Let's and Third-Person Directives | Arabic (Levantine) Grammar

English let hides several social actions: “let's go” proposes a shared action, “let me see” asks for access, and “let him speak” directs someone not to interfere. Urban Lebanese builds all three around خلي plus a suffix and a following bare imperfect, while a contextual bare imperfect can itself direct a third person.

The forms on this page belong to ordinary Beirut conversation (informal and neutral spoken). They are not the formal MSA لام الأمر construction (formal), and the following verb takes no MSA mood ending.

The core خلي paradigm

The suffix on خلي identifies the person being allowed, left, or recruited into the proposed action. The following bare verb agrees with that same actor.

Actor of the following action	Frame	Romanization	Typical meaning
me	خليني شوف	khallīne shūf	let me see
him	خليه يحكي	khallī yḥke	let him speak
her	خليها تقرر	khallīha tʾarrer	let her decide
us	خلينا نبلش	khallīna nballesh	let's start
them	خليهن يجربوا	khallīhon yzharrbo	let them try

Unvocalized خليه can look as though it contains an audible h, but common Beirut pronunciation is khallī. The ه still belongs in the spelling and identifies masculine singular. Other Lebanese and Levantine speakers may preserve more audible h or use different plural vowels (regional).

خليني شوف الرسالة قبل ما تبعتها.

khallīne shūf er-risēle ʾabl ma tibʿata.

Let me see the message before you send it. (informal; first-person access request)

خليه يحكي للآخر، وبعدين جاوبه.

khallī yḥke lil-ēkher, w-baʿdēn zhēwbo.

Let him finish speaking, and then answer him. (informal; masculine third-person directive)

خليها تختار المحل يلي بناسبها.

khallīha tikhtār el-maḥall yalle bnēsibha.

Let her choose the place that suits her. (informal; feminine third-person directive)

The agreement is semantic, not mechanical suffix copying: خليها is followed by feminine تختار, while خليه is followed by masculine يحكي. English uses the same infinitive after let and therefore gives learners no reminder to mark this contrast.

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Read the frame as two linked decisions: the suffix after خلي names the actor, and the following bare verb agrees with that actor. Check both pieces aloud.

خلينا can be inclusive or speaker-led

خلينا + first-person plural bare imperfect is the everyday “let's” pattern. It can present a genuine joint proposal, or it can organize a group when the speaker has already chosen the next step. Intonation and role relations reveal the difference.

خلينا نروح عالقهوة الجديدة؟

khallīna nrūḥ ʿal-ʾahwe l-zhdīde?

Shall we go to the new café? (informal; genuinely open proposal)

طيب، خلينا نرجع للشغل.

ṭayyeb, khallīna nirzhaʿ lish-shoghol.

Okay, let's get back to work. (informal; speaker-led transition)

The first sentence uses question intonation and leaves acceptance open. The second closes one activity and directs the group onward. English let's permits the same range, but English speakers sometimes assume that every خلينا is equally democratic. A manager's calm خلينا نخلص اليوم can still function as an instruction.

يلا often adds momentum rather than grammatical person marking:

يلا، خلينا نطلب قبل ما يسكر المطبخ.

yalla, khallīna niṭlob ʾabl ma ysakker el-maṭbakh.

Come on, let's order before the kitchen closes. (informal encouragement)

For the broader distinction between licensed bare verbs and ordinary b-imperfect clauses, see the bare imperfect introduction.

خليني and خلونا shift who is being addressed

خليني is addressed to one person unless context says otherwise. When asking a group to let the speaker act, plural imperative خلوا plus “me” produces خلوني.

خليني فكر شوي قبل ما جاوب.

khallīne fakker shwayy ʾabl ma zhēweb.

Let me think a little before I answer. (informal; addressed to one person)

خلوني وضح الفكرة بنقطة وحدة.

khallūne waḍḍeḥ el-fikra b-noʾṭa waḥde.

Let me explain the idea in one point. (spoken professional; addressed to a group)

This contrast separates the addressee of خلي from the actor of the following verb. In خلوني وضح, a group receives the plural command خلوا, but “me” is the actor of وضح. The bare first-person form has no b-prefix.

Third-person directives without خلي

In a setting where the desired action is already clear, a third-person bare imperfect can work as a directive. It is especially natural in turn allocation, permission, and practical decisions.

يفوت رامي أول، وبعده نحنا.

yfūt Rāme awwal, w-baʿdo niḥna.

Let Rami go in first, and then us. (informal turn allocation)

تبلش مايا، ونحنا منلحقها.

tballesh Māya, w-niḥna mnilḥaʾa.

Let Maya start, and we'll follow her. (informal practical directive)

These forms do not automatically mean future “he will / she will.” Directive intonation and the decision-making context license the reading. خليه يفوت and خليها تبلش are more explicit and easier outside a rich context.

Negation has two different scopes

To propose that the group not act, put ما before the first-person plural bare verb inside خلينا. To forbid the addressee from allowing someone, negate the second-person verb تخلي instead.

خلينا نحكي بالموضوع هلق.

khallīna niḥke bil-mawḍūʿ hallaʾ.

Let's talk about the subject now. (affirmative joint proposal)

خلينا ما نحكي بالموضوع هلق.

khallīna ma niḥke bil-mawḍūʿ hallaʾ.

Let's not talk about the subject now. (negative joint proposal)

خليه يفوت.

khallī yfūt.

Let him come in. (affirmative third-person directive)

ما تخليه يفوت.

ma tkhallī yfūt.

Don't let him come in. (prohibition addressed to one man)

Compare ما تخليه يجي “do not allow him to come” with خليه ما يجي “let him not come / leave it so that he does not come.” The first negates the addressee's allowing; the second keeps خليه affirmative and negates the embedded action. They can lead to the same practical outcome, but they assign responsibility differently.

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Place ما immediately before the predicate you want to negate. خلينا ما نروح negates going; ما تخلينا نروح tells someone not to let us go.

A ride-planning dialogue

خلينا نطلب تاكسي هلق.

khallīna niṭlob tāksī hallaʾ.

Nour: Let's order a taxi now. (speaker-led proposal)

خلي مايا توصل أول؛ عم بتدق للسائق.

khallī Māya tūṣal awwal; ʿam btidoʾʾ lis-sēʾeʾ.

Rami: Let Maya arrive first; she's calling the driver. (third-person directive plus ongoing action)

طيب، بس خلينا ما نتأخر أكتر.

ṭayyeb, bass khallīna ma nitʾakhkhar aktar.

Nour: Okay, but let's not be any later. (negative inclusive directive)

The directive verbs after خلينا / خلي are bare; the ongoing phone call uses course-baseline عم + b-imperfect. Time and aspect remain distinct from directive force.

Common Mistakes

Keeping b- after خلينا

❌ خلينا منروح هلق.

Incorrect in the Beirut baseline — خلينا selects a bare first-person plural verb.

✅ خلينا نروح هلق.

khallīna nrūḥ hallaʾ.

Let's go now. (informal)

Losing agreement with a feminine actor

❌ خليها يقرر لحالها.

Incorrect — the following verb must agree with the woman referred to by ـها.

✅ خليها تقرر لحالها.

khallīha tʾarrer la-ḥāla.

Let her decide for herself. (informal)

Negating the wrong clause

❌ ما تخلينا نحكي هلق.

Wrong for the intended ‘let's not talk now’ — this tells someone not to let us talk.

✅ خلينا ما نحكي هلق.

khallīna ma niḥke hallaʾ.

Let's not talk now. (negative proposal)

Treating every خلينا as an equal-choice invitation

❌ المدير قال خلينا نخلص اليوم، يعني القرار مفتوح كليا.

Incorrect pragmatic reading — a manager can use خلينا to issue an inclusive-sounding instruction.

✅ المدير قال خلينا نخلص اليوم، وكان عم بينظم الشغل.

el-mdīr ʾāl khallīna nkhalliṣ el-yōm, w-kēn ʿam byinaẓẓem esh-shoghol.

The manager said, ‘Let's finish today,’ and was organizing the work. (speaker-led directive)

Importing the formal jussive pattern

❌ ليذهب رامي أول بالمحادثة اليومية.

✅ خليه يروح أول.

khallī yrūḥ awwal.

Let him go first. (ordinary spoken Lebanese)

Key Takeaways

Use خليني، خليه، خليها، خلينا، خليهن plus a bare agreeing verb. خلينا can invite a real joint decision or organize a group from the speaker's position. Contextual third-person bare forms such as يفوت رامي also make directives when turn allocation is clear. Put ما before the exact action being negated, and never add ordinary b- or formal MSA mood endings after خلي.

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