ضحك ḍiḥik is the everyday Cairene verb “laugh.” Its perfect has the lexical vowels i–i, while its imperfect is يضحك yiḍḥak. Those vowels must be stored with the verb. The fixed romanization uses ḍ for written ض, even though speakers vary in the precise strength of emphasis.
The preposition changes the social relation: ضحك مع is shared laughter “laugh with,” while ضحك على targets someone or something “laugh at/make fun of.” Separate Form II ضحّك ḍaḥḥak means “make someone laugh.” See the Form II overview for the general morphology; here the focus is this lexical family.
Complete Practical Paradigm
| Person | Perfect | Bare imperfect | b-imperfect | ḥa-future |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| أنا | ضِحِكْتْ ḍiḥikt | أَضْحَكْ ʾaḍḥak | بَضْحَكْ baḍḥak | حَضْحَكْ ḥaḍḥak |
| إنت | ضِحِكْتْ ḍiḥikt | تِضْحَكْ tiḍḥak | بِتِضْحَكْ bitiḍḥak | حَتِضْحَكْ ḥatiḍḥak |
| إنتي | ضِحِكْتِي ḍiḥikti | تِضْحَكِي tiḍḥaki | بِتِضْحَكِي bitiḍḥaki | حَتِضْحَكِي ḥatiḍḥaki |
| هو | ضِحِكْ ḍiḥik | يِضْحَكْ yiḍḥak | بِيِضْحَكْ biyiḍḥak | حَيِضْحَكْ ḥayiḍḥak |
| هي | ضِحْكِتْ ḍiḥkit | تِضْحَكْ tiḍḥak | بِتِضْحَكْ bitiḍḥak | حَتِضْحَكْ ḥatiḍḥak |
| إحنا | ضِحِكْنَا ḍiḥikna | نِضْحَكْ niḍḥak | بِنِضْحَكْ biniḍḥak | حَنِضْحَكْ ḥaniḍḥak |
| إنتوا | ضِحِكْتُوا ḍiḥiktu | تِضْحَكُوا tiḍḥaku | بِتِضْحَكُوا bitiḍḥaku | حَتِضْحَكُوا ḥatiḍḥaku |
| هم | ضِحْكُوا ḍiḥku | يِضْحَكُوا yiḍḥaku | بِيِضْحَكُوا biyiḍḥaku | حَيِضْحَكُوا ḥayiḍḥaku |
The positive commands are اضحك iḍḥak, اضحكي iḍḥaki, and اضحكوا iḍḥaku. Negative commands are ماتضحكش، ماتضحكيش، ماتضحكوش.
Laughing, Habit, and Onset
The perfect presents a bounded laugh or the onset of laughter. The b-imperfect can show someone laughing now or a characteristic habit. The bare imperfect appears after modals and aspectual verbs, while future حـ frames a later response.
ضحكت أول ما شوفت الصورة القديمة.
ḍiḥikt ʾawwil ma shoft iṣ-ṣūra l-ʾadīma
I laughed as soon as I saw the old photo.
البيبي بيضحك كل ما يسمع صوت أخوه.
il-bībi biyiḍḥak koll ma yismaʿ ṣōt ʾakhūh
The baby laughs whenever he hears his brother's voice.
حاضر، مش حضحك وقت التصوير.
ḥāḍir, mish ḥaḍḥak waʾt it-taṣwīr
Okay, I won't laugh during the photo.
Independent future negation often uses مش + حـ, as here. A bounded past negative uses ما...ش: ماضحكتش.
مع Means Shared Laughter
Use مع when people participate together. A pronoun attaches to it: معاه، معاها، معاهم. This frame says who shared the interaction, not what caused the laugh.
قعدنا نضحك مع زمايلنا بعد ما خلصنا الشغل.
ʾaʿadna niḍḥak maʿ zamāyilna baʿd ma khallaṣna sh-shoghl
We sat laughing with our colleagues after we finished work.
بحب أقعد مع خالتي عشان بضحك معاها من قلبي.
baḥibb ʾaʾʿod maʿ khālti ʿashān baḍḥak maʿāha min ʾalbi
I like sitting with my aunt because I laugh with her wholeheartedly.
English laugh with can sometimes politely disguise mockery, but the neutral Egyptian ضحك مع presents joint laughter.
على Means a Target—and Can Extend to Deception
ضحك على شخص normally means laugh at or make fun of that person. Context can extend it to “fool, trick, take advantage of,” especially when money or a bad deal is involved. This lexicalized sense must be learned; على does not itself mean deception.
ماينفعش تضحك على حد عشان نطقه مختلف.
ma-yinfaʿsh tiḍḥak ʿala ḥadd ʿashān noṭʾo mokhtalif
You shouldn't laugh at someone because their pronunciation is different.
البياع ضحك عليه وباعله الجهاز بأكتر من تمنه.
il-bayyāʿ ḍiḥik ʿalēh wi-bāʿlo l-gihāz bi-ʾaktar min tamano
The seller took advantage of him and sold him the device for more than it was worth.
The same sequence ضحك عليه is ambiguous without context: a joke context gives “laughed at him,” while a transaction supports “fooled him.”
Causative ضحّك Takes a Direct Object
Form II ضحّك ḍaḥḥak means “make someone laugh.” In ordinary unvocalized writing, base ضحك and causative ضحّك may look identical because the shadda is omitted; pronunciation and valency decide. The person made to laugh is direct, so object suffixes attach: ضحكني، ضحكها، ضحكنا.
تعليقه ضحكني رغم إني كنت متضايق.
taʿlīʾo ḍaḥḥakni raghm ʾinni kont mitḍāyiʾ
His comment made me laugh even though I was upset.
الممثلة دي بتضحك الجمهور من غير مبالغة.
il-momassila di bitiḍaḥḥak il-gomhūr min ghēr mobālagha
This actress makes the audience laugh without overdoing it.
الفيديو ماضحكنيش زي ما الناس قالت.
il-fīdyu ma-ḍaḥḥaknīsh zayy ma n-nās ʾālit
The video didn't make me laugh the way people said it would.
Participles and Laughter Nouns
Active ضاحك ḍāḥik, feminine ضاحكة, and plural ضاحكين can describe someone laughing or smiling, but finite بيضحك is more frequent for a live action. Passive participle morphology is not central to the intransitive “laugh” sense. The noun ضحك ḍiḥk means laughter, and count noun ضحكة ḍiḥka means one laugh or a characteristic laugh.
دخلت لقيتهم ضاحكين ومش قادرين يتكلموا.
dakhalt laʾēthom ḍāḥkīn wi-mish ʾādrīn yitkallimu
I went in and found them laughing, unable to speak.
مات من الضحك “died laughing” is normal informal hyperbole, not a literal report.
حكالي الموقف وفضلنا نموت من الضحك.
ḥakāli l-mawʾif wi-fiḍilna nimūt min iḍ-ḍiḥk
He told me what happened, and we couldn't stop laughing.
A Short Dialogue
ـ بتضحك على إيه؟ ـ مش بضحك عليك؛ افتكرت حاجة حصلت الصبح.
— bitiḍḥak ʿala ēh? — mish baḍḥak ʿalēk; iftakart ḥāga ḥaṣalit iṣ-ṣubḥ
‘What are you laughing at?’ ‘I'm not laughing at you; I remembered something that happened this morning.’
Register and Variation
These forms are mainstream Cairene (informal/neutral). Formal MSA uses related ضَحِكَ / يَضْحَكُ and formal endings (formal). Egyptian speakers vary in how strongly emphatic ض sounds, but the learner romanization consistently writes ḍ. Regional, community, age, and performance styles may prefer other laughter expressions; those are lexical alternatives, not corrections to the Cairo paradigm.
Common Mistakes
❌ هو بيضحكني مع صاحبه.
Incorrect for shared laughter: direct ضحكني means ‘makes me laugh’; companionship requires مع.
✅ هو بيضحك مع صاحبه بعد التمرين.
huwwa biyiḍḥak maʿ ṣāḥbo baʿd it-tamrīn
He laughs with his friend after practice.
❌ ضحكت معاها عشان أسخر منها.
Incorrect preposition for the intended mockery: مع presents shared laughter, not a target.
✅ ضحكوا عليها عشان غلطت في كلمة.
ḍiḥku ʿalēha ʿashān ghilṭit fi kilma
They laughed at her because she got a word wrong.
❌ أنا ضحك على الفيديو امبارح.
Incorrect first-person perfect agreement: use ضحكت.
✅ أنا ضحكت من المفاجأة مش من الفيديو.
ʾana ḍiḥikt min il-mofāgaʾa mish min il-fīdyu
I laughed from surprise, not because of the video.
هما بيضحكوا مع بعض.
humma biyiḍḥaku maʿ baʿḍ
hum yaḍḥakūna maʿan
Pronunciation/register error: the MSA ending does not belong to this Cairene b-imperfect sentence.
Key Takeaways
- Learn ضحك–يضحك–اضحك with its lexical perfect/imperfect vowels.
- Use مع for shared laughter and على for a target or, contextually, deception.
- Direct-object ضحّك is the separate causative “make someone laugh.”
- Treat ضاحك and laughter nouns according to actual frequency rather than forcing a participle into every English progressive.
Now practice Arabic
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- 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.
- مع — withB1 — Use Egyptian مع for accompaniment, interaction, alignment, and current custody, with its full Cairene suffix paradigm.
- على — on, over, and uponA1 — Use Cairene على for support, responsibility, schedules, and high-frequency predicate frames, with the correct suffixed stem.
- Event-Instance Nouns and مرة واحدةC1 — Refer to one bounded occurrence in Egyptian with lexical event-instance nouns, count morphology, or the reliable phrase مرة واحدة.