Final-ī verbs have a 3sg.m perfect ending in spoken -i, commonly written ي: نسيnisi “he forgot” and مشيmishi “he walked; left.” A frequent Form I pattern pairs that perfect with an a-colored imperfect: نسي / بينسىnisi / byinsa. Person suffixes, plural endings, and object clitics reveal still more shapes.
The label final-ī identifies a morphological family, not a promise that every cell ends in ī. Learn نسي، نسيت، بينسى، انسى as principal forms. English forget, forgot, and will forget offer no clue to these vowel changes.
A focused perfect paradigm: نسي
Before most consonantal perfect endings, the final vowel and historical y reorganize. The 1sg and 2sg.m use nsīt, while 3sg.f has nisyit. The written form نسيت covers both readings.
| Person | Form | Reading | Contrast |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | نسيت | nsīt | long ī before -t |
| 2sg.m | نسيت | nsīt | same form as 1sg |
| 2sg.f | نسيتي | nsīte | -te after long ī |
| 3sg.m | نسي | nisi | unsuffixed -i |
| 3sg.f | نسيت | nisyit | short vowels plus audible y |
| 1pl | نسينا | nsīna | long ī before -na |
| 2pl | نسيتوا | nsīto | long ī before -to |
| 3pl | نسيوا | nisyo | y plus plural -o |
نسي بطاقة البنك بالماكينة ورجع أخدها.
nisi bṭāʾet el-bank bil-mākīne w-rizheʿ akhada.
He left his bank card in the machine and went back to get it. (informal; 3sg.m perfect)
أنا نسيت الموعد، بس دلال ما نسيت.
ana nsīt el-mawʿed, bass Dalāl ma nisyit.
I forgot the appointment, but Dalal didn't. (informal; 1sg versus 3sg.f)
نسيتوا الورق بالمكتب، وهني نسيوا الختم.
nsīto l-waraʾ bil-maktab, w-hinne nisyo l-khatem.
You all left the papers at the office, and they forgot the stamp. (neutral; 2pl versus 3pl)
Beirut and neighboring Levantine systems vary in this cell. This guide uses transparent نسيوا for its production form nisyo. Other Lebanese and Levantine speakers use a contracted plural stem written نسوا; that unvocalized spelling also matches the familiar formal form. Learn the variant as part of a speaker's whole paradigm, not as a different tense.
The imperfect reverses the final vowel
The b-imperfect of نسي is built on -nsa: بنسىbinsa, بينسىbyinsa. Feminine singular and plural endings replace the final a: بتنسيbtinse, بينسواbyinso.
| Person | b-imperfect | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| 1sg | بنسى | binsa |
| 2sg.m | بتنسى | btinsa |
| 2sg.f | بتنسي | btinse |
| 3sg.m | بينسى | byinsa |
| 3sg.f | بتنسى | btinsa |
| 1pl | مننسى | mninsa |
| 2pl | بتنسوا | btinso |
| 3pl | بينسوا | byinso |
إذا ما بكتب اللائحة، بنسى نص الأغراض.
iza ma baktob el-lāyḥa, binsa noṣṣ el-aghrāḍ.
If I don't make a list, I forget half the things. (informal habitual)
هي بتنسى الأسامي، بس ما بتنسى الوجوه.
hiyye btinsa l-asēme, bass ma btinsa l-wzhūh.
She forgets names, but she doesn't forget faces. (informal habitual minimal pair)
لما تستعجلوا، بتنسوا تسكروا الشباك.
lamma tistaʿzhlo, btinso tsakkro sh-shobbēk.
When you all rush, you forget to close the window. (informal; plural habitual)
Do not generalize this exact vowel reversal to every verb merely because its spelling ends in ي. Verify the perfect and imperfect principal parts; derived verbs and regional systems can pattern differently.
Bare forms are selected by the construction
After رح, بد, لازم, and similar environments, the imperfect appears without b-: رح ينسى، بدك تنسى، لازم ننسى. Traditional descriptions may compare this shape with a jussive or subjunctive. For productive Lebanese, the clearer analysis is simply “bare imperfect after a selector.” It has no spoken MSA mood ending.
إذا ما ذكرته، رح ينسى يدفع الفاتورة.
iza ma zakkarto, raḥ yinsa yidfaʿ el-fātūra.
If I don't remind him, he'll forget to pay the bill. (informal; bare imperfect after رح)
ما تنسى تجيب شاحن للتلفون.
ma tinsa tzhīb shāḥen lat-tilifōn.
Don't forget to bring a phone charger. (informal prohibition to one man)
ما تنسي تبعتيلي العنوان يا هبة.
ma tinse tibʿatīle l-ʿonwēn ya Hiba.
Don't forget to send me the address, Hiba. (informal prohibition to one woman)
The masculine تنسى and feminine تنسي contrast in the final vowel. English don't forget has no addressee agreement, so this is a common transfer point.
Clitics expose the weak edge
An object suffix attaches directly to the verb and can bring the y back into the spoken form: نسيهnisyo “he forgot it/him.” The sequence is one word, and its final vowel is not the 3pl subject ending. Compare نسيه “he forgot it” with نسيوا “they forgot.”
جوازه كان عالطاولة، بس نسيه وقت فل.
zhawēzo kēn ʿaṭ-ṭāwle, bass nisyo waʾt fill.
His passport was on the table, but he forgot it when he left. (informal; 3sg.m object clitic)
نسيتها بالبراد وما انتبهت إلا بالليل.
nsīta bil-barrād w-ma ntabaht illa bil-lēl.
I left it in the fridge and didn't notice until evening. (informal; 1sg plus feminine object clitic)
Clitics do not replace subject marking. In نسيتها, the -t still marks the subject and -ha marks the object. See Imperatives with Clitics for the same layering on commands.
Imperatives and the three addressee forms
The positive imperative is انسىinsa to one man, انسيinse to one woman, and انسواinso to a group. The negative command uses ما + bare second-person imperfect, not ما + positive imperative.
انسى قصة مبارح وخلينا نبلش من جديد.
insa ʾiṣṣet mbēreḥ w-khallīna nballesh min zhdīd.
Forget about yesterday and let's start over. (informal command to one man)
انسوا الشغل شوي وتعوا اشربوا قهوة.
inso sh-shoghol shwayy w-taʿo shrabo ʾahwe.
Forget work for a bit and come have coffee. (warm informal command to a group)
Dialogue: completed forgetting versus a warning
ليش رجعت عالبيت؟
lēsh rizheʿt ʿal-bēt?
Nour: Why did you go back home? (informal dialogue)
نسيت المحفظة. بكرا ذكريني قبل ما فل.
nsīt el-maḥfaẓa. bokra zakkirīne ʾabel ma fill.
Tarek: I forgot my wallet. Tomorrow remind me before I leave. (informal dialogue; perfect then request)
Common Mistakes
Keeping final i in the imperfect
❌ هو بينسي كل المواعيد.
Incorrect for the Beirut principal part — نسي has imperfect بينسى.
✅ هو بينسى الموعد إذا ما منذكره.
huwwe byinsa l-mawʿed iza ma mnzakkro.
He forgets the appointment if we don't remind him.
Using the masculine bare form for a woman
❌ يا سارة، ما تنسى المفتاح.
Incorrect in this guide's gender-agreeing baseline — feminine singular is تنسي.
✅ يا سارة، ما تنسي المفتاح بالدرج.
ya Sāra, ma tinse l-miftēḥ bid-dorzh.
Sara, don't forget the key in the drawer.
Adding b- after a future marker
❌ رح بينسى يرجعلك المصاري.
Incorrect — رح selects bare ينسى, not b-imperfect بينسى.
✅ رح ينسى يرجعلك المصاري إذا ما ذكرته.
raḥ yinsa yrazzhaʿlak el-maṣāre iza ma zakkarto.
He'll forget to pay you back if you don't remind him.
Separating an object suffix
❌ نسي ه بالمكتب.
Incorrect — the object suffix attaches directly to the perfect verb.
✅ نسيه بالمكتب ورجع كرماله.
nisyo bil-maktab w-rizheʿ kermēlo.
He left it at the office and went back for it.
Key Takeaways
Final-ī perfects such as نسي typically expose long ī before several person endings, retain a y in forms such as nisyit/nisyo, and pair with an a-colored imperfect ينسى. Feminine and plural endings replace that final a, selectors require the bare imperfect, and attached objects follow the subject-marked stem. Treat spellings and principal parts as one lexical paradigm, not as separate verbs.
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