First-Person Exhortations with لِـ and هيا | Arabic (Modern Standard) Grammar

Arabic has no first-person imperative equivalent to second-person اكتبْ “write!” To propose an action that includes the speaker, formal MSA commonly uses لام الأمر plus a first-person plural jussive: لنكتبْ “let us write.” It also uses هيا بنا “come on, let us go” and هيا with a following action.

These expressions overlap, but they are not mechanically interchangeable. لنكتبْ carries explicit verbal mood and suits deliberation or a formal proposal; هيا بنا is an invitation to move or begin together; هيا adds energy and immediacy. English “let’s” hides those differences. For the corresponding instruction not to act, see prohibitive لا with the jussive.

لام الأمر + نحن: the formal grammatical pattern

لام الأمر is a command particle attached directly to an imperfect verb. With first-person plural نـ, it creates لِنفعلْ “let us do.” The lām has no lexical root or verb Form. It governs the jussive:

Verified verb	Indicative “we...”	Exhortation “let us...”	Jussive sign
كَتَبَ / يَكْتُبُ, root ك-ت-ب	نَكْتُبُ	لِنَكْتُبْ	sukūn
بَدَأَ / يَبْدَأُ, root ب-د-أ	نَبْدَأُ	لِنَبْدَأْ	sukūn after hamza
مَضَى / يَمْضِي, root م-ض-ي	نَمْضِي	لِنَمْضِ	final yāʾ deleted
أَعَدَّ / يُعِدُّ, Form IV, root ع-د-د	نُعِدُّ	لِنُعِدَّ	contracted geminate

لنبدأ الاجتماع بمراجعة القرارات السابقة

linabdaʾi l-ijtimāʿa bimurājaʿati l-qarārāti s-sābiqa

Let us begin the meeting by reviewing the previous decisions. (Formal or neutral proposal.)

لنكتب النقاط المتفق عليها قبل أن نغادر

linaktubi n-niqāṭa l-muttafaqa ʿalayhā qabla ʾan nughādir

Let us write down the agreed points before we leave.

لنمض في هذا الطريق حتى نصل إلى المحطة

linamḍi fī hādhā ṭ-ṭarīqi ḥattā naṣila ʾilā l-maḥaṭṭa

Let us continue along this road until we reach the station.

لنعد خطة بديلة قبل وصول الفريق

linuʿidda khuṭṭatan badīlatan qabla wuṣūli l-farīq

Let us prepare an alternative plan before the team arrives.

The exhortation includes the speaker, so it always uses first-person plural morphology. Arabic does not distinguish an all-female “we” from a masculine or mixed “we” in the verb. The people invited can still be named: لنبدأ يا مريم ويا خالد.

This construction is (formal and neutral). It is common in meetings, presentations, essays that guide the reader, and careful spoken MSA. In academic prose, لننظرْ في... “let us consider...” directs the reader through an argument (academic).

لننظر في النتائج أولا، ثم نقارنها بالتوقعات

linanẓur fī n-natāʾiji ʾawwalan, thumma nuqārinuhā bi-t-tawaqquʿāt

Let us consider the results first, then compare them with the predictions. (Academic presentation.)

💡

To form a true grammatical “let us,” attach لِـ to the first-person plural imperfect and make it jussive: نكتبُ → لنكتبْ. Do not derive it from a second-person imperative.

Do not confuse لِنكتبْ with لَنْ نكتبَ

Without vowels, لنكتب can represent two completely different structures:

Structure	Vocalization	Meaning
command lām + one word	لِنَكْتُبْ	let us write
future negator + separate verb	لَنْ نَكْتُبَ	we will not write

The spelling reveals the syntax when spacing is observed: command لـ attaches, whereas negator لن is a separate word. The mood differs too: command lām governs the jussive نكتبْ; لن governs the subjunctive نكتبَ.

لنؤجل القرار حتى نتلقى رأي الفريق القانوني

linuʾajjili l-qarāra ḥattā natalaqqā raʾya l-farīqi l-qānūniyy

Let us postpone the decision until we receive the legal team’s opinion.

لن نؤجل القرار بعد اليوم

lan nuʾajjila l-qarāra baʿda l-yawm

We will not postpone the decision after today.

This contrast is particularly important in unvocalized news and administrative prose. Read the word boundary before guessing from context.

هيا بنا: an inclusive invitation

هيا is an exhortative expression, traditionally treated as an imperative-like particle or اسم فعل. بنا is the preposition بـ plus first-person plural ـنا. Together هيا بنا invites the group to move, leave, or undertake something together. It does not carry person, gender, or number endings of its own.

For literal movement, add إلى plus a destination:

هيا بنا إلى المكتبة قبل أن تغلق

hayyā binā ʾilā l-maktabati qabla ʾan tughliq

Let’s go to the library before it closes.

هيا بنا إلى القاعة، فالمحاضرة ستبدأ بعد دقائق

hayyā binā ʾilā l-qāʿati, fal-muḥāḍaratu satabdaʾu baʿda daqāʾiq

Let’s go to the hall; the lecture will begin in a few minutes.

For a shared activity, هيا بنا may be followed by a jussive imperfect understood as the response to the exhortation: هيا بنا نبدأْ “come on, let us begin.” هيا is not itself a prefix attached to the verb; the jussive relation comes from the request-like force of the whole expression.

هيا بنا نراجع جدول الأعمال قبل دخول المدير

hayyā binā nurājiʿ jadwala l-ʾaʿmāli qabla dukhūli l-mudīr

Come on, let’s review the agenda before the director comes in.

This is energetic but still acceptable in spoken MSA (neutral spoken). In very formal writing, لنراجعْ is usually cleaner. Regional spoken varieties have many local equivalents (regional); they should not be mixed into an MSA paradigm.

هيا + an action

Short هيا can urge the group onward: هيا نبدأْ “come on, let’s begin.” It can also address other people with an ordinary second-person command: هيا ابدؤوا “come on, begin!” The second pattern excludes the speaker from the command grammatically, even if the speaker may participate in the larger activity.

هيا نبدأ من النقطة التي توقفنا عندها أمس

hayyā nabdaʾ mina n-nuqṭati llatī tawaqqafnā ʿindahā ʾams

Come on, let’s start from the point where we stopped yesterday. (Spoken MSA.)

هيا ابدؤوا التدريب، وسأنضم إليكم بعد قليل

hayyā bdaʾū t-tadrība, wasaʾanḍammu ʾilaykum baʿda qalīl

Come on, start the training; I’ll join you shortly. (Addressing a masculine or mixed group.)

Because the speaker explicitly says “I’ll join you,” the second example is not an inclusive “let us.” This is a semantic difference, not merely a stylistic one.

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Use هيا بنا إلى + place for a clear invitation to go somewhere. Use لنـ + jussive when the important content is a proposal about what the group should do.

لنـ can sound decisive: “let us now do X.” A question makes a suggestion more tentative: هل نبدأ؟ “Shall we start?” The imperfect is indicative because هل does not govern mood. ما رأيكم أن نبدأ؟ “What do you think about our starting?” is more consultative and uses أنْ + subjunctive.

هل نبدأ الآن أم ننتظر بقية المشاركين؟

hal nabdaʾu l-ʾāna ʾam nantaẓiru baqiyyata l-mushārikīn?

Shall we begin now, or wait for the remaining participants? (Consultative.)

ما رأيكم أن نعيد مناقشة البند الأخير؟

mā raʾyukum ʾan nuʿīda munāqashata l-bandi l-ʾakhīr?

What do you think about discussing the last item again? (Polite group proposal.)

The second proposal addresses a plural group through رأيكم, but the proposed action remains first-person plural because it includes the speaker. English speakers sometimes switch Arabic into second person after “what do you think”; that changes who will act.

Common Mistakes

Using a second-person imperative for inclusive “let us”

❌ اكتبوا الملخص الآن

Incorrect if the intended meaning is ‘let us write’ — this commands a masculine or mixed group and does not grammatically include the speaker.

✅ لنكتب الملخص الآن قبل انتهاء الجلسة

linaktubi l-mulakhkhaṣa l-ʾāna qabla ntihāʾi l-jalsa

Let us write the summary now before the session ends.

Reading command لِـ as future negation لن

❌ لنراجع التقرير

lan nurājiʿa t-taqrīr

Incorrect reading for an exhortation — attached لِـ gives linurājiʿ ‘let us review,’ not lan nurājiʿa ‘we will not review.’

✅ لنراجع التقرير قبل إرساله

linurājiʿi t-taqrīra qabla ʾirsālih

Let us review the report before sending it.

Keeping an indicative ending after command lām

❌ لنمضي في الخطة الحالية

Incorrect if pronounced namḍī — command lām governs the jussive and final-weak يمضي loses yāʾ: لنمضِ.

✅ لنمض في الخطة الحالية ما لم تظهر مشكلة جديدة

linamḍi fī l-khuṭṭati l-ḥāliyyati mā lam taẓhar mushkilatun jadīda

Let us proceed with the current plan unless a new problem appears.

Treating هيا as a conjugated verb

❌ هيوا بنا إلى القاعة

Incorrect — هيا does not take a masculine-plural verb ending; هيا بنا is fixed.

✅ هيا بنا إلى القاعة يا زملاء

hayyā binā ʾilā l-qāʿati yā zumalāʾ

Let’s go to the hall, colleagues.

Losing first-person plural in a consultative proposal

❌ ما رأيكم أن تعيدوا مناقشة البند معنا؟

Incorrect if the speaker means ‘that we discuss again’ — تعيدوا makes the addressees, not an inclusive ‘we,’ the grammatical actors.

✅ ما رأيكم أن نعيد مناقشة البند معا؟

mā raʾyukum ʾan nuʿīda munāqashata l-bandi maʿan?

What do you think about discussing the item again together?

Key Takeaways

Formal لِنفعلْ is command lām attached to a first-person plural jussive.
Attached لِنكتبْ “let us write” differs from separate لَنْ نكتبَ “we will not write.”
هيا بنا is a fixed inclusive invitation, especially natural with إلى + destination.
هيا adds urgency or encouragement; it does not itself conjugate.
Use هل نفعل؟ or ما رأيكم أن نفعل؟ when the group should genuinely be consulted.

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