Lebanese does not translate every English passive with one passive conjugation. Speakers choose among several strategies according to what matters: a change affecting something, its resulting state, an unnamed human action, or an impersonal rule. انفتح الباب reports that the door opened; الباب مفتوح describes it as open; فتحوا الباب says that unspecified people opened it.
The key question is not “Where is the English be + participle?” Ask instead: are you reporting an event, describing a state, or deliberately leaving the human actor unnamed? The answer selects the Lebanese construction. Fully inflected formal passives belong mainly to formal reading, while everyday Beirut speech uses the strategies on this page.
Focused map: five ways to background an opener
These clauses all move attention away from an identified person, but they do not mean exactly the same thing.
| Strategy | Lebanese clause | Reading | What it profiles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Form VII middle | انفتح الباب | infataḥ el-bēb | opening event; door is subject |
| result participle | الباب مفتوح | el-bēb maftūḥ | open state |
| generic 3pl | فتحوا الباب | fataḥo l-bēb | people opened it; identity irrelevant |
| modal impersonal | لازم ينفتح الباب | lāzem yinfeteḥ el-bēb | opening is required |
| تم + maṣdar | تم فتح الباب | tamma fatḥ el-bēb | official report of completion (formal) |
انفتح باب المخزن لحاله بنص الليل.
infataḥ bēb el-makhzan la-ḥālo bi-noṣṣ el-lēl.
The storeroom door opened by itself in the middle of the night. (informal; change event)
باب المخزن مفتوح من الصبح.
bēb el-makhzan maftūḥ min eṣ-ṣobeḥ.
The storeroom door has been open since morning. (informal; continuing result state)
فتحوا باب المخزن كرمال يفوتوا الصناديق.
fataḥo bēb el-makhzan kermēl yfawwto ṣ-ṣanādīʾ.
They opened the storeroom door to bring the boxes in. (informal; unnamed human agents)
Form VII middles: the affected entity becomes subject
Form VII often presents a change or passive-like event with the affected participant as grammatical subject: انكسر الكرسي “the chair broke,” انقطع الخط “the line got cut off,” انسرقت السيارة “the car was stolen.” This is common, natural speech—not an incomplete active clause.
انقطع الإنترنت وقت كنا عم نحكي.
inʾaṭaʿ el-internet waʾet kinna ʿam niḥke.
The internet cut out while we were talking. (informal; spontaneous change)
انسرقت دراجته قدام الجامعة.
insaraʾet darrāzhto ʾaddēm el-zhēmʿa.
His bicycle was stolen in front of the university. (informal; passive-like event, thief suppressed)
المواعيد ما بتنلغى إلا إذا في عاصفة.
el-mawēʿīd ma btinlagha illa iza fī ʿāṣfe.
Appointments aren't canceled unless there's a storm. (neutral; nonhuman plural with feminine singular verb in the baseline)
Form VII does not keep a normal slot for a deliberate human by-agent. انفتح الباب من الهوا can name a physical cause, but “the door was opened by Rami” is normally the active رامي فتح الباب when Rami matters. See Form VII for its valency.
Form VIII and other lexical middle events
Form VIII is not a passive pattern, but some Form VIII verbs let the subject undergo or participate in an event without an expressed external agent. اختفى الملف “the file disappeared” profiles the missing file; اشتغل الجهاز can mean “the device started working.” These are lexical verbs, not freely generated passives.
اختفى الملف من المجلد بعد التحديث.
ikhtafa l-malaf min el-mzhallad baʿd et-taḥdīth.
The file disappeared from the folder after the update. (technical; Form VIII spontaneous-event reading)
بعد ما غيرنا البطارية، اشتغل الجهاز دغري.
baʿd ma ghayyarna l-baṭṭāriyye, ishtaghal el-zhihēz doghre.
After we changed the battery, the device started working immediately. (informal; lexical Form VIII event)
Do not manufacture a Form VIII verb merely because English uses a passive. Morphological form and discourse function overlap only in established lexical items.
Passive participles describe results and properties
A passive or result participle answers “What state is it in?” rather than “What happened?” مسكر means “closed,” مدفوع “paid,” مكتوب “written,” and محجوز “reserved.” The participle agrees like an adjective.
| Subject | Result predicate | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| الحساب | مدفوع | el-ḥsēb madfūʿ |
| الطاولة | محجوزة | eṭ-ṭāwle maḥzhūze |
| الأبواب | مسكرة | el-abwēb msakkra, nonhuman plural |
| الغرف | مرتبة | el-ghoraf mrattabe, nonhuman plural |
الحساب مدفوع، ما تدفع شي.
el-ḥsēb madfūʿ, ma tidfaʿ she.
The bill is paid; don't pay anything. (informal; result state)
الطاولة محجوزة عاسم جاد.
eṭ-ṭāwle maḥzhūze ʿa-sem Zhād.
The table is reserved under Jad's name. (service encounter; feminine agreement)
الأبواب مسكرة لأن المحل بعده ما فتح.
el-abwēb msakkra laʾann el-maḥall baʿdo ma fataḥ.
The doors are closed because the shop hasn't opened yet. (informal; nonhuman plural with feminine singular participle)
Negate a participial predicate with مش: الحساب مش مدفوع. Finite event negation uses ما: ما دفعوا الحساب. English “wasn't paid” can correspond to either, depending on whether the speaker denies a result state or an event.
Generic third-person plural: “they” without a specific group
Lebanese frequently uses a third-person plural verb when human actors exist but their identity is unknown, obvious, or unimportant. English often uses a passive here.
غيروا موعد الرحلة لنهار الجمعة.
ghayyaro mawʿed er-riḥle la-nhār el-zhomʿa.
They moved the trip to Friday. / The trip was moved to Friday. (neutral; unspecified human agents)
بالأخير صلحوا المصعد.
bil-akhīr ṣallaḥo l-miṣʿad.
They finally fixed the elevator. / The elevator was finally fixed. (informal; generic plural)
قالوا إنو الطريق رح تسكر عالليل.
ʾālo inno ṭ-ṭarīʾ raḥ tsakker ʿal-lēl.
They said the road would close at night. (informal; report attributed to an unspecified source)
This plural is grammatically active. It does not agree with the following object and does not license a singular English-style participle. Its passive-like translation comes from discourse.
Impersonal rules, possibilities, and needs
Often no event participant needs to be promoted at all. Lebanese uses adjectives, modals, existential expressions, and generic clauses: ممنوع التدخين “smoking is prohibited,” لازم يتصلح “it needs to be fixed,” ما فينا نفوت “we can't enter.”
ممنوع التصوير جوات المستشفى.
mamnūʿ et-taṣwīr zhowwēt el-mostashfa.
Photography is prohibited inside the hospital. (public rule; impersonal adjective plus maṣdar)
هاد الكرسي لازم يتصلح قبل ما حدا يقعد عليه.
hād el-korse lāzem yitṣallaḥ ʾabel ma ḥada yiʾʿod ʿalēh.
This chair needs to be fixed before anyone sits on it. (neutral; modal plus passive-like derived verb)
ما فينا نستعمل الغرفة هلق.
ma fīna nistaʿmel el-ghorfe hallaʾ.
The room can't be used right now. (natural English passive; Lebanese impersonal inability)
The last translation demonstrates why word-for-word voice matching fails: Lebanese says literally “we cannot use the room,” with a generic human subject.
Limited formal passive strategies
Administrative and news language may use تم + maṣdar, such as تم توقيع العقد “the contract was signed,” or a formal internal-vowel passive (formal/MSA). These are useful for recognition and formal writing, but they are not the default machinery of ordinary conversation.
تم توقيع الاتفاق بحضور الطرفين.
tamm tawʾīʿ el-ittifāʾ bi-ḥuḍūr eṭ-ṭarafēn.
The agreement was signed in the presence of both parties. (formal/administrative)
وقعوا الاتفاق بعد اجتماع طويل.
waʾʾaʿo l-ittifāʾ baʿd izhtimēʿ ṭawīl.
They signed the agreement after a long meeting. (neutral spoken alternative with unspecified actors)
Affirmative and negative minimal pairs
انلغى الحجز قبل السفر بيوم.
inlagha l-ḥazhez ʾabel es-safar b-yōm.
The reservation was canceled one day before the trip. (neutral; passive-like event)
الحجز ما انلغى، بس تغيرت الساعة.
el-ḥazhez ma inlagha, bass tghayyarit es-sēʿa.
The reservation wasn't canceled; only the time changed. (negative event)
الغرفة محجوزة لبكرا.
el-ghorfe maḥzhūze la-bokra.
The room is reserved for tomorrow. (affirmative result state)
الغرفة مش محجوزة لبكرا.
el-ghorfe mish maḥzhūze la-bokra.
The room isn't reserved for tomorrow. (negative result state with مش)
Dialogue: what happened to the booking?
ليش بعد ما وصلني تأكيد الحجز؟
lēsh baʿd ma wiṣelne taʾkīd el-ḥazhez?
Maya: Why haven't I received the booking confirmation yet? (informal; event phrased actively)
قالوا غيروا النظام، وهلق عم بيراجعوا كل الحجوزات.
ʾālo ghayyaro n-niẓām, w-hallaʾ ʿam byirāzhʿo kill el-ḥzhūzāt.
Karim: They said they changed the system, and now they're reviewing all the bookings. (generic plural in an unfolding process)
طيب، خبرني بس يصير الحجز مؤكد.
ṭayyeb, khabberne bass yṣīr el-ḥazhez muʾakkad.
Maya: Okay, let me know once the booking is confirmed. (result adjective)
Common Mistakes
Mixing a formal passive with colloquial aspect syntax
❌ القهوة عم تشرب بالمطبخ.
Incorrect for ‘the coffee is being drunk’ — عم does not create a passive; تشرب is an active bare form, and the course's ordinary progressive would also retain b-.
✅ عم بيشربوا القهوة بالمطبخ.
ʿam byishrabo l-ʾahwe bil-maṭbakh.
They're drinking the coffee in the kitchen. (generic or contextually known plural)
Adding a human by-agent to a Form VII middle
❌ انفتح الباب من الموظف.
Incorrect for deliberate opening by the employee — use an active clause.
✅ الموظف فتح الباب قبل الموعد.
el-mwaẓẓaf fataḥ el-bēb ʾabel el-mawʿed.
The employee opened the door before the appointment.
Confusing an event with its result
❌ الباب انفتح من الصبح.
Incorrect for the continuing state ‘the door has been open since morning’ — انفتح names an event.
✅ الباب مفتوح من الصبح.
el-bēb maftūḥ min eṣ-ṣobeḥ.
The door has been open since morning.
Negating a result participle with verbal ما
❌ الفاتورة ما مدفوعة.
Incorrect in the Beirut baseline — a participial predicate takes مش.
✅ الفاتورة مش مدفوعة بعد.
el-fātūra mish madfūʿa baʿd.
The invoice hasn't been paid yet.
Key Takeaways
Everyday Lebanese distributes passive work across several constructions. Forms VII and selected Form VIII verbs profile affected or changing subjects; passive participles describe results; generic third-person plurals suppress human identity; impersonal clauses express rules, needs, and possibilities. تم + maṣdar belongs mainly to formal administrative style. Choose by discourse meaning, not by the presence of an English be + participle string.
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Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- Form VII nfaʿalB2 — Use Form VII for changes and passive-like events whose affected participant is the subject, without importing an English by-agent passive.
- Form VIII ftaʿalB2 — Recognize the mobile t of Form VIII, its sound assimilations, weak-root shapes, and lexical middle or reciprocal meanings in Lebanese.
- Middle and Anticausative StrategiesC1 — Distinguish Lebanese change-of-state events, passive-like middles, and result states across Forms V, VII, VIII, and participles.
- Change-of-State and Unaccusative PredicatesB2 — Use Lebanese arrival, appearance, disappearance, and change-of-state verbs with natural subject order, agreement, and result-state contrasts.
- Passive Participles of Derived FormsB1 — Recognize and use Lebanese passive participles from derived verbs, including hidden vowel contrasts, agreement, lexical gaps, and register differences.
- Active Participles for Current States and ResultsB2 — Use Lebanese participles such as واصل, قاعد, نايم, لابس, عارف, and ماسك to describe states that hold now.