Final-ā Verbs | Arabic (Levantine) Grammar

Final-ā verbs have a 3sg.m perfect that ends in spoken -a and is commonly written with ى: حكىḥaka “he spoke/told,” عطىʿaṭa “he gave,” and اشترىishtara “he bought.” That citation ending does not survive unchanged throughout the paradigm. Before person endings, in the imperfect, and in commands, the stem can expose y, lengthen a vowel, or use a special plural shape.

English keeps talk or give visibly stable across most forms. Lebanese asks you to store related allomorphs. The dependable learning unit is حكى / حكيت / بيحكي / احكي, not an abstract rule “replace final ى with ي.” Compare the suffix inventory in the regular perfect paradigm; this page explains why final-ā stems reshape themselves around those suffixes.

A focused perfect paradigm: حكى

The perfect endings are the same person endings used elsewhere, but the stem that receives them varies.

Person	Form	Reading	Stem observation
1sg	حكيت	ḥkēt	long ē before -t
2sg.m	حكيت	ḥkēt	same spoken form as 1sg
2sg.f	حكيتي	ḥkēte	-te after the y-stem
3sg.m	حكى	ḥaka	unsuffixed -a form
3sg.f	حكت	ḥakat	short a before feminine -t
1pl	حكينا	ḥkēna	long ē before -na
2pl	حكيتوا	ḥkēto	long ē before -to
3pl	حكيوا	ḥikyo	special plural perfect shape

حكى معي صاحب المحل وانحلت المشكلة.

ḥaka maʿe ṣāḥeb el-maḥall w-inḥallet el-mishkle.

The shop owner spoke with me, and the problem was resolved. (informal; 3sg.m perfect)

أنا حكيت مع المحاسب، وهي حكت مع المدير.

ana ḥkēt maʿ el-moḥāseb, w-hiyye ḥakat maʿ el-mdīr.

I spoke with the accountant, and she spoke with the manager. (neutral; 1sg versus 3sg.f)

إنتو حكيتوا أول، وهني حكيوا بعدكن.

into ḥkēto awwal, w-hinne ḥikyo baʿdkon.

You all spoke first, and they spoke after you. (informal; 2pl versus 3pl)

The 1sg/2sg.m حكيت and 3sg.f حكت are especially important. English uses subject pronouns to show the contrast; Lebanese can omit them because the stem-plus-ending already distinguishes most persons. The 3pl حكيوا is not produced by simply appending -o to حكى.

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Build the perfect from attested cells, not from written حكى. The forms ḥkēt, ḥakat, and ḥikyo show three different repairs at the same weak edge.

The imperfect uses an e/i stem

For حكى, the imperfect principal part is بيحكيbyiḥke. Prefixes mark person, and plural -o replaces the singular final vowel. In much urban Beirut speech, masculine and feminine singular second-person forms are segmentally identical; context or an overt pronoun identifies the addressee.

Person	b-imperfect	Reading
1sg	بحكي	baḥke
2sg.m / 2sg.f	بتحكي	btiḥke
3sg.m	بيحكي	byiḥke
3sg.f	بتحكي	btiḥke
1pl	منحكي	mniḥke
2pl	بتحكوا	btiḥko
3pl	بيحكوا	byiḥko

بحكي مع أمي كل ليلة قبل ما نام.

baḥke maʿ imme kill lēle ʾabel ma nām.

I talk with my mother every night before I sleep. (informal habitual)

هني بيحكوا عربي بالشغل وفرنسي بالبيت.

hinne byiḥko ʿarabe bish-shoghol w-faranse bil-bēt.

They speak Arabic at work and French at home. (informal; habitual plural)

The same family includes عطى / بيعطي and اشترى / بيشتري. Their morphology resembles حكى, but their consonant clusters and derived-stem material create different surface vowels. Memorize each principal pair.

هالمحل بيعطيك كفالة سنة عالجهاز.

hal-maḥall byiʿṭīk kafēle sane ʿal-zhihēz.

This shop gives you a one-year warranty on the device. (neutral commercial context)

عادة منشتري القهوة من المحمصة القريبة.

ʿāde mnishtre l-ʾahwe min el-maḥmaṣa l-ʾarībe.

We usually buy coffee from the nearby roastery. (informal habitual)

Bare and progressive forms keep the same weak stem

Remove b- after رح, بد, and other selectors: رح يحكي، بدها تعطي، لازم نشتري. In the Beirut progressive, keep the b-imperfect after عم: عم بيحكي. There is no final MSA mood vowel to add or delete.

ما رح احكي بالموضوع قبل ما توصل نور.

ma raḥ iḥke bil-mawḍūʿ ʾabel ma tōṣal Nūr.

I won't talk about the issue before Nour arrives. (informal; bare form after رح)

الموظفة عم بتعطي الزبونة كل التفاصيل.

el-mwaẓẓafe ʿam btiʿṭe z-zabūne kill et-tafāṣīl.

The employee is giving the customer all the details. (neutral; Beirut progressive)

English will talk and is giving do not tell you which Lebanese marker to use. Choose the construction first, then insert the verified weak stem.

Commands and stress

The masculine command of حكى is احكيiḥke; the plural is احكواiḥko. For عطى, use اعطي / اعطواaʿṭe / aʿṭo. In these forms the final vowel carries the stem or plural contrast. An attached clitic can lengthen or resyllabify the edge: احكيليiḥkīle “tell me,” اعطينيaʿṭīne “give me.”

احكيلي شو صار بعد ما فلينا.

iḥkīle shū ṣār baʿd ma fillēna.

Tell me what happened after we left. (informal command to one person with dative clitic)

اعطوا كل ضيف فنجان مي أول ما يوصل.

aʿṭo kill ḍēf finzhēn mayy awwal ma yōṣal.

Give every guest a glass of water as soon as they arrive. (informal instruction to a group)

The romanization does not mark stress with an accent. Still, hear ḥkē-to and ḥkē-na as single words with a long stem vowel, while ḥik-yo has a different syllable structure. Mechanical “citation form plus suffix” pronunciation produces forms that speakers do not use.

Affirmative and negative minimal pairs

Perfect and b-imperfect negation use ما without regularizing the stem.

عطيت لينا النسخة، بس ما عطيت رامي شي.

ʿaṭēt Līna n-noskha, bass ma ʿaṭēt Rāme she.

I gave Lina the copy, but I didn't give Rami anything. (informal perfect minimal pair)

بيشتري خضرة من هون، وما بيشتري لحمة.

byishtre khoḍra min hōn, w-ma byishtre laḥme.

He buys vegetables here, but he doesn't buy meat. (informal habitual minimal pair)

Dialogue: completion, progress, and intention

حكيتي مع شركة التوصيل؟

ḥkēte maʿ shirkit et-tawṣīl?

Rami: Did you speak with the delivery company? (informal dialogue; feminine perfect)

عم بحكي معن هلأ، ورح اعطيك خبر بس يردوا.

ʿam baḥke maʿon hallaʾ, w-raḥ aʿṭīk khabar bass yiroddo.

Lina: I'm talking with them now, and I'll let you know when they answer. (informal dialogue; progressive then future bare form)

Common Mistakes

Attaching -t directly to the citation form

❌ أنا حكايت مع المدير.

Incorrect — do not attach -t directly to حكى; the 1sg perfect is حكيت ḥkēt.

✅ أنا حكيت بهدوء وما قاطعت حدا.

ana ḥkēt bi-hodūʾ w-ma ʾāṭaʿt ḥada.

I spoke calmly and didn't interrupt anyone.

Keeping ى in the imperfect

❌ هي بتحكى مع الزباين.

Incorrect in ordinary spelling and in the Beirut paradigm — use بتحكي.

✅ هي بتحكي مع الزباين باحترام.

hiyye btiḥke maʿ ez-zabāyin bi-iḥtirām.

She speaks with customers respectfully.

Using b- after رح

❌ رح بيحكي معن بكرا.

Incorrect — رح selects the bare imperfect without b-.

✅ رح يحكي معن بعد الاجتماع.

raḥ yiḥke maʿon baʿd el-izhtimēʿ.

He'll speak with them after the meeting.

Regularizing the plural perfect

❌ هني حكىوا عن المشكلة.

Incorrect — do not append وا to the written citation form حكى.

✅ هني حكيوا عن المشكلة وحلوها.

hinne ḥikyo ʿan el-mishkle w-ḥallūha.

They discussed the problem and solved it.

Key Takeaways

Final-ā verbs alternate among an unsuffixed -a perfect, y-colored suffixed forms, an -e/-i imperfect, and special plural and command shapes. With حكى, anchor the family in ḥaka, ḥkēt, ḥakat, ḥikyo, byiḥke, iḥke. Aspect markers and negation remain ordinary Lebanese; what must be learned lexically is the shape at the weak edge.

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