A weak verb has و w or ي y as a root consonant in a position where Lebanese morphology may realize it as a glide, a long vowel, a short vowel, or nothing audible. That is why قال ʾāl “he said,” قلت ʾelt “I said,” and بيقول byiʾūl “he says” look less alike than forms of a strong verb.
“Weak” is a traditional morphological label, not a comment on frequency or usefulness. These include some of the most common verbs in the language. The solution is not to call them random: classify the weak position, then learn enough principal parts to expose the alternating stems.
Four useful classes
| Class | Weak radical | Verified Lebanese pair | Main visible effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| initial-weak | C₁ is w/y | وصل / بيوصل wiṣel / byūṣal | initial glide interacts with prefixes and vowels |
| hollow | C₂ is w/y | قال / بيقول ʾāl / byiʾūl | middle radical alternates with long and short vowels |
| final-weak | C₃ is w/y | حكى / بيحكي ḥaka / byiḥke | stem edge changes before endings and clitics |
| doubly weak | two radicals are w/y | طوى / بيطوي ṭawa / byiṭwe | two weak positions interact; learn verb by verb |
وصلت أختي قبلنا ونطرتنا عند الباب.
wiṣlet okhte ʾabelna w-naṭritna ʿind el-bēb.
My sister arrived before us and waited for us by the door. (informal; initial-weak وصل)
قال إنو رح يرجع بكرا.
ʾāl inno raḥ yirzhaʿ bokra.
He said he'll come back tomorrow. (informal; hollow قال)
حكيت معها عالتلفون مبارح.
ḥakēt maʿa ʿat-tilifōn mbēreḥ.
I spoke with her on the phone yesterday. (informal; final-weak حكى)
طويت التياب وحطيتن بالخزانة.
ṭawēt et-tyēb w-ḥaṭṭēton bil-khzēne.
I folded the clothes and put them in the wardrobe. (informal; doubly weak طوى)
The class tells you where alternation is likely. It does not predict the exact vowel or every surface form.
Focused paradigm: قال / بيقول
The root ق-و-ل is hollow: the middle و appears clearly in بيقول, while the perfect has a long vowel and suffixed perfect forms may have a short one. Urban Beirut ق is pronounced ʾ throughout.
| Part | Form | Reading | What it reveals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3ms perfect | قال | ʾāl | long-vowel citation stem |
| 3fs perfect | قالت | ʾālet | long vowel before a vowel-initial ending |
| 1sg perfect | قلت | ʾelt | short stem before a consonant cluster |
| 1pl perfect | قلنا | ʾelna | same short stem before -na |
| 3ms b-imperfect | بيقول | byiʾūl | w-root reflected in ū |
| 3ms bare imperfect | يقول | yiʾūl | after رح, modals, and bare-form licensors |
| 2ms imperative | قول | ʾūl | command stem |
قلتله الحقيقة، بس هو ما قال شي.
ʾeltello l-ḥaʾīʾa, bass huwwe ma ʾāl she.
I told him the truth, but he didn't say anything. (informal; short 1sg stem versus long 3ms stem)
بيقول هالقصة كل ما منشوفه.
byiʾūl hal-ʾeṣṣa kill ma mnshūfo.
He tells this story every time we see him. (informal; habitual b-imperfect)
قول شو صار بلا ما تزيد شي.
ʾūl shū ṣār bla ma tzīd she.
Say what happened without adding anything. (informal; imperative)
Initial-weak verbs: the glide may shift
In وصل / بيوصل “arrive,” the root begins with و. The perfect has wiṣel, while the b-imperfect has byūṣal. The written و remains, but its phonetic relationship with the surrounding vowels changes.
بيوصل عالشغل قبل الكل.
byūṣal ʿash-shoghol ʾabel el-kill.
He gets to work before everyone else. (informal; habitual initial-weak verb)
إذا ما في عجقة، رح نوصل عالسبعة.
iza ma fī ʿazhʾa, raḥ nōṣal ʿas-sabʿa.
If there isn't traffic, we'll arrive at seven. (informal; رح plus bare weak verb)
Not every initial و behaves identically, and a visible initial letter does not guarantee a predictable command. The dedicated initial-weak guide should be used for the class's full paradigms.
Hollow verbs: the long vowel is part of a stem alternation
Hollow verbs do not all choose the same vowels. Compare these high-frequency sets:
| Meaning | 3ms perfect | 1sg perfect | 3ms b-imperfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| say | قال ʾāl | قلت ʾelt | بيقول byiʾūl |
| see | شاف shāf | شفت shift | بيشوف byishūf |
| sleep | نام nēm | نمت nimt | بينام bynēm |
| sell | باع bēʿ | بعت biʿt | بيبيع byibīʿ |
شفت هاد المحل قبل، بس ما بعرف شو بيبيع.
shift hād el-maḥall ʾabel, bass ma baʿref shū byibīʿ.
I've seen this shop before, but I don't know what it sells. (informal; two hollow classes)
There is no honest shortcut from the internal ا of an unsuffixed perfect to the exact suffixed or nonpast vowel. Learn the set.
Final-weak verbs rebuild the stem edge
With حكى / بيحكي “speak, tell,” the unsuffixed perfect ends in ى, the nonpast in ي, and the first-person perfect in ـيت. An object suffix can reveal an extended ا stem: حكاها ḥakāha “he told it.”
| Part | Form | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| 3ms perfect | حكى | ḥaka |
| 3fs perfect | حكت | ḥakat |
| 1sg perfect | حكيت | ḥakēt |
| 3ms b-imperfect | بيحكي | byiḥke |
| 3ms + object | حكاها | ḥakāha |
| 2ms imperative | احكي | ḥke |
حكاها متل ما سمعها.
ḥakāha mitel ma simiʿha.
He told it the way he heard it. (informal; extended final-weak stem before object suffix)
احكي معي لما تفضى.
ḥke maʿe lamma tifḍa.
Talk to me when you're free. (informal; final-weak imperatives)
The spellings ى، ي، ا are not interchangeable decoration. They belong to particular morphological environments.
Doubly weak verbs deserve their own cards
A doubly weak root contains two و/ي radicals. طوى / بيطوي / طويت “fold” illustrates the resulting changes. The label predicts extra interaction, not a single paradigm shared by every doubly weak verb.
بيطوي القمصان قبل ما يحطن بالشنطة.
byiṭwe l-ʾomṣān ʾabel ma yḥoṭṭon bish-shanṭa.
He folds the shirts before putting them in the suitcase. (informal; doubly weak b-imperfect)
ما طويت هالقميص لأنه بعده رطب.
ma ṭawēt hal-ʾamīṣ laʾanno baʿdo raṭeb.
I didn't fold this shirt because it's still damp. (informal; negative suffixed perfect)
Some doubly weak verbs are formal or relatively rare; do not invent a “regular” spoken form from an MSA chart. Verify actual Lebanese principal parts and register.
Affirmative and negative minimal pairs
قال الحقيقة بالاجتماع.
ʾāl el-ḥaʾīʾa bil-izhtimēʿ.
He told the truth at the meeting. (affirmative hollow perfect)
ما قال الحقيقة بالاجتماع.
ma ʾāl el-ḥaʾīʾa bil-izhtimēʿ.
He didn't tell the truth at the meeting. (negative hollow perfect)
بيحكي معها كل يوم.
byiḥke maʿa kill yōm.
He talks with her every day. (affirmative final-weak habitual)
ما بيحكي معها كل يوم.
ma byiḥke maʿa kill yōm.
He doesn't talk with her every day. (negative final-weak habitual)
Dialogue: perfect, ability, and future
شو قالت نادين عن الموعد؟
shū ʾālet Nādīn ʿan el-mawʿed?
Maya: What did Nadine say about the appointment? (hollow 3fs perfect)
قالت ما فيها تجي اليوم، بس رح تجي بكرا.
ʾālet ma fīha tzhe l-yōm, bass raḥ tzhe bokra.
Rami: She said she can't come today, but she'll come tomorrow. (modal and future with bare weak verb)
منيح، قلها تحكيني بس توصل.
mnīḥ, ʾella tḥkīne bass tōṣal.
Maya: Good—tell her to call me when she arrives. (hollow imperative plus final- and initial-weak bare forms)
Common Mistakes
Keeping the hollow long vowel before every suffix
❌ نحنا قالنا إنو ما رح نجي.
Incorrect for ‘we said we wouldn't come’ — قالنا is not the first-person plural subject form; use قلنا.
✅ نحنا قلنا إنو ما رح نجي.
niḥna ʾelna inno ma raḥ nzhe.
We said we wouldn't come. (informal; short hollow stem before -na)
Guessing every hollow verb's vowels from قال
❌ بما إنو قال بيقول، باع لازم يكون بيبوع.
Incorrect — باع belongs to the pair باع / بيبيع, not an invented analogy with قال.
✅ بحفظ باع وبيبيع وبعت سوا.
baḥfaẓ bēʿ w-byibīʿ w-biʿt sawa.
I memorize bēʿ, byibīʿ, and biʿt together.
Treating ى as a freely replaceable final letter
❌ أنا حكيت، يعني هو حكي القصة.
Incorrect — the unsuffixed 3ms perfect is حكى with alif maqṣūra.
✅ هو حكى القصة وأنا حكيت معه.
huwwe ḥaka l-ʾeṣṣa w-ana ḥakēt maʿo.
He told the story, and I spoke with him.
Keeping b- after رح
❌ بكرا رح بيقولنا شو صار.
Incorrect — رح selects the bare weak verb يقول.
✅ بكرا رح يقولنا شو صار.
bokra raḥ yiʾūlna shū ṣār.
Tomorrow he'll tell us what happened.
Key Takeaways
Classify weak roots by the position of و/ي, but memorize verified principal parts. Initial-weak verbs reshape the onset, hollow verbs alternate long and short medial stems, final-weak verbs rebuild the stem edge, and doubly weak verbs combine two such pressures. Spelling is evidence—not an algorithm—and Lebanese aspect markers, bare-form licensing, urban pronunciation, and object suffixes all remain part of the real paradigm.
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Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- Learning a Verb through Principal PartsA2 — Learn the small set of forms that reveals a Lebanese verb's stems, irregularities, commands, and complement pattern.
- Initial-Weak VerbsB1 — Learn how an initial w or y behaves across Lebanese perfect, imperfect, command, participle, and maṣdar forms without importing an MSA deletion rule.
- 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.
- Doubly Weak and Highly Irregular VerbsC1 — Learn how Lebanese handles verbs with two weak radicals and why high-frequency irregular verbs must be stored as complete lexical paradigms.
- Weak Roots in Word FamiliesB2 — Trace initial, hollow, and final w/y radicals through their changing Lebanese family forms.