فتح / بيفتح fataḥ / biyiftaḥ is the everyday Cairene verb “open.” It is a strong Form I verb, but its meaning reaches beyond moving a door: Egyptians فتحوا حساب “opened an account,” فتحوا موضوع “brought up a topic,” and فتحوا محل “started/opened a shop.” These extensions are lexical collocations, not a license to translate every English use of open mechanically.
The verb is also labile: it can be transitive, فتحت الباب “I opened the door,” or intransitive, الباب فتح “the door opened.” The participles add another important contrast: active فاتح presents an opener or an operating business, while passive مفتوح presents the resulting state “open.”
This alternation is one everyday instance of the broader middle and labile system; the present page stays with the lexical behavior of فتح.
Complete practical paradigm
Memorize the citation pair فتح / يفتح fataḥ / yiftaḥ. The following forms are mainstream urban Cairene (informal/neutral). Bare imperfect is licensed after modals and similar environments; b-imperfect is the ordinary independent present/habitual form; joined حـ is future.
| Person | Perfect | Bare imperfect | b-imperfect | ḥa-future |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| أنا | فَتَحْتْ fataḥt | أَفْتَحْ ʾaftaḥ | بَافْتَحْ baftaḥ | حَفْتَحْ ḥa-ftaḥ |
| إنت | فَتَحْتْ fataḥt | تِفْتَحْ tiftaḥ | بِتِفْتَحْ bitiftaḥ | حَتِفْتَحْ ḥa-tiftaḥ |
| إنتي | فَتَحْتِي fataḥti | تِفْتَحِي tiftaḥi | بِتِفْتَحِي bitiftaḥi | حَتِفْتَحِي ḥa-tiftaḥi |
| هو | فَتَحْ fataḥ | يِفْتَحْ yiftaḥ | بِيِفْتَحْ biyiftaḥ | حَيِفْتَحْ ḥa-yiftaḥ |
| هي | فَتَحِتْ fataḥit | تِفْتَحْ tiftaḥ | بِتِفْتَحْ bitiftaḥ | حَتِفْتَحْ ḥa-tiftaḥ |
| إحنا | فَتَحْنَا fataḥna | نِفْتَحْ niftaḥ | بِنِفْتَحْ biniftaḥ | حَنِفْتَحْ ḥa-niftaḥ |
| إنتوا | فَتَحْتُوا fataḥtu | تِفْتَحُوا tiftaḥu | بِتِفْتَحُوا bitiftaḥu | حَتِفْتَحُوا ḥa-tiftaḥu |
| هم | فَتَحُوا fataḥu | يِفْتَحُوا yiftaḥu | بِيِفْتَحُوا biyiftaḥu | حَيِفْتَحُوا ḥa-yiftaḥu |
فتحت الشباك عشان الأوضة كانت مكتومة.
fataḥt ish-shobbāk ʿashān il-ʾōḍa kānit maktūma.
I opened the window because the room was stuffy.
المكتبة بتفتح الساعة عشرة يوم الجمعة.
il-maktaba bitiftaḥ is-sāʿa ʿashara yōm il-gomʿa.
The bookstore opens at ten on Fridays.
حنفتح التسجيل تاني لو فيه أماكن فاضية.
ḥa-niftaḥ it-tasgīl tāni law fīh ʾamākin fāḍya.
We’ll reopen registration if there are places available.
Transitive and intransitive فتح
With an agent and a direct object, فتح is transitive: someone opens something. Without an agent, the same verb can present the opening as an event affecting the subject. Egyptian therefore does not always require the English contrast between open something and open up. Context and word order identify the roles.
الهواء فتح الباب لوحده وإحنا في المطبخ.
il-hawa fataḥ il-bāb liwaḥdo wi-iḥna fil-maṭbakh.
The wind opened the door by itself while we were in the kitchen.
الباب فتح فجأة، فكل اللي في المكتب بصوا.
il-bāb fataḥ fagʾa, fa-koll illi fil-maktab baṣṣu.
The door opened suddenly, so everyone in the office looked over.
Form VII اتفتح can also present a spontaneous or affected opening: الباب اتفتح. It often foregrounds the change undergone by the thing, while plain فتح is especially economical in everyday event descriptions. The distribution is lexical and contextual; do not force one form into every English intransitive sentence.
Businesses: event, schedule, and operating state
Business language uses several related constructions:
- فتح محل: opened or started a shop.
- المحل بيفتح الساعة تسعة: the shop opens at nine as a schedule.
- المحل فاتح: the shop is operating/open now or during the stated period.
- المحل مفتوح: the shop/place is open as a resulting or accessible state.
أختي فتحت عيادة صغيرة جنب بيتها السنة اللي فاتت.
ʾokhti fataḥit ʿiyāda ṣoghayyara gamb bētha s-sana lli fātit.
My sister opened a small clinic near her home last year.
الصيدلية فاتحة طول الليل، بس المعمل مفتوح لحد عشرة.
iṣ-ṣaydaliyya fātḥa ṭūl il-lēl, bass il-maʿmal maftūḥ liḥadd ʿashara.
The pharmacy operates all night, but the lab is open only until ten.
فاتح gives the business an agent-like operating profile; مفتوح foregrounds accessibility or state. In many everyday contexts both can describe an open business, but the distinction becomes clearer with an object: هو فاتح المحل “he has the shop open/is running it” versus المحل مفتوح “the shop is open.”
Commands, clitics, and negation
The positive imperatives are افتح iftaḥ, افتحي iftaḥi, and افتحوا iftaḥu. Negative commands use ما...ش around the second-person imperfect: ماتفتحش. Object suffixes attach directly: فتحته “I opened it,” افتحها “open it.” Under negation the suffix stays inside the circumfix: مافتحتهوش.
افتحي التطبيق واختاري تسجيل جديد.
iftaḥi t-taṭbīʾ wikhtāri tasgīl gidīd.
Open the app and choose ‘new registration.’ (to one woman)
ماتفتحوش الحنفية لحد ما السباك يوصل.
ma-tiftaḥūsh il-ḥanafiyya liḥadd ma s-sabbāk yōṣal.
Don’t turn on the tap until the plumber arrives. (to several people)
مافتحتهاش عشان الرسالة كان شكلها مش موثوق.
ma-fataḥthāsh ʿashān ir-risāla kān shaklaha mish mawthūʾ.
I didn’t open it because the message looked suspicious.
Productive uses and learned collocations
The core physical frame supports many common extensions. فتح حساب means open an account, فتح ملف can mean open a computer file or create an administrative case, and فتح موضوع means raise a topic. These combinations are conventional and must be learned with their objects.
فتحت حساب توفير عشان أحوش جزء من المرتب.
fataḥt ḥisāb tawfīr ʿashān ʾaḥawwesh gozʾ min il-morattab.
I opened a savings account so I could set aside part of my salary.
بلاش نفتح موضوع الإيجار وإحنا مستعجلين.
balāsh niftaḥ mawḍūʿ il-ʾīgār wi-iḥna mostaʿgilīn.
Let’s not bring up the rent while we’re in a hurry.
The verbal noun فتح is frequent in compounds and institutional phrasing (neutral/professional). Do not assume that every derivative has a predictable meaning; for example, فتّح with gemination has lexical senses such as “open repeatedly/widely” and, with eyes or attention, “make alert,” but it is a separate derived lexeme rather than an intensive tense of فتح.
A short dialogue
أ: البنك فتح ولا لسه؟
A: il-bank fataḥ walla lissa?
A: Has the bank opened yet?
ب: فتح من شوية، وأنا فاتح التطبيق عشان أحجز دور.
B: fataḥ min shwayya, wi-ʾana fātiḥ it-taṭbīʾ ʿashān ʾaḥgiz dōr.
B: It opened a little while ago, and I have the app open so I can book a turn.
Register and variation
The finite forms and collocations above are mainstream Cairene (informal/neutral). Formal MSA فَتَحَ / يَفْتَحُ (formal/MSA) shares the root but may appear with syntax and endings not used here. Administrative speech can contain formal nouns while retaining Egyptian conjugation (professional/code-switched). Regional and community varieties may shift vowel qualities, but learners should keep the Cairene citation pair fataḥ / yiftaḥ stable.
Common Mistakes
1. Using بـ on a bare complement after a modal.
❌ عايز بفتح حساب جديد.
Incorrect—the action after عايز is a bare imperfect.
✅ عايز أفتح حساب جديد من غير مصاريف شهرية.
ʿāyiz ʾaftaḥ ḥisāb gidīd min ghēr maṣārīf shahriyya.
I want to open a new account with no monthly fees.
2. Confusing an operating business with a feminine agreement error.
❌ الصيدلية فاتح دلوقتي.
Incorrect—فاتح agrees with the feminine noun الصيدلية.
✅ الصيدلية فاتحة دلوقتي وهتقفل بعد نص ساعة.
iṣ-ṣaydaliyya fātḥa dilwaʾti wi-ha-tiʾfil baʿd noṣṣ sāʿa.
The pharmacy is open now and will close in half an hour.
3. Leaving an object suffix outside negation.
❌ مافتحتش ها على الكمبيوتر.
Incorrect—the suffix stays attached inside ما...ش.
✅ مافتحتهاش على الكمبيوتر عشان الملف كبير.
ma-fataḥthāsh ʿala l-kombyūtar ʿashān il-malaff kibīr.
I didn’t open it on the computer because the file is large.
4. Treating مفتوح as a finite verb.
❌ المحل بيمفتوح لحد تسعة.
Incorrect—مفتوح is a participial predicate and does not take بـ.
✅ المحل مفتوح لحد تسعة كل يوم ماعدا الجمعة.
il-maḥall maftūḥ liḥadd tisʿa koll yōm maʿada l-gomʿa.
The shop is open until nine every day except Friday.
Key Takeaways
- Learn فتح / يفتح fataḥ / yiftaḥ and the commands افتح، افتحي، افتحوا.
- The same verb can be transitive or intransitive; اتفتح can foreground the affected change.
- For businesses, distinguish the opening event, the schedule بيفتح, operating فاتح, and result/accessibility مفتوح.
- Attach objects directly and keep them inside ما...ش; learn extended senses as collocations.
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