لبس libis means “put on, get dressed, or wear” in mainstream Cairo. Its perfect commonly presents the transition into clothing—“put on” or “got dressed”—while active participle لابس lābis profiles the resulting state “wearing.” The b-imperfect بيلبس biyilbis readily describes a habit, a repeated act of putting something on, or an event in progress.
English uses wear for both habitual and current clothing. Cairene makes a useful aspectual distinction: بيلبس بدلة في الشغل describes his work habit, while لابس بدلة النهارده describes what he has on now.
That event-versus-state contrast belongs to the wider system of Form I active participles, but لابس is frequent enough to deserve focused treatment here.
Complete Practical Paradigm
| Person | Perfect | Bare imperfect | b-imperfect | ḥa-future |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| أنا | لِبِسْتْ libist | أَلْبِسْ ʾalbis | بَلْبِسْ balbis | حَلْبِسْ ḥalbis |
| إنت | لِبِسْتْ libist | تِلْبِسْ tilbis | بِتِلْبِسْ bitilbis | حَتِلْبِسْ ḥatilbis |
| إنتي | لِبِسْتِي libisti | تِلْبِسِي tilbisi | بِتِلْبِسِي bitilbisi | حَتِلْبِسِي ḥatilbisi |
| هو | لِبِسْ libis | يِلْبِسْ yilbis | بِيِلْبِسْ biyilbis | حَيِلْبِسْ ḥayilbis |
| هي | لِبْسِتْ libsit | تِلْبِسْ tilbis | بِتِلْبِسْ bitilbis | حَتِلْبِسْ ḥatilbis |
| إحنا | لِبِسْنَا libisna | نِلْبِسْ nilbis | بِنِلْبِسْ binilbis | حَنِلْبِسْ ḥanilbis |
| إنتوا | لِبِسْتُوا libistu | تِلْبِسُوا tilbisu | بِتِلْبِسُوا bitilbisu | حَتِلْبِسُوا ḥatilbisu |
| هم | لِبْسُوا libsu | يِلْبِسُوا yilbisu | بِيِلْبِسُوا biyilbisu | حَيِلْبِسُوا ḥayilbisu |
The positive commands are البس ilbis, البسي ilbisi, and البسوا ilbisu. Negative commands are ماتلبسش، ماتلبسيش، ماتلبسوش.
Perfect لبس: Entering the Clothing State
With a garment object, the perfect normally reports putting it on. With no object, it can mean “got dressed.” The clothing item is a direct object; Egyptian does not insert a preposition corresponding to English put on.
لبست القميص الأبيض عشان عندي مقابلة.
libist il-ʾamīṣ il-ʾabyaḍ ʿashān ʿandi moʾābla
I put on the white shirt because I have an interview.
الأطفال لبسوا بسرعة ونزلوا يستنوا تحت.
il-ʾaṭfāl libsu bi-sorʿa wi-nizlu yistannu taḥt
The children got dressed quickly and went down to wait.
لبست الجزمة الجديدة ومشيت بيها ساعتين.
libist il-gazma l-gidīda wi-mishēt bīha sāʿtēn
I put on the new shoes and walked in them for two hours.
The perfect does not inherently say how long the state continued. Context can support natural English “wore,” but the Egyptian event begins with entering the dressed state.
لابس: What Someone Has On Now
The active participle agrees: masculine لابس lābis, feminine لابسة lābsa, and plural لابسين lābsīn. It acts as a nominal predicate and takes مش in negation. A garment can remain a direct complement: لابس قميص “wearing a shirt.”
نهى لابسة فستان أخضر وجزمة سودة.
Nohā lābsa fostān ʾakhḍar wi-gazma sōda
Noha is wearing a green dress and black shoes.
إنتوا لابسين تقيل ليه؟ الجو دافي.
ʾintu lābsīn tiʾīl lēh? il-gaww dāfi
Why are you all dressed so warmly? The weather is mild.
أنا مش لابس الساعة النهارده عشان بتتصلح.
ʾana mish lābis is-sāʿa n-nahārda ʿashān bititṣallaḥ
I'm not wearing the watch today because it's being repaired.
With an object suffix, masculine لابسها lābis-ha contrasts with feminine لابساها labsāha. In the feminine form, the base لابسة surfaces before the suffix with -ā-; the two forms are not pronounced identically.
القميص واسع شوية، بس أنا لابسه عادي.
il-ʾamīṣ wāsiʿ shwayya, bass ʾana lābso ʿādi
The shirt is a little loose, but I'm wearing it anyway.
Habit, Planned Act, and Future
Use the b-imperfect for a habitual choice or a repeated act. Use the bare imperfect after عايز، لازم، قبل ما and comparable environments. Future حـ frames a later act of putting something on.
أبويا بيلبس بدلة بس في الاجتماعات المهمة.
ʾabūya biyilbis badla bass fi l-igtimāʿāt il-mohimma
My father wears a suit only for important meetings.
لازم تلبسي خوذة وإنتي راكبة العجلة.
lāzim tilbisi khōza wi-ʾinti rākba l-ʿagala
You need to wear a helmet while riding the bicycle.
حلبس حاجة خفيفة عشان الفرح على البحر.
ḥalbis ḥāga khafīfa ʿashān il-faraḥ ʿala l-baḥr
I'll wear something light because the wedding is by the sea.
An English present progressive such as “She is putting on her coat” describes the transition itself, so finite هي بتلبس البالطو دلوقتي is appropriate. “She is wearing her coat” describes the resulting state, so هي لابسة البالطو is the normal choice.
Negation and Object Clitics
Finite لبس takes ما...ش; participial لابس takes مش. An object suffix remains inside the finite negative envelope.
مالبستهاش عشان السوستة كانت بايظة.
ma-libisthāsh ʿashān is-sosta kānit bāyẓa
I didn't put it on because the zipper was broken.
ماتلبسوش الجزم جوه الشقة.
ma-tilbisūsh il-gizam guwwa sh-shiʾʾa
Don't wear shoes inside the apartment.
The first example has feminine object ـها, then negative ـش. The second is a plural negative command, so it begins from تلبسوا, not the citation form.
Dressing Someone: Form II لبّس
Form I لبس is centered on what the subject puts on. Form II لبّس labbis makes the subject the dresser and the direct object the person being dressed. This contrast is especially common with children.
لبست ابني الجاكيت قبل ما ننزل.
labbist ibni l-gākēt ʾabl ma ninzil
I put my son's jacket on him before we went out.
The unvocalized spelling لبست can therefore be libist “I got dressed/put on” or labbist “I dressed someone.” The following objects and the doubled /bb/ in speech identify Form II. Do not assume that every translation with English dress uses the same Egyptian pattern.
Passive Participle and Lexical Extensions
Passive/result ملبوس malbūs means “worn” and can describe an item that has been used, though everyday speakers often choose a more specific adjective such as مستعمل “used.” It is less central than active لابس for describing current clothing.
البدلة ملبوسة مرة واحدة ولسه جديدة.
il-badla malbūsa marra waḥda wi-lissa gidīda
The suit has been worn once and is still like new.
Related لبس can also be a noun “clothing/style of dress.” That nominal use and idioms belong to the lexical family but do not alter the verb paradigm.
A Short Dialogue
ـ حتلبس إيه في الحفلة؟ ـ على الأغلب حلبس القميص الكحلي والبنطلون الرمادي.
— ḥatilbis ēh fi l-ḥafla? — ʿala l-ʾaghlab ḥalbis il-ʾamīṣ il-koḥli wil-banṭalōn ir-ramādi
‘What are you going to wear to the party?’ ‘I'll probably wear the navy shirt and the gray trousers.’
Both turns concern a future act of choosing and putting on clothes, so حـ is natural. During the party, the answer to “What does he have on?” would use لابس.
Register and Variation
The event/state contrast is mainstream Cairene (informal/neutral). MSA shares the consonantal spelling but has different citation vowels and formal endings (formal). Regional and community varieties can show different short-vowel qualities or connected-speech reductions. Fashion media may code-switch with English or French clothing terms; that lexical choice does not change the Egyptian agreement of لابس، لابسة، لابسين.
Common Mistakes
❌ هي بيلبس فستان دلوقتي.
Incorrect gender agreement: a feminine subject takes بتـ or feminine لابسة, depending on meaning.
✅ هي لابسة فستان بسيط النهارده.
hiyya lābsa fostān basīṭ in-nahārda
She's wearing a simple dress today.
❌ أنا مالبسش الجاكيت دلوقتي.
Incorrect for a current clothing state: use مش with the active participle.
✅ أنا مش لابس الجاكيت دلوقتي.
ʾana mish lābis il-gākēt dilwaʾti
I'm not wearing the jacket right now.
❌ لبست للجاكيت قبل ما أخرج.
Incorrect English-influenced frame: the garment is a direct object.
✅ لبست الجاكيت وقفلت الشباك قبل ما أخرج.
libist il-gākēt wi-ʾafalt ish-shobbāk ʾabl ma ʾakhrog
I put on the jacket and closed the window before leaving.
هو بيلبس يونيفورم في الشغل.
huwwa biyilbis yūnifōrm fi sh-shoghl
huwa yalbasu ziyyan rasmiyyan fī l-ʿamali
Pronunciation/register error: the formal MSA reading does not match this Cairene sentence.
Key Takeaways
- لبس presents putting on/getting dressed; لابس presents the resulting clothing state.
- A garment is a direct object, and an object pronoun attaches to the verb or participle.
- Use مش with لابس but ما...ش with finite لبس.
- Form II لبّس means “dress someone” and is distinguished in speech by doubled /bb/.
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