مشي mishi is a high-frequency final-weak verb meaning “walk” and, very often, “leave.” Its suffixed perfect has a long mid vowel—مشيت mishēt—while the imperfect keeps final i: يمشي yimshi. The participle ماشي can describe motion, something functioning, or a settled departure; as a conversational response it also means “okay.” The shared mechanics are mapped on the defective-verb overview.
English divides these uses among walk, go, leave, work, and okay. The Egyptian family is coherent but not mechanically predictable from one English gloss. Learn finite motion, participial state, and lexicalized discourse uses separately.
Core Practical Paradigm
| Person | Perfect | Bare imperfect | b-imperfect | ḥa-future |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| أنا | مِشِيتْ mishēt | أَمْشِي ʾamshi | بَمْشِي bamshi | حَمْشِي ḥamshi |
| إنت | مِشِيتْ mishēt | تِمْشِي timshi | بِتِمْشِي bitimshi | حَتِمْشِي ḥatimshi |
| إنتي | مِشِيتِي mishēti | تِمْشِي timshi | بِتِمْشِي bitimshi | حَتِمْشِي ḥatimshi |
| هو | مِشِي mishi | يِمْشِي yimshi | بِيِمْشِي biyimshi | حَيِمْشِي ḥayimshi |
| هي | مِشْيِتْ mishyit | تِمْشِي timshi | بِتِمْشِي bitimshi | حَتِمْشِي ḥatimshi |
| إحنا | مِشِينَا mishēna | نِمْشِي nimshi | بِنِمْشِي binimshi | حَنِمْشِي ḥanimshi |
| إنتوا | مِشِيتُوا mishētu | تِمْشُوا timshu | بِتِمْشُوا bitimshu | حَتِمْشُوا ḥatimshu |
| هم | مِشْيُوا mishyu | يِمْشُوا yimshu | بِيِمْشُوا biyimshu | حَيِمْشُوا ḥayimshu |
The ordinary Cairene commands are امشي imshi to one person and امشوا imshu to a group. Negative commands are ماتمشيش and ماتمشوش. The active participle agrees as ماشي، ماشية، ماشيين.
Walking and Leaving Share One Verb
Context and complements choose the reading. A duration or route favors physical walking; a source, workplace, party, or time of departure favors “leave.”
مشيت من المحطة للبيت في عشرين دقيقة.
mishēt min il-maḥaṭṭa lil-bēt fi ʿishrīn daʾīʾa
I walked from the station home in twenty minutes.
المدير مشي من المكتب بدري عشان عنده كشف.
il-modīr mishi min il-maktab badri ʿashān ʿandu kashf
The manager left the office early because he had a medical appointment.
بنمشي على الكورنيش كل جمعة بعد الفجر.
binimshi ʿala l-kornīsh kull gumʿa baʿd il-fagr
We walk along the Corniche every Friday after dawn.
Physical routes use في، على، من...لـ according to the spatial relation. The source of leaving commonly uses من. A duration can follow directly: مشي ساعة “he walked for an hour.”
Bare, Habitual, and Future Motion
Bare يمشي follows modals and purpose expressions. The b-imperfect presents an actual or recurring event. Joined حـ asserts future walking or departure.
لازم أمشي دلوقتي عشان ألحق آخر مترو.
lāzim ʾamshi dilwaʾti ʿashān ʾalḥaʾ ʾākhir metro
I have to leave now so I can catch the last metro.
هي حتمشي معانا لحد الميدان وبعدين حتاخد تاكسي.
hiyya ḥatimshi maʿāna laḥadd il-mēdān wi-baʿdēn ḥatākhud tāksi
She'll walk with us to the square and then take a taxi.
ماشي as a Motion State and a Result
The participle describes someone currently walking, leaving, or committed to depart. With a road, process, device, or situation, ماشي can mean “moving along, operating, proceeding.” Negate it with مش.
أنا ماشي المحطة دلوقتي؛ قابلني عند الشباك.
ʾana māshi l-maḥaṭṭa dilwaʾti; ʾābilni ʿand ish-shubbāk
I'm heading to the station now; meet me by the ticket window.
الخطة ماشية كويس، بس محتاجين نراجع الميزانية.
il-khuṭṭa māshya kowayyes, bass meḥtāgīn nirāgiʿ il-mīzāniyya
The plan is going well, but we need to review the budget.
الساعة دي مش ماشية من امبارح.
is-sāʿa di mish māshya min imbāriḥ
This watch hasn't been working since yesterday.
These are conventional extensions, not proof that مشي can replace every English use of go or work.
ماشي as “Okay”
Standalone ماشي is a lexicalized response meaning “okay, agreed, fine.” It no longer describes a masculine person walking, so it stays ماشي regardless of the speaker's gender.
ـ نتقابل قدام السينما الساعة سبعة؟ ـ ماشي، بس ماتتأخرش.
— nitʾābil ʾuddām is-sīnima s-sāʿa sabʿa? — māshi, bass ma-titʾakhkharsh
‘Shall we meet in front of the cinema at seven?’ ‘Okay, but don't be late.’
Tone can make this response enthusiastic, reluctant, or merely procedural. That pragmatic use is lexicalized; do not change it to ماشية because a woman is speaking.
Intransitivity and Transitive مشّى
Form I مشي is intransitive. It does not take a direct-object suffix meaning “walked him” or “made it proceed.” Separate Form II مشّى mashsha can mean “make someone walk, send someone on, get a process moving.”
الموظف مشى المعاملة بعد ما الورق كمل.
il-mowaẓẓaf mashsha l-moʿāmla baʿd ma l-waraʾ kimil
The employee moved the application along after the paperwork was complete.
الحارس مشاه من البوابة عشان ماكانش معاه تصريح.
il-ḥāris mashshāh min il-bawwāba ʿashān ma-kānsh maʿāh taṣrīḥ
The guard sent him away from the gate because he didn't have a permit.
The object suffix in مشاه belongs to Form II, not to intransitive مشي.
Negation and a Short Dialogue
Finite forms use ما...ش: مامشيش، مابيمشيش. Future uses مش حـ. Participial ماشي uses independent مش.
هو مامشيش بعد الخناقة؛ فضل مستني صاحبه.
huwwa ma-mishīsh baʿd il-khināʾa; fiḍil mistanni ṣāḥbo
He didn't leave after the argument; he stayed waiting for his friend.
ـ إنت ماشي ولا حتستنى؟ ـ حمشي بعد ما أخلص المكالمة.
— ʾinta māshi walla ḥatistanna? — ḥamshi baʿd ma ʾakhallaṣ il-mokālama
‘Are you leaving, or will you wait?’ ‘I'll leave after I finish the call.’
Register and Variation
This page uses mainstream Cairo مشي mishi (informal/neutral). مشى masha and different final vowels occur in formal reading, regional varieties, and careful or performance styles. Formal MSA uses its own paradigm and register (formal). The conversational response ماشي is widespread but its intonation and social force vary.
Common Mistakes
❌ أنا مشي من الشغل الساعة خمسة.
Incorrect first-person perfect: the suffixed form is مشيت.
✅ أنا مشيت من الشغل الساعة خمسة ونص.
ʾana mishēt min ish-shoghl is-sāʿa khamsa wi-noṣṣ
I left work at five thirty.
❌ هي ماشي بسرعة عشان متأخرة.
Incorrect: the motion participle agrees with a feminine subject.
✅ هي ماشية بسرعة عشان متأخرة على المعاد.
hiyya māshya bisorʿa ʿashān mitʾakhkhira ʿala l-miʿād
She's walking quickly because she's late for the appointment.
❌ أنا ماشيش دلوقتي.
Incorrect for a participial departure state: use مش ماشي.
✅ أنا مش ماشي قبل ما أفهم المشكلة.
ʾana mish māshi ʾabl ma ʾafham il-moshkila
I'm not leaving before I understand the problem.
❌ مشيته نص ساعة في الشارع.
Incorrect for ‘I walked’: the object-like ending makes this look like transitive Form II.
✅ مشيت نص ساعة في الشارع قبل الفطار.
mishēt noṣṣ sāʿa fi sh-shāriʿ ʾabl il-fiṭār
I walked for half an hour in the street before breakfast.
Key Takeaways
- Learn مشي / مشيت / يمشي / ماشي as one final-weak set.
- Context distinguishes physical walking from leaving; complements specify route, source, destination, and duration.
- Participial ماشي expresses motion or functioning and takes مش; standalone ماشي is lexicalized “okay.”
- Direct-object causation belongs to Form II مشّى, not intransitive Form I.
Now practice Arabic
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Arabic →Related Topics
- Defective Verbs: Final Radical و or يB1 — Conjugate Egyptian final-weak verbs by tracking how the last radical changes before person endings, clitics, and commands.
- Imperatives of Weak VerbsB1 — Form positive and negative Cairene commands from final-weak, hollow, and irregular weak verbs without importing MSA forms.
- Participles of Weak VerbsB2 — Form and use Cairene participles such as رايح، شايف، and ماشي with correct agreement, negation, and discourse value.
- Movement CollocationsA2 — Learn Cairene motion verbs together with their usual destinations, sources, vehicles, aspect, and underway forms.
- آه، لأ، أيوه، ماشي، and تمامA2 — Choose Cairene response particles for truth, acknowledgment, acceptance, evaluation, hesitation, and conversational closure.