Lebanese object pronouns attach directly to the verb: شافني “he saw me,” حكاها “he told it,” عطوني “they gave me.” With a weak verb, the clitic attaches to the stem already selected by subject, aspect, and person. It may expose a glide, lengthen a final vowel, or require a linking vowel.
English keeps me, him, her, and it separate, so it gives no warning that the host will change. Build the word in this order: lexical stem + subject agreement + object/recipient clitic. The general inventory is on Object Suffixes; this page focuses on what weak hosts do at the attachment boundary.
Focused map: the حكى family with suffixes
The final-weak verb حكى / بيحكي “speak, tell” uses several surface edges. Direct ـها after the 3ms perfect produces حكاها, while the nonpast and command preserve written ي. A recipient introduced by historical لـ contains an l before its pronoun.
| Environment | Form | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3ms perfect + 3fs object | حكاها | ḥakāha | he told it |
| 1sg perfect + to her | حكيتلها | ḥakētella | I told/spoke to her |
| 3ms b-imperfect + to her | بيحكيلها | byiḥkīla | he tells/speaks to her |
| 2ms imperative + to me | احكيلي | iḥkīle | tell me |
| 3pl perfect + to me | حكيولي | ḥikyūle | they told me |
حكالها القصة عالطريق وما ترك شي للسهرة.
ḥakāla l-ʾeṣṣa ʿaṭ-ṭarīʾ w-ma tarak she lis-sahra.
He told her the story on the way and left nothing for the evening gathering. (informal; final-weak perfect plus recipient sequence)
بيحكيلها عن شغله كل ما يشوفها.
byiḥkīla ʿan shoghlo kill ma yshūfa.
He tells her about his work every time he sees her. (informal; final-weak nonpast plus recipient clitic)
احكيلي شو صار من الأول.
iḥkīle shū ṣār min el-awwal.
Tell me what happened from the beginning. (informal; final-weak command plus recipient clitic)
Hollow verbs: subject endings choose long or short stems
A clitic does not override the hollow alternation already triggered by subject agreement. Compare 3ms شافه shāfo “he saw him” with 1sg شفته shifto “I saw him.” The first has the long unsuffixed perfect stem; the second has the short stem before first-person ـت.
| Subject + object | Form | Reading | Build |
|---|---|---|---|
| he + me | شافني | shāfne | long 3ms stem + -ne |
| he + her | شافها | shāfa | long 3ms stem + -ha |
| I + him | شفته | shifto | short stem + -t + -o |
| we + her | شفناها | shifnāha | short stem + -na + -ha |
| he sees + her | بيشوفها | byishūfa | nonpast long vowel + -ha |
شافني بالمكتبة وبعتلي رسالة بالليل.
shāfne bil-maktabe w-baʿatle risēle bil-lēl.
He saw me at the library and sent me a message that evening. (informal; hollow 3ms host plus object)
شفته حد القهوة بس ما حكيت معه.
shifto ḥadd el-ʾahwe bass ma ḥakēt maʿo.
I saw him next to the café, but I didn't speak with him. (informal; short hollow 1sg host plus object)
بيشوفها كل خميس بعد الشغل.
byishūfa kill khmīs baʿd esh-shoghol.
He sees her every Thursday after work. (informal; b-imperfect plus object clitic)
The attachment order matters. شفته is not “شاف + arbitrary shortening”; it is shif- + -t (subject) + -o (object).
Final-weak hosts restore or lengthen the edge
Final-weak verbs often show ى only in the unsuffixed perfect citation form. Before a clitic, the host may use written ا and a long vowel, preserve ي, or lengthen plural -o.
| Unsuffixed | With clitic | Reading | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| حكى ḥaka | حكاها ḥakāha | he told it | ى → ا before -ها |
| بيحكي byiḥke | بيحكيله byiḥkīlo | he tells him | final y hosts a long vowel |
| أعطى aʿṭa | عطاني ʿaṭāne | he gave me | extended ā before -ني |
| بيعطي byiʿṭe | بيعطيني byiʿṭīne | he gives me | final y lengthens before -ني |
| عطوا ʿaṭo | عطوني ʿaṭūne | they gave me | plural -o lengthens; silent alif drops in spelling |
عطاني رقم المحامي لحتى اتصل فيه.
ʿaṭāne raʾam el-muḥāme la-ḥatta ttaṣel fīh.
He gave me the lawyer's number so I could call him. (neutral; final-weak perfect plus -ne)
بيعطيني خبر قبل ما يغير الموعد.
byiʿṭīne khabar ʾabel ma yghayyer el-mawʿed.
He lets me know before changing the appointment. (neutral; final-weak b-imperfect plus -ne)
عطوني طاولة حد الشباك من دون ما اطلب.
ʿaṭūne ṭāwle ḥadd esh-shobbēk min dūn ma oṭlob.
They gave me a table by the window without my asking. (informal; plural subject plus object clitic)
These alternations are morphophonology, not optional emphasis. The long vowel helps make the clitic boundary pronounceable while keeping subject and object recoverable.
Epenthesis keeps clusters pronounceable
Consonant-final hosts may insert a short linking vowel before a clitic or a cliticized preposition. قلتله is commonly ʾeltello, and حكيتلها ḥakētella. The exact quality can vary by speaker and neighboring consonants; this guide keeps the Beirut-oriented form used across the course.
قلتلكن نلتقي عند المدخل الرئيسي.
ʾeltelkon niltiʾe ʿind el-madkhal er-raʾīse.
I told you all to meet at the main entrance. (neutral; hollow short stem, subject -t, linking vowel, recipient sequence)
حكيتلها عن المشكلة قبل الاجتماع.
ḥakētella ʿan el-mishkle ʾabel el-izhtimēʿ.
I told her about the problem before the meeting. (neutral; final-weak 1sg plus recipient)
Commands are their own weak hosts
Imperative clitics attach to the verified command, not to the perfect citation form. Hollow جيب keeps its long vowel in جيبلي; final-weak احكي lengthens before ـلي; frequent قول + لي contracts lexically to قلي ʾelle.
جيبلي الفاتورة لما تجي.
zhīble l-fātūra lamma tzhe.
Bring me the bill when you come. (informal; hollow command plus recipient clitic)
قلي أي لون اخترت.
ʾelle ayy lōn ikhtaret.
Tell me which color you chose. (informal; contracted high-frequency command plus -le)
عطيني خمس دقايق وبرجعلك.
ʿṭīne khames dʾāyeʾ w-barzhaʿlak.
Give me five minutes and I'll get back to you. (informal; final-weak command plus -ne)
The command page gives the full gender/number system; the point here is that clitic attachment can reveal a longer host than the short unsuffixed command.
Two objects: keep one clitic and express the other clearly
With “give” and “show,” a person object can attach while a noun expresses the theme: عطاني المفتاح “he gave me the key,” فرجاني الصورة “he showed me the photo.” If both participants are pronominal, Beirut speech commonly keeps the person on the verb and uses an independent ياه/ياها form for the theme.
فرجاني الصور وحدة وحدة.
farzhāne ṣ-ṣowar waḥde waḥde.
He showed me the photos one by one. (informal; recipient clitic plus noun theme)
طلبت الكتاب، وعطاني ياه تاني نهار.
ṭalabet el-ktēb, w-ʿaṭāne yēh tēne nahār.
I asked for the book, and he gave it to me the next day. (informal; recipient clitic plus independent masculine theme pronoun)
فرجاني ياها عالتلفون وما بعتها.
farzhāne yēha ʿat-tilifōn w-ma baʿata.
He showed it to me on the phone but didn't send it. (informal; recipient clitic plus independent feminine theme pronoun)
This avoids importing a dense formal stacked-pronoun word or an English sequence of two free object pronouns. See Two Objects for discourse alternatives.
Affirmative and negative minimal pairs
حكيولي بالقرار بعد الاجتماع.
ḥikyūle bil-ʾarār baʿd el-izhtimēʿ.
They told me about the decision after the meeting. (affirmative plural weak host plus clitic)
ما حكيولي بالقرار بعد الاجتماع.
ma ḥikyūle bil-ʾarār baʿd el-izhtimēʿ.
They didn't tell me about the decision after the meeting. (negative; clitic allomorph unchanged)
بيعطيني نسخة كل شهر.
byiʿṭīne noskha kill shaher.
He gives me a copy every month. (affirmative habitual)
ما بيعطيني نسخة كل شهر.
ma byiʿṭīne noskha kill shaher.
He doesn't give me a copy every month. (negative habitual)
Dialogue: a key and two recipients
شفت المفتاح يلي عطيتك ياه؟
shift el-miftēḥ yalle ʿaṭētak yēh?
Maya: Did you see the key I gave you? (hollow perfect; final-weak perfect plus recipient and independent theme pronoun)
إيه، شفته وحطيته حد الباب.
ē, shifto w-ḥaṭṭēto ḥadd el-bēb.
Karim: Yes, I saw it and put it by the door. (two suffixed perfect verbs)
منيح، جيبلي ياه قبل ما تطلع.
mnīḥ, zhīble yēh ʾabel ma tiṭlaʿ.
Maya: Good—bring it to me before you leave. (hollow imperative plus recipient; independent theme)
Common Mistakes
Attaching the object to the wrong hollow stem
❌ أنا شافته بالمكتبة.
Incorrect for ‘I saw him’ — شافته has a third-person feminine subject reading; first person needs short شفـ plus -ت.
✅ أنا شفته بالمكتبة الصبح.
ana shifto bil-maktabe ṣ-ṣobeḥ.
I saw him at the library this morning.
Keeping ى before a clitic
❌ حكىها قبل ما نوصل.
Incorrect spelling and stem shape — final ى becomes the extended ا host before ـها.
✅ حكاها قبل ما نوصل عالبيت.
ḥakāha ʾabel ma nōṣal ʿal-bēt.
He told it before we got home.
Retaining the silent plural alif before a clitic
❌ عطواوني رقم الغرفة.
Incorrect — before ـني, plural -o lengthens and the standalone silent alif is dropped.
✅ عطوني رقم الغرفة عالاستقبال.
ʿaṭūne raʾam el-ghorfe ʿal-istiʾbāl.
They gave me the room number at reception.
Separating the clitic like an English pronoun
❌ احكي لي شو صار.
Incorrect house spelling for the ordinary cliticized expression — attach ـلي to the weak command.
✅ احكيلي شو صار بالاجتماع.
iḥkīle shū ṣār bil-izhtimēʿ.
Tell me what happened at the meeting.
Using a formal-style double suffix in the Beirut baseline
❌ عطانيه بعد الاجتماع.
Not the course's ordinary Beirut two-pronoun strategy — keep the recipient clitic and express the theme with ياه.
✅ عطاني ياه بعد الاجتماع.
ʿaṭāne yēh baʿd el-izhtimēʿ.
He gave it to me after the meeting.
Key Takeaways
Attach a clitic only after selecting the correct weak host and subject ending. Hollow stems stay long or short according to their paradigm; final-weak hosts may restore ا, retain ي, or lengthen plural -o; consonant clusters may take a linking vowel; and imperatives have their own suffixed stems. When two objects are both pronouns, everyday Beirut commonly keeps one clitic on the verb and uses ياه/ياها for the other.
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Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- Direct-Object Suffixes on VerbsB1 — Attach Beirut direct-object pronouns to perfect and imperfect verbs, including weak, geminate, and vowel-final hosts and topical doubling.
- Two Objects and Clitic OrderingB2 — Package a theme and recipient in urban Lebanese with full noun phrases, one verb-bound clitic, or a recipient clitic followed by the independent object carrier ya-.
- Weak Verbs: An OverviewB1 — Recognize initial, hollow, final, and doubly weak Lebanese verbs and learn them reliably through principal parts rather than spelling guesses.
- Hollow VerbsB1 — Understand why Lebanese hollow verbs alternate between long-vowel and short-vowel stems across the perfect, imperfect, and imperative.
- Final-Weak VerbsB1 — Recognize how Lebanese vowel-final verbs rebuild their stems before person endings, clitics, and imperfect markers.
- Imperatives of Weak VerbsB1 — Form and use Lebanese commands whose weak or irregular stems shorten, restore a radical, or change before agreement and clitics.