هات hāt is the ordinary mainstream Cairo command “bring (it here), hand (it over), give me.” It belongs at the center of spoken Egyptian, but it does not have a normal perfect and imperfect made from هـ-ا-ت. Speakers ordinarily use the suppletive family جاب / يجيب gāb / yigīb for “brought / brings,” then switch to هات for the positive command.
That split is the central fact of the paradigm. A learner cannot safely manufacture forms such as بيهاتي or هاتيت. The positive command, finite verb, negative command, and participle come from two historically different shapes but function together in modern Cairo (informal/neutral).
The command set
The command agrees only with the addressee. The final vowel of feminine هاتي and plural هاتوا is part of the agreement form.
| Addressee | Positive command | With “the key” | Negative command from يجيب |
|---|---|---|---|
| one man | هَاتْ hāt | هَاتِ اِلْمِفْتَاحْ hāt il-miftāḥ | مَاتِجِيبْشْ ma-tgībsh |
| one woman | هَاتِي hāti | هَاتِي اِلْمِفْتَاحْ hāti l-miftāḥ | مَاتِجِيبِيشْ ma-tgībīsh |
| several people | هَاتُوا hātu | هَاتُوا اِلْمِفْتَاحْ hātu l-miftāḥ | مَاتِجِيبُوشْ ma-tgībūsh |
هاتي المتر من الأوضة عشان نقيس الحيطة.
hāti l-mitr min il-ʾōḍa ʿashān niʾīs il-ḥēṭa.
Bring the tape measure from the room so we can measure the wall. (to one woman)
هاتوا الكراسات وتعالوا اقعدوا حوالين الترابيزة.
hātu l-kurrāsāt wi-taʿālu ʾoʿdu ḥawalēn it-tarābēza.
Bring the notebooks and come sit around the table. (to a group)
The masculine form can acquire a linking vowel before a following article in connected speech, as in pointed هاتِ الكتاب. That vowel is phonetic support, not a new suffix and not feminine هاتي.
The complete functional paradigm
Finite time and person contrasts use hollow جاب / يجيب. The table supplies the practical eight-person set; جاب explains its hollow-vowel alternation in detail.
| Person | Perfect | Bare imperfect | b-imperfect | ḥa-future |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| أنا | جِبْتْ gibt | أَجِيبْ ʾagīb | بَجِيبْ bagīb | حَجِيبْ ḥagīb |
| إنت | جِبْتْ gibt | تِجِيبْ tigīb | بِتِجِيبْ bitgīb | حَتِجِيبْ ḥa-tigīb |
| إنتي | جِبْتِي gibti | تِجِيبِي tigībi | بِتِجِيبِي bitgībi | حَتِجِيبِي ḥa-tigībi |
| هو | جَابْ gāb | يِجِيبْ yigīb | بِيِجِيبْ biyigīb | حَيِجِيبْ ḥa-yigīb |
| هي | جَابِتْ gābit | تِجِيبْ tigīb | بِتِجِيبْ bitgīb | حَتِجِيبْ ḥa-tigīb |
| إحنا | جِبْنَا gibna | نِجِيبْ nigīb | بِنِجِيبْ bingīb | حَنِجِيبْ ḥa-nigīb |
| إنتوا | جِبْتُوا gibtu | تِجِيبُوا tigību | بِتِجِيبُوا bitgību | حَتِجِيبُوا ḥa-tigību |
| هم | جَابُوا gābu | يِجِيبُوا yigību | بِيِجِيبُوا biyigību | حَيِجِيبُوا ḥa-yigību |
جبتلك العينة اللي طلبتها من المخزن.
gibtillak il-ʿayyina lli ṭalabtha min il-makhzan.
I brought you the sample you requested from the storeroom. (to one man)
السكرتيرة بتجيب البريد للمدير أول ما يوصل.
is-sikirtēra bitgīb il-barīd lil-modīr ʾawwil ma yōṣal.
The secretary brings the mail to the manager as soon as it arrives.
حجيب معايا بطاريات زيادة للرحلة.
ḥagīb maʿāya baṭṭariyyāt ziyāda lir-riḥla.
I'll bring extra batteries with me for the trip.
Active جايب، جايبة، جايبين gāyib, gāyba, gāybīn describes someone as having brought or obtained something. There is no ordinary “participle of هات” in this command system. A passive result is normally expressed with a finite clause such as اتجاب “was brought” or another natural state expression, not a fabricated form from هات.
Deixis: toward the speaker or the next task
هات normally directs an object toward the speaker, into the speaker’s control, or into the shared activity. This is why it can be translated either “bring” or “give me.” The Arabic form does not separately encode those two English verbs.
هات إيدك وأنا أساعدك تنزل السلم.
hāt ʾīdak wi-ʾana ʾasāʿdak tinzil is-sullam.
Give me your hand and I'll help you down the stairs. (to one man)
هات القلم أوقعلك على الاستلام.
hāt il-ʾalam ʾawaʾʾaʿlak ʿala l-istilām.
Give me the pen so I can sign the receipt for you.
With لي, the command asks that something be brought or obtained for the speaker: هاتلي قهوة “get/bring me a coffee.” Without لي, the toward-speaker meaning can already be clear from the situation. English speakers often add a separate pronoun mechanically; Egyptian uses the deictic command and clitics more compactly.
Object and beneficiary clitics
Object suffixes attach directly: هاته hāto “bring/give it.M,” هاتها hātha “bring/give it.F,” هاتهم hāthom “bring/give them.” A beneficiary follows with لـ: هاتلي “bring me,” هاتله “bring him.” With both roles, use the ordinary theme-before-recipient order.
المفاتيح فوق التلاجة؛ هاتهملي وإنت جاي.
il-mafātīḥ fōʾ it-tallāga; hāthomli wi-ʾinta gāy.
The keys are on top of the fridge; bring them to me on your way. (to one man)
هاتلها كوباية مية عشان الدوا.
hātilha kubbāyit mayya ʿashān id-dawa.
Bring her a glass of water for the medicine. (to one man)
The recipient need not be literally “me.” What remains stable is transfer toward the conversational center or intended recipient.
Negation and polite alternatives
A negative “don’t bring” uses ماتجيبش, not ماهاتش. If the intended positive command means “hand it/give it to somebody,” speakers may instead negate ادّى / يدي: ماتديهوليش “don’t give it to me.” Choose the finite verb that matches the intended transfer.
ماتجيبوش المكتب النهارده؛ ابعته على الإيميل.
ma-tgībūsh il-maktab in-naharda; ibʿato ʿala l-ʾimēl.
Don't bring it to the office today; send it by email. (to one man)
Bare هات can sound direct because it is an imperative. Among family or while jointly doing a task, that is often entirely normal. With a stranger or service worker, soften it with لو سمحت، من فضلك، ممكن or a warm address term.
لو سمحت، هاتلي الحساب لما تفضى.
law samaḥt, hātli l-ḥisāb lamma tifḍa.
Excuse me, could you bring me the bill when you're free? (polite request to one man)
Stored expressions and lexical limits
هات اللي عندك can mean “show/tell me what you’ve got,” and خد وهات describes back-and-forth discussion, bargaining, or exchange (informal). These are stored extensions of transfer. They do not create a productive finite verb هات.
من غير مقدمات، هات اللي عندك عن نتيجة التحليل.
min ghēr moʾaddimāt, hāt illi ʿandak ʿan natīgit it-taḥlīl.
No preamble—tell me what you know about the test result. (direct/informal)
Regular-looking جيب، جيبي، جيبوا also occur for many speakers (informal variation). This guide keeps هات، هاتي، هاتوا as the active Cairo baseline, while recognizing جيب rather than labeling native variation wrong.
Short dialogue
أ: هات معاك نسخة من العقد وإنت نازل.
A: hāt maʿāk noskha min il-ʿaʾd wi-ʾinta nāzil.
A: Bring a copy of the contract with you when you come down.
ب: حاضر، حجيب الأصل والنسخة عشان نراجعهم.
B: ḥāḍir, ḥagīb il-ʾaṣl win-noskha ʿashān nirāgiʿhom.
B: Sure, I'll bring the original and the copy so we can check them.
Register and variation
هات is mainstream Egyptian (informal/neutral). Formal MSA commonly chooses أحضر “bring,” ناولني “hand me,” or another precise transfer verb (formal). Those are not more correct in an everyday Cairo exchange. Regional and community varieties can prefer cognate commands or regular جيب, and realization of ج in the finite paradigm varies outside mainstream Cairo (regional/social). Stage dialogue may exaggerate repeated هات، هات to convey impatience (performance language).
Common Mistakes
1. Inventing a finite paradigm from هات.
❌ هو بيهات الطلبات كل يوم.
Incorrect—هات is the positive command; finite ‘brings’ uses بيجيب.
✅ هو بيجيب الطلبات للفرع كل يوم الصبح.
huwwa biyigīb iṭ-ṭalabāt lil-farʿ koll yōm iṣ-ṣobḥ.
He brings the orders to the branch every morning.
2. Building the negative command from هات.
❌ ماهاتش الأكل هنا.
Incorrect for the Cairo baseline—negative ‘don't bring’ returns to تجيب.
✅ ماتجيبش الأكل هنا قبل ما أكلمك.
ma-tgībsh il-ʾakl hina ʾabl ma ʾakallimak.
Don't bring the food here before I call you. (to one man)
3. Dropping addressee agreement.
❌ يا منى، هات الملف.
Incorrect in the taught agreement system—the feminine singular command is هاتي.
✅ يا منى، هاتي الملف الأزرق من فضلك.
ya Mona, hāti l-malaf il-ʾazraʾ min faḍlik.
Mona, bring the blue file, please.
4. Treating a formal alternative as neutral conversation.
أحضر لي كوب ماء.
ʾaḥḍir li kūb māʾ.
Bring me a cup of water. (formal/MSA-style; a register mismatch in ordinary home conversation)
✅ هاتلي كوباية مية وإنت جاي من المطبخ.
hātli kubbāyit mayya wi-ʾinta gāy min il-maṭbakh.
Bring me a glass of water when you come from the kitchen. (everyday Cairo)
Key Takeaways
- Positive هات، هاتي، هاتوا and finite جاب / يجيب form a suppletive practical paradigm.
- Negative commands use ماتجيبش and its agreeing forms, never a mechanically invented negative of هات.
- The command directs an object toward the speaker, recipient, or shared task, so English may prefer “bring,” “hand,” or “give me.”
- Attach theme and beneficiary clitics in their normal order, and soften the imperative when the relationship requires it.
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