Arabic Present Tense Without b-: After بدّي, لازم and ممكن

Two forms of the same verb

In the present-tense lesson you met verbs like بَدرُس (I study) and بِتروح (you go), each starting with b-. That b- form is used for statements of fact and habit. But Levantine Arabic also has a second, 'bare' form of the present: the same verb without the b-.

You use the bare form when the verb follows another word that already sets up the meaning, such as 'want', 'must', 'can' or 'like'. In English we do something similar: we say 'I go', but after 'want' we switch to 'I want to go'. Arabic does not have a word for 'to' here; instead it drops the b-.

You will meet this bare form again and again, because it is also the form used after the future marker رح. Learning it well now pays off twice.

The words that trigger it

The workbook groups the triggers into four families. After any of these, the next verb loses its b-:

A present-tense verb, especially بحِبّ (I like). لازم (laazim), meaning 'must' or 'have to'. ممكن (mumkin), meaning 'can', 'could' or 'might'. And رح (ra7), the future marker, which has its own article. To these add بدّي (biddi), 'I want', which you will use constantly.

بدّي changes with the person: بدّي (biddi, I want), بدّك (biddak/biddik, you want), بدّه (biddo, he wants), بدها (bidha, she wants), بدنا (bidna, we want), بدكم (bidkum, you all want) and بدهم (bidhum, they want). The verb after it still changes for its own person too.

Other common phrases work the same way. خلّينا (khallina, let's) is followed by the bare form, as in خلّينا نِشرَب قهوة سوا (let's drink coffee together). Requests with ممكن are a polite way to ask for something: ممكن تِحكي أبطأ؟ means 'could you speak more slowly?'

Building the bare form

The bare form uses the person markers you already know, without the b- in front. 'I' starts with أ (a-), 'you' and 'she' with تِـ (ti-), 'he' and 'they' with يِـ (yi-), and 'we' with نِـ (ni-). The endings -i and -u stay exactly as before.

Tip: Compare the two columns and you will see why the b- form looks the way it does: بـ plus أ gives بَـ, بـ plus تِـ gives بِتـ, and بـ plus يِـ gives just بِـ, because the y sound gets swallowed. Learning the bare form actually makes the b- form easier to remember.

Verbs with a long vowel

Verbs like روح (go), زور (visit) and نام (sleep) follow the same idea. The bare forms are أروح, تروح, يروح, نروح and so on. أكَل (eat) becomes آكُل for 'I' and تاكُل, ياكُل, ناكُل for the others.

Examples with want, must, can and like

Notice that both words in each pair change for the person. In بدّك تروحي (do you want to go?), بدّك is 'you want' and تروحي is the bare form for a woman.

• بدّي أروح عالبيت هلّق.biddi aroo7 3al-beet hal2I want to go home now.
• يا سلمى، بدّك تروحي معي؟ya salma, biddik troo7i ma3i?Salma, do you want to go with me?
• يا حسن، لازم تروح عالدكتور.ya 7asan, laazim troo7 3ad-doktoorHasan, you have to go to the doctor.
• لازم نِدرُس للامتحان.laazim nidrus lal-imti7aanWe have to study for the exam.
• ممكن نزور بيتكم بكرة؟mumkin nzoor beetkum bukra?Can we visit your house tomorrow?
• بدّه يِحكي مع المدير.biddo yi7ki ma3 il-mudeerHe wants to speak to the manager.
• بِتحِبّوا تِشربوا قهوة عربية؟bit7ibbu tishrabu 2ahwe 3arabiyye?Do you all like to drink Arabic coffee?

When you are listening, the missing b- is a useful clue. If you hear a verb starting with a-, ti-, yi- or ni- with no b- in front, look for a trigger word just before it.

The workbook pairs: with and without b-

The workbook shows the contrast with ركض (to run). On its own you say بَركُض (I run). After a trigger the b- falls away: بحِبّ أركُض (I like to run), لازم أركُض (I have to run), ممكن أركُض (I might run) and رح أركُض (I will run). Saying لازم بَركُض is a classic learner slip.

A helpful way to think about it: only one verb in the chain gets the b-. If the first word is itself a b- verb, like بحِبّ, the second verb is bare. If the first word is لازم, ممكن or بدّي, which are not b- verbs at all, the main verb is still bare.

Tip: To make these negative, put ما before the first word, not the second: ما بدّي أروح (I don't want to go). For 'you don't have to', say مش لازم: مش لازم تروح.

A note on Modern Standard Arabic

In Modern Standard Arabic the present tense is always 'bare' and a little word أن (an, 'to') joins two verbs: أريد أن أذهب. Levantine speech skips أن entirely and relies on the missing b- to show the link. If you already know MSA, the bare forms will look familiar; just remember not to add the b- after these trigger words.

Practice

Try each one aloud. Ask yourself first: is there a trigger word? If yes, leave the b- off the second verb.