returned home with her. (informal; goal, source, and accompaniment)
Because the verb does not select a direct object, there is no ordinary direct-object form راحها meaning “went to her.” Use a preposition with its suffix: راح لعندها “he went to her place,” راح معها “he went with her.” A causative meaning such as “send/take her” requires another verb.
Motion plus purpose
An agreeing bare imperfect can follow lexical راح to state the purpose of the trip. English inserts to; Lebanese normally juxtaposes the verbs.
راح يجيب نسخة عن العقد، بس الأرشيف كان مسكر.
rāḥ yzhīb noskha ʿan el-ʿaʾd, bass el-arshīf kēn msakkar.
He went to get a copy of the contract, but the archive was closed. (professional context; purpose not achieved)
راح يجيب asserts the going, not successful getting. If both events occurred, a two-perfect sequence such as راح جاب النسخة can assert both. See motion-verb chains.
Invariant future رح
Future رح never takes person suffixes. The following bare imperfect carries agreement: رح روح، رح تروحي، رح يروحوا. Negation is normally ما رح.
راح سامر عالمطار، ورح يرجع آخر الأسبوع.
rāḥ Sāmer ʿal-maṭār, w-raḥ yirzhaʿ ākher el-osbūʿ.
Samer went to the airport, and he'll return at the end of the week. (informal; lexical motion versus future marker)
ما رح نروح إذا الطقس ضل عاطل.
ma raḥ nrūḥ iza ṭ-ṭaʾs ḍall ʿāṭel.
We won't go if the weather stays bad. (informal future negation)
Dialogue: past trip, current route, future plan
رحتوا عجبيل مبارح ولا غيرتوا الخطة؟
riḥto ʿa-Zhbēl mbēreḥ walla ghayyarto l-khoṭṭa?
Nour: Did you all go to Byblos yesterday, or did you change the plan? (informal dialogue; 2pl perfect)
غيرناها. رح نروح بكرا، وهلأ رايحين نزور ستي.
ghayyarnēha. raḥ nrūḥ bokra, w-hallaʾ rāyḥīn nzūr sitte.
Rami: We changed it. We'll go tomorrow, and now we're heading to visit my grandmother. (informal dialogue; future and participial motion)
Common Mistakes
Regularizing the suffixed perfect
❌ أنا روحت عالبنك.
Incorrect in the Beirut baseline — first-person perfect uses the short stem رحت.
✅ رحت عالبنك قبل ما يسكر.
riḥt ʿal-bank ʾabel ma ysakker.
I went to the bank before it closed.
Keeping b- after future رح
❌ رح بيروحوا عالبحر الأحد.
Incorrect — future رح selects the bare plural يروحوا.
✅ رح يروحوا عالبحر نهار الأحد.
raḥ yrūḥo ʿal-baḥer nhār el-aḥad.
They'll go to the seaside on Sunday.
Using a direct object for the destination
❌ راحها بعد الشغل.
Incorrect for ‘he went to her’ — راح is intransitive; use لعندها.
✅ راح لعندها بعد الشغل.
rāḥ la-ʿinda baʿd esh-shoghol.
He went to her place after work.
Translating English “go get” with an added formal linker
❌ راح لكي يجيب قهوة للضيوف.
Register mismatch in ordinary conversation — everyday Lebanese uses a direct motion-purpose chain.
✅ راح يجيب قهوة للضيوف.
rāḥ yzhīb ʾahwe laḍ-ḍyūf.
He went to get coffee for the guests. (informal)
Key Takeaways
Store راح–رحت–بيروح–روح–رايح as one irregular lexical set. Use prepositions for destinations and companions because “go” takes no direct object. A following bare verb names purpose without guaranteeing success. Keep long راح “went” distinct from short invariant رح, whose following bare verb carries all future agreement.
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- Motion Verbs before Another VerbC1 — Combine go, come, return, and pass with another verb to express purpose or a tightly integrated event sequence in urban Lebanese.
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- رح: Future MarkerA1 — Use invariant رح with an agreeing bare imperfect for Lebanese predictions, intentions, plans, questions, and negated futures.