راح / بيروح rāḥ / byrūḥ “go” is one of the most frequent hollow verbs in Lebanese. Its perfect and nonpast can look unrelated to an English-speaking learner: راح “he went,” رحت “I went,” بيروح “he goes,” and command روح “go!” The alternation is historical rather than suppletive, but learning it as a four-part lexical card is still the fastest accurate method.
This page also compares several high-frequency hollow verbs that resist a single classroom rule. Their shared architecture—long and short stems—is systematic. Their exact vowel choices are lexical and sometimes dialect-specific.
The focused paradigm of راح
The perfect uses long ā in third-person forms and short i before consonant-initial endings. The nonpast and command use ū.
| Environment | Arabic | Romanization | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3ms perfect | راح | rāḥ | he went |
| 3fs perfect | راحت | rāḥet | she went |
| 1sg / 2ms perfect | رحت | riḥt | I went / you went |
| 1pl perfect | رحنا | riḥna | we went |
| 3pl perfect | راحوا | rāḥo | they went |
| 1sg b-imperfect | بروح | brūḥ | I go |
| 3ms b-imperfect | بيروح | byrūḥ | he goes |
| 3ms bare imperfect | يروح | yrūḥ | that he go / he will go |
| 2ms imperative | روح | rūḥ | go! |
رحت عالبلدية بكير كرمال ما انطر بالدور.
riḥt ʿal-baladiyye bkīr kermēl ma nṭor bid-dōr.
I went to city hall early so I wouldn't wait in line. (neutral; first-person short perfect stem)
راحوا الشباب عالبحر بعد الشغل.
rāḥo sh-shabēb ʿal-baḥer baʿd esh-shoghol.
The guys went to the seaside after work. (informal; third-person plural long perfect stem)
Perfect راح versus future رح
The full verb راح rāḥ contains a long vowel and means “went.” The future particle رح raḥ has a short vowel and precedes a bare agreeing verb. In unvocalized writing they differ by ا, but fast speech makes careful listening important.
راح كريم عالمطار بالتاكسي.
rāḥ Karīm ʿal-maṭār bit-tākse.
Karim went to the airport by taxi. (completed motion; full perfect verb)
رح يروح كريم عالمطار بالتاكسي.
raḥ yrūḥ Karīm ʿal-maṭār bit-tākse.
Karim will go to the airport by taxi. (future particle plus bare verb)
The future particle does not itself agree: رح روح، رح تروحي، رح يروحوا. The following verb carries person marking. It also does not take b- in the course baseline. For the wider system, see The Future with رح.
Motion and purpose chains
As a lexical motion verb, راح can be followed by a bare verb expressing purpose: راح يجيب أمه “he went to pick up his mother.” This is not the particle رح. The first word has the long perfect vowel and supplies the completed motion; the second names its purpose.
راحت تجيب الولاد من المدرسة قبل الزحمة.
rāḥet tzhīb el-wlād min el-madrase ʾabl ez-zaḥme.
She went to pick up the children from school before the traffic. (informal; perfect motion plus purpose verb)
كل سبت بروح اشتري خضرة من السوق.
kill sabet brūḥ shtire khoḍra min es-sūʾ.
Every Saturday I go buy vegetables at the market. (informal; habitual motion plus bare purpose verb)
English often inserts “to” before the purpose verb. Lebanese normally uses the bare verb directly in this productive motion chain; adding formal كي would change the register (formal).
b-imperfect, progressive, bare, and command
The long ū stem remains while outer grammar changes. بيروح can describe a habit or route, عم بيروح an unfolding departure or motion, bare يروح follows a licensor, and روح is a command.
جوزيف بيروح عالشغل بالمترو تلات مرات بالأسبوع.
Zhōzef byrūḥ ʿash-shoghol bil-metro tlēt marrāt bil-osbūʿ.
Joseph goes to work by metro three times a week. (informal; habitual b-imperfect)
نادين عم بتروح من المكتب هلق، دقلها بسرعة.
Nādīn ʿam btrūḥ min el-maktab hallaʾ, doʾʾla b-sorʿa.
Nadine is leaving the office now; call her quickly. (informal; unfolding departure with عم + b-imperfect)
لازم نروح قبل ما تسكر المواقف.
lēzem nrūḥ ʾabl ma tsakker el-mawēʾef.
We have to go before the parking lots close. (informal; bare imperfect after لازم)
روح من الطريق البحرية إذا الأوتوستراد معجوق.
rūḥ min eṭ-ṭarīʾ el-baḥriyye iza l-otostrād maʿzhūʾ.
Take the coastal road if the highway is jammed. (informal; masculine singular command)
The active participle رايح rāyeḥ often presents a current destination or settled intention: أنا رايح عالجامعة “I'm going / headed to the university.” It does not replace every finite form; participial viewpoint is covered in Motion Participles and Future Reference.
Other frequent hollow cards
The table shows why “make the middle vowel ū” is inadequate. Several verbs share long/short architecture but select different vowels in the nonpast.
| Perfect card | b-imperfect | Command | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| فات / فت fēt / fit | بيفوت byfūt | فوت fūt | enter, go in |
| قام / قمت ʾām / ʾimt | بيقوم byʾūm | قوم ʾūm | get up |
| نام / نمت nēm / nimt | بينام byinēm | نام nēm | sleep |
| خاف / خفت khāf / khift | بيخاف byikhāf | خاف khāf | be afraid |
فت عالمسرح بهدوء لأنو العرض كان بلش.
fit ʿal-masraḥ b-hodūʾ laʾanno l-ʿareḍ kēn ballash.
I went into the theater quietly because the show had already started. (neutral; short suffixed perfect of فات)
قوم افتح للشوفير، وصل الطلب.
ʾūm ftaḥ lash-shofēr, wiṣel eṭ-ṭalab.
Get up and open the door for the driver; the order has arrived. (informal; command sequence)
نامت البنت عالكنباية قبل ما يخلص الفيلم.
nēmet el-bint ʿal-kanabēye ʾabl ma yikhlaṣ el-fīlem.
The girl fell asleep on the sofa before the film ended. (informal; ē-type long perfect)
ما بخاف من الطيران، بس بكره المطبات الهوائية.
ma bkhāf min eṭ-ṭayarān, bass bakrah el-maṭabbāt el-hawēʾiyye.
I'm not afraid of flying, but I hate turbulence. (neutral; ā-class stative b-imperfect)
Some neighboring dialects use different short vowels or vowel qualities for individual verbs (regional: Levant). The Beirut production baseline above should remain internally consistent; recognition of another speaker's form does not require mixing it into your own paradigm.
Affirmative and negative minimal pairs
بيروح الباص عالجامعة من هون.
byrūḥ el-bāṣ ʿal-zhēmʿa min hōn.
The bus goes to the university from here. (affirmative route description)
ما بيروح الباص عالجامعة من هون.
ma byrūḥ el-bāṣ ʿal-zhēmʿa min hōn.
The bus doesn't go to the university from here. (negative route description; b- remains)
Dialogue: yesterday, habit, and tomorrow
رحت عالنادي مبارح بعد الشغل؟
riḥt ʿan-nāde mbēreḥ baʿd esh-shoghol?
Salma: Did you go to the gym yesterday after work? (informal; completed motion)
لأ، عادة بروح التلاتا بس مبارح تعبت.
laʾ, ʿāde brūḥ et-tlēta bass mbēreḥ tʿibt.
Walid: No. I normally go on Tuesdays, but yesterday I was tired. (informal; habitual b-form versus perfect state)
طيب، رح تروح بكرا أو بعدك تعبان؟
ṭayyeb, raḥ trūḥ bokra aw baʿdak taʿbān?
Salma: Okay, will you go tomorrow, or are you still tired? (informal; future bare form)
إذا نمت منيح الليلة، بروح معك عالسبعة.
iza nimt mnīḥ el-lēle, brūḥ maʿak ʿas-sabʿa.
Walid: If I sleep well tonight, I'll go with you at seven. (informal; conditional perfect form and scheduled b-imperfect)
Common Mistakes
Adding -t to the long perfect
❌ أنا روحت عالجامعة.
Incorrect in the Beirut baseline for the perfect of راح — use the short stem رحت.
✅ أنا رحت عالجامعة كرمال قابل الأستاذ.
ana riḥt ʿal-zhēmʿa kermēl ʾābel el-ostēz.
I went to the university to meet the professor. (neutral)
Keeping b- after the future particle
❌ رح بيروحوا عالمتحف بكرا.
Incorrect in the course baseline — رح selects the bare form يروحوا.
✅ رح يروحوا عالمتحف بكرا بعد الضهر.
raḥ yrūḥo ʿal-matḥaf bokra baʿd eḍ-ḍohor.
They'll go to the museum tomorrow afternoon. (informal future)
Using the perfect as a command
❌ راح عالبيت وارتاح.
Incorrect as “go home” — راح is a perfect form; the command is روح.
✅ روح عالبيت وارتاح شوي قبل العشا.
rūḥ ʿal-bēt w-rtēḥ shwayy ʾabl el-ʿasha.
Go home and rest a little before dinner. (informal masculine singular commands)
Treating every hollow nonpast as ū-class
❌ بينوم الولد عالتمانية.
Incorrect — نام keeps an ē-type vowel in the Beirut nonpast: بينام.
✅ بينام الولد عالتمانية أيام المدرسة.
byinēm el-walad ʿat-tmēnye ayyēm el-madrase.
The boy goes to sleep at eight on school nights. (informal habitual)
Reading راح and رح as the same word
❌ راح يجيب ورح يجيب نفس المعنى.
Incorrect — راح يجيب means “he went to get,” while رح يجيب means “he will bring/get”; vowel length and syntax differ.
✅ راح يجيب أمه، ورح يرجع بعد ساعة.
rāḥ yzhīb emmo, w-raḥ yirzhaʿ baʿd sēʿa.
He went to pick up his mother, and he'll return in an hour. (informal; lexical motion versus future particle)
Key Takeaways
Learn راح–رحت–بيروح–روح as a single card. Distinguish full راح “went” from short future رح, and recognize the bare purpose verb in motion chains. Other hollow verbs preserve the same long/short architecture but choose their vowels lexically: فات–فت–بيفوت, نام–نمت–بينام, and خاف–خفت–بيخاف. A Beirut learner needs consistent principal parts, not a rule that forces every hollow verb into ū.
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
- Hollow VerbsB1 — Understand why Lebanese hollow verbs alternate between long-vowel and short-vowel stems across the perfect, imperfect, and imperative.
- qāl-Type Hollow VerbsB1 — Master the qāl-type alternation through قال and related Lebanese hollow verbs with an ā/ē perfect and ū-class nonpast.
- bīʿ-Type Hollow VerbsB1 — Learn the Lebanese bēʿ–biʿt–byibīʿ pattern, its command forms, and the argument structure of selling.
- Motion Verbs before Another VerbC1 — Combine go, come, return, and pass with another verb to express purpose or a tightly integrated event sequence in urban Lebanese.
- رح plus Bare ImperfectA1 — Use invariant رح with an agreeing bare imperfect for Lebanese predictions, intentions, plans, and explicit future framing.
- Motion Participles for Arranged and Imminent EventsB1 — Use رايح and جايي for current direction, arranged movement, and imminent arrival while keeping them distinct from general رح futures.