اتعلم / بيتعلم itʿallim / biyitʿallim is the everyday Cairene verb “learn.” It belongs to Pattern V of the root ع-ل-م and is visibly related to Pattern II علّم “teach,” but it is not merely a reflexive formula: speakers store اتعلم as the ordinary lexical verb for acquiring knowledge, a method, or a skill.
Its most useful English contrast is structural. English says learn to drive with an infinitive; Egyptian says اتعلم يسوق with a person-marked bare imperfect and no word meaning to. This page gives the lexical details; Pattern V explains the broader morphology.
Complete practical paradigm
The perfect stem is اتعلّم itʿallim. The imperfect retains the pattern -tʿallim- after the person prefix. In forms such as بتتعلم, both written ت consonants matter: one is person marking and one belongs to the derived stem.
| Person | Perfect | Bare imperfect | b-imperfect | ḥa-future |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| أنا | اِتْعَلِّمْتْ itʿallimt | أَتْعَلِّمْ ʾatʿallim | بَاتْعَلِّمْ batʿallim | حَتْعَلِّمْ ḥatʿallim |
| إنت | اِتْعَلِّمْتْ itʿallimt | تِتْعَلِّمْ titʿallim | بِتِتْعَلِّمْ bititʿallim | حَتِتْعَلِّمْ ḥa-titʿallim |
| إنتي | اِتْعَلِّمْتِي itʿallimti | تِتْعَلِّمِي titʿallimi | بِتِتْعَلِّمِي bititʿallimi | حَتِتْعَلِّمِي ḥa-titʿallimi |
| هو | اِتْعَلِّمْ itʿallim | يِتْعَلِّمْ yitʿallim | بِيِتْعَلِّمْ biyitʿallim | حَيِتْعَلِّمْ ḥa-yitʿallim |
| هي | اِتْعَلِّمِتْ itʿallimit | تِتْعَلِّمْ titʿallim | بِتِتْعَلِّمْ bititʿallim | حَتِتْعَلِّمْ ḥa-titʿallim |
| إحنا | اِتْعَلِّمْنَا itʿallimna | نِتْعَلِّمْ nitʿallim | بِنِتْعَلِّمْ binitʿallim | حَنِتْعَلِّمْ ḥa-nitʿallim |
| إنتوا | اِتْعَلِّمْتُوا itʿallimtu | تِتْعَلِّمُوا titʿallimu | بِتِتْعَلِّمُوا bititʿallimu | حَتِتْعَلِّمُوا ḥa-titʿallimu |
| هم | اِتْعَلِّمُوا itʿallimu | يِتْعَلِّمُوا yitʿallimu | بِيِتْعَلِّمُوا biyitʿallimu | حَيِتْعَلِّمُوا ḥa-yitʿallimu |
اتعلمت إكسل لما بدأت الشغل الجديد.
itʿallimt ʾIksil lamma badaʾt ish-shoghl il-gidīd.
I learned Excel when I started the new job.
بنتي بتتعلم بسرعة لما تجرب الحاجة بإيديها.
binti bititʿallim bisorʿa lamma tigarrab il-ḥāga bi-ʾidēha.
My daughter learns quickly when she tries something herself.
حنتعلم النظام الجديد في أول أسبوع.
ḥa-nitʿallim in-niẓām il-gidīd fi ʾawwal ʾusbūʿ.
We’ll learn the new system in the first week.
Three productive complement frames
First, اتعلم + noun names knowledge, a language, a method, or a skill domain: اتعلم عربي، اتعلم السواقة، اتعلم الطريقة. Second, اتعلم + bare imperfect names an action the learner becomes able to perform. The subject of both verbs is normally the same person, so the complement agrees with that learner.
نور اتعلمت تعمل مونتاج من فيديوهات قصيرة.
Nūr itʿallimit tiʿmil montāg min vidyuhāt ʾoṣayyara.
Nour learned to edit videos from short videos.
عايز أتعلم أكتب أسرع من غير ما أبص على الكيبورد.
ʿāyiz ʾatʿallim ʾaktib ʾasraʿ min ghēr ma ʾaboṣṣ ʿala l-kībōrd.
I want to learn to type faster without looking at the keyboard. (male speaker)
Third, من identifies a source or teacher: اتعلم من أمه، اتعلم من التجربة. على إيد can highlight apprenticeship under someone (informal/neutral). English often puts the teacher directly after learn from; Egyptian must keep من or another source expression.
اتعلمنا الوصفة من جدتنا، وكل واحد غير فيها حاجة.
itʿallimna l-waṣfa min gidditna, wi-koll wāḥid ghayyar fīha ḥāga.
We learned the recipe from our grandmother, and each of us changed something in it.
Commands, negation, and clitics
The positive commands are اتعلم itʿallim, اتعلمي itʿallimi, and اتعلموا itʿallimu. They can encourage genuine learning, but a bare command can sound parental or sharp; add حاول “try” or a polite frame when social distance calls for it. Negative commands use ماتتعلمش and its agreement forms.
اتعلمي الأساس الأول، وبعدين جربي تعملي المشروع لوحدك.
itʿallimi l-ʾasās il-ʾawwal, wi-baʿdēn garrabi tiʿmili l-mashrūʿ liwaḥdik.
Learn the basics first, then try doing the project on your own. (to one woman)
ماتتعلموش الخطوات غلط من فيديو قديم.
ma-titʿallimūsh il-khaṭawāt ghalaṭ min vidyu ʾadīm.
Don’t learn the steps incorrectly from an old video. (to several people)
A learned item can be an attached direct object. The clitic comes before negative ـش: اتعلمتها “I learned it,” ماتعلمتهاش “I didn’t learn it.”
الحركة صعبة، بس اتعلمتها بعد تلات محاولات.
il-ḥaraka ṣaʿba, bass itʿallimtha baʿd talāt moḥāwalāt.
The move is difficult, but I learned it after three attempts.
ماتعلمتهاش في الكورس؛ زميلتي شرحتهالي بعدين.
ma-tʿallimthāsh fil-kōrs; zamīlti sharaḥithāli baʿdēn.
I didn’t learn it in the course; my colleague explained it to me later.
What the participle means
متعلم mitʿallim, feminine متعلمة, plural متعلمين, usually describes someone educated, knowledgeable, or trained. It does not normally mean “currently learning” in the way English learning can. Use بيتعلم for the ongoing event.
هو متعلم كويس، بس لسه بيتعلم شغل الفريق.
huwwa mitʿallim kowayyis, bass lissa biyitʿallim shoghl il-farīʾ.
He is well educated, but he is still learning how the team works.
The maṣdar تعلّم taʿallum “learning” is common in academic and institutional language (academic/formal). Everyday speech often prefers a finite verb: الأطفال بيتعلموا باللعب rather than a heavy nominal phrase. Pattern V does not have a useful ordinary passive participle here; use an actual finite or adjectival construction instead of manufacturing one.
A short dialogue
أ: اتعلمت تستخدم البرنامج ولا لسه؟
A: itʿallimt tistikhdim il-barnāmag walla lissa?
A: Have you learned to use the program yet? (to one man)
ب: اتعلمت الأساس، بس لسه باتعلم أطلع التقارير.
B: itʿallimt il-ʾasās, bass lissa batʿallim ʾaṭallaʿ it-taʾārīr.
B: I learned the basics, but I’m still learning to generate the reports.
The perfect reports an achieved step; لسه + b-imperfect presents the remaining learning process.
Register and variation
Initial اتـ is the ordinary urban Egyptian perfect shape (informal/neutral). MSA تعلّم taʿallama is valid in formal speech and writing (formal/MSA), not a correction of Cairene اتعلم. Fast Cairo speech reduces short vowels, but it retains the grammatical consonants. Alexandrian, Delta, Upper Egyptian, age, class, and community varieties may differ phonetically or prefer particular skill expressions (regional/social); this page keeps mainstream Cairene forms. تعلّم آلي “machine learning” is an institutional technical term (technical/formal) and does not show that every casual instance of learning should use a formal maṣdar.
Common Mistakes
1. Inserting a purpose phrase for English infinitival “to.”
❌ اتعلمت علشان أسوق في الكورس.
Incorrect for the intended complement—علشان means ‘so that/in order to,’ not infinitival ‘to.’
✅ اتعلمت أسوق في الكورس وبقيت أروح الشغل بالعربية.
itʿallimt ʾasūʾ fil-kōrs wi-baʾēt ʾarūḥ ish-shoghl bil-ʿarabiyya.
I learned to drive on the course and started going to work by car.
2. Giving the embedded verb the wrong person.
❌ هي اتعلمت أسوق بسرعة.
Incorrect—the learner is هي, so the skill verb must be feminine third singular تسوق.
✅ هي اتعلمت تسوق بهدوء في الزحمة.
hiyya itʿallimit tisūʾ bihodūʾ fiz-ziḥma.
She learned to drive calmly in traffic.
3. Omitting b- from an independent ongoing clause.
❌ أنا أتعلم ألماني دلوقتي.
Incorrect for the intended neutral ongoing main clause—the bare imperfect lacks a licenser.
✅ أنا باتعلم ألماني أونلاين مرتين في الأسبوع.
ʾana batʿallim ʾalmāni ʾonlāyn marratēn fil-ʾusbūʿ.
I’m learning German online twice a week.
4. Separating the negative and object pieces.
❌ ما اتعلمت ها ش.
Incorrect Egyptian spelling—the finite verb, object suffix, and ـش are one word.
✅ ماتعلمتهاش من أول مرة.
ma-tʿallimthāsh min ʾawwal marra.
I didn’t learn it the first time.
5. Reading the Cairene citation form as formal taʿallama.
اتعلم أخويا المهنة من عمي.
itʿallim ʾakhūya l-mihna min ʿammi.
taʿallama ʾakhī al-mihnata min ʿammī.
Pronunciation/register error—the displayed form is ordinary Cairene, not an MSA citation reading.
✅ اتعلم أخويا المهنة من عمي وهو صغير.
itʿallim ʾakhūya l-mihna min ʿammi wi-huwwa ṣughayyar.
My brother learned the trade from my uncle when he was young. (ordinary Cairo)
Key Takeaways
- Store اتعلم / بيتعلم as an attested lexical pair, not as a mechanically generated “reflexive.”
- Use a noun for learned content, a matching bare imperfect for a learned action, and من for the source.
- متعلم describes an educated or trained state; بيتعلم presents an ongoing or habitual event.
- Commands, clitics, future حـ, and ما...ش attach to the Egyptian stem as one system.
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- Egyptian Pattern V اتفعّل / تفعّلB1 — Use the Cairene it- Pattern V with its person marking, middle meanings, complements, clitics, and limits on derivation.
- Forms II–V Pattern RelationshipsB2 — Compare the Cairene shapes and lexical relationships of Forms II, III, IV, and V without turning their semantic tendencies into rules.
- Stacked Aspectual and Modal PredicatesC2 — Build Cairene predicate chains in which an outer tense or modal expression scopes over bare phase, attempt, and activity verbs.
- Study and Work CollocationsA2 — Use the everyday Cairene frames for studying, learning, working, applying, and completing assignments without translating English collocations word for word.
- علّم ʿallim — teachA2 — Use علّم for teaching people and skills, distinguish its mark/select sense, and control two objects, clitics, and doubled pronunciation.
- Direct-Object Suffixes on VerbsB1 — Attach Egyptian direct-object pronouns to past, imperfect, and negative verb hosts while preserving gender, clitic order, and discourse reference.