حطّ / بيحطّ ḥaṭṭ / biyiḥoṭṭ is the everyday Cairene verb “put, place, add, set.” Its root is ح-ط-ط, so it is genuinely geminate: the last two root consonants are both ط. That gives a compact perfect حطّ but an expanded stem in forms such as حطّيت ḥaṭṭēt “I put.”
This page teaches the complete mainstream Cairo paradigm (informal/neutral) and the verb’s argument structure. The broader geminate system explains the root class; حط collocations develops its lexical network. The practical lesson is to learn the stem alternation, the thing placed, and the resulting location together.
Complete practical paradigm
The unsuffixed perfect and third-person plural keep the fused geminate. Most consonant-initial perfect suffixes use expanded حطّيـ with long ē. The imperfect has o in Cairene يحطّ; Arabic pointing uses the nearest conventional damma while romanization records o.
| Person | Perfect | Bare imperfect | b-imperfect | ḥa-future |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| أنا | حَطِّيتْ ḥaṭṭēt | أَحُطّْ ʾaḥoṭṭ | بَحُطّْ baḥoṭṭ | حَاحُطّْ ḥaḥoṭṭ |
| إنت | حَطِّيتْ ḥaṭṭēt | تِحُطّْ tiḥoṭṭ | بِتِحُطّْ bitiḥoṭṭ | حَتِحُطّْ ḥa-tiḥoṭṭ |
| إنتي | حَطِّيتِي ḥaṭṭēti | تِحُطِّي tiḥoṭṭi | بِتِحُطِّي bitiḥoṭṭi | حَتِحُطِّي ḥa-tiḥoṭṭi |
| هو | حَطّْ ḥaṭṭ | يِحُطّْ yiḥoṭṭ | بِيِحُطّْ biyiḥoṭṭ | حَيِحُطّْ ḥa-yiḥoṭṭ |
| هي | حَطِّتْ ḥaṭṭit | تِحُطّْ tiḥoṭṭ | بِتِحُطّْ bitiḥoṭṭ | حَتِحُطّْ ḥa-tiḥoṭṭ |
| إحنا | حَطِّينَا ḥaṭṭēna | نِحُطّْ niḥoṭṭ | بِنِحُطّْ biniḥoṭṭ | حَنِحُطّْ ḥa-niḥoṭṭ |
| إنتوا | حَطِّيتُوا ḥaṭṭētu | تِحُطُّوا tiḥoṭṭu | بِتِحُطُّوا bitiḥoṭṭu | حَتِحُطُّوا ḥa-tiḥoṭṭu |
| هم | حَطُّوا ḥaṭṭu | يِحُطُّوا yiḥoṭṭu | بِيِحُطُّوا biyiḥoṭṭu | حَيِحُطُّوا ḥa-yiḥoṭṭu |
حطينا الكراسي الزيادة في البلكونة بعد الحفلة.
ḥaṭṭēna l-karāsi z-ziyāda fil-balkōna baʿd il-ḥafla.
We put the extra chairs on the balcony after the party.
الموظفة بتحط كل إيصال في ملف لوحده.
il-mowaẓẓafa bitiḥoṭṭ koll ʾīṣāl fi malaf liwaḥdo.
The employee puts each receipt in a separate file.
Commands, negation, and clitics
Positive commands are حطّ ḥoṭṭ to one man, حطّي ḥoṭṭi to one woman, and حطّوا ḥoṭṭu to a group. Negative commands return to the second-person imperfect inside ما...ش: ماتحطّش، ماتحطّيش، ماتحطّوش. A direct-object suffix attaches before final ـش.
حطي الشاحن في جيب الشنطة الصغير.
ḥoṭṭi sh-shāḥin fi gēb ish-shanṭa ṣ-ṣoghayyar.
Put the charger in the small pocket of the bag. (to one woman)
ماتحطهاش على الأرض؛ حطها فوق الكرسي.
ma-tiḥoṭṭhāsh ʿala l-ʾarḍ; ḥoṭṭha fōʾ il-kursi.
Don't put it on the floor; put it on the chair. (to one man)
Theme suffixes are حطّه، حطّها، حطّهم. A beneficiary can follow as attached لـ: حطّهولي “put it.M there for me,” حطّيتهالك “I put it.F there for you.” The theme precedes the beneficiary, as in other two-object clitic chains.
النسخة المطبوعة حطيتهالك في الدرج اليمين.
in-noskha l-maṭbūʿa ḥaṭṭēthālak fi d-dorg il-yimīn.
I put the printed copy in the right-hand drawer for you. (to one man)
ماحطيتوش في الشنطة عشان كان لسه سخن.
ma-ḥaṭṭētūsh fish-shanṭa ʿashān kān lissa sokhn.
I didn't put it in the bag because it was still hot.
The location describes the result
The direct object is the thing moved or added. The following phrase describes where it ends up: في for an interior or mixture, على for a surface or setting, and expressions such as جنب، تحت، قدام for other spatial relations. English put X to Y does not license Egyptian إلى here.
حط نقطة عسل في الزبادي وقلبها كويس.
ḥoṭṭ noʾṭit ʿasal fiz-zabādi wi-ʾallibha kowayyis.
Add a drop of honey to the yogurt and mix it well.
حاحط الموبايل على وضع الطيران أول ما نركب.
ḥaḥoṭṭ il-mobāyl ʿala waḍʿ iṭ-ṭayarān ʾawwil ma nirkab.
I'll put my phone on airplane mode as soon as we board.
This result logic explains several extensions. حطّ خطة makes a plan, حطّ شرط sets a condition, حطّ حدّ puts a stop or boundary to something, and حطّ حاجة في الاعتبار takes something into account. These combinations are conventional: the verb does not replace every English use of put or set.
قبل ما نوافق، لازم نحط مصاريف الصيانة في الاعتبار.
ʾabl ma nwāfiʾ, lāzim niḥoṭṭ maṣārīf iṣ-ṣiyāna fil-iʿtibār.
Before we agree, we need to take the maintenance costs into account.
Participles and result states
Active حاطط، حاطة، حاطين ḥāṭiṭ, ḥāṭṭa, ḥāṭṭīn presents someone as having something placed or currently keeping it somewhere. Passive محطوط، محطوطة، محطوطين maḥṭūṭ, maḥṭūṭa, maḥṭūṭīn presents the placed result. The active participle can sound more immediate than a simple perfect because the arrangement still matters now.
أنا حاطط المفتاح الاحتياطي عند الجيران.
ʾana ḥāṭiṭ il-miftāḥ il-iḥtiyāṭi ʿand il-gīrān.
I've left the spare key with the neighbors.
الرقم محطوط على ضهر الكارت بخط صغير.
ir-raʾam maḥṭūṭ ʿala ḍahr il-kārt bi-khaṭṭ ṣoghayyar.
The number is written/placed on the back of the card in small print.
Negate these predicates with مش: مش حاطط، مش محطوط. Finite ماحطّش instead denies a putting event.
Productive meaning versus stored collocations
Physical placement and adding an ingredient are productive. Device settings extend the same result schema. Abstract uses are less predictable and should be stored with their nouns. حطّ اللوم على فلان means “put the blame on so-and-so,” but English put on clothes normally uses لبس, and put on music normally uses شغّل. Formal وضع is common in official prose and manuals (formal/MSA-influenced); it is a register choice, not the everyday citation form.
Short dialogue
أ: أحط الكراتين الجديدة فين لما توصل؟
A: ʾaḥoṭṭ il-karātīn il-gidīda fēn lamma tōṣal?
A: Where should I put the new boxes when they arrive?
ب: حطهم جنب المخزن، بس ماتحطهمش قدام الباب.
B: ḥoṭṭhom gamb il-makhzan, bass ma-tiḥoṭṭhomsh ʾuddām il-bāb.
B: Put them beside the storeroom, but don't put them in front of the door.
Register and variation
The paradigm here is mainstream urban Cairo (informal/neutral). Alexandria and much of the Delta broadly share it, while regional, class, age, and community varieties can differ in imperfect vowel quality and preferred abstract collocations (regional/social). Formal speech may switch to وضع and more formal noun phrases. Instruction manuals and advertisements can deliberately mix formal nouns with colloquial حطّ (professional/performance language).
Common Mistakes
1. Failing to expand the suffixed perfect.
❌ أنا حط الكتاب امبارح.
Incorrect for first-person perfect—the suffixed geminate stem is حطيت.
✅ أنا حطيت الكتاب في الرف السفلي امبارح.
ʾana ḥaṭṭēt il-kitāb fir-raff is-sofli imbāriḥ.
I put the book on the lower shelf yesterday.
2. Copying English to for the result location.
❌ حطيت اللبن إلى القهوة.
Incorrect preposition for adding an ingredient—the containing drink follows في.
✅ حطيت شوية لبن في القهوة قبل الاجتماع.
ḥaṭṭēt shwayyit laban fil-ʾahwa ʾabl il-igtimāʿ.
I put a little milk in the coffee before the meeting.
3. Moving the object outside the negative envelope.
❌ ماتحطش ها على المكتب.
Incorrect—the object suffix precedes final ـش inside one written word.
✅ ماتحطهاش على المكتب عشان عليه مية.
ma-tiḥoṭṭhāsh ʿala l-maktab ʿashān ʿalēh mayya.
Don't put it on the desk because there is water on it.
4. Substituting formal MSA in a casual instruction.
ضع الكوباية على الصينية.
ḍaʿ il-kubbāya ʿala ṣ-ṣīniyya.
Put the glass on the tray. (grammatical formal/MSA-style instruction, but mismatched for ordinary Cairo conversation)
✅ حط الكوباية على الصينية قبل ما تمشي.
ḥoṭṭ il-kubbāya ʿala ṣ-ṣīniyya ʾabl ma timshi.
Put the glass on the tray before you leave. (everyday Cairo)
Key Takeaways
- Learn حطّ / حطّيت / يحطّ as a geminate bundle, not from the English gloss.
- The direct object is what gets placed; في، على, or another location expression describes the result.
- Commands, object suffixes, beneficiary suffixes, and final ـش stay joined to their proper host.
- حاطط highlights a still-relevant arrangement; محطوط describes the placed result.
- Treat abstract combinations as collocations, and label formal وضع instead of presenting it as neutral Cairo.
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Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- Geminate Verbs: Doubled Second and Third RadicalsB2 — Recognize Cairene geminate verbs and alternate correctly between fused, suffixed, imperfect, and imperative stems.
- حط CollocationsB1 — Use حط with locations, ingredients, settings, plans, and conventional abstract objects in mainstream Cairene Arabic.
- Commands with Object PronounsA2 — Attach direct and recipient pronouns to Egyptian commands in the right order, including agreement and negative -ش.
- Two Objects and Clitic OrderingB2 — Build Egyptian verb complexes with a direct-object theme and a recipient, including negative and contrastive forms.
- في — in, at, and withinA1 — Use Cairene في for location, containment, time, and lexical frames, with its complete attached-pronoun paradigm.
- على — on, over, and uponA1 — Use Cairene على for support, responsibility, schedules, and high-frequency predicate frames, with the correct suffixed stem.