أكل / بياكل “eat” and أخد / بياخد “take” are among the most frequent Lebanese verbs. Both begin with audible hamza in the perfect, fuse that onset into a long ē-like vowel in the nonpast, and use very short positive commands: كل kol and خد khod.
English speakers often try to preserve the dictionary onset everywhere or build the command directly from the perfect. The reliable units are the complete cards أكل–أكلت–بياكل–كل and أخد–أخدت–بياخد–خد. Because this page teaches their initial hamza explicitly, perfect forms below romanize it as ʾ.
The two paradigms side by side
| Environment | “eat” | “take” |
|---|---|---|
| 3ms perfect | أكل ʾakal | أخد ʾakhad |
| 1sg perfect | أكلت ʾakalt | أخدت ʾakhadt |
| 1sg b-imperfect | باكل bēkol | باخد bēkhod |
| 3ms b-imperfect | بياكل byēkol | بياخد byēkhod |
| 1sg bare imperfect | آكل ākul | آخد ākhod |
| 3ms bare imperfect | ياكل yēkol | ياخد yēkhod |
| 2ms imperative | كل kol | خد khod |
| 2fs imperative | كلي kle | خدي khode |
| plural imperative | كلوا klo | خدوا khodo |
أكلت لقمة قبل ما اطلع من البيت.
ʾakalt loʾme ʾabl ma iṭlaʿ min el-bēt.
I ate a bite before leaving home. (informal; first-person perfect)
أخدت المفتاح من عند الجيران ورجعته الصبح.
ʾakhadt el-miftēḥ min ʿind el-zhīrēn w-razzhaʿto ṣ-ṣoboḥ.
I took the key from the neighbors and returned it in the morning. (informal; first-person perfect)
Perfect and nonpast are different pieces of the card
The perfect keeps the initial root hamza: أكل، أخد، أكلت، أخدت. In the nonpast, person prefixes meet that onset and produce forms such as باكل، بياكل، باخد، بياخد. Spelling with bare ا reflects the everyday Lebanese form used in this guide.
عادة بياكل بالغرفة، بس اليوم عم بياكل معنا بالمطبخ.
ʿāde byēkol bil-ghorfe, bass el-yōm ʿam byēkol maʿna bil-maṭbakh.
He usually eats in his room, but today he's eating with us in the kitchen. (informal; habitual versus progressive)
باخد المترو عالشغل لما تكون العجقة قوية.
bēkhod el-metro ʿash-shoghol lamma tkūn el-ʿazhʾa ʾawiyye.
I take the metro to work when traffic is heavy. (informal; habitual first-person b-imperfect)
After رح، بدّي، لازم، ممكن and other licensors, use the bare form rather than b-. The long vowel remains: رح آكل, لازم ياخد.
رح آكل بالبيت لأنو المطعم مسكر.
raḥ ākul bil-bēt laʾanno l-maṭʿam msakkar.
I'll eat at home because the restaurant is closed. (informal; first-person bare form after رح)
لازم ياخد الورقة معه عالسفارة.
lāzem yēkhod el-waraʾa maʿo ʿas-sifāra.
He has to take the paper with him to the embassy. (neutral; third-person bare form after لازم)
Short positive commands
Positive imperatives drop the initial material visible in the perfect: كل، كلي، كلوا and خد، خدي، خدوا. These are complete commands, not casual truncations. The feminine and plural endings agree with the addressee, just as they do on other Lebanese commands.
كلي شي قبل ما تروحي عالجامعة.
kle shi ʾabl ma trūḥe ʿal-zhēmʿa.
Eat something before you go to university. (warm informal command to one woman)
خدوا جاكيتاتكن لأنو بالليل بيبرد.
khodo zhākētētkon laʾanno bil-lēl byibrod.
Take your jackets because it gets cold at night. (informal command to a group)
A prohibition uses ما + second-person bare imperfect, so the longer nonpast family returns: ما تاكل، ما تاخد. Do not put ما directly before كل or خد.
كل هلق، بس ما تاكل كتير قبل العشا.
kol hallaʾ, bass ma tēkol ktīr ʾabl el-ʿasha.
Eat now, but don't eat too much before dinner. (informal; positive command versus prohibition)
خد هالنسخة، وما تاخد النسخة يلي عليها ملاحظات.
khod han-noskha, w-ma tēkhod en-noskha yalle ʿalēha mlāḥaẓāt.
Take this copy, and don't take the copy with notes on it. (neutral; short command versus bare prohibition)
Object clitics stay attached
Perfect, nonpast, and command forms can carry a direct-object suffix. The suffix attaches to the form actually selected; it does not restore an imagined long command.
| Form | Analysis | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| أكلته ʾakalto | perfect + masculine object | I ate it |
| أخدتها ʾakhadta | perfect + feminine object | I took it |
| بياخده byēkhdo | b-imperfect + masculine object | he takes it |
| خدها khodha | short command + feminine object | take it! |
أكلته مرة عند رفيقي، بس ما بعرف اطبخه.
ʾakalto marra ʿind rfīʾe, bass ma baʿref ṭobkho.
I ate it once at my friend's place, but I don't know how to cook it. (informal; masculine object clitic)
خدها معك ورجعها لنادين بكرا.
khodha maʿak w-razzheʿa la-Nādīn bokra.
Take it with you and return it to Nadine tomorrow. (informal; feminine object across two commands)
For object and recipient placement on commands, see Imperatives with Object Clitics.
Everyday meanings of أخد
أخد extends far beyond physically picking something up. It is used for transport, medicine, duration, prices or fees, and decisions. English also uses “take” widely, but the collocations do not line up perfectly, so store each phrase.
| Lebanese collocation | Natural English | Register |
|---|---|---|
| أخد الباص | take the bus | informal/neutral |
| أخد الدوا | take the medicine | informal/neutral |
| أخد قرار | make a decision | neutral |
| بياخد نص ساعة | it takes half an hour | informal/neutral |
| بياخد عشرين دولار | he charges/takes twenty dollars | informal |
المشوار بياخد نص ساعة إذا ما في عجقة.
el-mishwār byēkhod noṣṣ sēʿa iza ma fī ʿazhʾa.
The trip takes half an hour if there isn't traffic. (informal duration construction)
أخدنا القرار بعد ما حكينا مع الفريق كله.
ʾakhadna l-ʾarār baʿd ma ḥkēna maʿ el-farīʾ killo.
We made the decision after speaking with the whole team. (neutral workplace collocation)
Affirmative and negative minimal pairs
بياخد الدوا بعد الفطور.
byēkhod ed-dawa baʿd el-fṭūr.
He takes the medicine after breakfast. (affirmative habit)
ما بياخد الدوا بعد الفطور.
ma byēkhod ed-dawa baʿd el-fṭūr.
He doesn't take the medicine after breakfast. (negative habit; b- remains)
Dialogue: food, medicine, and plans
أكلت قبل ما تاخد الحبة؟
ʾakalt ʾabl ma tēkhod el-ḥabbe?
Rana: Did you eat before taking the pill? (informal; perfect plus bare form)
بعد لأ، هلق عم باكل سندويشة صغيرة.
baʿd laʾ, hallaʾ ʿam bēkol sandwīshe zghīra.
Fadi: Not yet. I'm eating a small sandwich now. (informal; first-person progressive)
منيح، خد الحبة بعدها وما تاخد تنتين.
mnīḥ, khod el-ḥabbe baʿda w-ma tēkhod tintēn.
Rana: Good. Take the pill afterward, and don't take two. (informal; command and prohibition)
أكيد، وبعدين رح آخد الباص عالشغل.
akīd, w-baʿdēn raḥ ākhod el-bāṣ ʿash-shoghol.
Fadi: Definitely, and then I'll take the bus to work. (informal; future bare first-person form)
Common Mistakes
Preserving a separate hamza in the nonpast
❌ بياكل
byiʾkol
Incorrect for the Beirut baseline — use the fused pronunciation byēkol.
✅ بياكل فاكهة كل يوم.
byēkol fēkhe kill yōm.
He eats fruit every day. (informal habitual)
Using the perfect as a command
❌ أخد هاد الملف معك.
Incorrect as a positive command — أخد is a perfect form; the command is خد.
✅ خد هاد الملف معك عالاجتماع.
khod hād el-malaf maʿak ʿal-izhtimēʿ.
Take this file with you to the meeting. (informal masculine singular command)
Putting ما before the short command
❌ ما كل شي هلق.
Incorrect for “don't eat anything now” — a prohibition uses the second-person bare imperfect.
✅ ما تاكل شي هلق إذا بعدك شبعان.
ma tēkol shi hallaʾ iza baʿdak shabʿān.
Don't eat anything now if you're still full. (informal prohibition)
Keeping b- after رح
❌ رح باخد الباص بكرا.
Incorrect in the Beirut baseline — رح takes the bare first-person form آخد.
✅ رح آخد الباص بكرا لأنو سيارتي بالتصليح.
raḥ ākhod el-bāṣ bokra laʾanno sayyārte bit-taṣlīḥ.
I'll take the bus tomorrow because my car is being repaired. (informal future)
Separating an object clitic
❌ خد ها معك.
Incorrect — the direct-object clitic attaches to the command.
✅ خدها معك ورجعها بكرا.
khodha maʿak w-razzheʿa bokra.
Take it with you and return it tomorrow. (informal)
Key Takeaways
Learn أكل–أكلت–بياكل–كل and أخد–أخدت–بياخد–خد as complete cards. Initial hamza is audible in the perfect, fused into the long-vowel nonpast, and absent from the short positive command. Prohibitions return to ما تاكل / ما تاخد; object clitics attach to the selected host; and the many meanings of أخد must be learned as everyday collocations rather than assumed from English “take.”
Now practice Arabic
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- Hamzated VerbsB1 — Understand how lexical hamza behaves as an initial, medial, or final radical across Lebanese verb paradigms and spelling.
- Imperatives of Weak VerbsB1 — Form and use Lebanese commands whose weak or irregular stems shorten, restore a radical, or change before agreement and clitics.
- Imperatives with Object and Prepositional CliticsB1 — Attach object, recipient, and prepositional pronouns to urban Lebanese commands without losing the imperative stem or its natural syllable rhythm.
- The b-Imperfect for Ordinary Present-Time PredicationA1 — Use the Lebanese b-imperfect for habits, generalizations, states, and ordinary present predication while contrasting progressive and bare forms.
- The Bare Imperfect after Modals and ParticlesA2 — Use fully agreeing imperfect verbs without b- after Lebanese modal, future, and command environments.
- Learning a Verb through Principal PartsA2 — Learn the small set of forms that reveals a Lebanese verb's stems, irregularities, commands, and complement pattern.