Editor’s Note & Disclaimer: The core content and linguistic structure of this lesson were originally authored by Chris Hitchcock for the Team Maha website. This post is part of an effort to preserve, organize, and share these invaluable resources for Arabic learners worldwide.

Expressing complex temporal relationships in Levantine Arabic (Shami) goes well beyond simple past and present verb conjugations. By combining auxiliary particles like عم (3am) and auxiliary verbs like كان (kaan) and بكون (bikuun), Shami builds a rich system of compound tenses.

In this lesson, we will cover future particles, continuous aspects, past habitual and continuous structures, future-in-the-past, pluperfect, and modal deductions.

1. Expressing the Future (المستقبل)

Levantine Arabic offers several flexible methods to express future actions, depending on intent and immediacy:

A. Simple Present with b-

For immediate decisions, promises, or scheduled events, the plain b- present tense is frequently used:

• بروح معك (bruu7 ma3ak → ‘I’ll go with you’)

B. Intentional Future: بدي (bédd-)

When expressing explicit intent (“going to”), the pseudo-verb بدي (béddi) precedes a subjunctive verb:

• بدي امرق لعندو بكرا (béddi émro2 la-3éndo bukra → ‘I’m going to go to his house tomorrow’)

C. Future Particles: رح (ra7 / ra7a-) and حـ (7a-)

The most common explicit future markers are رح (ra7) (standalone particle) and حـ (7a-) (prefix attached directly to the subjunctive verb):

• رح روح (ra7 ruu7 → ‘I will go’)
• حشوفك بكرا (7a-shuufak bukra → ‘I’ll see you tomorrow’)

2. The Continuous Aspect: عم (3am)

To mark an ongoing, real-time action or a repetitive process over a specific period, the particle عم (3am) precedes the verb:

• عم ادرس (3am édros → ‘I am studying’)
• ضرسي ما عم ينومني الليل (Dersi maa 3am ynawwemni élleel → ‘my tooth isn’t letting me sleep at night’)

Usage with Ability Verbs

In Levantine Arabic, عم (3am) can combine with verbs of ability or perception where English does not typically allow a continuous form:

• ما عم بقدر افتح الباب (maa 3am bé2der éfta7 élbaab → ‘I can’t get the door open’ — literally ‘I am not being able to open…’)

3. Combinations with كان (kaan)

Combining the past copula كان (kaan) with other verb structures forms a full suite of past compound tenses:

A. Past Habitual (“Used to do”)

• كان (kaan) + Subjunctive Verb:
  • كان يدرس (kaan yédros → ‘he used to study’)
  • كنا نلعب بالشارع (kénna nél3ab bésh-shaare3 → ‘we used to play in the street’)

B. Past Continuous (“Was doing”)

• كان (kaan) + عم (3am) + Subjunctive Verb:
  • كنت عم ادرس (ként 3am édros → ‘I was studying [when you called]’)

C. Future-in-the-Past (“Was going to do”)

• كان (kaan) + رح (ra7) / بدي (bédd-) + Subjunctive Verb:
  • كان رح يشتي (kaan ra7 yshatti → ‘it was going to rain’)
  • كان بدو يفوت (kaan béddo yfuut → ‘he was about to go in’)

D. Pluperfect / Past Perfect (“Had done”)

• كان (kaan) + Past Tense Verb:
  • كان راح (kaan raa7 → ‘he had gone’)
  • كنت اشتريت (ként @shtareet → ‘I had bought’)

4. Deductions and Future Centerings with بكون (bikuun)

The present form بكون (bikuun) combines with other verb forms to express logical deductions, assumptions (“must be…”), or future completions:

A. Deductions about Current State (“Must be doing”)

• بكون (bikuun) + عم (3am) + Subjunctive:
  • بكون عم يدرس (bikuun 3am yédros → ‘he must be studying right now / he’ll be studying’)

B. Assumptions about Past Action (“Must have done”)

• بكون (bikuun) + Past Tense Verb:
  • بكون خلص (bikuun khallaS → ‘he’ll have finished / he must have finished by now’)

C. Future Intentions

• بكون (bikuun) + بدي (bédd-) + Subjunctive:
  • بكون بدو يفوت (bikuun béddo yfuut → ‘he’ll be about to enter’)

D. Subjunctive in Triggered Environments

When dependent on a trigger word like خايف (khaayef), the b-less form يكون (ykuun) is used:

• خايف يكون فات من الباب التاني (khaayef ykuun faat mn élbaab éttaani → ‘I’m afraid he might have come in through the second door’)

What’s Next?

In Part #13, we will cover Object Pronouns.