بطّل / بيبطّل baṭṭal / biyibaṭṭal is the everyday Cairene verb for “stop doing” or “quit.” It is especially common with habits and repeated behavior: بطّل سجاير “quit cigarettes,” بطّل يتأخر “stop being late,” and the command بطّل! “Stop it!” It can also take a direct object meaning “stop or discontinue it.”
The verb is Pattern II from ب-ط-ل. Its doubled طّ belongs to the stem, even though ordinary unvocalized writing usually shows only بطل. Pattern II identifies the morphology; it does not predict which English uses of stop belong to this verb. In particular, physical motion often uses وقف “stop/come to a stop,” while بطّل typically ends an activity, habit, or functioning.
Complete practical paradigm
The perfect stem is baṭṭal-, and the imperfect stem is -baṭṭal- after its person prefix. The bare imperfect appears after words such as لازم، عايز، ممكن and as a selected complement. The b-imperfect presents an ongoing or habitual situation; joined حـ places it in the future.
| Person | Perfect | Bare imperfect | b-imperfect | ḥa-future |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| أنا | بَطَّلْتْ baṭṭalt | أَبَطَّلْ abaṭṭal | بَبَطَّلْ babaṭṭal | حَبَطَّلْ ḥabaṭṭal |
| إنت | بَطَّلْتْ baṭṭalt | تِبَطَّلْ tibaṭṭal | بِتِبَطَّلْ bitibaṭṭal | حَتِبَطَّلْ ḥatibaṭṭal |
| إنتي | بَطَّلْتِي baṭṭalti | تِبَطَّلِي tibaṭṭali | بِتِبَطَّلِي bitibaṭṭali | حَتِبَطَّلِي ḥatibaṭṭali |
| هو | بَطَّلْ baṭṭal | يِبَطَّلْ yibaṭṭal | بِيِبَطَّلْ biyibaṭṭal | حَيِبَطَّلْ ḥayibaṭṭal |
| هي | بَطَّلِتْ baṭṭalit | تِبَطَّلْ tibaṭṭal | بِتِبَطَّلْ bitibaṭṭal | حَتِبَطَّلْ ḥatibaṭṭal |
| إحنا | بَطَّلْنَا baṭṭalna | نِبَطَّلْ nibaṭṭal | بِنِبَطَّلْ binibaṭṭal | حَنِبَطَّلْ ḥanibaṭṭal |
| إنتوا | بَطَّلْتُوا baṭṭaltu | تِبَطَّلُوا tibaṭṭalu | بِتِبَطَّلُوا bitibaṭṭalu | حَتِبَطَّلُوا ḥatibaṭṭalu |
| هم | بَطَّلُوا baṭṭalu | يِبَطَّلُوا yibaṭṭalu | بِيِبَطَّلُوا biyibaṭṭalu | حَيِبَطَّلُوا ḥayibaṭṭalu |
بطلت سجاير من سنتين، ونفسي بقى أحسن بكتير.
baṭṭalt sagāyir min sanatēn, wi-nafasi biʾa aḥsan biktīr.
I quit smoking two years ago, and my breathing has become much better.
هو بيبطل القهوة كام يوم وبعدين يرجع يشربها.
huwwa biyibaṭṭal il-ʾahwa kām yōm wi-baʿdēn yirgaʿ yishrabha.
He gives up coffee for a few days and then starts drinking it again.
حنبطل الشغل بدري النهارده عشان عندنا معاد.
ḥanibaṭṭal ish-shoghl badri n-nahārda ʿashān ʿandina miʿād.
We'll stop work early today because we have an appointment.
Three common complement frames
1. بطّل + noun
A noun can name the habit or activity being abandoned. Everyday collocations include بطّل سجاير “quit smoking,” بطّل سهر “stop staying up late,” and بطّل شغل “stop working.” Arabic does not need an English-style gerund after the verb.
الدكتور قال له يبطل سهر أسبوعين على الأقل.
id-doktōr ʾāl lo yibaṭṭal sahar usbūʿēn ʿala l-aʾall.
The doctor told him to stop staying up late for at least two weeks.
2. بطّل + bare imperfect
When both verbs have the same understood subject, the second verb is normally bare: بطّل يتكلم “he stopped talking,” not بطّل بيتكلم. بطّل carries tense and viewpoint; the lower verb names the activity that ends.
أول ما المدير دخل، بطلوا يهزروا وركزوا في الاجتماع.
awwil ma l-modīr dakhal, baṭṭalu yihzaru wi-rakkazu fil-igtimāʿ.
As soon as the manager came in, they stopped joking and focused on the meeting.
نفسي أبطل أبص في الموبايل قبل ما أنام.
nafsi abaṭṭal aboṣṣ fil-mobāyl ʾabl ma anām.
I want to stop looking at my phone before I sleep.
3. بطّل + direct object or object suffix
A definite activity, plan, service, or habit can be a direct object. An attached object suffix replaces that object: بطّلها “quit/stop it.F,” بطّلهم “stop them.” Context supplies the exact sense.
اللعبة دي ضيعت وقتي، فبطلتها خالص.
il-loʿba di ḍayyaʿit waʾti, fa-baṭṭaltha khāliṣ.
That game was wasting my time, so I quit it completely.
In negation, the object suffix stays inside the envelope ما...ش: مابطلتهاش “I didn't quit it.” The order is verb + object suffix + ـش, all one written word.
مابطلتهاش مرة واحدة؛ قللتها بالتدريج.
ma-baṭṭalthāsh marra waḥda; ʾallaltha bit-tadrīg.
I didn't quit it all at once; I reduced it gradually.
Commands: a high-frequency use
The commands are بطّل، بطّلي، بطّلوا. Negative commands use the imperfect inside ما...ش: ماتبطّلش، ماتبطّليش، ماتبطّلوش. A positive command tells somebody to cease what is already happening; its tone ranges from friendly teasing to a sharp rebuke.
بطل هزار بقى ووريني الرسالة.
baṭṭal hazār baʾa wi-warrīni r-risāla.
Stop joking now and show me the message. (to one man)
بطلي تقاطعيه وخليه يكمل كلامه.
baṭṭali tiʾāṭʿīh wi-khallīh yikammil kalāmo.
Stop interrupting him and let him finish speaking. (to one woman)
ماتبطلوش التمرين عشان أول أسبوع كان صعب.
ma-tibaṭṭalūsh it-tamrīn ʿashān awwil usbūʿ kān ṣaʿb.
Don't quit the training just because the first week was hard. (to a group)
Result predicate and related nouns
Colloquial مبطّل is especially common as a result predicate meaning “having quit, currently abstaining.” It often appears with بقالـ to measure how long the state has held. Ordinary spelling does not reveal every participial vowel, so learn this construction as a frequent lexical unit rather than manufacturing every theoretically possible participle.
أنا مبطل سجاير بقالي ست شهور، ومش ناوي أرجع.
ana mobaṭṭal sagāyir baʾāli sitt shohūr, wi-mish nāwi argaʿ.
I've been off cigarettes for six months, and I don't intend to go back.
The verbal noun تبطيل tabṭīl occurs in administrative or technical talk for “stoppage, suspension” (formal/technical). Everyday speakers usually prefer a finite verb. Also keep بطّال baṭṭāl “unemployed/not working” and بطل baṭal “hero” separate; they belong to the same historical root family but are not productive forms meaning “one who stops.”
Short dialogue
أ: إنت بجد حتبطل مشروبات الطاقة؟
A: inta bigadd ḥatibaṭṭal mashrūbāt iṭ-ṭāʾa?
A: Are you really going to quit energy drinks?
ب: آه، بطلتها من امبارح، بس الصداع مضايقني.
B: āh, baṭṭaltha min imbāriḥ, bass iṣ-ṣodāʿ moḍāyiʾni.
B: Yes. I quit them yesterday, but the headache is bothering me.
Register and variation
بطّل is mainstream Egyptian (informal/neutral) and widely understood beyond Cairo. Vowel details and preferred synonyms vary across Alexandria, the Delta, Upper Egypt, Bedouin-associated communities, age groups, and speaker networks (regional/social); those differences do not change the Cairo production baseline here. توقّف عن “cease” and أبطل “invalidate/abolish” occur in formal or MSA-influenced language (formal) and are not automatic casual substitutes. Repeated بطّل! is common in comedy and dramatic dialogue (performance language), where intonation may make it playful, irritated, or threatening.
Common Mistakes
1. Copying English stop without choosing the event type
❌ العربية بطلت عند الإشارة.
Wrong for the intended neutral meaning ‘the car came to a stop’; this wording tends to suggest it stopped functioning.
✅ العربية وقفت عند الإشارة ونزل منها راجل.
il-ʿarabiyya wiʾfit ʿand il-ishāra wi-nizil minha rāgil.
The car stopped at the light, and a man got out of it.
2. Adding b- to the selected lower verb
❌ بطلت بشرب قهوة بالليل.
Incorrect in the compact ‘stopped doing’ chain—the lower activity should be bare.
✅ بطلت أشرب قهوة بالليل عشان أنام أحسن.
baṭṭalt ashrab ʾahwa bil-lēl ʿashān anām aḥsan.
I stopped drinking coffee at night so I could sleep better.
3. Pulling the suffix outside the negative word
❌ مابطلتش ها لما الشغل زاد.
Incorrect—the feminine object suffix belongs before final ـش in one orthographic word.
✅ مابطلتهاش لما الشغل زاد، بس قللتها.
ma-baṭṭalthāsh lamma sh-shoghl zād, bass ʾallaltha.
I didn't quit it when work increased, but I cut down on it.
4. Substituting a formal citation verb in casual conversation
أنا سأتوقف عن السهر.
ana saʾatawaʾʾaf ʿan is-sahar.
I will stop staying up late. (formal/MSA; a register mismatch in an ordinary Cairene conversation)
✅ أنا حابطل سهر من النهارده.
ana ḥabaṭṭal sahar min in-nahārda.
I'm going to stop staying up late starting today.
Key Takeaways
- Preserve the doubled ṭṭ in baṭṭal / yibaṭṭal.
- Use a noun or bare imperfect to name the activity being abandoned.
- Keep an attached object before negative ـش: مابطلتهاش.
- Separate stopping an activity (بطّل) from stopping motion (وقف) and reaching an endpoint (خلص).
- Treat formal توقّف عن and أبطل as register-specific alternatives, not as the casual default.
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