درس / بيدرس daras / biyidris is the mainstream Cairene verb for studying an academic subject, following a course, or examining a matter carefully. It is a strong Form I verb from the root د-ر-س, but its imperfect vowel is lexical: the reliable pair is daras / yidris, not a form guessed from the English word study.
English study covers several events that Cairene usually separates. درس names a field, course, or object of systematic examination; ذاكر names revision and homework activity; اتعلم names acquiring knowledge or a skill. Choosing among them depends on the kind of event, not simply on tense.
Complete practical paradigm
The perfect stem is daras-. The imperfect stem is -dris-, with the normal Egyptian person prefixes. Bare imperfect forms occur after modals and control expressions; بـ forms ordinary independent ongoing or habitual clauses; joined حـ presents a projected event.
| Person | Perfect | Bare imperfect | b-imperfect | ḥa-future |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| أنا | دَرَسْتْ darast | أَدْرِسْ ʾadris | بَدْرِسْ badris | حَدْرِسْ ḥa-dris |
| إنت | دَرَسْتْ darast | تِدْرِسْ tidris | بِتِدْرِسْ bitidris | حَتِدْرِسْ ḥa-tidris |
| إنتي | دَرَسْتِي darasti | تِدْرِسِي tidrisi | بِتِدْرِسِي bitidrisi | حَتِدْرِسِي ḥa-tidrisi |
| هو | دَرَسْ daras | يِدْرِسْ yidris | بِيِدْرِسْ biyidris | حَيِدْرِسْ ḥa-yidris |
| هي | دَرَسِتْ darasit | تِدْرِسْ tidris | بِتِدْرِسْ bitidris | حَتِدْرِسْ ḥa-tidris |
| إحنا | دَرَسْنَا darasna | نِدْرِسْ nidris | بِنِدْرِسْ binidris | حَنِدْرِسْ ḥa-nidris |
| إنتوا | دَرَسْتُوا darastu | تِدْرِسُوا tidrisu | بِتِدْرِسُوا bitidrisu | حَتِدْرِسُوا ḥa-tidrisu |
| هم | دَرَسُوا darasu | يِدْرِسُوا yidrisu | بِيِدْرِسُوا biyidrisu | حَيِدْرِسُوا ḥa-yidrisu |
ابني بيدرس هندسة معمارية في جامعة خاصة.
ibni biyidris handasa miʿmāriyya fi gāmʿa khāṣṣa.
My son studies architecture at a private university.
درست برمجة قبل ما أشتغل في الشركة دي.
darast barmaga ʾabl ma ʾashtaghal fish-shirka di.
I studied programming before working at this company.
هي عايزة تدرس تمريض بعد الثانوية.
hiyya ʿāyza tidris tamrīḍ baʿd is-sanawiyya.
She wants to study nursing after secondary school.
The first example is an independent habit, so it has بـ. In the third, عايزة licenses bare تدرس. English uses a single infinitive form after want; Egyptian still marks the learner’s person and gender.
Rule 1: the subject matter is a direct object
A field, course, text, proposal, or case normally follows directly: يدرس هندسة، درس الفصل، درس الحالة. Do not insert في merely because English says study in the field of. Use في for the institution or setting instead.
أختي درست في إسكندرية أربع سنين ورجعت القاهرة بعد التخرج.
ʾokhti darasit fi ʾiskandariyya ʾarbaʿ sinīn wi-rigʿit il-ʾāhira baʿd it-takharrug.
My sister studied in Alexandria for four years and returned to Cairo after graduating.
هو بيدرس محاسبة في معهد جنب شغله.
huwwa biyidris moḥāsba fi maʿhad gamb shoghlo.
He studies accounting at an institute near his workplace.
The contrast is compact: محاسبة is the direct object, while في معهد locates the course. With schools and universities, English at usually corresponds to Cairene في, not formal في/بـ combinations copied from another register.
Rule 2: separate درس, ذاكر, and اتعلم
Use درس for a field or structured course. Use ذاكر when someone sits down to revise, prepare for an exam, or do study activity. Use اتعلم when the focus is successfully acquiring knowledge or a practical ability.
بدرس اقتصاد، بس الليلة بذاكر للامتحان في المكتبة.
badris iʾtiṣād, bass il-lēla bazākir lil-imtiḥān fil-maktaba.
I study economics, but tonight I’m revising for the exam in the library.
درسنا قواعد التصميم، وبعدين اتعلمنا نستخدم البرنامج.
darasna ʾawāʿid it-taṣmīm, wi-baʿdēn itʿallimna nistikhdim il-barnāmag.
We studied the principles of design, then learned to use the program.
The distinction is conceptual rather than absolute. A course can involve all three verbs: you تدرس the subject as your field, تذاكر tonight’s material, and تتعلم a skill through the process. English often calls all three activities studying.
Rule 3: professional درس means examine systematically
Outside school, درس can mean “study, examine, assess” a proposal, market, case, or problem. This sense is ordinary in workplace and media language (professional/formal-leaning). It does not make every English consider a use of درس; the object should support systematic examination.
اللجنة حتدرس الطلب وترد علينا آخر الأسبوع.
il-lagna ḥa-tidris iṭ-ṭalab wi-tirodd ʿalēna ʾākhir il-ʾusbūʿ.
The committee will review the application and get back to us at the end of the week. (professional)
درسنا السوق كويس قبل ما نفتح الفرع الجديد.
darasna s-sūʾ kowayyis ʾabl ma niftaḥ il-farʿ il-gidīd.
We studied the market carefully before opening the new branch.
These are conventional collocations: درس الموضوع، درس الحالة، درس السوق. They are productive within this semantic area, but they do not license literal translations such as درس القرار whenever English says “considered a decision.”
Commands, negation, and object clitics
The positive commands are ادرس idris, ادرسي idrisi, and ادرسوا idrisu. Negative commands use the second-person imperfect inside ما...ش: ماتدرسش، ماتدرسيش، ماتدرسوش. In finite negation, an object clitic stays attached inside the circumfix.
ادرس الفصل ده الأول، وبعد كده جاوب على الأسئلة.
idris il-faṣl da l-ʾawwal, wi-baʿd kida gāwib ʿala l-ʾasʾila.
Study this chapter first, then answer the questions. (to one man)
ماتدرسوش الجزء المحذوف عشان مش داخل الامتحان.
ma-tidrisūsh il-gozʾ il-maḥzūf ʿashān mish dākhil il-imtiḥān.
Don’t study the deleted section because it isn’t on the exam. (to several students)
الخطة طويلة، بس درستها كويس قبل العرض.
il-khoṭṭa ṭawīla, bass darastha kowayyis ʾabl il-ʿarḍ.
The plan is long, but I studied it carefully before the presentation.
مادرستهاش بالتفصيل، فمش حقول رأي نهائي.
ma-darasthāsh bit-tafṣīl, fa-mish ḥa-ʾūl raʾy nihāʾi.
I haven’t studied it in detail, so I won’t give a final opinion.
The positive درستها and negative مادرستهاش preserve the same direct-object suffix ـها. English spacing provides no guide to this Egyptian word: the negative marker, verb, object clitic, and ـش form one orthographic unit.
Participles and the Pattern II teaching relation
The active participle دارس dāris, feminine دارسة, plural دارسين, commonly means “having studied” or “knowledgeable about.” It does not normally present study in progress; use بيدرس for that. The passive participle مدروس madrūs means “studied, well considered,” especially in professional evaluation.
هي دارسة إدارة وعارفة المجال كويس.
hiyya dārsa ʾidāra wi-ʿārfa l-magāl kowayyis.
She has studied management and knows the field well.
الاقتراح مدروس، بس تكلفته عالية قوي.
il-iʾtirāḥ madrūs, bass taklifto ʿālya ʾawi.
The proposal is well considered, but its cost is very high. (professional)
Pattern II درّس / بيدرّس darris / biyidarris means “teach a subject or course.” The doubled رّ is real even when ordinary spelling omits the shadda. مدرّس modarris is the ordinary noun “teacher/instructor.” This relation is useful but lexical: Pattern II does not automatically mean “teach” for every root.
المدرس درس تاريخ في المنيا، ودلوقتي بيدرسه في القاهرة.
il-modarris daras tārīkh fil-Minya, wi-dilwaʾti biyidarriso fil-ʾāhira.
The teacher studied history in Minya and now teaches it in Cairo.
The first درس has one r and makes the teacher the student. The second بيدرّسه has doubled rr and makes him the instructor; ـه resumes “history.” For teaching a person a practical skill, علّم is often the more natural verb.
A short dialogue
أ: بتدرسي إيه الترم ده؟
A: bitidrisi ʾēh it-tirm da?
A: What are you studying this term? (to one woman)
ب: بدرس إحصا، والمادة صعبة بس المدرس واضح قوي.
B: badris ʾiḥṣa, wi-l-mādda ṣaʿba bass il-modarris wāḍiḥ ʾawi.
B: I’m studying statistics. The subject is difficult, but the teacher is very clear.
Register and variation
This page teaches daras / yidris as the explicit mainstream Cairo production baseline (informal/neutral). Formal MSA has دَرَسَ / يَدْرُسُ darasa / yadrusu (formal/MSA), and educated speakers may deliberately code-switch in interviews or institutional settings. That does not make Cairene بيدرس biyidris incomplete Arabic.
Egyptian regions and communities show real vowel variation (regional: Alexandria, Delta, Upper Egypt; social/community variation). Performance language may heighten a schoolteacher persona or exaggerate formal vocabulary (performance). Learners should recognize those choices while keeping yidris as the page’s consistent active-production form.
Common Mistakes
1. Using the rejected yidros vowel in the Cairo baseline.
أخويا بيدرس حقوق في جامعة حكومية.
ʾakhūya biyidris ḥoʾūʾ fi gāmʿa ḥokūmiyya.
ʾakhūya biyidros ḥoʾūʾ fi gāmʿa ḥokūmiyya.
Pronunciation error—the mainstream Cairo imperfect taught here is yidris.
✅ أخويا بيدرس حقوق وبيشتغل بالليل.
ʾakhūya biyidris ḥoʾūʾ wi-biyishtighal bil-lēl.
My brother studies law and works at night.
2. Using bare imperfect as a neutral independent habit.
❌ هو يدرس محاسبة كل يوم بعد الشغل.
Incorrect for ordinary Cairene habitual speech—the independent imperfect needs بـ.
✅ هو بيدرس محاسبة تلات أيام في الأسبوع.
huwwa biyidris moḥāsba talāt ʾayyām fil-ʾusbūʿ.
He studies accounting three days a week.
3. Using درس for ordinary exam revision.
❌ بدرس للامتحان من الصبح.
Wrong lexical choice for the intended revision activity—ordinary Cairene prefers بذاكر.
✅ بذاكر للامتحان من الصبح، وبدرس كيميا في الكلية.
bazākir lil-imtiḥān min iṣ-ṣobḥ, wi-badris kīmya fil-kolleyya.
I’ve been revising for the exam since morning, and I study chemistry at college.
4. Adding في before the subject matter.
❌ هي بتدرس في طب في الجامعة.
Incorrect for the intended field frame—طب is the direct object; only the institution takes في.
✅ هي بتدرس طب في الجامعة وبتذاكر في البيت.
hiyya bitidris ṭibb fil-gāmʿa wi-bitzākir fil-bēt.
She studies medicine at university and revises at home.
5. Treating the formal citation as neutral Cairo conversation.
أنا أدرس الاقتصاد في الجامعة.
ʾanā ʾadrusu l-iʾtiṣāda fil-gāmiʿati.
I study economics at university. (valid formal MSA)
✅ أنا بدرس اقتصاد في الجامعة وبحب المادة قوي.
ʾana badris iʾtiṣād fil-gāmʿa wi-baḥibb il-mādda ʾawi.
I study economics at university and really like the subject. (ordinary Cairo)
Key Takeaways
- Store درس / بيدرس as daras / biyidris; the imperfect has i throughout the Cairene paradigm.
- Put the academic field or examined matter directly after the verb, and use في for the institution.
- Use ذاكر for revision, اتعلم for acquiring a skill, and درّس for teaching a course.
- Keep attached objects inside ما...ش, and distinguish ongoing بيدرس from result-oriented دارس and مدروس.
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- Study and Work CollocationsA2 — Use the everyday Cairene frames for studying, learning, working, applying, and completing assignments without translating English collocations word for word.
- 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.
- Forms II–V Pattern RelationshipsB2 — Compare the Cairene shapes and lexical relationships of Forms II, III, IV, and V without turning their semantic tendencies into rules.
- اتعلم itʿallim — learnA2 — Use اتعلم for acquiring knowledge and skills, with bare-verb complements, sources, clitics, commands, and the full Cairene paradigm.
- علّم ʿallim — teachA2 — Use علّم for teaching people and skills, distinguish its mark/select sense, and control two objects, clitics, and doubled pronunciation.
- Direct-Object Suffixes on VerbsB1 — Attach Egyptian direct-object pronouns to past, imperfect, and negative verb hosts while preserving gender, clitic order, and discourse reference.