English packages several ideas into be about to: a visible process has reached its edge, a person intends to act immediately, or an event is simply scheduled very soon. Urban Lebanese keeps these sources of imminence more visible. Common choices include بدّو + bare imperfect, prospective رايح + bare imperfect, قرّب + bare imperfect, and an ordinary future or present construction with هلق “now” or بعد شوي “in a little while.”
No one form is a universal translation of about to. The subject's animacy, available evidence, and the kind of event determine the most natural choice. See Future Alternatives for the broader system.
A practical comparison
| Construction | What supports the imminent reading | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| بدو + bare imperfect | an event is poised to happen; with people, desire or intention remains possible | الفلم بده يبلش |
| رايح + bare imperfect | current trajectory or evidence points toward a result | الحيط رايح يوقع |
| قرب + bare imperfect | the event has approached its boundary | الشغل قرب يخلص |
| رح / b-imperfect + time adverb | هلق or بعد شوي locates an ordinary event in the near future | رح نبلش بعد شوي |
الفلم بده يبلش، فوتوا لجوا.
el-film baddo yiballesh, fūto la-zhowwa.
The film is about to start; go inside. (informal; event poised to begin)
الحيط رايح يوقع إذا ما دعمناه.
el-ḥēṭ rāyeḥ ywʾaʿ iza ma daʿamnēh.
The wall is going to fall if we don't shore it up. (informal; evidence-based trajectory)
الشغل قرب يخلص، ضل شوي.
esh-shoghl ʾarrab yikhlaṣ, ḍall shwayy.
The work is almost finished; only a little remains. (informal; near completion)
بدّو: intention with people, imminence with events
The suffix on بدّ agrees with its subject, and the following verb is bare. With a human subject, desire or intention is usually available. With weather, a film, a machine, or another eventive nonhuman subject, literal wanting is impossible, so an “about to” or “looks set to” reading emerges.
| Subject | Form | Most accessible reading without more context |
|---|---|---|
| أنا | بدي فل | I want/intend to leave |
| إنتي | بدك تفلي | you want/intend to leave |
| هو | بده يفل | he wants/intends to leave; context may make it imminent |
| هي | بدها تفل | she wants/intends to leave; context may make it imminent |
| الفلم | بده يبلش | the film is about to start |
رامي بده يفل بكير اليوم.
Rāme baddo yfill bkīr el-yōm.
Rami wants/intends to leave early today. (informal; human intention is the default reading)
رامي لابس الجاكيت وواقف عالباب؛ بده يفل.
Rāme lābis el-zhākēt w-wēʾef ʿal-bēb; baddo yfill.
Rami has his jacket on and is standing at the door; he's about to leave. (informal; visible evidence forces an imminent reading)
شكلها بدها تشتي، خد شمسية.
shakla badda tshitte, khod shamsiyye.
It looks like it's about to rain; take an umbrella. (informal; evidence-based weather prediction)
English going to creates a trap: بده يفل may be intention, while رح يفل is a straightforward prospective assertion. Do not erase the volitional meaning of بدّ whenever its subject is a person.
Prospective رايح: a trajectory toward a result
The active participle رايح agrees for gender and number, then a bare imperfect names the projected result. In this use it is more than literal motion: the speaker sees the subject as headed toward an outcome.
| Subject | Prospective form | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| هو / masculine noun | رايح يوقع | rāyeḥ ywʾaʿ |
| هي / feminine noun | رايحة توقع | rāyḥa twʾaʿ |
| هني / plural noun | رايحين يوقعوا | rāyḥīn ywʾaʿo |
الكاسة رايحة توقع عن طرف الطاولة.
el-kēse rāyḥa tōʾaʿ ʿan ṭaraf eṭ-ṭāwle.
The glass is about to fall off the edge of the table. (informal; visible trajectory)
هالمشروع رايح يكلف أكتر من المتوقع.
hal-mashrūʿ rāyeḥ ykallef aktar min el-mitwaʾʾaʿ.
This project is heading toward costing more than expected. (informal professional discussion; projected outcome)
هالغيوم مش رايحة تمرق بلا شتي.
hal-ghyūm mish rāyḥa timroʾ bla shite.
These clouds aren't going to pass without rain. (informal; negative evidence-based projection)
Plural nonhuman nouns often trigger feminine singular agreement in Arabic, hence الغيوم ... رايحة. Human plurals take رايحين.
قرّب: approaching a boundary
قرّب + bare imperfect presents the beginning or endpoint as close. The perfect-shaped قرّب has developed a current boundary reading in this construction; it does not require an English past translation.
المؤتمر قرب يبلش، سكروا الباب.
el-muʾtamar ʾarrab yiballesh, sakkro l-bēb.
The conference is about to start; close the door. (neutral; approaching onset)
البطارية قربت تخلص.
el-baṭṭāriyye ʾarrabit tikhlaṣ.
The battery is almost dead. (informal; approaching endpoint)
قربنا نوصل، ضل عشر دقايق.
ʾarrabna nōṣal, ḍall ʿashr daʾāyeʾ.
We're almost there; ten minutes remain. (informal; first-person plural boundary)
The agreeing form belongs to قرّب (قربت، قربنا), and the following imperfect stays bare (تخلص، نوصل), without b-.
Time adverbs can create near future without an “about-to” auxiliary
هلق “now/right away,” بعد شوي “in a little while,” and كمان خمس دقايق “in another five minutes” can make an ordinary present or future construction imminent. They locate the event in time but do not claim visible evidence.
هلق بطلع من البيت.
hallaʾ bṭlaʿ min el-bēt.
I'm leaving the house now / in a moment. (informal; next scheduled action)
رح نبلش بعد شوي.
raḥ nballesh baʿd shwayy.
We'll start in a little while. (neutral; near future, not necessarily visible imminence)
كمان خمس دقايق وبيوصل الباص.
kamēn khames daʾāyeʾ w-byūṣal el-bāṣ.
Another five minutes and the bus arrives. (informal; countdown construction)
Formal Arabic على وشك أن “on the verge of” is (formal) and useful in news or prepared prose, but it is not the everyday Beirut default. Speakers elsewhere in the Levant may prefer other prospective particles or extend راح differently (regional: Syrian, Palestinian, and Jordanian varieties). For a stable Lebanese learner voice, produce the constructions on this page and treat other markers as recognition forms until their regional distribution is taught.
Affirmative and negative minimal pairs
الرف رايح يوقع.
er-raff rāyeḥ ywʾaʿ.
The shelf is going to fall. (evidence-based projection)
الرف مش رايح يوقع بعد ما ثبتناه.
er-raff mish rāyeḥ ywʾaʿ baʿd ma thabbatnēh.
The shelf isn't going to fall after we secured it. (negative participial projection)
الدرس قرب يخلص.
ed-dars ʾarrab yikhlaṣ.
The lesson is almost over. (approaching endpoint)
الدرس بعده ما قرب يخلص.
ed-dars baʿdo ma ʾarrab yikhlaṣ.
The lesson isn't close to ending yet. (negative boundary assessment)
Dialogue: intention versus evidence
ليش لابس جاكيته؟ بده يفل؟
lēsh lābis zhākēto? baddo yfill?
Lina: Why is he wearing his jacket? Is he about to leave? (informal; evidence invites imminent reading)
إيه، قال إنه بده يفل هلق لأن الاجتماع قرب يخلص.
ē, ʾāl inno baddo yfill hallaʾ laʾann el-izhtimēʿ ʾarrab yikhlaṣ.
Sami: Yes, he said he intends to leave now because the meeting is almost over. (informal; intention plus approaching endpoint)
The jacket suggests immediate evidence; قال restores the volitional reading of بدّو; هلق narrows the timing; and قرّب measures progress toward the meeting's endpoint.
Common Mistakes
Translating every about to with رح
❌ رح يوقع يعني دايما هو على حفة الوقوع.
Incorrect — رح can be a neutral prediction without immediate evidence.
✅ الحيط رايح يوقع؛ مبين مشقوق.
el-ḥēṭ rāyeḥ ywʾaʿ; mbayyen mashʾūʾ.
The wall is about to fall; it's visibly cracked.
Erasing intention from a human subject
❌ رامي بده يفل ما إلها غير معنى رح يفل.
Incorrect — with a person, بدّه normally retains want or intend unless evidence makes departure imminent.
✅ رامي بده يفل، بس بعده ما قرر إيمتى.
Rāme baddo yfill, bass baʿdo ma ʾarrar ēmta.
Rami wants to leave, but he still hasn't decided when.
Negating رايح with verbal ما
❌ الحيط ما رايح يوقع.
Incorrect in the neutral Beirut pattern — رايح is a participial predicate here.
✅ الحيط مش رايح يوقع.
el-ḥēṭ mish rāyeḥ ywʾaʿ.
The wall isn't going to fall.
Keeping b- after the licensing construction
❌ الفلم بده بيبلش والشغل قرب بيخلص.
Incorrect — بدّو and قرّب select a bare imperfect.
✅ الفلم بده يبلش والشغل قرب يخلص.
el-film baddo yiballesh w-esh-shoghl ʾarrab yikhlaṣ.
The film is about to start, and the work is nearly finished.
Forgetting agreement on the participle
❌ الكاسة رايح توقع.
Incorrect — feminine الكاسة requires رايحة.
✅ الكاسة رايحة توقع.
el-kēse rāyḥa tōʾaʿ.
The glass is about to fall.
Key Takeaways
Lebanese imminence is a family of constructions, not a single tense. بدّو combines poised occurrence with possible human intention; prospective رايح profiles a trajectory supported by evidence; قرّب places an event near its beginning or endpoint; and temporal adverbs can make ordinary رح or b-imperfect forms near-future. Keep the following imperfect bare, and apply the negation pattern of the construction you actually chose.
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