دخل dakhal is the everyday verb “enter, go in.” It is normally intransitive: the subject changes location or joins an activity. A familiar destination often follows directly—دخل المكتب “he entered the office”—while في introduces many figurative domains. To put, let, or bring someone or something in, Egyptian uses the separate Form II verb دخّل dakhkhal.
The root د-خ-ل is stable, but English does not tell you which Egyptian frame to choose. English enter a password, enter a room, enter into an argument, and let someone in divide among different constructions. This page gives the productive forms and the high-frequency lexical frames without pretending that one gloss predicts all of them.
Core Practical Paradigm
| Person | Perfect | Bare imperfect | b-imperfect | ḥa-future |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| أنا | دَخَلْتْ dakhalt | أَدْخُلْ ʾadkhol | بَدْخُلْ badkhol | حَدْخُلْ ḥadkhol |
| إنت | دَخَلْتْ dakhalt | تِدْخُلْ tidkhol | بِتِدْخُلْ bitidkhol | حَتِدْخُلْ ḥatidkhol |
| إنتي | دَخَلْتِي dakhalti | تِدْخُلِي tidkholi | بِتِدْخُلِي bitidkholi | حَتِدْخُلِي ḥatidkholi |
| هو | دَخَلْ dakhal | يِدْخُلْ yidkhol | بِيِدْخُلْ biyidkhol | حَيِدْخُلْ ḥayidkhol |
| هي | دَخَلِتْ dakhalit | تِدْخُلْ tidkhol | بِتِدْخُلْ bitidkhol | حَتِدْخُلْ ḥatidkhol |
| إحنا | دَخَلْنَا dakhalna | نِدْخُلْ nidkhol | بِنِدْخُلْ binidkhol | حَنِدْخُلْ ḥanidkhol |
| إنتوا | دَخَلْتُوا dakhaltu | تِدْخُلُوا tidkholu | بِتِدْخُلُوا bitidkholu | حَتِدْخُلُوا ḥatidkholu |
| هم | دَخَلُوا dakhalu | يِدْخُلُوا yidkholu | بِيِدْخُلُوا biyidkholu | حَيِدْخُلُوا ḥayidkholu |
The commands are ادخل idkhol, ادخلي idkholi, and ادخلوا idkholu. Negative commands are ماتدخلش، ماتدخليش، ماتدخلوش. The active participle agrees as داخل، داخلة، داخلين dākhil, dākhla, dākhlīn.
A Destination Can Follow Directly
With familiar bounded places, colloquial Egyptian commonly places the destination directly after دخل: دخل الأوضة، دخل المكتب، دخل المدرسة. This is not an English-style direct object; the verb remains intransitive and the phrase identifies the endpoint of motion. A route or access point can be added with من.
دخلنا المسرح قبل العرض بعشر دقايق.
dakhalna l-masraḥ ʾabl il-ʿarḍ bi-ʿashar daʾāyiʾ
We entered the theater ten minutes before the show.
التمريض دخل من الباب الجانبي عشان الزحمة.
it-tamrīḍ dakhal min il-bāb il-gānbi ʿashān iz-zaḥma
The nursing staff went in through the side door because of the crowd.
ادخل الأوضة واقفل الباب وراك.
idkhol il-ʾōḍa wi-ʾfil il-bāb warāk
Go into the room and close the door behind you.
Formal written Arabic often favors دخل إلى in contexts where conversational Cairo simply uses the place. دخل إلى المبنى is not inherently wrong; it is a (formal) register choice, not the neutral conversational model.
Bare, Habitual, and Future Entry
Bare يدخل follows modal, purpose, and prospective triggers. The b-imperfect presents a current or characteristic event. Joined حـ presents a future entry or participation.
محدش يدخل قبل ما المسؤول يفتح القاعة.
maḥaddish yidkhol ʾabl ma l-masʾūl yiftaḥ il-ʾāʿa
Nobody is to go in before the person in charge opens the hall.
الهوا بيدخل من الشباك حتى وهو مقفول.
il-hawa biyidkhol min ish-shubbāk ḥatta wi-huwwa maʾfūl
Air gets in through the window even when it's closed.
حندخل الامتحان أول ما المراقب ينادينا.
ḥanidkhol il-imtiḥān ʾawwil ma l-murāʾib yinādīna
We'll go into the exam as soon as the proctor calls us.
Figurative Frames with في
دخل في places the subject inside an activity, discussion, difficulty, or relationship rather than a physical room. Common frames include دخل في الموضوع “get into the subject,” دخل في نقاش “get into a discussion,” and دخل في مشكلة “get into trouble.” These are lexical choices; do not add or remove في merely by translating English word for word.
خلينا ندخل في الموضوع بدل ما نضيع وقت.
khallīna nidkhol fi l-mawḍūʿ badal ma niḍayyaʿ waʾt
Let's get to the point instead of wasting time.
دخلت في نقاش طويل مع خدمة العملاء.
dakhalt fi niʾāsh ṭawīl maʿ khidmit il-ʿomalaʾ
I got into a long discussion with customer service.
Other complements are learned with the expression. دخل الجامعة commonly means “enter university/enroll at university”; دخل المسابقة means “enter the competition.” دخل على can mean go in to see or interrupt someone, as in دخل على الدكتور. These are not interchangeable prepositions.
أخويا دخل الجامعة السنة دي واختار هندسة.
ʾakhūya dakhal il-gāmʿa s-sana di wikhtār handasa
My brother started university this year and chose engineering.
داخل: Entering, Going In, and Included
The participle داخل presents entry as an imminent or current state. With a place, it often means “going in/heading in”; it is not simply the static opposite of بره. In conventional frames, داخل في السعر means “included in the price.” Negate a participial clause with مش.
أنا داخل الاجتماع دلوقتي؛ هكلمك بعد ساعة.
ʾana dākhil il-igtimāʿ dilwaʾti; hakallimak baʿd sāʿa
I'm going into the meeting now; I'll call you in an hour.
التوصيل مش داخل في السعر المكتوب على الموقع.
it-tawṣīl mish dākhil fi s-siʿr il-maktūb ʿala l-mawʾiʿ
Delivery isn't included in the price shown on the website.
Intransitive دخل versus Transitive دخّل
Form I identifies what or who enters. Form II دخّل dakhkhal adds a causer: “put in, let in, bring in, enter data.” That transitive verb can take object clitics. Since ordinary unvocalized spelling does not show the shadda, the spoken form and sentence roles are essential. The broader causative pattern is introduced on the Form II overview.
الأمن دخلهم القاعة بعد ما شاف الدعوات.
il-ʾamn dakhkhalhom il-ʾāʿa baʿd ma shāf id-daʿawāt
Security let them into the hall after checking the invitations.
دخلت الرقم غلط فالنظام رفض الطلب.
dakhkhalt ir-raʾam ghalaṭ fa-n-niẓām rafaḍ iṭ-ṭalab
I entered the number incorrectly, so the system rejected the request.
The object suffix in دخلهم belongs to Form II. Form I does not acquire a direct object just because English uses transitive enter.
Negation and a Short Dialogue
Finite forms take ما...ش: مادخلتش، مابيدخلش. Future negation normally uses مش حـ. Participial داخل takes independent مش.
الرسالة مادخلتش على النظام، فبعتها تاني.
ir-risāla ma-dakhalitsh ʿala n-niẓām, fa-baʿatthā tāni
The message didn't go through into the system, so I sent it again.
ـ حتدخل معانا ولا حتستنى بره؟ ـ حدخل لما الاجتماع يبدأ.
— ḥatidkhol maʿāna walla ḥatistanna barra? — ḥadkhol lamma l-igtimāʿ yibdaʾ
‘Are you coming in with us, or will you wait outside?’ ‘I'll go in when the meeting starts.’
Register and Variation
The forms here are mainstream Cairene (informal/neutral). Formal MSA uses related دَخَلَ / يَدْخُلُ forms (formal), often with إلى, but its case endings and formal vocalism do not belong in an Egyptian paradigm. Regional Egyptian varieties may differ in prefix vowels or connected-speech realization; those differences should be recognized, not silently blended into the Cairo production target. Technical دخّل البيانات “enter the data” is normal modern usage, not evidence that every English enter uses Form II.
Common Mistakes
❌ هو يدخل المكتب كل يوم الساعة تسعة.
Incorrect for an ordinary recurring habit: the neutral Cairene b-imperfect is بيدخل.
✅ هو بيدخل المكتب قبل بقية الفريق بربع ساعة.
huwwa biyidkhol il-maktab ʾabl baʾiyyit il-farīʾ bi-robʿ sāʿa
He gets to the office fifteen minutes before the rest of the team.
❌ أنا دخلت الطفل الأوضة لوحدي.
Incorrect for the intended causative meaning: ungeminated دخلت means that I entered, not that I put the child in.
✅ أنا خليت الطفل يدخل الأوضة ويختار لعبته.
ʾana khallēt iṭ-ṭifl yidkhol il-ʾōḍa wi-yikhtār luʿbitu
I let the child go into the room and choose his toy.
❌ لازم بيدخل من الباب الخلفي.
Incorrect after لازم: use the bare imperfect without b-.
✅ لازم يدخل من الباب الخلفي عشان الأمامي مقفول.
lāzim yidkhol min il-bāb il-khalfi ʿashān il-ʾamāmi maʾfūl
He has to enter through the back door because the front one is locked.
❌ التوصيل ماداخلش في السعر.
Incorrect negation for a participial inclusion state: use independent مش, not a verbal envelope.
✅ التوصيل مش داخل في السعر، بس التركيب مجاني.
it-tawṣīl mish dākhil fi s-siʿr, bass it-tarkīb maggāni
Delivery isn't included in the price, but installation is free.
Key Takeaways
- Learn دخل dakhal / يدخل yidkhol / داخل dākhil as a lexical set.
- A physical destination often follows directly; في is common in figurative domains such as discussions and problems.
- Form I is intransitive. Causative and data-entry senses use Form II دخّل, which can take object clitics.
- Finite negation uses ما...ش, while participial داخل uses مش.
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- Egyptian Pattern I: The Lexical BaseB1 — Learn Pattern I as the lexically unpredictable base of the Egyptian verb system, with real perfect–imperfect pairs, argument frames, and aspect choices.
- Egyptian Pattern II فعّلB1 — Recognize Pattern II by its doubled middle consonant and learn its attested Egyptian meanings, stems, complement frames, and aspect forms.
- في — in, at, and withinA1 — Use Cairene في for location, containment, time, and lexical frames, with its complete attached-pronoun paradigm.
- من — from, of, and thanA1 — Use Cairene من for sources, separation, partitives, comparisons, and the lexical frames that English expresses with several different prepositions.
- خرج kharag — go outA2 — Conjugate خرج for leaving and emerging, use its source frames, and distinguish causative خرّج.