رمى / بيرمي rama / biyirmi “throw, throw away” is the clearest model for one major Cairene final-weak class. Its final root consonant is ي, but it does not appear in one constant shape: compare رمى rama, رميت ramēt, رمت ramit, and بيرمي biyirmi. These are not spelling accidents; they are the regular stem alternations of this lexical class.
English keeps throw unchanged before person endings. Egyptian learners instead need three perfect stems and two imperfect shapes. The overview of weak roots is on Weak Roots: Recognition and Limits; this page gives the working inflection.
The practical perfect paradigm
Use رما- with no person suffix, رميـ- pronounced ramē- before consonant-initial endings, and رمـ- before the vowel-initial third-person endings.
| Person | Perfect | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| أنا | رميت | ramēt |
| إنت | رميت | ramēt |
| إنتي | رميتي | ramēti |
| هو | رمى | rama |
| هي | رمت | ramit |
| إحنا | رمينا | ramēna |
| إنتوا | رميتوا | ramētu |
| هم | رموا | ramu |
رميت الورق القديم في الزبالة.
ramēt il-waraʾ il-ʾadīm fi z-zibāla.
I threw the old papers in the trash.
هي رمت المفتاح على الترابيزة.
hiyya ramit il-miftāḥ ʿala t-tarabēza.
She tossed the key onto the table.
Rule 1: the imperfect ends in -i
The bare imperfect has ارمي، ترمي، يرمي، نرمي. The b-imperfect adds the ordinary person/aspect prefixes. Before plural -وا, final -i drops: بيرموا biyirmu.
| Person | B-imperfect | Future |
|---|---|---|
| أنا | برمي barmi | حرمي ḥa-rmi |
| إنت / إنتي | بترمي bitirmi | حترمي ḥa-tirmi |
| هو | بيرمي biyirmi | حيرمي ḥa-yirmi |
| هي | بترمي bitirmi | حترمي ḥa-tirmi |
| إحنا | بنرمي binirmi | حنرمي ḥa-nirmi |
| هم | بيرموا biyirmu | حيرموا ḥa-yirmu |
Time-context minimal pair
رمى الكورة بره الملعب امبارح.
rama l-kūra barra l-malʿab imbāriḥ.
He threw the ball out of the field yesterday.
بيرمي الكورة بره الملعب كل تمرين.
biyirmi l-kūra barra l-malʿab koll tamrīn.
He throws the ball out of the field at every practice.
ممكن ترمي الكيس ده في الباسكت؟
momkin tirmi l-kīs da fil-bāskit?
Could you throw this bag in the bin?
After ممكن, bare ترمي presents a possible/requested action. Neutral habitual بيرمي requires بـ; future حيرمي requires joined حـ.
Rule 2: direct-object clitics reveal another stem shape
رمى is transitive. Object pronouns attach directly, and a final vowel may lengthen before them: رماه ramāh “he threw it/him,” رماها ramāha “he threw it/her.” A first-person perfect keeps its suffixed stem before the object: رميتها ramētha “I threw it.”
هو رماها من غير ما يبص.
huwwa ramāha min ghēr ma yibuṣṣ.
He threw it without looking.
أنا رميتها عشان كانت بايظة.
ʾana ramētha ʿashān kānit bāyẓa.
I threw it away because it was spoiled.
هو بيرميها في نفس المكان كل مرة.
huwwa biyirmīha fi nafs il-makān koll marra.
He throws it in the same place every time.
Do not spell or pronounce the object as an independent pronoun after the verb. The attachment is part of the verbal word.
Rule 3: negation closes after the object
The negative suffix -ش comes after any attached object. Perfect and imperfect keep their own aspectual stem inside the circumfix.
Positive-to-negative pair
هو رماها في الزبالة.
huwwa ramāha fi z-zibāla.
He threw it in the trash.
هو مارماهاش في الزبالة.
huwwa ma-ramāhāsh fi z-zibāla.
He didn’t throw it in the trash.
أنا مابرميش أكل كويس.
ʾana ma-barmīsh ʾakl kuwayyis.
I don’t throw away good food.
Rule 4: complement choice is lexical
رمى حاجة في مكان places something into a location; رمى حاجة على سطح/شخص directs it onto or at something. Motion goals and idiomatic senses must be learned with the verb. The final-weak pattern predicts conjugation, not the preposition.
رموا الورد على العروسة.
ramu l-ward ʿala l-ʿarūsa.
They threw flowers over the bride.
In ordinary Cairo, رمى is neutral (informal). MSA رَمَى / يَرْمِي shares much of the spelling but has case/mood paradigms and citation vowels not added here. Regional realizations and formal reading styles may differ, but they do not license mixing an MSA ending into a Cairene sentence.
A two-turn Cairene dialogue
فين الكيس اللي كان على الكرسي؟
fēn il-kīs illi kān ʿala l-kursi?
Where’s the bag that was on the chair?
رميته في الباسكت، افتكرته فاضي.
ramētu fil-bāskit, iftakartu fāḍi.
I threw it in the bin; I thought it was empty.
Common Mistakes
Keeping ى before every perfect ending
❌ هي رميت الكورة.
Incorrect for ‘she threw’—third-person feminine uses رمت, while رميت means ‘I/you threw.’
✅ هي رمت الكورة.
hiyya ramit il-kūra.
She threw the ball.
Omitting b- from a recurring event
❌ هو يرمي الورق هنا كل يوم.
Incorrect as a neutral habitual main clause—the verb needs b-.
✅ هو بيرمي الورق هنا كل يوم.
huwwa biyirmi l-waraʾ hina koll yōm.
He throws the papers here every day.
Separating the future marker
❌ هو ح يرمي الكورة بعدين.
Incorrect spelling—the future marker joins the verb.
✅ هو حيرمي الكورة بعدين.
huwwa ḥa-yirmi l-kūra baʿdēn.
He’ll throw the ball later.
Separating the object pronoun
❌ أنا رميت ها في الزبالة.
Incorrect—the direct-object pronoun attaches to the verb.
✅ أنا رميتها في الزبالة.
ʾana ramētha fi z-zibāla.
I threw it in the trash.
Putting -ش before the object
❌ هو مارماشها.
Incorrect—the object comes before final negative -ش.
✅ هو مارماهاش.
huwwa ma-ramāhāsh.
He didn’t throw it.
Adding an MSA mood vowel
ممكن ترمي الكيس؟
momkin tirmi l-kīs?
mumkin tarmiya l-kīsa
Pronunciation error—the Cairene bare form has no MSA mood or case ending.
✅ ممكن ترمي الكيس؟
momkin tirmi l-kīs?
Could you throw the bag away?
Key Takeaways
The رمى class uses رما- / رميـ- / رمـ- in the perfect and final -i in the imperfect. Before plural endings, the final vowel drops; before object clitics, it may lengthen. Keep بـ, حـ, object pronouns, and negative -ش in their Egyptian order rather than importing an MSA paradigm.
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