Session 18 — The Past Tense: Building Real Conversations¶

20-hour method — Cycle 2, Session 8/10
Total training: ~28/40 hours
Duration: ~2 hours

Session 17 introduced the past tense through memorized chunks. Today we make it more systematic.

By the end, you should be able to say things like:

mbāre7 re7et 3ash-shoghol.
Yesterday I went to work.

ba3dēn raje3et 3al-bēt.
Then I came home.

akalet 3asha ma3 benti.
I had dinner with my daughter.

And, importantly, you'll start recognizing that the past verb changes depending on who did the action.

0:00–0:15 — Warm-up¶

Answer aloud.

Present¶

shu bta3mel kel yom?

What do you do every day?

emta bfii2?

When do you wake up?

shu bta3mel ba3d esh-shoghol?

What do you do after work?

Past¶

Now switch:

shu 3melt mbāre7?

What did you do yesterday?

la-wēn re7et?

Where did you go?

shu akalet?

What did you eat?

emta nimt?

When did you sleep?

Don't worry about accuracy yet. The point is to switch mentally from present → past.

0:15–0:30 — The key idea¶

Look at these:

Present	Past	Meaning
bākul	akalet	I eat → I ate
bshrob	shribt	I drink → I drank
brū7	re7et	I go → I went
bji	jiit	I come → I came
bnām	nimt	I sleep → I slept
bshūf	shifet	I see → I saw
b7ki	7akeit	I talk → I talked
b3mel	3melt	I do → I did

There are two important things to notice:

Present¶

Often begins with b-:

bākul

brū7

bshūf

Past¶

The b- disappears, and the verb takes its past form:

akalet

re7et

shifet

This is a useful first approximation.

But Arabic past verbs are not simply present verbs with the b removed.

For example:

brū7 → re7et

not rou7et.

So learn the past forms as vocabulary.

0:30–0:45 — Three very important past verbs¶

Today we will focus heavily on:

1. رحت — re7et¶

I went.

mbāre7 re7et 3ash-shoghol.

Yesterday I went to work.

2. جيت — jiit¶

I came.

mbāre7 jiit 3al-bēt.

Yesterday I came home.

3. عملت — 3melt¶

I did / made.

shu 3melt mbāre7?

What did you do yesterday?

These three verbs will appear constantly in conversation.

0:45–1:00 — The past with different people¶

Now we make an important step.

Take:

re7et

I went.

For you, the form changes.

You — masculine¶

re7et

You went.

You — feminine¶

re7ti

You went.

This is one reason context matters in Arabic.

Compare:

ana re7et.

I went.

enta re7et.

You went.

The verb is identical.

But:

enti re7ti.

You went. — feminine

1:00–1:15 — He / she¶

Now:

He went¶

re7

He went.

She went¶

re7et

She went.

This gives us a very useful pattern:

Person	re7
I	re7et
you — m.	re7et
you — f.	re7ti
he	re7
she	re7et

Notice something interesting:

ana re7et
I went

heyye re7et
She went

The same form can mean I or she.

The subject/context tells you which one.

1:15–1:30 — We and they¶

They¶

re7o

They went.

Now the complete basic pattern:

Person	Levantine	English
أنا	re7et	I went
إنتَ	re7et	you went — m.
إنتِ	re7ti	you went — f.
هو	re7	he went
هي	re7et	she went
نحنا	re7na	we went
هني	re7o	they went

This is your first complete past-tense paradigm.

Don't try to memorize dozens of paradigms yet.

Learn this one well.

1:30–1:45 — The endings¶

You can start noticing the pattern:

I / she¶

-et

You feminine¶

-ti

They¶

-o

The masculine singular he often has the basic past form.

So:

re7

he went

re7et

I went / she went

re7ti

you went, feminine

re7na

we went

re7o

they went

This pattern will appear again and again.

1:45–2:00 — Another verb: eat¶

Now:

akalet

I ate.

Let's build the same paradigm.

You masculine¶

akalet

You ate.

You feminine¶

akalti

You ate.

She¶

akalet

She ate.

They¶

akalo

They ate.

Part 2 — Compare the patterns¶

رَاح — to go¶

re7 — he went

re7et — I/she went

re7ti — you f. went

re7na — we went

re7o — they went

أكل — to eat¶

akal — he ate

akalet — I/she ate

akalti — you f. ate

akalna — we ate

akalo — they ate

The endings are beginning to become predictable.

Part 3 — Drink¶

شرب — sharab¶

Past:

shribt — I drank

This one is slightly different.

You masculine¶

shribt

You feminine¶

shribti

She¶

shribet

They¶

shribo

Don't worry about why some verbs have -et and others -t.

Arabic verb patterns will eventually explain this.

For now, learn the high-frequency forms.

Part 4 — “Did you...?”¶

One of the most useful conversational skills is asking someone what they did.

You already know:

shu 3melt?

What did you do?

Now:

re7et 3ash-shoghol?

Did you go to work?

akalet?

Did you eat?

shribt ahwe?

Did you drink coffee?

shifet...?

Did you see...?

7akeit ma3...?

Did you talk with...?

In colloquial Levantine, you can often make a question simply through intonation.

Part 5 — “Did you go?”¶

To a man:¶

re7et 3ash-shoghol?

Did you go to work?

To a woman:¶

re7ti 3ash-shoghol?

Did you go to work?

Answer:

eh, re7et.

Yes, I went.

Or:

la, ma re7et.

No, I didn't go.

Part 6 — Yes and no¶

You already know:

eh

yes

la

no

Now combine them with the past:

eh, re7et.

Yes, I went.

la, ma re7et.

No, I didn't go.

eh, akalet.

Yes, I ate.

la, ma akalet.

No, I didn't eat.

This gives you a very natural conversation pattern.

Part 7 — Past negative¶

The structure is straightforward:

ma + past verb

Examples:

re7et → ma re7et

I went → I didn't go

akalet → ma akalet

I ate → I didn't eat

shifet → ma shifet

I saw → I didn't see

7akeit → ma 7akeit

I talked → I didn't talk

3melt → ma 3melt

I did → I didn't do

Part 8 — Yesterday's story¶

Let's make a real story.

mbāre7 bfii2et es-sā3a sab3a.

Yesterday I woke up at seven.

akalet fṭūr w-shribt ahwe.

I ate breakfast and drank coffee.

ba3dēn re7et 3ash-shoghol.

Then I went to work.

eshtaghlet 7atta es-sā3a 5.

I worked until five.

ba3dēn raje3et 3al-bēt.

Then I came home.

ṭabakhet 3asha.

I cooked dinner.

akalet ma3 benti.

I ate with my daughter.

ba3dēn 7akeit ma3 akhūye.

Then I talked with my brother.

bil-lēl nimt es-sā3a 11.

At night I slept at eleven.

Read the whole story aloud.

Part 9 — “With”¶

Review:

ma3

with

Now practice:

akalet ma3 benti.

I ate with my daughter.

re7et ma3 akhūye.

I went with my brother.

shifet ṣā7bi.

I saw my friend.

7akeit ma3 ṣā7bi.

I talked with my friend.

Part 10 — Family drill¶

I'll give you the person.

You construct the sentence.

Your daughter¶

benti re7et 3al-madrase.

My daughter went to school.

Your brother¶

akhūye re7 3ash-shoghol.

My brother went to work.

Your parents¶

bayy w-māma re7o...

Dad and Mum went...

Notice:

re7o

because the subject is plural.

Part 11 — He / she / they¶

Compare:

akhūye re7.

My brother went.

benti re7et.

My daughter went.

akhūye w-benti re7o.

My brother and daughter went.

This is an important pattern:

masculine singular → re7
feminine singular → re7et
plural → re7o

Part 12 — “I was”¶

Now return to:

kent

I was.

You can combine it with locations and descriptions.

kent bil-bēt.

I was at home.

kent 3ash-shoghol.

I was at work.

kent ma3 benti.

I was with my daughter.

kent ta3bān.

I was tired.

kent mabsūṭ.

I was happy.

Part 13 — You were¶

You masculine¶

kent

you were

You feminine¶

kenti

you were

She¶

kānet

she was

They¶

kāno

they were

Again, notice the same family of endings:

-ti

-na

-o

Part 14 — “Where were you?”¶

Now:

wein kent mbāre7?

Where were you yesterday?

To a woman:

wein kenti mbāre7?

Where were you yesterday?

Answer:

kent bil-bēt.

I was at home.

kent 3ash-shoghol.

I was at work.

kent ma3 benti.

I was with my daughter.

Part 15 — “I was at...”¶

This is extremely useful because you can talk about your location without knowing a complicated verb.

kent bi-Paris.

I was in Paris.

kent bil-bēt.

I was at home.

kent bil-mat3am.

I was at the restaurant.

kent 3ash-shoghol.

I was at work.

Part 16 — Past tense + location¶

Compare:

Now¶

ana bil-bēt.

I am at home.

Yesterday¶

mbāre7 kent bil-bēt.

Yesterday I was at home.

Tomorrow¶

bokra بكون bil-bēt.

Tomorrow I'll be at home.

Don't worry about future tense yet. Just recognize that Arabic can express time through different constructions.

Part 17 — What happened?¶

شو صار؟ — shu ṣār?¶

What happened?

This is an extremely common Levantine expression.

shu ṣār?

What happened?

ma ṣār shi.

Nothing happened.

shi = something / anything.

You will hear shu ṣār? constantly in conversation.

Part 18 — Something happened¶

ṣār shi.

Something happened.

shu ṣār mbāre7?

What happened yesterday?

ma ṣār shi.

Nothing happened.

This gives you another very natural way of asking someone about their day.

Instead of only:

shu 3melt?

you can ask:

shu ṣār?

What happened?

Part 19 — “Then”¶

You've already learned:

ba3dēn

then

Now use it naturally in stories.

re7et 3ash-shoghol. ba3dēn raje3et 3al-bēt.

I went to work. Then I came home.

akalet. ba3dēn shrebt ahwe.

I ate. Then I drank coffee.

7akeit ma3 benti. ba3dēn nimt.

I talked with my daughter. Then I slept.

Part 20 — “But”¶

بس — bas¶

but

Also:

bas

that's it / only

Context determines the meaning.

For now:

bas ma...

but I didn't...

Example:

re7et 3ash-shoghol, bas ma eshtaghlet kteer.

I went to work, but I didn't work much.

kteer = much / a lot.

Part 21 — “A lot”¶

كتير — kteer¶

a lot / very / much

b7ebb kteer.

I like it a lot.

eshtaghlet kteer.

I worked a lot.

akalet kteer.

I ate a lot.

kteer 7لو.

Very nice.

You'll hear kteer constantly in Levantine.

Part 22 — “A little”¶

شوي — shway¶

a little

akalet shway.

I ate a little.

shrebt shway.

I drank a little.

eshtaghlet shway.

I worked a little.

Opposition:

kteer — a lot

shway — a little

Part 23 — Build more natural answers¶

Question:

shu 3melt mbāre7?

Instead of answering with one sentence:

re7et 3ash-shoghol.

Try:

mbāre7 re7et 3ash-shoghol. ba3dēn raje3et 3al-bēt. ṭabakhet 3asha w-akalet ma3 benti. ba3dēn 7akeit ma3 akhūye w-nimt.

This is already a small narrative.

That is what the 20-hour method is aiming for: the ability to communicate with limited vocabulary rather than knowing isolated grammar rules.

Part 24 — Pronunciation drill¶

Focus on these contrasts:

re7¶

re7

he went

re7et¶

re7et

I went / she went

re7ti¶

re7ti

you went — feminine

re7na¶

re7na

we went

re7o¶

re7o

they went

Say the sequence:

re7 — re7et — re7ti — re7na — re7o

Then:

akal — akalet — akalti — akalna — akalo

Part 25 — Reading without transliteration¶

Read:

مبارح رحت عالشغل.

أكلت فطور وشربت قهوة.

بعدين رجعت عالبيت.

طبخت عشا وأكلت مع بنتي.

بعدين حكيت مع أخوي.

بالليل نمت الساعة حداش.

Now identify all the past verbs:

رحت

أكلت

شربت

رجعت

طبخت

أكلت

حكيت

نمت

This is exactly the kind of reading practice you need at this stage.

Part 26 — Translation challenge¶

Translate into Levantine Arabic without looking back.

Part 27 — Conversation simulation¶

Imagine we're having coffee.

Me:¶

mar7aba! shu 3melt mbāre7?

You:

Answer for 30–60 seconds.

Me:¶

wein kent bil-lēl?

You:

Answer with a location.

Me:¶

akalet?

You:

eh, ...

or

la, ...

Me:¶

shifet 7ada?

You:

eh, shifet...

or

la, ma shifet 7ada.

Me:¶

la-wēn re7et ba3d esh-shoghol?

You:

Answer with:

re7et...

Me:¶

ma3 miin?

With whom?

You:

ma3...

Part 28 — Three-minute speaking challenge¶

Tell me about yesterday.

Use this sequence:

1. Morning¶

mbāre7 bfii2et...

2. Breakfast¶

akalet...

3. Work¶

re7et...

4. Afternoon¶

ba3dēn...

5. Evening¶

raje3et...

6. Dinner¶

ṭabakhet...

7. Night¶

bil-lēl...

8. Sleep¶

nimt...

Aim for 8–10 sentences.

Don't translate from English sentence by sentence.

Think in chunks.

Part 29 — Today's core vocabulary¶

People¶

Arabic	Transliteration	English
عيلة	3ayle	family
بنتي	benti	my daughter
ابني	ibni	my son
أخوي	akhūye	my brother
أختي	ekhte	my sister
صاحبي	ṣā7bi	my friend

Past¶

Arabic	Transliteration	English
رحت	re7et	I went
جيت	jiit	I came
أكلت	akalet	I ate
شربت	shribt	I drank
شفت	shifet	I saw
حكيت	7akeit	I talked
عملت	3melt	I did
رجعت	raje3et	I returned
نمت	nimt	I slept
كنت	kent	I was

Connectors¶

ba3dēn — then

ba3d — after

2abel — before

bas — but

ma3 — with

kteer — a lot

shway — a little

Session 18 — Final checkpoint¶

You should now understand this:

أنا بروح عالشغل كل يوم.

ana brū7 3ash-shoghol kel yom.

I go to work every day.

versus:

مبارح رحت عالشغل.

mbāre7 re7et 3ash-shoghol.

Yesterday I went to work.

And:

بكرا بروح عالشغل.

bokra brū7 3ash-shoghol.

Tomorrow I go/will go to work.

The time expression + verb form gives you a very powerful framework:

Time	Sentence
Every day	kel yom brū7 3ash-shoghol
Now	halla2 brū7 / 3am بروح...
Yesterday	mbāre7 re7et 3ash-shoghol
Tomorrow	bokra بروح 3ash-shoghol

For now, don't worry about mastering the entire Arabic tense system. Your immediate objective is much more practical:

present → past → basic future

and being able to move between them while speaking.

Homework¶

1. Past-tense memorization¶

Memorize these 10 forms:

re7et — I went
jiit — I came
akalet — I ate
shribt — I drank
shifet — I saw
7akeit — I talked
3melt — I did
raje3et — I came back
ṭabakhet — I cooked
nimt — I slept

2. Write your real yesterday¶

Write 10 sentences beginning with:

mbāre7...

3. Speak¶

Tell your yesterday story aloud three times.

On the third attempt, don't look at your notes.

4. Family¶

Describe your family in 5–8 simple sentences.

Use:

hayda...

hayde...

benti...

akhūye...

3omro / 3omra...

bte7ebb / by7ebb...

The target for the end of Session 18¶

You should be able to have this exchange without translating every sentence:

shu 3melt mbāre7?
What did you do yesterday?

mbāre7 re7et 3ash-shoghol. ba3dēn raje3et 3al-bēt. ṭabakhet 3asha w-akalet ma3 benti. ba3dēn 7akeit ma3 akhūye w-nimt.

That's a real, coherent piece of Levantine Arabic. The next session can build on this by introducing more systematic present/past conjugation and the near future, so you can move naturally between yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Session 18 — The Past Tense: Building Real Conversations¶

0:00–0:15 — Warm-up¶

Present¶

Past¶

0:15–0:30 — The key idea¶

Present¶

Past¶

0:30–0:45 — Three very important past verbs¶

1. رحت — re7et¶

2. جيت — jiit¶

3. عملت — 3melt¶

0:45–1:00 — The past with different people¶

You — masculine¶

You — feminine¶

1:00–1:15 — He / she¶

He went¶

She went¶

1:15–1:30 — We and they¶

We¶

They¶

1:30–1:45 — The endings¶

I / she¶

You feminine¶

We¶

They¶

1:45–2:00 — Another verb: eat¶

I¶

You masculine¶

You feminine¶

He¶

She¶

We¶

They¶

Part 2 — Compare the patterns¶

رَاح — to go¶

أكل — to eat¶

Part 3 — Drink¶

شرب — sharab¶

I¶

You masculine¶

You feminine¶

He¶

She¶

We¶

They¶

Part 4 — “Did you...?”¶

Part 5 — “Did you go?”¶

To a man:¶

To a woman:¶

Part 6 — Yes and no¶

Part 7 — Past negative¶

Part 8 — Yesterday's story¶

Part 9 — “With”¶

Part 10 — Family drill¶

Your daughter¶

Your brother¶

Your parents¶

Part 11 — He / she / they¶

Part 12 — “I was”¶

Part 13 — You were¶

You masculine¶

You feminine¶

He¶

She¶

We¶

They¶

Part 14 — “Where were you?”¶

Part 15 — “I was at...”¶

Part 16 — Past tense + location¶

Now¶

Yesterday¶

Tomorrow¶

Part 17 — What happened?¶

شو صار؟ — shu ṣār?¶

Part 18 — Something happened¶

Part 19 — “Then”¶

Part 20 — “But”¶

بس — bas¶

Part 21 — “A lot”¶

كتير — kteer¶