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.

In Levantine Arabic (Shami), direct and indirect object pronouns attach directly to the ends of verbs, active participles, and pseudo-verbs. While direct object suffixes closely resemble those in Modern Standard Arabic (FuSHa), Shami introduces a distinct indirect object system using لـ (-l-) suffixes and the double-object carrier ياـ (yaa-).

In this lesson, we will cover direct object suffixes, vowel-shifting rules, indirect -l- suffixes, long vowel shortening, and how to manage double object pronouns.

1. Direct Object Pronoun Suffixes

Direct object suffixes attach directly to verbs or active participles. Their forms vary slightly depending on whether the word ends in a consonant or a vowel:

Pronunciation and Stress Rules:

1. Third-Person Masculine Singular (-o / -h): Following a consonant, it takes -o (تركتو / tarakto → ‘I left him’). Following a vowel, the final vowel of the verb lengthens and receives sentence stress without pronouncing an explicit h sound (بينساه / byénsaa → ‘he forgets it’).
2. Vowel Dropping: Attaching a vowel-initial suffix (-o, -ak, -ek) to a present verb or participle triggers standard short vowel dropping in the final syllable (بتشربو / btéshrbo → ‘you drink it’).

2. The Indirect Object Suffixes (ـلـ / -l-)

Unlike FuSHa, Levantine Arabic features an integrated set of indirect object suffixes built with لـ (-l-) (’to / for’). These attach directly to the verb stem:

• Examples:
  • تركلك (tarak-lak → ‘he left for you’)
  • تركتلك (tarakt-éllak → ‘I left for you’ — cluster insertion)

Shortening Long Vowels in Hollow Verbs

When attaching -l- suffixes to hollow verbs (single long middle vowel), long vowels ii and uu shorten to é:

• بقول + لك ← بقللك (bi2uul + -lak → bi2él-lak — ‘he says to you’)
• بجيب + لك ← بجبلك (bjiib + -lak → bjéb-lak — ‘I’ll get you’)

3. Double Object Pronouns & ياـ (yaa-)

A single verb in Levantine Arabic cannot hold two direct pronoun suffixes simultaneously. When a sentence requires both a direct and an indirect object pronoun, the direct object is placed on the pronoun carrier ياـ (yaa-):

• عطيني ياه (3aTiini yaa → ‘give me it’)
• عطيتو ياها (3aTeeto yaaha → ‘I gave him it’)

Combining Direct Objects with -l- Suffixes

Adding an -l- indirect suffix forces the direct object onto ياـ (yaa-):

• يا ريت تشفلي ياه (yaa reet tshéf-li yaa → ‘could you please check it for me?’)

Usage with Pseudo-Verbs

Pseudo-verbs that already take attached pronouns for their subject (such as بدي / bédd-) use ياـ (yaa-) to carry their direct object:

• بدي ياها (béddi yaaha → ‘I want it’)
• بدو ياك (béddo yaak → ‘he wants you’)

What’s Next?

In Part #14, we will cover Possession and iDaafe.