طلّع ṭallaʿ: take out and show | Arabic (Levantine) Grammar

Lebanese Form II طلّع ṭallaʿ means “cause to go out or up”: take someone or something out, bring it up, extract it, or produce it for inspection. It is the transitive partner of Form I طلع ṭiliʿ “go out/up, come out.” Compare الولاد طلعوا من الغرفة “the children left the room” with طلّعت الولاد من الغرفة “I took the children out of the room.”

From physical extraction, the verb extends naturally to طلّع الهوية “take out/produce the ID,” طلّع ورقة “obtain/issue a document,” and طلّع النتيجة “work out the result.” These are lexical frames, not a rule that makes طلّع the translation of every English show or get.

Perfect paradigm

The perfect keeps ṭallaʿ- before endings. Final ع remains audible, and the doubled l distinguishes Form II from intransitive Form I even when ordinary spelling omits the shadda.

Person	Form	Reading
أنا	طلّعت	ṭallaʿet
إنت	طلّعت	ṭallaʿet
إنتي	طلّعتي	ṭallaʿte
هو	طلّع	ṭallaʿ
هي	طلّعت	ṭallaʿit
نحنا	طلّعنا	ṭallaʿna
إنتو	طلّعتوا	ṭallaʿto
هني	طلّعوا	ṭallaʿo

طلعت الكتب من الشنطة وحطيتن عالطاولة.

ṭallaʿet el-kotob min esh-shanṭa w-ḥaṭṭēton ʿaṭ-ṭāwle.

I took the books out of the bag and put them on the table. (informal; object plus source)

طلعت الولاد من الغرفة كرمال ينام البيبي.

ṭallaʿet el-wlād min el-ghorfe kermēl ynēm el-baybe.

I took the children out of the room so the baby could sleep. (informal; human affected objects)

💡

Track the mover. With Form I, the mover is subject. With Form II, the mover becomes a direct object and the person controlling the movement becomes subject.

b-imperfect and bare imperfect

The imperfect principal part is بيطلّع byṭalliʿ, with i before the final ع. Independent present and habitual uses take the b-series; رح, modals, and selected complement environments take the bare series.

Person	b-imperfect	Bare imperfect
أنا	بطلّع bṭalliʿ	طلّع ṭalliʿ
إنت	بتطلّع btṭalliʿ	تطلّع tṭalliʿ
إنتي	بتطلّعي btṭallʿe	تطلّعي tṭallʿe
هو	بيطلّع byṭalliʿ	يطلّع yṭalliʿ
هي	بتطلّع btṭalliʿ	تطلّع tṭalliʿ
نحنا	منطلّع mnṭalliʿ	نطلّع nṭalliʿ
إنتو	بتطلّعوا btṭallʿo	تطلّعوا tṭallʿo
هني	بيطلّعوا byṭallʿo	يطلّعوا yṭallʿo

كل صبح بيطلع البضاعة لبرا قبل ما يفتح المحل.

kill ṣoboḥ byṭalliʿ el-biḍāʿa la-barra ʾabl ma yiftaḥ el-maḥall.

Every morning he puts the merchandise outside before opening the shop. (neutral; habitual outward causation)

لازم نطلع الكراسي عالسطح قبل الغروب.

lēzem nṭalliʿ el-karāse ʿas-saṭeḥ ʾabl el-ghorūb.

We need to take the chairs up to the roof before sunset. (neutral; upward destination)

A source normally takes من: طلّع المفتاح من الجيبة. An upward destination takes عـ, and outward direction can be لبرا. The verb already supplies outward/upward causation, so English particles out and up do not each require a separate Lebanese word.

Producing, showing, and obtaining documents

At a checkpoint or counter, طلّع هويتك means “take out/produce your ID.” The physical production makes it available for inspection, so English naturally says “show.” For general showing—especially a photo, a place, or how something works—فرجى is usually the safer verb. See فرجى.

طلع هويتك وخليها معك ليفحصوا الاسم.

ṭalliʿ huwiyyetak w-khallīha maʿak la-yifḥaṣo l-ism.

Take out your ID and keep it with you so they can check the name. (service/security instruction)

With documents not yet in hand, طلّع جواز سفر or طلّع ورقة من البلدية means obtain/have issued. The person remains subject, the document is the produced result, and the issuing office can appear as a source with من.

طلعت إفادة من الجامعة وقدمتها مع الطلب.

ṭallaʿet ifēde min el-zhēmʿa w-ʾaddamta maʿ eṭ-ṭalab.

I obtained a certificate from the university and submitted it with the application. (administrative)

بدك تطلع جواز جديد قبل السفرة.

baddak tṭalliʿ zhawēz zhdīd ʾabl es-safra.

You need to get a new passport before the trip. (informal; bare complement after بدك)

Results and inferences

An answer, total, or result can be something a procedure “brings out.” Thus طلّع النتيجة can mean calculate, derive, or produce the result; طلّع الحساب can mean work out or produce the bill/total. (neutral/professional) The method or evidence can follow من.

طلع النتيجة من الأرقام وبعدين راجعها مرة تانية.

ṭalliʿ en-natīzhe min el-arʾām w-baʿdēn rēzhiʿa marra tēnye.

Work out the result from the figures, then check it again. (professional instruction)

In inference, speakers can use طلّع من الحكي إنو... “infer from what was said that...” The subject is the reasoner, and the evidence follows من. Intransitive طلع إنو... instead means “it turned out that...”; doubling again changes the participant structure.

طلعت من جوابه إنو بعده مش جاهز.

ṭallaʿet min zhawēbo inno baʿdo mish zhēhez.

I inferred from his answer that he still wasn't ready. (neutral; reasoner as Form II subject)

💡

For documents and results, “out” is conceptual: an item becomes available, visible, or known. Still learn each collocation; Form II does not freely generate every English sense of get out or show.

Imperative, clitics, and participles

Commands are طلّع ṭalliʿ, feminine طلّعي ṭallʿe, plural طلّعوا ṭallʿo. Direct-object suffixes are طلّعني ṭallaʿne, طلّعك ṭallaʿak, طلّعه ṭallaʿo, طلّعها ṭallaʿa, طلّعنا ṭallaʿna, طلّعكن ṭallaʿkon, طلّعهن ṭallaʿon. Imperative طلّعني is ṭalliʿne “take/get me out.”

طلعني من هون قبل ما يرجعوا.

ṭalliʿne min hōn ʾabl ma yirzhaʿo.

Get me out of here before they come back. (informal masculine command with object clitic)

Active مطلّع mṭalliʿ, feminine مطلّعة mṭallʿa, plural مطلّعين mṭallʿīn presents an agent as having produced or taken something out. Result/passive مطلّع mṭallaʿ describes the affected item as already taken out or issued. The spellings coincide; vowels and syntactic role distinguish them. Finite forms are often clearer in spontaneous speech.

أنا مطلع كل الأوراق المطلوبة من الأسبوع الماضي.

ana mṭalliʿ kill el-awrāʾ el-maṭlūbe min el-osbūʿ el-māḍe.

I've had all the required papers issued since last week. (administrative; active result-relevant participle)

A separate high-frequency verb deserves recognition: Form V تطلّع فيه/عليه tṭallaʿ fī/ʿalē means “look at him/it” in Lebanese. (informal) In fast speech, the initial t can assimilate, yielding طّلع ṭṭallaʿ, but this remains distinct from Form II طلّع ṭallaʿ “take out.” The look verb selects a prepositional target; it does not make that person the direct object of physical removal.

Common Mistakes

Using Form I with a direct mover object

❌ طلع الولاد من الغرفة، إذا أنا أخدتن لبرا.

ṭiliʿ el-wlād min el-ghorfe

Incorrect for the causative meaning — Form I says the children themselves went out.

✅ طلعت الولاد من الغرفة.

ṭallaʿet el-wlād min el-ghorfe.

I took the children out of the room.

Using طلّع for every kind of “show”

❌ طلعتو كيف بيشتغل البرنامج.

Unnatural for general demonstration — use فرجيتو ‘I showed him.’

✅ فرجيتو كيف بيشتغل البرنامج.

farzhayto kēf byishtighel el-barnēmezh.

I showed him how the program works.

Dropping the source preposition

❌ طلعت المفتاح الجيبة.

Incorrect — the container being left is a source and takes من.

✅ طلعت المفتاح من الجيبة.

ṭallaʿet el-miftēḥ min el-zhaybe.

I took the key out of the pocket.

Keeping b- after لازم

❌ لازم بيطلع إفادة جديدة.

Incorrect — لازم selects the bare imperfect.

✅ لازم يطلع إفادة جديدة.

lēzem yṭalliʿ ifēde zhdīde.

He needs to obtain a new certificate.

Key Takeaways

Learn ṭallaʿ–byṭalliʿ–ṭalliʿ as the transitive partner of ṭiliʿ–byiṭlaʿ. The affected mover or produced item is direct, while a physical or evidential source takes من. Document and result senses grow from making something available, but general “show” normally belongs to فرجى.

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