Hollow Verbs | Arabic (Levantine) Grammar

Hollow verbs have historical و or ي as their middle root consonant. In the forms learners actually hear, that consonant often surfaces as a vowel alternation: قال ʾāl “he said” but قلت ʾelt “I said,” or باع bēʿ “he sold” but بعت biʿt “I sold.” The middle radical has not simply “vanished”; it helps organize a network of long and short stems.

English gives little preparation for this. English changes whole forms such as “say/said,” whereas Lebanese combines a predictable grammatical environment with a verb-specific vowel class. The practical solution is to learn several principal parts, then apply the ordinary person prefixes and suffixes described on the principal-parts page.

Four surface patterns at a glance

The spelling ا in an unsuffixed perfect does not identify the nonpast vowel by itself. These four common verbs show why one principal form is not enough.

3ms perfect	1sg perfect	3ms b-imperfect	2ms command	Meaning
قال ʾāl	قلت ʾelt	بيقول byiʾūl	قول ʾūl	say
باع bēʿ	بعت biʿt	بيبيع byibīʿ	بيع bīʿ	sell
راح rāḥ	رحت riḥt	بيروح byrūḥ	روح rūḥ	go
نام nēm	نمت nimt	بينام byinēm	نام nēm	sleep

قال المدير إنو الاجتماع رح يبلش عالوقت.

ʾāl el-mdīr inno l-izhtimēʿ raḥ yballish ʿal-waʾt.

The manager said that the meeting would start on time. (neutral workplace speech; long unsuffixed perfect)

قلتله ما يبعت الملف قبل ما راجعه.

ʾeltillo ma ybaʿat el-malaf ʾabl ma rēzhʿo.

I told him not to send the file before I review it. (informal; short perfect stem before -t)

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The reliable dictionary card for a hollow verb is not just “قال = say.” Record at least قال – قلت – بيقول – قول. Those four forms reveal the unsuffixed perfect, suffixed perfect, nonpast vowel, and command.

Why the perfect has two stems

Many hollow verbs use a long-vowel stem when no consonant-initial person suffix follows. That includes the third-person masculine singular, and often the feminine and plural forms whose suffixes begin with a vowel: قال، قالت، قالوا. Before endings such as ـت and ـنا, the stem vowel shortens: قلت، قلنا.

This is a phonological repair. A form like hypothetical ʾālt would pack a long vowel against a final consonant cluster. Lebanese instead uses a short allomorph. The exact short vowel is lexical and dialect-sensitive, however; it cannot always be calculated from the spelling.

باعت سمر سيارتها، بس ما باعت البيت.

bēʿet Samar sayyārta, bass ma bēʿet el-bēt.

Samar sold her car, but she didn't sell the house. (informal; third-person feminine long stem)

بعنا الكراسي القديمة لجارنا.

biʿna l-krēse l-ʾdīme la-zhārna.

We sold the old chairs to our neighbor. (informal; short stem before -na)

Do not interpret “long stem” as “past tense” and “short stem” as “present tense.” Both باع and بعت are perfect forms; person and suffix shape select the allomorph. Conversely, a nonpast may have another long vowel, as in بيبيع.

The nonpast class is lexical

The ordinary b-imperfect, progressive عم + b-imperfect, and licensed bare imperfect all use the same lexical nonpast stem. What changes is the outer grammar: بيبيع “he sells,” عم بيبيع “he is selling,” رح يبيع “he will sell.” The inner vowel ī remains.

هالمحل بيبيع خبز سخن من الصبح.

hal-maḥall byibīʿ khobez sokhon min eṣ-ṣoboḥ.

This shop sells hot bread from the morning onward. (informal; habitual b-imperfect)

هلق عم بيبيعوا آخر القطع بنص السعر.

hallaʾ ʿam byibīʿo ākhir el-ʾiṭaʿ b-noṣṣ es-siʿer.

They're selling the last pieces at half price now. (informal; ongoing عم + b-imperfect)

رح يبيعوا الباقي أونلاين الأسبوع الجايي.

raḥ ybīʿo l-bāʾe online l-osbūʿ el-zhēye.

They'll sell the rest online next week. (informal; future رح + bare imperfect)

The marker choice follows the b-imperfect and bare-imperfect system. Hollow morphology does not create a special tense system of its own.

Commands keep a class-specific long vowel

The masculine singular command is usually built from the bare nonpast stem without its person prefix: قول، بيع، روح، نام. That sounds simple only after the correct nonpast class is known. The command cannot be generated safely from the perfect spelling alone.

قول الحقيقة من الأول وما تخبي شي.

ʾūl el-ḥaʾīʾa min el-awwal w-ma tkhabbī shi.

Tell the truth from the start and don't hide anything. (informal; masculine singular command)

بيع الطاولة إذا عنجد ما بقا بدك ياها.

bīʿ eṭ-ṭāwle iza ʿanzhad ma baʾa baddak yēha.

Sell the table if you genuinely don't want it anymore. (informal; masculine singular command)

Feminine and plural commands add their normal endings, but pronunciation may adjust at the boundary: قولي ʾūle, قولوا ʾūlo. See Weak-Verb Imperatives for the full comparison.

Recovering the root without guessing the paradigm

Related words can reveal the historical middle radical: قول “saying” points toward ق-و-ل, بيع “sale” toward ب-ي-ع, and نوم “sleep” toward ن-و-م. Root knowledge helps connect vocabulary, but it does not replace principal parts. Historical w-roots do not all share one modern vowel, and spelling conventions can conceal spoken quality.

نمت بكير لأنو كان عندي سفرة عالفجر.

nimt bkīr laʾanno kēn ʿinde safra ʿal-fazher.

I went to sleep early because I had a trip at dawn. (informal; short suffixed perfect of نام)

بنام أحسن لما ما بشرب قهوة بالليل.

bnēm aḥsan lamma ma bshrab ʾahwe bil-lēl.

I sleep better when I don't drink coffee at night. (informal; habitual b-imperfect)

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Use root analysis to recognize relatives; use attested principal parts to speak. A root answers “which family?” but not “which exact Beirut vowel?”

Affirmative and negative minimal pairs

Negation surrounds the clause with ما while the verb keeps the stem appropriate to person and viewpoint.

راحت نادين عالمصرف قبل الضهر.

rāḥet Nādīn ʿal-maṣraf ʾabl eḍ-ḍohor.

Nadine went to the bank before noon. (affirmative perfect)

ما راحت نادين عالمصرف قبل الضهر.

ma rāḥet Nādīn ʿal-maṣraf ʾabl eḍ-ḍohor.

Nadine didn't go to the bank before noon. (negative perfect)

Dialogue: one root, several grammatical environments

ليش ما قلتلي إنك عم بتبيع الكاميرا؟

lēsh ma ʾeltelle innak ʿam bitbīʿ el-kāmīra?

Rana: Why didn't you tell me you're selling the camera? (informal; perfect plus ongoing عم + b-imperfect in the second person)

كنت بدي قولك، بس بعدني ما لقيت حدا يشتريها.

kent badde ʾūlak, bass baʿdne ma lʾīt ḥada yishtirīha.

Fadi: I was going to tell you, but I still haven't found anyone to buy it. (informal; bare hollow verb after بدي)

إذا بدك تبيعها بسرعة، قول قديش طالب فيها.

iza baddak tbīʿha b-sorʿa, ʾūl ʾaddēsh ṭāleb fīha.

Rana: If you want to sell it quickly, say how much you're asking for it. (informal; modal bare form and command)

رح قول للشاري إنو السعر مش نهائي.

raḥ ʾūl lash-shēre inno s-siʿer mish nihēʾe.

Fadi: I'll tell the buyer that the price isn't final. (informal; future bare form and recipient frame)

Common Mistakes

Keeping the long perfect stem before -t

❌ أنا قالتله مبارح.

Incorrect — the first-person perfect needs the short stem قلت.

✅ أنا قلتله الخبر مبارح عالمسا.

ana ʾeltillo l-khabar mbēreḥ ʿal-masa.

I told him the news yesterday evening. (informal)

Treating every alif-medial verb as the same class

❌ هو بيباع أغراضه أونلاين.

Incorrect — باع has the ī-class nonpast بيبيع, not a form copied from the perfect spelling.

✅ هو بيبيع أغراضه القديمة أونلاين.

howwe byibīʿ aghrāḍo l-ʾdīme online.

He sells his old things online. (informal habitual)

Omitting b- from an independent habit

❌ نام بكير كل ليلة.

Incorrect for the meaning “he sleeps early every night” — the unlicensed bare form does not express an ordinary habit.

✅ بينام بكير كل ليلة لأنه بيقوم عالفجر.

byinēm bkīr kill lēle laʾanno byʾūm ʿal-fazher.

He sleeps early every night because he gets up at dawn. (informal habitual)

Keeping b- after رح

❌ رح بيبيعوا المكتب الشهر الجايي.

Incorrect in the Beirut baseline — رح licenses a bare imperfect.

✅ رح يبيعوا المكتب بعد ما ينقلوا الشركة.

raḥ ybīʿo l-maktab baʿd ma yinʾlo sh-shirke.

They'll sell the office after they move the company. (neutral workplace speech)

Adding formal mood endings

❌ لازم يقولوا الحقيقة.

lāzim yaqūlūna al-ḥaqīqata

Incorrect reading — this adds formal MSA vowels and endings; ordinary Lebanese uses the bare spoken form yʾūlo after لازم.

✅ لازم يقولوا الحقيقة قبل الاجتماع.

lēzem yʾūlo l-ḥaʾīʾa ʾabl el-izhtimēʿ.

They have to tell the truth before the meeting. (neutral Lebanese; no MSA mood ending)

Key Takeaways

Hollow verbs encode their middle weak radical through vowel alternations. Long stems commonly appear in unsuffixed perfect forms, short stems before consonant-initial perfect suffixes, and a class-specific long vowel in the nonpast and command. Learn at least four principal parts, keep person-driven stem changes separate from tense and aspect, and never infer the modern Beirut vowel from the written ا alone.

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