صدق ṣaddaʾ is the everyday Cairene verb “believe”: believe a person, accept a story as true, or become convinced that a proposition is true. It is a Pattern II verb whose written final ق is pronounced ʾ in mainstream Cairo. The consonant is still written ق in every target; the romanization records the Cairene pronunciation described under Cairene qaf.
The verb takes a direct object—صدقته “I believed him/it”—or a content clause with إن. Its participle مصدق moṣaddaʾ is exceptionally frequent for a current stance: مش مصدق can mean “I don't believe it” or the interactional “I can't believe it.”
Complete practical paradigm
| Person | Perfect | Bare imperfect | b-imperfect | ḥa-future |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| أنا | صَدَّقْتْ ṣaddaʾt | أَصَدَّقْ ʾaṣaddaʾ | بَصَدَّقْ baṣaddaʾ | حَصَدَّقْ ḥa-ṣaddaʾ |
| إنت | صَدَّقْتْ ṣaddaʾt | تِصَدَّقْ tiṣaddaʾ | بِتْصَدَّقْ bitṣaddaʾ | حَتْصَدَّقْ ḥa-tṣaddaʾ |
| إنتي | صَدَّقْتِي ṣaddaʾti | تِصَدَّقِي tiṣaddaʾi | بِتْصَدَّقِي bitṣaddaʾi | حَتْصَدَّقِي ḥa-tṣaddaʾi |
| هو | صَدَّقْ ṣaddaʾ | يِصَدَّقْ yiṣaddaʾ | بِيْصَدَّقْ biyṣaddaʾ | حَيْصَدَّقْ ḥa-yṣaddaʾ |
| هي | صَدَّقِتْ ṣaddaʾit | تِصَدَّقْ tiṣaddaʾ | بِتْصَدَّقْ bitṣaddaʾ | حَتْصَدَّقْ ḥa-tṣaddaʾ |
| إحنا | صَدَّقْنَا ṣaddaʾna | نِصَدَّقْ niṣaddaʾ | بِنْصَدَّقْ binṣaddaʾ | حَنْصَدَّقْ ḥa-nṣaddaʾ |
| إنتوا | صَدَّقْتُوا ṣaddaʾtu | تِصَدَّقُوا tiṣaddaʾu | بِتْصَدَّقُوا bitṣaddaʾu | حَتْصَدَّقُوا ḥa-tṣaddaʾu |
| هم | صَدَّقُوا ṣaddaʾu | يِصَدَّقُوا yiṣaddaʾu | بِيْصَدَّقُوا biyṣaddaʾu | حَيْصَدَّقُوا ḥa-yṣaddaʾu |
The productive morphology is regular for a sound Pattern II verb; the trap is pronunciation. Written ق remains visible, while ordinary Cairene speech realizes it as a glottal stop. In formal recitation, learned code-switching, some names, and regional varieties, q may occur (formal/regional). Do not mix those registers accidentally inside an otherwise Cairene paradigm.
صدقت كلامه في الأول، وبعدين اكتشفت إنه بيبالغ.
ṣaddaʾt kalāmo fi l-ʾawwil, wi-baʿdēn iktashaft ʾinno biybāligh.
I believed what he said at first, then discovered he was exaggerating.
الأطفال بيصدقوا أي إعلان شكله حلو.
il-ʾaṭfāl biyṣaddaʾu ʾayy ʾiʿlān shaklo ḥilw.
Children believe any advertisement that looks appealing.
Direct objects and إن clauses
A person, account, promise, or claim can be a direct object. Attached object pronouns are common: صدقني “believe me,” صدقته “I believed him/it,” بيصدقها “he believes her/it.” When the content is a full proposition, use إن.
ماصدقتهوش لما قال إن الفلوس وصلت.
ma-ṣaddaʾtūsh lamma ʾāl ʾinn il-fulūs wiṣlit.
I didn't believe him when he said the money had arrived.
هي صدقت الخبر عشان جالها من حد واثقة فيه.
hiyya ṣaddaʾit il-khabar ʿashān gālha min ḥadd wāsʾa fīh.
She believed the news because it came from someone she trusts.
مش مصدق إنهم خلصوا التصليح في يوم واحد.
mish moṣaddaʾ ʾinnahom khallaṣu t-taṣlīḥ fi yōm wāḥid.
I can't believe they finished the repair in one day.
English freely says believe in for both accepting a claim and having faith in a person or principle. Neutral Egyptian صدق normally takes the person or story directly. آمن بـ is the more natural choice for enduring faith, trust in an idea, or religious belief (neutral/formal depending context).
Event, habit, and stance
Perfect صدق presents acceptance as a bounded event. B-imperfect بيصدق presents a habit, tendency, or ongoing act of accepting claims. The agreeing active participle مصدق، مصدقة، مصدقين presents a current belief state. It takes مش, while finite verbs take ما...ش.
هو بيصدق صاحبه حتى لما الحكاية ماتدخلش العقل.
huwwa biyṣaddaʾ ṣāḥbo ḥatta lamma l-ḥikāya ma-tidkhulsh il-ʿaʾl.
He believes his friend even when the story makes no sense.
إحنا مصدقينك، بس محتاجين نشوف الإيصال.
iḥna moṣaddaʾīnak, bass moḥtagīn nishūf il-ʾīṣāl.
We believe you, but we need to see the receipt.
The passive participle مصدق can also occur in formal administrative language with the separate sense “certified/authenticated” (formal). Context and often على distinguish نسخة مصدق عليها “a certified copy” from conversational أنا مصدقك “I believe you.” This is a lexicalized register split, not evidence that all participial readings are interchangeable.
Interactional formulas
Bare تصدق؟ is a conversational attention-getter: “Would you believe it?” or “You know what?” It often introduces surprising information. صدقني means “believe me” and can reinforce reassurance, warning, or insistence. مش مصدق expresses disbelief or amazement; tone decides whether the reaction is positive or negative.
تصدق؟ لقيت المحفظة في جيب الجاكيت الشتوي.
tiṣaddaʾ? laʾēt il-maḥfaẓa fi gēb il-gakēt ish-shitwi.
Would you believe it? I found the wallet in the winter jacket pocket.
صدقني، الطريق ده أسرع بعد الساعة عشرة.
ṣaddaʾni, iṭ-ṭarīʾ da ʾasraʿ baʿd is-sāʿa ʿashara.
Believe me, this route is faster after ten.
أنا مش مصدق إنك جيت من غير ما تقول.
ʾana mish moṣaddaʾ ʾinnak gēt min ghēr ma tiʾūl.
I can't believe you came without saying anything.
Commands, future, and derived contrasts
Commands are صدق ṣaddaʾ, صدقي ṣaddaʾi, and صدقوا ṣaddaʾu. Negative ماتصدقش is common as advice or a warning. Future حـ joins the bare form, but a future prediction about belief is often more naturally phrased with a clitic object or إن clause.
ماتصدقش كل حاجة بتتقري على السوشيال ميديا.
ma-tiṣaddaʾsh koll ḥāga bititʾari ʿala s-sōshyāl mīdya.
Don't believe everything you read on social media.
لما يشوف الصور، حيصدق إن المكان اتغير.
lamma yishūf iṣ-ṣuwar, ḥa-yṣaddaʾ ʾinn il-makān itghayyar.
When he sees the photos, he'll believe that the place has changed.
Formal صَدَقَ “tell the truth / be truthful” and the noun صِدق belong to the same root but are not the everyday Cairo conjugation taught here. Likewise صدق على الورق “certify/approve the documents” is an institutional sense (formal/administrative). Learn these as separate lexical frames instead of predicting them from “believe.”
A short dialogue
بيقول إن العربية اتصلحت من غير ما يغيروا حاجة.
biyʾūl ʾinn il-ʿarabiyya itṣalaḥit min ghēr ma yighayyaru ḥāga.
He says the car was repaired without them replacing anything.
بصراحة مش مصدقه؛ حطلب منه تقرير الصيانة.
biṣarāḥa mish moṣaddaʾo; ḥa-ṭlob minno taʾrīr iṣ-ṣiyāna.
Honestly, I don't believe him; I'll ask him for the maintenance report.
Register and variation
The belief and interactional uses above are mainstream Cairene (informal/neutral). News, sermons, official prose, and deliberate MSA code-switching may retain q and formal inflection (formal/religious). Some Upper Egyptian, Bedouin, rural, and other regional varieties may realize historical ق as q or g (regional). Film dialogue may heighten تصدق؟ for dramatic rhythm (performance), but the construction is also completely ordinary in real conversation.
Common Mistakes
1. Adding an English-style preposition to a direct object.
❌ أنا صدقت في كلامه.
Incorrect for accepting his words as true—كلامه is a direct object.
✅ أنا صدقت كلامه عشان التفاصيل كانت مقنعة.
ʾana ṣaddaʾt kalāmo ʿashān it-tafāṣīl kānit moʾniʿa.
I believed what he said because the details were convincing.
2. Using b-imperfect after the interactional formula.
❌ بتصدق؟ المدير اعتذر بنفسه.
Awkward for the fixed attention-getter; conversational “would you believe it?” uses bare تصدق؟
✅ تصدق؟ المدير اعتذر قدام الفريق كله.
tiṣaddaʾ? il-modīr iʿtazar ʾuddām il-farīʾ kollo.
Would you believe it? The manager apologized in front of the whole team.
3. Pronouncing written ق as Cairo g by default.
مش مصدق وعده المرة دي.
mish moṣaddaʾ waʿdo l-marra di.
mish moṣaddag waʿdo l-marra di
Pronunciation error—mainstream Cairene صدق ends in ʾ, not g: I don't believe his promise this time.
4. Negating the participial stance with verbal ما...ش.
❌ أنا مامصدقش اللي سمعته.
Incorrect for the present participial stance; use مش مصدق.
✅ أنا مش مصدق اللي سمعته لحد دلوقتي.
ʾana mish moṣaddaʾ illi samiʿto laḥadd dilwaʾti.
I still can't believe what I heard.
Key Takeaways
- Write historical ق but pronounce it ʾ in mainstream Cairene صدق ṣaddaʾ.
- Use a direct object for a person or claim and إن for a full proposition.
- Finite صدق / بيصدق presents an event or tendency; مصدق presents a current stance.
- Learn تصدق؟، صدقني، مش مصدق as frequent interactional formulas, not word-for-word English translations.
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