خرج kharag is the everyday Cairene verb “go out, leave, come out.” It normally describes the subject moving or emerging; its usual source is introduced by من. The imperfect has a different internal vowel—يخرج yikhrog—and mainstream Cairo pronounces the final ج as g, not j.
English go out and come out divide by viewpoint, while Egyptian can use خرج for both: the verb profiles movement from inside to outside, and context supplies the speaker's viewpoint. Separate Form II خرّج kharrag is causative: “take/get something out” or “graduate/produce someone.”
Core Practical Paradigm
| Person | Perfect | Bare imperfect | b-imperfect | ḥa-future |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| أنا | خَرَجْتْ kharagt | أَخْرُجْ ʾakhrog | بَخْرُجْ bakhrog | حَاخْرُجْ ḥakhrog |
| إنت | خَرَجْتْ kharagt | تِخْرُجْ tikhrog | بِتِخْرُجْ bitikhrog | حَتِخْرُجْ ḥatikhrog |
| إنتي | خَرَجْتِي kharagti | تِخْرُجِي tikhrogi | بِتِخْرُجِي bitikhrogi | حَتِخْرُجِي ḥatikhrogi |
| هو | خَرَجْ kharag | يِخْرُجْ yikhrog | بِيِخْرُجْ biyikhrog | حَيِخْرُجْ ḥayikhrog |
| هي | خَرَجِتْ kharagit | تِخْرُجْ tikhrog | بِتِخْرُجْ bitikhrog | حَتِخْرُجْ ḥatikhrog |
| إحنا | خَرَجْنَا kharagna | نِخْرُجْ nikhrog | بِنِخْرُجْ binikhrog | حَنِخْرُجْ ḥanikhrog |
| إنتوا | خَرَجْتُوا kharagtu | تِخْرُجُوا tikhrogu | بِتِخْرُجُوا bitikhrogu | حَتِخْرُجُوا ḥatikhrogu |
| هم | خِرْجُوا khirgu | يِخْرُجُوا yikhrogu | بِيِخْرُجُوا biyikhrogu | حَيِخْرُجُوا ḥayikhrogu |
The commands are اخرج okhrog, اخرجي okhrogi, and اخرجوا okhrogu. Negative commands are ماتخرجش، ماتخرجيش، ماتخرجوش. The active participle agrees as خارج، خارجة، خارجين khārig, khārga, khārgīn.
Leaving a Source: من
The central frame is خرج من + source. It works for leaving a building, emerging from a vehicle, finishing a meeting, or coming out of an enclosed space. English sometimes omits a source preposition after leave; Egyptian خرج normally keeps من when the source is expressed. See the fuller account of source من.
خرجت من العيادة بعد الضهر ولقيت الدنيا بتمطر.
kharagt min il-ʿiyāda baʿd iḍ-ḍohr wi-laʾēt id-dunya bitimṭar
I came out of the clinic in the afternoon and found that it was raining.
القط خرج من تحت الكنبة أول ما سمع الأكل.
il-ʾoṭṭ kharag min taḥt il-kanaba ʾawwil ma simiʿ il-ʾakl
The cat came out from under the sofa as soon as it heard the food.
ماتخرجوش من المبنى غير لما الأمن يقول.
ma-tikhrogūsh min il-mabna ghēr lamma l-ʾamn yiʾūl
Don't leave the building until security says so.
With people, خرج مع means “go out with” socially or simply leave in someone's company. The romantic reading comes from context, not from مع alone.
نهى خرجت مع زمايلها بعد الشغل يحتفلوا بالترقية.
Nohā kharagit maʿ zamāyilha baʿd ish-shoghl yiḥtafilu bit-tarʾiya
Noha went out with her colleagues after work to celebrate the promotion.
Bare, Habitual, and Future Forms
The bare imperfect follows modals, prohibitions, and purpose expressions. The b-imperfect presents a repeated or unfolding departure. Joined حـ presents a future exit; the first-person spelling حاخرج represents ḥakhrog in the house system.
عايز أخرج قبل الزحمة بنص ساعة.
ʿāyiz ʾakhrog ʾabl iz-zaḥma bi-noṣṣ sāʿa
I want to leave half an hour before the traffic builds up.
هو بيخرج من البيت بدري أيام الامتحانات.
huwwa biyikhrog min il-bēt badri ʾayyām il-imtiḥānāt
He leaves home early during exam periods.
حاخرج من الاجتماع خمس دقايق وأرجع.
ḥakhrog min il-igtimāʿ khams daʾāyiʾ wi-ʾargaʿ
I'll step out of the meeting for five minutes and come back.
Emerging Results and Fixed Extensions
Results, reports, and decisions can “come out” with خرج. These are conventional extensions of emergence. خرج على المعاش means “retire,” while خرج عن السيطرة means “get out of control” and is formal-leaning. Learn each complement with its sense.
نتيجة التحليل خرجت، والدكتور طلب يشوفها النهارده.
natīgit it-taḥlīl kharagit, wi-d-duktūr ṭalab yishūfha n-nahārda
The test result is out, and the doctor asked to see it today.
والدي خرج على المعاش وابتدى يزرع فوق السطح.
wāldi kharag ʿala l-maʿāsh wibtada yizraʿ fōʾ is-saṭḥ
My father retired and started growing plants on the roof.
الحريق خرج عن السيطرة قبل ما المطافي توصل.
il-ḥarīʾ kharag ʿan is-sayṭara ʾabl ma l-maṭāfi tiwṣal
The fire got out of control before the fire brigade arrived.
The last expression is (formal/professional) but also understood in conversation. Its عن is fixed; substituting من changes the construction.
خارج: Leaving versus Being Outside
The participle خارج often presents an intended or imminent departure: أنا خارج “I'm heading out.” It also appears in fixed descriptions such as خارج الخدمة “out of service.” For simple physical location, conversational Cairo usually prefers بره “outside.” Negate خارج with independent مش.
أنا خارج أجيب الدوا؛ محتاج حاجة من الصيدلية؟
ʾana khārig ʾagīb id-dawa; meḥtāg ḥāga min iṣ-ṣēdaliyya?
I'm heading out to get the medicine; do you need anything from the pharmacy?
الأسانسير خارج الخدمة لحد بكرة الصبح.
il-ʾasansēr khārig il-khidma laḥadd bukra ṣ-ṣobḥ
The elevator is out of service until tomorrow morning.
Intransitive خرج versus Causative خرّج
Form I says that the subject went or came out. Form II خرّج adds a causer: “take/get someone out, remove, produce, graduate.” It can carry an object clitic. Students themselves normally say اتخرجنا “we graduated”; an institution can خرّج a cohort “graduate/produce” it.
المشرف خرجهم من القاعة عشان الإنذار.
il-moshref kharraghom min il-ʾāʿa ʿashān il-ʾinzār
The supervisor got them out of the hall because of the alarm.
الكلية خرجت دفعة كبيرة من المهندسين السنة دي.
il-kulliyya kharragit dofʿa kibīra min il-mohandisīn is-sana di
The college graduated a large cohort of engineers this year.
The object suffix in خرجهم belongs to causative Form II. Without the audible gemination, خرجهم would not express “got them out.”
Negation and a Short Dialogue
Finite forms use ما...ش: ماخرجتش، مابيخرجش. Future negation normally uses مش حـ. Participial خارج uses independent مش.
مخرجناش امبارح عشان الكهرباء قطعت.
ma-kharagnāsh imbāriḥ ʿashān il-kahraba ʾaṭaʿit
We didn't go out yesterday because the power went off.
ـ إنت خارج دلوقتي؟ ـ لأ، مش حاخرج غير لما السواق يكلمني.
— ʾinta khārig dilwaʾti? — laʾ, mish ḥakhrog ghēr lamma s-sawwāʾ yikallimni
‘Are you heading out now?’ ‘No, I won't leave until the driver calls me.’
Register and Variation
This page uses mainstream Cairo ج = g, so خرج is kharag and خارج is khārig (informal/neutral). /dʒ/ and /ʒ/ occur in other regions and communities, and Cairenes may use /dʒ/ in formal recitation, performance, or careful MSA reading. Formal MSA خَرَجَ / يَخْرُجُ (formal) has related meanings but a different register and paradigm. Forms such as خارج الخدمة readily move between Egyptian and formal professional language; code-switching here is structured, not an error.
Common Mistakes
❌ خرجت البيت الساعة سبعة.
Unclear English transfer for an expressed source; use من البيت to mark where you left from.
✅ خرجت من البيت الساعة سبعة إلا ربع.
kharagt min il-bēt is-sāʿa sabʿa illa robʿ
I left home at a quarter to seven.
❌ أنا بيخرج قبل الزحمة.
Incorrect person marking: first-person b-imperfect is بخرج.
✅ أنا بخرج قبل الزحمة وأفطر جنب الشغل.
ʾana bakhrog ʾabl iz-zaḥma wi-ʾafṭar gamb ish-shoghl
I leave before the traffic and have breakfast near work.
❌ أنا خرجت ابني من الفصل.
Incorrect for causation: ungeminated خرجت says that I went out; use خرّجت or an explicit causative.
✅ أنا خليت ابني يخرج من الفصل بهدوء.
ʾana khallēt ibni yikhrog min il-faṣl bihodūʾ
I let my son leave the classroom quietly.
❌ هي ماخارجةش النهارده.
Incorrect verbal-envelope negation of a participle: use مش خارجة.
✅ هي مش خارجة النهارده عشان عندها شغل.
hiyya mish khārga n-nahārda ʿashān ʿandaha shoghl
She isn't going out today because she has work.
Key Takeaways
- Learn خرج kharag / يخرج yikhrog / خارج khārig, with Cairene ج = g.
- Mark an expressed source with من; learn fixed frames such as خرج مع، خرج على المعاش، خرج عن السيطرة separately.
- Form I is intransitive. Form II خرّج expresses causation and accepts object clitics.
- Finite forms use ما...ش; participial خارج uses مش.
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