انبسط / بينبسط inbasaṭ / biyinbisiṭ is an everyday Cairene verb meaning “become pleased, enjoy oneself, have a good time.” It belongs historically to Pattern VII and the root ب-س-ط, but its social meaning is lexical: no general Pattern VII rule predicts “have fun.” Learn the perfect–imperfect pair and its event frames directly.
The adjective مبسوط / مبسوطة / مبسوطين presents an existing happy, pleased, or satisfied state. The finite verb often profiles the experience or change into that state. English enjoy is frequently transitive; base انبسط is not. The enjoyed setting, trigger, or company is introduced by an appropriate preposition.
For the limited value of the pattern label, see Pattern VII. This page focuses on the actual Cairo lexeme.
Complete practical paradigm
The perfect stem is inbasaṭ-. The imperfect changes the internal vowels to -nbisiṭ- after the person prefix. Because the stem begins with n, first-person بانبسط contains the b-marker plus a-nb-; the consonant is not doubled.
| Person | Perfect | Bare imperfect | b-imperfect | ḥa-future |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| أنا | اِنْبَسَطْتْ inbasaṭt | أَنْبِسِطْ ʾanbisiṭ | بَانْبِسِطْ banbisiṭ | حَانْبِسِطْ ḥanbisiṭ |
| إنت | اِنْبَسَطْتْ inbasaṭt | تِنْبِسِطْ tinbisiṭ | بِتِنْبِسِطْ bitinbisiṭ | حَتِنْبِسِطْ ḥatinbisiṭ |
| إنتي | اِنْبَسَطْتِي inbasaṭti | تِنْبِسِطِي tinbisiṭi | بِتِنْبِسِطِي bitinbisiṭi | حَتِنْبِسِطِي ḥatinbisiṭi |
| هو | اِنْبَسَطْ inbasaṭ | يِنْبِسِطْ yinbisiṭ | بِيِنْبِسِطْ biyinbisiṭ | حَيِنْبِسِطْ ḥayinbisiṭ |
| هي | اِنْبَسَطِتْ inbasaṭit | تِنْبِسِطْ tinbisiṭ | بِتِنْبِسِطْ bitinbisiṭ | حَتِنْبِسِطْ ḥatinbisiṭ |
| إحنا | اِنْبَسَطْنَا inbasaṭna | نِنْبِسِطْ ninbisiṭ | بِنِنْبِسِطْ bininbisiṭ | حَنِنْبِسِطْ ḥaninbisiṭ |
| إنتوا | اِنْبَسَطْتُوا inbasaṭtu | تِنْبِسِطُوا tinbisiṭu | بِتِنْبِسِطُوا bitinbisiṭu | حَتِنْبِسِطُوا ḥatinbisiṭu |
| هم | اِنْبَسَطُوا inbasaṭu | يِنْبِسِطُوا yinbisiṭu | بِيِنْبِسِطُوا biyinbisiṭu | حَيِنْبِسِطُوا ḥayinbisiṭu |
Commands are انبسط inbisiṭ, انبسطي inbisiṭi, and انبسطوا inbisiṭu: “enjoy yourself/yourselves.” They are friendly wishes, not orders to manufacture an emotion. The verbal noun انبساط is possible, but it is more formal or abstract than the everyday finite verb (formal/academic).
انبسطنا قوي في اليوم المفتوح بتاع المدرسة.
inbasaṭna ʾawi fil-yōm il-maftūḥ bitāʿ il-madrasa.
We had a great time at the school's open day. (informal)
الأولاد بينبسطوا لما ننزل البحر بدري.
il-ʾawlād biyinbisiṭu lamma ninzil il-baḥr badri.
The children have fun when we go down to the sea early. (habitual)
نفسي أنبسط يوم من غير ما أفكر في الشغل.
nafsi ʾanbisiṭ yōm min ghēr ma ʾafakkar fish-shoghl.
I'd like to enjoy one day without thinking about work.
Rule 1: use the preposition to classify the experience
With في + event/place, the phrase supplies the setting in which someone had fun. With مع + person, it names the company. من + trigger presents the source of pleased reaction, while بـ + thing can mean pleased with or having enjoyed it. Real usage overlaps, but these diagnostics prevent English-style direct objects.
مها انبسطت في الحفلة مع زمايلها الجدد.
Maha inbasaṭit fil-ḥafla maʿ zamāyilha l-godod.
Maha had fun at the party with her new colleagues.
انبسطت من الخبر وكلمت أختي على طول.
inbasaṭt min il-khabar wi-kallimt ʾokhti ʿala ṭūl.
I was delighted by the news and called my sister immediately.
الفيلم بسيط، بس انبسطت بيه قوي.
il-fīlm basīṭ, bass inbasaṭt bīh ʾawi.
The film is simple, but I enjoyed it a lot. (informal)
Here بيه carries the object clitic on بـ. Do not write انبسطته for “I enjoyed it”: base انبسط remains intransitive.
Rule 2: انبسط is an experience; مبسوط is a state
Finite perfect انبسط often answers “Did the experience please you?” مبسوط answers “How do you feel now?” or “Are you satisfied?” It agrees as مبسوط، مبسوطة، مبسوطين and takes مش.
رجعنا من الرحلة مبسوطين رغم إن الطريق كان طويل.
rigiʿna min ir-riḥla mabsūṭīn raghm inn iṭ-ṭarīʾ kān ṭawīl.
We returned from the trip happy even though the journey was long.
أنا مش مبسوط من طريقة الكلام دي.
ʾana mish mabsūṭ min ṭarīʾit il-kalām di.
I'm not happy with this way of speaking.
لو جيتوا بدري حتنبسطوا أكتر.
law gītu badri ḥatinbisiṭu ʾaktar.
If you come early, you'll enjoy yourselves more.
The theoretically regular participle منبسط is used in formal literal senses such as something spread or extended and in elevated descriptions (formal/literary). Everyday emotional Egyptian overwhelmingly uses مبسوط; do not replace it with a mechanically generated pattern form.
Rule 3: the social meaning is friendly and conversational
انبسط and مبسوط are normal, widely used colloquial words (informal/neutral). استمتع “enjoy” is also available but often sounds more deliberate, formal, or written, especially with abstract objects (formal/educated). It is not “more correct.” In a host's question, انبسطتوا؟ warmly asks whether the guests had a good time.
يا رب تكونوا انبسطتوا معانا النهارده.
ya rabb tikūnu inbasaṭtu maʿāna n-naharda.
I hope you had a good time with us today. (friendly hospitality)
Negative finite ماانبسطتش denies the experience; مش مبسوط denies the state. In rapid writing, some speakers write اتبسط or vary initial hamza spelling. This guide keeps انبسط consistently while recognizing genuine colloquial variation.
ماانبسطتش في المكان عشان الصوت كان عالي قوي.
ma-nbasaṭtish fil-makān ʿashān iṣ-ṣōt kān ʿāli ʾawi.
I didn't enjoy myself there because the sound was far too loud.
A short dialogue
أ: انبسطتي في الرحلة ولا كانت مرهقة؟
A: inbasaṭti fir-riḥla walla kānit morhiʾa?
A: Did you enjoy the trip, or was it exhausting? (to one woman)
ب: انبسطت قوي، وبالذات اليوم اللي قضيناه على البحر.
B: inbasaṭt ʾawi, wi-biz-zāt il-yōm illi ʾaḍēnāh ʿala l-baḥr.
B: I enjoyed it a lot, especially the day we spent by the sea.
Register and variation
This page uses mainstream urban Cairo as the production baseline. اتبسط is a genuine colloquial alternative for some speakers (regional/social variation), and vowel qualities vary across Alexandria, the Delta, Upper Egypt, Bedouin-associated communities, age groups, and performance styles. Formal MSA اِنْبَسَطَ more often retains literal senses such as “spread out” or uses elevated emotional prose (formal/MSA). Egyptian انبسط “have fun” is a lexicalized everyday development, not bad MSA.
Common Mistakes
1. Making the enjoyed thing a direct object.
❌ انبسطت الفيلم قوي.
Incorrect frame—base انبسط is intransitive.
✅ انبسطت بالفيلم رغم إنه كان طويل.
inbasaṭt bil-fīlm raghm innu kān ṭawīl.
I enjoyed the film even though it was long.
2. Using b-imperfect after a modal.
❌ نفسي بانبسط شوية في الإجازة.
Incorrect—the controlled verb after نفسي is bare.
✅ نفسي أنبسط شوية في الإجازة الجاية.
nafsi ʾanbisiṭ shwayya fil-ʾigāza l-gayya.
I'd like to enjoy myself a little on the next holiday.
3. Negating مبسوط as a finite verb.
❌ إحنا مامبسوطينش بالخدمة.
Incorrect in the neutral baseline—مبسوطين is an adjective-like predicate.
✅ إحنا مش مبسوطين بالخدمة المرة دي.
iḥna mish mabsūṭīn bil-khidma l-marra di.
We're not happy with the service this time.
4. Treating formal MSA as the only correct way to describe fun.
❌ لقد استمتعت بالحفلة كثيرا يا جماعة.
Register mismatch, not bad MSA—لقد استمتعت كثيرا is needlessly formal for this intended casual reaction beside يا جماعة.
✅ انبسطت قوي في الحفلة مع صحابي.
inbasaṭt ʾawi fil-ḥafla maʿ ṣoḥābi.
I had a great time at the party with my friends. (casual Cairo)
Key Takeaways
- Store انبسط / بينبسط as inbasaṭ / biyinbisiṭ; the internal imperfect vowels are lexical.
- Use prepositional frames for setting, company, trigger, and enjoyed object; do not attach a direct object.
- Contrast the experience انبسط with the agreeing state مبسوط.
- Treat انبسط as normal conversational Egyptian and label more formal استمتع or literal MSA uses by register.
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