The imperative is used to give commands or instructions in the affirmative or negative. The imperative is conjugated in the singular or plural, with distinct masculine and feminine forms in the singular. In the plural, some speakers—especially in rural areas—make the distinction, but it is also common to use the masculine form to refer to both genders in the plural. Unlike in MSA, the dual is treated like the plural in Palestinian-Jordanian Levantine Arabic. Therefore, we have four imperative forms in total:
1. Singular masculine form, i.e., إِنْــتَ (’inta) ‘you – masculine.’
2. Singular feminine form, i.e., إِنْــتِ (’inti) ‘you – feminine.’
3. Plural masculine form, i.e., إِنْــتُــوْ (’intu) ‘you (all) – masculine.’
4. Plural feminine form, i.e., إِنْــتِــن (’intin) ‘you (all) – feminine.’
Each of the above forms can be used in the affirmative or negative.
Table of Contents
- Commands & Imperative: Form #1
- Commands & Imperative: Other Forms
- “Let us …”
- يَــــلَّا (yalla)
- “Let him/her/them …”
- بَـــلَاش (balāsh)
- Level V – Advanced I (C1)
Commands & Imperative: Form #1
To give commands in the imperative, we begin with the second-person present subjunctive form of the verb, i.e., إِنْــتَ (’inta), إِنْــتِ (’inti), إِنْــتُــوْ (’intu), and إِنْــتِــن (’intin).
| Singular | Plural | |
| 2nd person masculine | إِنْــتَ تــفْــعــل ’inta txf‘xl | إِنْــتُــوْ تــفْـعـلُــوْ ’intu txf‘xlu |
| 2nd person feminine | إِنْــتِ تــفْــعــلِــيْ ’inti txf‘xli | إنْــتِــن تــفْــعــلِـــن ’intin txf‘xlin |
In the negative, we add لَا (lā) before the second-person present subjunctive verb.
In the affirmative, we drop the initial تـ (t) while maintaining the initial vowel, i.e., تُـ (tu) è اُ (u), تِـ (ti) è اِ (i).
Here are some examples:
| Present Indicative | Present Subjunctive | Negative Imperative | Affirmative Imperative |
| إِنْــتَ بْــتِــشْــرَب ’inta btishrab you drink | تِــشْــرَب tishrab you drink | لا تِــشْــرَب lā tishrab Don’t drink! | اِشْــــرَب ishrab Drink! |
| إِنْــتَ بْــتُــكْــتُــب ’inta btuktub you write | تُــكْــتُــب tuktub you write | لا تُــكْــتُــب lā tuktub Don’t write! | اُكْــتُــب uktub Write! |
| إِنْـتِ بْــتِــفْــهَــمِـيْ ’inti btifhami you understand | تِــفْــهَــمِـيْ tifhami you understand | لا تِــفْــهَــمِـيْ lā tifhami Don’t understand! | اِفْــهَــمِـيْ ifhami Understand! |
| إِنْـتِ بْــتُــدْرُسِــيْ ’inti btudrusi you study | تُــدْرُسِــيْ tudrusi you study | لا تُــدْرُسِــيْ lā tudrusi Don’t study! | اُدْرُسِــيْ udrusi Study! |
| إِنْـتُــوْ بْــتِــلْــعَــبُــوْ ’intu btil‘abu you play | تِــلْــعَــبُــوْ til‘abu you play | لا تِــلْــعَــبُــوْ lā til‘abu Don’t play! | اِلْــعَــبُــوْ il‘abu Play! |
| إِنْـتِـن بْــتِـسْـمَـعِــن ’intin btisma‘in you hear | تِـسْـمَـعِــن tisma‘in you hear | لا تِــسْــمَــعِـــن lā tisma‘in Don’t hear! | اِسْــمَــعِـــن isma‘in Hear! |
Commands & Imperative: Other Forms
Verb Forms II, III, V, and VI drop the initial تـ (t) in the present subjunctive, and in Forms V and VI, the following short vowel is also dropped, to form the affirmative imperative.
Consider the following examples of the verbs: دَرَّس (darras) ‘he taught’ – Form II, قَـــاوَم (qāwam) ‘he resisted’ – Form III, تْــعَــلَّــم (t‘allam) ‘he learned’ – Form V, and اِنْــكَــسَــر (inkasar) ‘he/it got broken’ – Form VI.
| Present Indicative | Present Subjunctive | Negative Imperative | Affirmative Imperative |
| إِنْــتَ بِــتْــدَرِّس ’inta bitdarris you teach | تْـــدَرِّس tdarris you teach | لا تْـــدَرِّس lā tdarris Don’t teach! | دَرِّس darris Teach! |
| إِنْــتَ بِــتْــقَــاوِم ’inta bitqāwim you resist | تْــقَــاوِم tqāwim you resist | لا تْــقَــاوِم lā tqāwim Don’t resist! | قَـــاوِم qāwim Resist! |
| إِنْــتَ بْــتِــتْــعَــلَّــم ’inta btit‘allam you learn | تِــتْــعَــلَّــم tit‘allam you learn | لا تِــتْــعَــلَّــم lā tit‘allam Don’t learn! | تْــعَــلَّــم t‘allam Learn! |
| إِنْـتَ بْــتِــنْــكِــسِــر ’inta btinkisir you get broken | تِــنْــكِــسِــر tinkisir you get broken | لا تِــنْــكِــسِــر lā tinkisir Don’t get broken! | اِنْــكِــسِــر inkisir Get broken! |
Here is a summary of the different verb forms in the second-person singular masculine affirmative imperative:
| I | II | III | IV | V |
| افْــعــل xf ‘xl | فَــعِّــل fa‘‘il | فَــاعِــل fā‘il | اِفْــعِــل if ‘il | تْــفَــعَّــل tfa‘‘al |
| VI | VII | VIII | IX | X |
| تْــفَــاعَــل tfā‘al | اِنْــفِــعِــل infi‘il | اِفْــتِــعِــل ifti‘il | اِفْــعَــلّ if ‘all | اِسْــتَــفْــعِــل istaf ‘il |
“Let us …”
To say ‘let’s do something’ in Palestinian-Jordanian Arabic, we use the verb خَـــلِّــيْـــنَــا (khallīna) ‘let us,’ followed by the present subjunctive verb in the first-person plural form, i.e., إِحْــنَـا (’iḥna) ‘we,’ to express a suggestion, intention, or encouragement.
Here are some examples:
| Indicative | Subjunctive | “Let us …” |
| إِحْــنَـا بْــنِــسْــمَــع ’iḥna bnisma‘ we hear/listen | نِــسْــمَــع nisma‘ we hear/listen | خَـــلِّــيْـــنَــا نِــسْــمَــع khallīna nisma‘ Let’s hear/listen! |
| إِحْــنَـا بْــنُــكْــتُــب ’iḥna bnuktub we write | نُــكْــتُــب nuktub we write | خَـــلِّــيْـــنَــا نُــكْــتُــب khallīna nuktub Let’s write! |
يَــــلَّا (yalla)
Another common and versatile expression in Palestinian-Jordanian Arabic is يَــــلَّا (yalla), which is often used in one of the following contexts:
- Suggestion or encouragement = ‘Let us + present subjunctive in the first-person plural’
| !يَــــلَّا نْـــرُوْح yalla nrūḥ Let’s go! | !يَــــلَّا نِـــطْــلَــع yalla niṭla‘ Let’s go out! |
| !يَــــلَّا نِـــلْــعَـــب yalla nil‘ab Let’s play! | !يَــــلَّا نِـــتْــمَـــشَّـــى yalla nitmash \sha Let’s go for a walk! |
The expression يَــــلَّا (yalla) can also be used on its own to cheer on a person or sports team, simply meaning ‘Go!’ or ‘Let’s go!’
- Indicating urgency = ‘Hurry up!’
| .يَــــلَّا! تْـــأَخَّـــرْنَـــا yalla t’akh kharna Hurry up! We are late. | .يَــــلَّا! لَازِم نْــخَــلِّــص بْــسُــرْعَــة yalla lāzim nkhalliṣ (i) b-sur‘ah Hurry up! We must finish quickly. |
| .يَــــلَّا! أَنَـــا بَــسْــتَــنَّــاك yalla ’ana bastannāk Hurry up! I’m waiting for you. | .يَــــلَّا! مَـــا مَــعِــيْ وَقْـــت yalla mā ma‘i waq(i)t Hurry up! I don’t have time. |
- Expressing agreement or acceptance = ‘Alright!’
| .يَــــلَّا! مَـــاشِـــيْ yalla māshi Alright! That’s fine. | .يَــــلَّا! جَـــاي yalla jāy Alright! I’m coming. |
| .يَــــلَّا! خَــلَــص yalla khalaṣ Alright! That’s enough. | .يَــــلَّا! مِــش مُــشْــكِــلِــة yalla mish mushkileh Alright! Not a problem. |
“Let him/her/them …”
A less common expression, ‘let him/her/them do something,’ uses the verb خَـــلَّــى (khalla) ‘to let,’ conjugated and followed by the subjunctive mood of the third-person verb. For example:
| Indicative | Subjunctive | “Let him/her/them …” |
| هُـــوِّ بِــسْــمَــع huwwe bisma‘ he hears/listens | يِــسْــمَــع yisma‘ he hears/listens | خَـــلِّــيْـــه يِــسْــمَــع khallīh yisma‘ Let him hear/listen! |
| هِـــيِّ بْــتُــكْــتُــب hiyye btuktub she writes | تُــكْــتُــب tuktub she writes | خَـــلِّــيْـــهَــا تُــكْــتُــب khallīha tuktub Let her write! |
| هُـــمِّ بِــلْــعَــبُــوْ humme bil‘abu they play | يِــلْــعَــبُــوْ yil‘abu they play | خَـــلِّــيْـــهُـــم يِــلْــعَــبُــوْ khallīhum yil‘abu Let them play! |
بَـــلَاش (balāsh)
To express the negative meaning, we use the pseudo-verb بَـــلَاش (balāsh), meaning ‘Let me/him/her/us/them not ….’ For example:
| Indicative | Subjunctive | “Let us/him/her/them not …” |
| إِحْــنَـا بْــنِــرْجَـــع ’iḥna bnirja‘ we return | نِــرْجَـــع nirja‘ we return | بَـــلَاش نِــرْجَـــع balāsh nirja‘ Let’s not return! |
| هُـــوِّ بِــسْــمَــع huwwe bisma‘ he hears/listens | يِــسْــمَــع yisma‘ he hears/listens | بَـــلَاش يِــسْــمَــع balāsh yisma‘ Let him not hear/listen! |
| هِـــيِّ بْــتُــكْــتُــب hiyye btuktub she writes | تُــكْــتُــب tuktub she writes | بَـــلَاش تُــكْــتُــب balāsh tuktub Let her not write! |
| هُـــمِّ بِــلْــعَــبُــوْ humme bil‘abu they play | يِــلْــعَــبُــوْ yil‘abu they play | بَـــلَاش يِــلْــعَــبُــوْ balāsh yil‘abu Let them not play! |
We can also use بَـــلَاش (balāsh) instead of لَا (lā) to express the imperative in the negative before the present subjunctive verb in the second-person form.
| لا تِــشْــرَب lā tishrab | = | بَـــلَاش تِــشْــرَب balāsh tishrab |
| Don’t drink! | ||
| لا تُــكْــتُــب lā tuktub | = | بَـــلَاش تُــكْــتُــب balāsh tuktub |
| Don’t write! | ||
| لا تِــلْــعَــبُــوْ lā til‘abu | = | بَـــلَاش تِــلْــعَــبُــوْ balāsh til‘abu |
| Don’t play! | ||
Other lessons in Level V: