كلّم / بيكلّم kallim / biyikallim is the ordinary Cairene verb “call,” “contact,” or “speak to” a person. The person is a direct object: كلمت الدكتور، كلمتها، كلمني. A topic can then follow with عن: كلمته عن العقد “I spoke to him about the contract.”
This is a Pattern II verb. Its doubled l is part of the stem even when ordinary unvocalized writing shows no shadda. kallim and a hypothetical kalim are not interchangeable pronunciations. The related Pattern V verb اتكلم means “speak/talk” and packages participants differently: اتكلمت معاها “I talked with her.”
Complete practical paradigm
The Pattern II stem remains stable through the mainstream urban Cairene paradigm (informal/neutral). Bare imperfect follows modals and other licensors; b-imperfect presents an actual or habitual contact; joined حـ marks a projected call.
| Person | Perfect | Bare imperfect | b-imperfect | ḥa-future |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| أنا | كَلِّمْتْ kallimt | أَكَلِّمْ ʾakallim | بَكَلِّمْ bakallim | حَكَلِّمْ ḥa-kallim |
| إنت | كَلِّمْتْ kallimt | تِكَلِّمْ tikallim | بِتْكَلِّمْ bitkallim | حَتْكَلِّمْ ḥatkallim |
| إنتي | كَلِّمْتِي kallimti | تِكَلِّمِي tikallimi | بِتْكَلِّمِي bitkallimi | حَتْكَلِّمِي ḥatkallimi |
| هو | كَلِّمْ kallim | يِكَلِّمْ yikallim | بِيِكَلِّمْ biyikallim | حَيِكَلِّمْ ḥa-yikallim |
| هي | كَلِّمِتْ kallimit | تِكَلِّمْ tikallim | بِتْكَلِّمْ bitkallim | حَتْكَلِّمْ ḥatkallim |
| إحنا | كَلِّمْنَا kallimna | نِكَلِّمْ nikallim | بِنْكَلِّمْ binkallim | حَنْكَلِّمْ ḥankallim |
| إنتوا | كَلِّمْتُوا kallimtu | تِكَلِّمُوا tikallimu | بِتْكَلِّمُوا bitkallimu | حَتْكَلِّمُوا ḥatkallimu |
| هم | كَلِّمُوا kallimu | يِكَلِّمُوا yikallimu | بِيِكَلِّمُوا biyikallimu | حَيِكَلِّمُوا ḥa-yikallimu |
كلمت خدمة العملاء عشان الفاتورة فيها مبلغ زيادة.
kallimt khidmit il-ʿomala ʿashān il-fātūra fīha mablagh ziyāda.
I called customer service because the bill had an extra charge.
أختي بتكلمني كل يوم وهي راجعة من الجامعة.
ʾokhti bitkallimni koll yōm wi-hiyya rāgʿa min il-gāmʿa.
My sister calls me every day while she is coming home from university.
حكلم المحاسب بكرة وأتأكد من الرقم.
ḥa-kallim il-moḥāsib bukra wa-ʾatʾakkad min ir-raʾam.
I’ll call the accountant tomorrow and confirm the figure.
The contacted person is a direct object
Use كلّم + person, with no لـ or مع: كلم مريم، كلم الدكتور، كلمهم. This direct object can mean the person phoned, contacted, or spoke to face-to-face. Context supplies the medium.
كلمت البواب وقلتله يفتح المخزن.
kallimt il-bawwāb wi-ʾoltilo yiftaḥ il-makhzan.
I contacted the doorman and told him to open the storeroom.
كلمني على الرقم ده لو العنوان مش واضح.
kallimni ʿala r-raʾam da law il-ʿunwān mish wāḍiḥ.
Call me on this number if the address isn’t clear.
English often distinguishes call, contact, and speak to. Everyday كلّم covers much of that space. Professional اتصل بـ “contact/call” and تواصل مع “communicate with” are common in institutional language (professional/formal), but they have their own prepositions.
لو الخط فصل، كلميني على واتساب.
law il-khaṭṭ fiṣil, kallimīni ʿala Wātsāb.
If the call drops, contact me on WhatsApp. (to one woman)
Add عن for the topic
The person remains direct; عن introduces what you speak to them about: كلمت المدير عن الإجازة. With pronouns, keep both roles visible: كلمته عنها “I spoke to him about it.” عن belongs to the topic, not to the person.
كلمت صاحبة الشقة عن تسريب المية في المطبخ.
kallimt ṣāḥbit ish-shaʾʾa ʿan tasrīb il-mayya fil-maṭbakh.
I spoke to the landlady about the water leak in the kitchen.
الموضوع حساس؛ كلمه عنه على انفراد.
il-mawḍūʿ ḥassās; kallimo ʿanno ʿala infirād.
The issue is sensitive; speak to him about it privately.
For a detailed two-way discussion, اتكلم مع حد عن/في موضوع is often better. Plain كلّم foregrounds initiating contact or directing speech at the person.
كلّم versus اتكلم
The contrast is partly valency and partly viewpoint:
- كلمتها: called/contacted/spoke to her; direct object.
- اتكلمت معاها: talked with her; partner after مع.
- اتكلمت عنها: talked about her; topic after عن.
كلمتها الصبح، واتكلمت معاها عن مشكلة الحجز.
kallimtaha ṣ-ṣobḥ, witkallimt maʿāha ʿan moshkilit il-ḥagz.
I called her this morning and talked with her about the booking problem.
هو بيكلم المدير دلوقتي، وبعدها حيتكلم مع الفريق.
huwwa biyikallim il-modīr dilwaʾti, wi-baʿdaha ḥa-yitkallim maʿ il-farīʾ.
He’s speaking to the manager now; afterward he’ll talk with the team.
See اتكلم for the full conversational paradigm. The relationship between the two patterns is useful, but neither is just an inflection of the other.
Commands, clitics, and negation
The commands are كلم kallim, كلمي kallimi, and كلموا kallimu. Direct-object suffixes attach immediately: كلمني، كلمها، كلموهم. Final ـش closes the entire negative form: ماكلمتوش، مابكلمهاش.
كلموا المكتب قبل ما تروحوا عشان تتأكدوا إنه فاتح.
kallimu l-maktab ʾabl ma tirūḥu ʿashān titʾakkadu inno fātiḥ.
Call the office before you go so you can make sure it’s open. (to several people)
ماتكلمهوش بعد عشرة عشان بيصحى بدري.
ma-tikallimhūsh baʿd ʿashara ʿashān biyiṣḥa badri.
Don’t call him after ten because he gets up early. (to one man)
ماكلمناهمش قبل الإعلان عشان الخبر كان سري.
ma-kallimnāhomsh ʾabl il-ʾiʿlān ʿashān il-khabar kān sirri.
We didn’t contact them before the announcement because the news was confidential.
Perfect ماكلمتوش denies one bounded contact; b-imperfect مابكلمهوش denies a habit or current practice. English didn’t call versus don’t call gives a rough translation, but the Egyptian viewpoint distinction extends beyond tense labels.
مكالمة and participles
مكالمة mokālma is the ordinary count noun “phone call”: مكالمة واحدة، مكالمتين، مكالمات. Speakers say عمل مكالمة when packaging a call as a task or event, but simply كلم فلان when foregrounding the contacted person.
فاتتني مكالمة من المدرسة وأنا في المترو.
fātitni mokālma min il-madrasa wi-ʾana fil-mitro.
I missed a call from the school while I was on the metro.
عملت مكالمة سريعة قبل الاجتماع وبعت الملخص.
ʿamilt mokālma sarīʿa ʾabl il-igtimāʿ wi-baʿatt il-molakhkhaṣ.
I made a quick call before the meeting and sent the summary.
Pattern II participial مكلم can be understood as an agent-oriented result such as “having spoken to/called,” but it is much less central than the finite forms and can be ambiguous in unvocalized writing. A passive “person who has been called” is normally expressed by a finite or relative clause. Do not invent symmetrical participles simply because the morphology permits an analysis.
A short dialogue
أ: كلمت الفني عن صوت التكييف؟
A: kallimt il-fanni ʿan ṣōt it-takyīf?
A: Did you contact the technician about the air conditioner noise?
ب: كلمته مرتين، وقاللي حيعدي علينا بعد الضهر.
B: kallimto marratēn, wi-ʾālli ḥa-yiʿaddi ʿalēna baʿd iḍ-ḍohr.
B: I called him twice, and he told me he’d stop by this afternoon.
Register and variation
كلّم is mainstream Egyptian (informal/neutral) and is broader than English call. اتصل بـ is widespread in professional or careful speech, while تواصل مع is especially common in workplace, institutional, and younger professional usage (professional/formal; age/domain variation). Formal MSA has كَلَّمَ / يُكَلِّمُ but often chooses other communication verbs according to context (formal/MSA). Regional varieties may shift short vowels, but Pattern II doubling remains contrastive.
Common Mistakes
1. Losing the doubled consonant.
كلم المدير قبل ما تمشي.
kallim il-modīr ʾabl ma timshi.
kalim il-modīr ʾabl ma timshi.
Pronunciation error—the middle l is doubled: kallim.
✅ كلم المدير قبل ما تمشي واسأله عن القرار.
kallim il-modīr ʾabl ma timshi wisʾalo ʿan il-ʾarār.
Call the manager before you leave and ask him about the decision.
2. Adding مع after كلّم.
❌ كلمت مع الدكتورة الصبح.
Incorrect in the taught frame—كلّم takes the contacted person directly.
✅ كلمت الدكتورة الصبح وحددت معاها معاد.
kallimt id-duktōra ṣ-ṣobḥ wi-ḥaddadt maʿāha maʿād.
I called the doctor this morning and arranged an appointment with her.
3. Using لـ because English says “speak to.”
❌ كلمت للموظف عن الطلب.
Incorrect—neither the direct person nor the عن topic needs لـ.
✅ كلمت الموظف عن الطلب الناقص.
kallimt il-mowaẓẓaf ʿan iṭ-ṭalab in-nāʾiṣ.
I spoke to the employee about the incomplete order.
4. Stranding the object after ـش.
❌ ماكلمتش ها امبارح.
Incorrect—the object suffix must remain inside the negative word.
✅ ماكلمتهاش امبارح عشان رجعت متأخر.
ma-kallimthāsh imbāriḥ ʿashān rigiʿt mitʾakhkhar.
I didn’t call her yesterday because I got back late.
Key Takeaways
- Keep the doubled ll in kallim / biyikallim even when the target is unvocalized.
- Put the contacted person directly after كلّم; use عن for the topic.
- Contrast direct كلمته with conversational اتكلمت معاه and topical اتكلمت عنه.
- Join commands, object suffixes, aspect markers, and ما...ش to the correct Pattern II host.
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- Egyptian Pattern II فعّلB1 — Recognize Pattern II by its doubled middle consonant and learn its attested Egyptian meanings, stems, complement frames, and aspect forms.
- اتكلم itkallim — speakA2 — Conjugate اتكلم and choose natural Cairene frames for languages, interlocutors, and topics.
- Communication CollocationsA2 — Use Egyptian communication verbs with the correct person, topic, content, recipient, and reply frames.
- 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.
- Commands with Object PronounsA2 — Attach direct and recipient pronouns to Egyptian commands in the right order, including agreement and negative -ش.